1) COMPOUND NUMBERS AND FRACTIONS
Hyphens are used with compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-one and with fractions used as adjectives. However, when fractions serve as nouns, no hyphen is used.
Example:
- Twenty-one red roses.
- Sixty-five and over.
- A two-thirds majority.
- A glass three-fifths full.
- But: two tenths of a percent (Two tenths is used as a noun.)
2) COMPOUND NUMBERS
Hyphens are used to link dates of birth and death, pages of material, scores of games, and other instances in which the relationship between the numbers needs to be shown.
Example:
- T. E. Lawrence, “Lawrence of Arabia,” (1888-1935)
- Read pages 15-32 in your statistics book.
- The Bears beat the Rams 21-0.
- All children ages 8-12 are eligible for camp.
3) PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
Prefixes ex-, self-, all-, and the suffixes –elect, always take a hyphen whether they are used as modifiers or as nouns. Hyphens also are used with all prefixes before proper nouns and adjectives.
Example:
- Self-esteem.
- Ex-director.
- Secretary-elect.
- All-encompassing.
- All-Canadian team.
- Pro-French.
4) COMPOUND ADJECTIVES
When compound adjectives are used before the noun, they are hyphenated. When they follow the noun, no hyphen is used. If one of the modifiers is an adverb ending in –ly, do not use a hyphen in the compound adjective.
Example:
- A decision-making process/ a process for decision making.
- A well-run program/ a program that is well run.
- A city-owned business/ a business that is city owned.
- Publicly owned parks/ parks that are publicly owned.
5) WORD DIVISION
Hyphens are used to divide words at the end of a line as a reminder that the rest of the word is to follow. Words cannot be divided arbitrarily but only between syllables.
Example:
- We were almost in Niles Town-
ship when our car broke down.
- Sam didn’t really want to con-
tinue the trip, but I did.
6) HYPHENATED NAMES
Hyphens are used to join two last names.
Example:
- Karen Norridge-Adams.
- The Henderson-Smythes.
- Mr. Michael Harrington-Kelly.
- Mr. and Mrs. Barry-Schroeder.
7) TO AVOID CONFUSION
Use hyphens to prevent confusion or awkwardness in sentences.
Example:
- Re-creation (prevents confusion with recreation)
- Re-emphasize (avoid awkwardness of reemphasize)
- Sub-subentry (avoids confusion of subsubentry)
