Spoonful #52: 10 HANDY HYPHEN RULES

Someone asked me a hyphen question the other day, and I thought, "What a great topic for a spoonful!" Thus 10 HANDY HYPHEN RULES was born. I sincerely hope you find it handy!




1) When two last names are permanently joined together, hyphens are usually used to connect them.

                Mary Johnson-Young        Julie Watson-Smith

(You may be wondering why Fineberg Cooper isn't hyphenated! That's because I treat Fineberg as my middle name for professional purposes.)

2) Use a hyphen after prefixes ALL, SELF, and ALL; hyphens are also generally used with EX and prefixes ending in the same sound as the word that follows.

             ex-president       all-knowing        self-service 
                       anti-inflammatory        re-establish  

3) Use hyphens when writing out numbers from 21 to 99. Also use hyphens when writing out fractions.

               twenty-one         thirty-six           ninety-nine
               two-tenths          three-fifteenths   

4) Use a hyphen to connect a prefix to a proper noun - essentially, whenever it connects to word starting with a capital letter.

mid-April showers      pro-American rally       anti-Nazi sentiment

5) When two or more words join together (acting as compound adjectives) BEFORE a noun, connect them with a hyphen.

                         well-known scientist       fresh-baked pie 
                  cranberry-orange muffins    late-breaking news

When are hyphens unnecessary? When the first adjective ends in ly or when compound adjectives are placed AFTER a noun.

        freshly baked pie          The scientist was well known.

6) Use hyphens to separate words in compound nouns. 

state-of-the-art     daughter-in-law   free-for-all      up-to-date

7) Use hyphens when numbers and words are combined. The trick here is that you should only use hyphens when these act as adjectives BEFORE a noun or as the noun itself. If placed AFTER a noun, no hyphens are required. Do you notice a pattern here?

The 1-mile fun run is popular with young children in town. 
My 5-year-old daughter loves to participate. 

NO HYPHEN: The race is capped at 50 kids, all under 10 years old. 

8) You're likely to see words with the prefix "co" with and without hyphens. Consider co-worker vs. coworker, one of the most frequently seen examples. For me, the hyphen-less version looks like "cow" so I prefer the hyphen, but both are acceptable. With most business and technical words, hyphens are showing up less and less. 

Here are some "co" words that should retain their hyphens:

co-conspirator       co-anchor       co-editor     co-chairman

9) Great, when used as a relationship prefix, calls for hyphens. 

               great-grandmother      great-great-aunt    

10) Hyphens feature in creative writing too. If you want to have a character stutter or spell their name out loud, hyphens are your friends. 

 "D-d-don't leave m-m-me here!"        My name Wanda: W-a-n-d-a.

Hopefully, this list of 10 HANDY HYPHEN RULES answered most of your questions. Please feel free to share!

Sincerely,
Laura Fineberg Cooper

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