The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (8 page)
Read The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation Online
Authors: Jane Straus,Lester Kaufman,Tom Stern
There are two commandments about this misunderstood punctuation mark. First,
hyphens
must never be used interchangeably with dashes (see the “Dashes” section), which are noticeably longer. Second, there should never be spaces around hyphens.
| Incorrect : | 300â325 people |
| Incorrect : | 300 - 325 people |
| Correct : | 300-325 people |
Hyphens' main purpose is to glue words together. They notify the reader that two or more elements in a sentence are linked. Although there are rules and customs governing hyphens, there are also situations when writers must decide whether to add them for clarity.
. Generally, hyphenate two or more words when they come before a noun they modify and act as a single idea. This is called a
compound adjective
.
| Examples : | an off-campus apartment |
| state-of-the-art design |
| Example : | The apartment is off campus . |
| Example : | The design is state-of-the-art . |
. A hyphen is frequently required when forming original compound verbs for vivid writing, humor, or special situations.
| Examples : | The slacker video-gamed his way through life . |
| Queen Victoria throne-sat for six decades . |
. When writing out new, original, or unusual compound nouns, writers should hyphenate whenever doing so avoids confusion.
| Examples : | I changed my diet and became a no-meater . |
| No-meater is too confusing without the hyphen. | |
| The slacker was a video gamer . | |
| Video gamer is clear without a hyphen, although some writers might prefer to hyphenate it. |
. An often overlooked rule for hyphens: The adverb
very
and adverbs ending in -
ly
are not hyphenated.
| Incorrect : | the very-elegant watch |
| Incorrect : | the finely-tuned watch |
ly
words are adjectives rather than adverbs:
| Correct : | the friendly-looking dog |
| Correct : | a family-owned cafe |
. Hyphens are often used to tell the ages of people and things. A handy rule, whether writing about years, months, or any other period of time, is to use hyphens unless the period of time (years, months, weeks, days) is written in plural form:
| With hyphens : | We have a two-year-old child . |
| We have a two-year-old . | |
| No hyphens : | The child is two years old . (Because years is plural.) |
| Exception : | The child is one year old . (Or day, week, month , etc.) |
| Incorrect : | We have a two-year old child . |
| Without the second hyphen, the sentence is about an “old child.” |
. Never hesitate to add a hyphen if it solves a possible problem. Following are two examples of well-advised hyphens:
| Confusing : | I have a few more important things to do . |
| With hyphen : | I have a few more-important things to do . |
| Without the hyphen, it's impossible to tell whether the sentence is about a few things that are more important or a few more things that are all equally important. | |
| Confusing : | He returned the stolen vehicle report . |
| With hyphen : | He returned the stolen-vehicle report . |
| With no hyphen, we could only guess: Was the vehicle report stolen, or was it a report on stolen vehicles ? |
. When using numbers, hyphenate spans or estimates of time, distance, or other quantities. Remember not to use spaces around hyphens.
| Examples : | 3:15-3:45 p.m . |
| 1999-2016 | |
| 300-325 people |
. Hyphenate all compound numbers from
twenty-one
through
ninety-nine
.
| Examples : | thirty-two children |
| one thousand two hundred twenty-one dollars |
. Hyphenate all spelled-out fractions.
| Example : | more than two-thirds of registered voters |
. Hyphenate most double last names.
| Example : | Sir Winthrop Heinz-Eakins will attend . |
. As important as hyphens are to clear writing, they can become an annoyance if overused. Avoid adding hyphens when the meaning is clear. Many phrases are so familiar (e.g.,
high school, twentieth century, one hundred percent
) that they can go before a noun without risk of confusing the reader.
| Examples : | a high school senior |
| a twentieth century throwback | |
| one hundred percent correct |
. When in doubt, look it up. Some familiar phrases may require hyphens. For instance, is a book
up to date
or
up-to-date
? Don't guess; have a dictionary close by, or look it up online.
A
prefix
(
a
-,
un
-,
de
-,
ab
-,
sub
-,
post
-,
anti
-, etc.) is a letter or set of letters placed before a
root
word. The word
prefix
itself contains the prefix
pre
-. Prefixes expand or change a word's meaning, sometimes radically: the prefixes
a
-,
un
-, and
dis
-, for example, change words into their opposites (e.g.,
political
,
a
political; friendly
,
un
friendly; honor
,
dis
honor
).
. Hyphenate prefixes when they come before proper nouns or proper adjectives.
| Examples : | trans-American |
| mid-July |
. For clarity, many writers hyphenate prefixes ending in a vowel when the root word begins with the same letter.
| Examples : | ultra-ambitious |
| semi-invalid | |
| re-elect |
Hyphenate all words beginning with the prefixes
self
-,
ex
- (i.e.,
former
), and
all
-.
| Examples : | self-assured |
| ex-mayor | |
| all-knowing |
. Use a hyphen with the prefix
re
- when omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with another word.
| Examples : | Will she recover from her illness? |
| I have re-covered the sofa twice . | |
| Omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with recover . | |
| I must re-press the shirt . | |
| Omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with repress . | |
| The stamps have been reissued . | |
| A hyphen after re - is not needed because there is no confusion with another word. |
. Writers often hyphenate prefixes when they feel a word might be distracting or confusing without the hyphen.
| Examples : | de-ice |
| With no hyphen we get deice , which might stump readers. | |
| co-worker | |
| With no hyphen we get coworker , which could be distracting because it starts with cow . |
A
suffix
(-
y, -er, -ism, -able
, etc.) is a letter or set of letters that follows a root word. Suffixes form new words or alter the original word to perform a different task. For example, the noun
scandal
can be made into the adjective
scandalous
by adding the suffix -
ous
. It becomes the verb
scandalize
by adding the suffix -
ize
.
Suffixes are not usually hyphenated. Some exceptions: -
style
, -
elect
, -
free
, -
based
.
| Examples : | Modernist-style paintings |
| Mayor-elect Smith | |
| sugar-free soda | |
| oil-based sludge |
. For clarity, writers often hyphenate when the last letter in the root word is the same as the first letter in the suffix.
| Examples : | graffiti-ism |
| wiretap-proof |
. Use discretionâand sometimes a dictionaryâbefore deciding to place a hyphen before a suffix. But do not hesitate to hyphenate a rare usage if it avoids confusion.
| Examples : | the annual dance-athon |
| an eel-esque sea creature |
Although the preceding hyphens help clarify unusual terms, they are optional and might not be every writer's choice. Still, many readers would scratch their heads for a moment over
danceathon
and
eelesque
.
Dashes
, like commas, semicolons, colons, ellipses, and parentheses, indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought. Experienced writers know that these marks are not interchangeable. Note how dashes subtly change the tone of the following sentences:
| Examples : | You are the friend, the only friend, who offered to help me . |
| You are the friendâthe only friendâwho offered to help me . | |
| I pay the bills; she has all the fun . | |
| I pay the billsâshe has all the fun . | |
| I wish you wouldâ¦oh, never mind . | |
| I wish you wouldâoh, never mind . |
. Words and phrases between dashes are not generally part of the subject.
| Example : | Joe âand his trusty muttâ was always welcome . |
. Dashes replace otherwise mandatory punctuation, such as the commas after
Iowa
and
2013
in the following examples:
| Without dash : | The man from Ames, Iowa, arrived . |
| With dash : | The manâhe was from Ames, Iowaâarrived . |
| Without dash : | The May 1, 2013, edition of the Ames Sentinel arrived in June . |
| With dash : | The Ames Sentinelâ dated May 1, 2013âarrived in June . |
. Some writers and publishers prefer spaces around dashes.
| Example : | Joe â and his trusty mutt â was always welcome . |
Definition
- An
ellipsis
(plural:
ellipses
) is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots.
Use an ellipsis when omitting a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage. Ellipses save space or remove material that is less relevant. They are useful in getting right to the point without delay or distraction: