Writers using familiar compound verbs and nouns should consult a dictionary or look online to decide if these verbs and nouns should be hyphenated. … or, in the absence of a similar term, use the simplest possible construction. Improve your grammar, vocabulary, and writing -- and it's FREE! Most Not Hyphenated Most compound nouns are not hyphenated: master builder fellow employee attorney general. No-one (that’s no-one not noone) writes cooperate in the UK. The most important thing is to choose one style of writing a compound noun and to use this style consistently throughout a … And a writer’s rule of thumb is that if a term has not made its way into a dictionary, use a corollary form (would you hyphenate “cat lover” or “coffee lover”?) If the words don’t make sense without each other, you should hyphenate them. The two words are often adjectives or nouns, and can be used by themselves, but combined with a hyphen they represent a different thing. The latter, because “one-year-old” modifies child. In the above example from 1984, the result would be prize physique and fighter’s physique. Applying this approach, I developed the following arguments on this subject: Where the main nouns in word pairs can stand alone, either generally or in a context that helps to define them, there is no need for a hyphen. What is the correct way of writing one-year-old-child (or two, three, four etc.)? Hyphenated Form: These compound nouns connect two or more words with one or more hyphens between them. Compound nouns comprised of a noun and a participle (in any order) must be hyphenated when being used as an adjective: a garden-filled city, cutting-edge methods. Grammar.com. The municipal government is funding a community-based education system. Not that anyone would interpret it that way, but without the hyphen, the emphasis of how you read it to yourself would make it seem that the language was well-informed, not the lover of the language (an absurdity, of course). A single noun made up of two or more words is called a compound noun (e.g., cooking-oil, pickpocket). It’s now more important than ever to develop a powerful writing style. Sometimes you separate them out into two words, sometimes you put them together, sometimes you separate with a hyphen. A hyphenated compound is made from two words in English combined by a hyphen. 3. And if we were discussing a watch’s suitability for use while swimming, we would not talk of its “resistance”, even though the context made it clear that resistance to dust or shocks was not being referred to. Hyphens in Compound Adjectives The words in a compound adjective (a single adjective made up of two or more words) can be linked together by hyphens to show they … An often overlooked rule for hyphens: The adverb very and adverbs ending in ly are not hyphenated. . Most hyphenation in compound adjectives occurs when the compound adjective comes before the noun, that is, in the attributive position. We truly appreciate your support. A compound noun is a noun that is composed of two different words. And then there are hyphenated compound words that always take hyphens: sister-in-law, merry-go-round, self-esteem. However, if the compound adjective comes after the noun, the relationships between the words may be intelligible without a hyphen (e.g., counseling that is client centered). Use a hyphen when the compound goes before the verb it modifies: Examples: The municipal government is funding a community-based education system. There’s just one error: In the third-last paragraph, you used the word “alternate” when you meant “alternative.”, Copyright © 2020 Daily Writing Tips . ‘My wife and daughter are both blue-eyed.‘ Compound nouns are words which give a name to something. Continuing to read the copy, I stumbled once again, while reading a reference to “language-lovers of all persuasions.” By this time, I thought it unfortunate that a book that purports (with eminent justification) to be a trusted authority on proper usage should have two superfluous hyphens in the jacket copy. well-known), or from a phrase (e.g. I have to say hyphenation of compound words in English is completely arbitrary. A compound noun is a word made up of two separate nouns. This is why I feel that “language-lover” does require a hyphen. I was reading the jacket copy for Garner’s Modern American Usage, the successor to the similarly titled classic reference work by H.W. Hyphenate nouns or adjectives beginning with the prefixes ex (meaning "former"), self, all and quasi: 1. ex-wife 2. ex-premier Getty 3. self-control 4. self-assured 5. all-inclusive 6. all-powerful 7. quasi-judicial 8. quasi-stellar However, when self is the base word to which a suffix is added, do nothyphenate: 1. selfish 2. selfhood 3. selfsame 4. selfless of word-choice.”. Not so. The book’s description refers to its attention to “questions . It’s always written as co-operate. Examples include six-pack, five-year-old, and son-in-law. However, similar noun+verb compounds, like eye-opener, are valid. Over time, many hyphenated compounds become closed compounds— teen-ager became teenager for instance. Hence, co-operate, co-ordinate, no-one, pre-empt, etc. I was taught at school (in UK) that hyphens were required where the attachment of prefixes without could modify pronunciation due to vowel combination. Minutes later, I was reading an entry, and I noticed the second error repeated therein: “The word denotes a well-informed language-lover and word connoisseur.” This time — assuming the author, while reading the proof, had not overlooked a copy editor’s erroneous insertion — the culprit was Garner himself. “Jacket copywriter” implies someone who crafts prose to be printed on coats. I find this discussion very interesting but do not entirely agree. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Many writers insert a hyphen in “decision making,” “problem solving,” and the like, though such treatment is justified only when the compound modifies a following noun (“decision-making apparatus,” “problem-solving skills”). The final arbiter of how a word is treated is a dictionary — or, if a publication for some reason prefers an alternate form, a published style guide such as The Chicago Manual of Style or a house, or internal, style guide compiled by one or more editors of that publication. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? I hyphenated “jacket copy” because that phrase modifies writer. An online search for “language lover” yields one hyphen-free usage after another, which confirms my opinion that in American English, at least, the hyphen is extraneous. Compound nouns tend to have more stress on the first word. "Hyphens and Compound Nouns." For variations of these compound nouns, e.g., rest house, reference book, always check the dictionary for proper spelling. Whenever I see hyphenated compound nouns such as this, I feel as if I’m being whisked in a time machine to a bygone era in which hyphenation of word pairs was rampant: to-day, co-operate, tea-cup, and so on. However, a fireman’s wife would never describe her husband as a “fighter”, we would not point to the birds gathering on the “table” and we would not leave our car in the “park”. . However, a hyphenated compound noun joins these two words with a punctuation mark called a hyphen. As a broad rule, when a compound adjective appears after the noun it modifies, that is, in the predicative position, it will not be hyphenated. STANDS4 LLC, 2020. You'll also get three bonus ebooks completely free. Unlike regular nouns, a compound noun is made up of two words. After all, most communication takes place in reports, emails, and instant messages. I don’t know whether the house style guide of the Oxford University Press, which published Garner’s book, covers this point, but now I know why, in that work, a hyphen appears in language-lover: It was published in the United Kingdom, whose form of English (the oldest among nations where English is widely spoken, though that doesn’t make it the definitive form) has only recently begun to veer from favoring such constructions. With compound adjectives formed from the adverb well and a participle (e.g. Only then did I realize I had fallen into a trap that the English language often lays for the erudite and the inexperienced alike: the expectation that it will be consistent. Why on earth, I thought, did the copywriter think that word-choice merits hyphenation? I don’t think language-lover should be hyphenated in general, but in the phrase “well-informed language-lover” I think it is very acceptable to hyphenate in order for “well-informed” to modify “a lover of languages” and not just “language”. The rules on whether to use a hyphen, a space, or nothing between the words in a compound noun are inconsistent. Compounds are also frequently hyphenated in compound adjectives like "funny-looking" or "sun-bleached," but are typically left open when the first element is an adverb, as in "lightly salted peanuts." And not jacket copy writer or jacket copywriter? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Check your text and writing for style, spelling and grammar problems everywhere on the web! The tendency to hyphenate all compound adjectives is different from compound nouns since compound nouns are not always hyphenated. If I wished to use copywriter, I would say “book-jacket copywriter,” which would also be correct in this context. but not when the compound comes after the noun: His music was also well known in England. Most Not HyphenatedMost compound nouns are not hyphenated: Complete WordsOthers have migrated and become complete words, spelled as one word, with no hyphen: For variations of these compound nouns, e.g., rest house, reference book, always check the dictionary for proper spelling.Hyphenated Compound NounsSome compound nouns are hyphenated: Previous: Hyphens and Compound Words Next: Hyphens and Compound Adjectives. While compound nouns do not require hyphens, some people prefer to use them. As the names imply, “open compounds” are written as separate words, “hyphenated compounds” are written with one or more hyphens, and “closed compounds” are written as a single word. Being a translation quality manager by profession, but with no formal training in linguistics, semantics or other relevant specialised fields, I have developed my own rules on the basis of wide reading experience, study of established (British) reference works and the application of logic. Compound adjectives are usually hyphenated. I beg to differ: “no one” and “cooperate” are the primary spellings listed in the OED. Complete Words Others have migrated and become complete words, spelled as one word, with no hyphen: headache checkbook boardinghouse clearinghouse. I wondered whether Garner had noticed these errors when he received his first copy. jacket-copy writer. One easy way to tell if you should use a hyphen is to pair each describing word on its own with the noun it’s describing. Categorized Examples. Compound words can be written in three ways: as open compounds (spelled as two words, e.g., ice cream), closed compounds (joined to form a single word, e.g., doorknob), or hyphenated compounds (two words joined by a hyphen, e.g., long-term). an up-to-date account. A compound is a word or word group that consists of two or more parts that work together as a unit to express a specific concept. The garden-filled city of Toowoomba attracts many tourists. (Bear in mind that I am British.). Incidentally, I heartily agree with Sarah Turner on “no-one” (in preference to the often-used “no one”, which to my mind has a different meaning (e.g “Of the many ideas put forward, no one solution on its own was seen as workable”), and I also favour “co-operate”, though I note that “cooperate” is considered correct in the US and find that it increasingly being used in the UK too (along with coordinate, proofread, etc., etc.) And I left the UK in 1990. Subscribers get access to our archives with 800+ interactive exercises! Web. I read somewhere recently that the OED had just published a very long list of words that were previously hyphenated in British English for which the hyphen could (should?) For example, it helps us know if somebody sa… No-one (that’s no-one not noone) writes cooperate in the UK. Common examples are “part-time,” “high-speed,” and “editor-in-chief.”. However, this was in the 1970s. Stress is important in compound nouns. https://www.grammar.com/hyphens-and-compound-nouns. C… Thanks for your vote! Should it be hyphenated or left as single words, or just the three words (numeral)-year-old hyphenated with child being the noun? All the examples of compound words listed above are nouns. hyphens: compound nouns A compound noun is simply a compound that functions as a noun. Hyphen in a Compound Expression With a Noun and Past Participle. Compound modifiers that contain a past participle also follow the same rules as any other compound modifier. Sometimes, more than … Rule 3. American English is very often an older form, long obsolete in British English, which long along “veered from favouring such constructions.” (And sometimes veers back again, under American influence). (And we don’t hyphenate no-one.). Check a dictionary if you’re not sure whether to use a hyphen or not. So I appreciate being brought up to date by columns such as this one and probably will start to adopt “cooperate” and coordinate”, though I still resist “no one” (= nobody) for the reason I give above. However, similar noun+verb compounds, like eye-opener, are valid. Wind-powered generators can be excellent sources of electricity. These are often referred to as closed or solid compound nouns. In the phrase "pink ball", both words are equally stressed (as you know, adjectives and nouns are always stressed). Twenty examples of hyphenated compound nouns are listed below. So in the terms “fire-fighter”, “bird-table”, “car-park”, and “water-resistance” the two nouns are indissociable and therefore require a hyphen. Many writers insert a hyphen in “decision making,” “problem solving,” and the like, though such treatment is justified only when the compound modifies a following noun (“decision-making apparatus,” “problem-solving skills”). A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. In the compound noun "golf ball", the first word is stressed more (even though both words are nouns, and nouns are always stressed). Otherwise, no hyphens are needed. Thus, if we hear “I’m going to the well today”, as long as we know that the speaker is an oil worker (and not a drawer of water), it is perfectly understood that well means oil well and the terms are interchangeable. It is necessary to hyphenate compound adjectives because without the hyphenation, the modifier would be read differently. Let’s look at this concept using our above examples. Compound nouns are sometimes one word, like toothpaste, haircut, or bedroom. be dropped. Compound nouns are formed by the combination of two words. . But two of the open compound words, “ice cream” and “high school,” are commonly used as adjectives as well, as in “ice cream social” and “high school student.” Sometimes compound nouns are connected with a hyphen: dry-cleaning, daughter-in-law, and well-being are some examples of hyphenated compound nouns. On the question of American English having retained old usage long-since discarded this side of the Atlantic, Bill Bryson’s book “Mother tongue” gives some interesting examples. Many compounds begin as open, progress to hyphenated, and finish as closed. Open Form: These are compound nouns that function as one unique word, but are still written as two or more separate words, with a space between each component. [17] When a compound modifier follows the term to which it applies, a hyphen is typically not used if the compound is a temporary compound. Compounds can be formed by combining two or more words (as in double–check, cost–effective, farmhouse, graphic equalizers, park bench, around–the–clock, or son of a gun), by combining prefixes or suffixes with words (as in ex–president, shoeless, presorted, or uninterruptedly), or by combining two or more word elements (as in macrophage or photochromism). An example of a compound adjective is ‘blue-eyed.’ Here is a sentence which contains the word to show how it would work. Here are a few examples of common hyphenated compound words: Hyphenated compound words are the ones (obviously) with a hyphen between the words. Hyphenated compound words place a hyphen between the two words. Compounds - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary I agree on “word choice” (there should be no hyphen) but disagree on “language-lover” (hyphen required in my opinion). Noun–noun compound modifiers may also be written without a hyphen when no confusion is likely: grade point average and department store manager. As a writer, if you’re struggling with hyphens in long modifier chains, moving the modifier to the end of the phrase can help untangle more obscure or dense sentences. Compound nouns are of three kinds: open, hyphenated, and closed. Closed compounds are those written as single words, with no hyphenation. But I am curious to know why you wrote Fowler, when I found what I felt to be an ironic instance: an error. You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed! All Right Reserved. Hyphenated Compound Noun; Hyphenated compound nouns are those words that are connected by one or more hyphens such as sister-in-law, mother-in-law, jack-in-the-box, state-of-the-art, brother-in-law, shout-out, mind-set, five-year-old, etc. If the story took place in a modeling contest, prize physiquemight make sense, but this one doesn’t, so we need a hyphen to add clarity. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen “co-operate”, except hyphenated across a line-break…. In many cases, though, styling is a question of taste and tradition. Hyphens in Compound Nouns. Authors are usually given the opportunity to proof their books, and occasionally have a chance to weigh in on the cover art, but rarely, if ever, do they get to see jacket copy before publication. 18 Dec. 2020. I speak and write American English, and my posts almost invariably represent that bias, hence my reference to the obsolescence of co-operate. All completely just based on the standard of the moment, and language is constantly in flux. Since "golf ball" is a compound noun we consider it as a single noun and so it has a single main stress - on the first word. It was published in the United Kingdom, whose form of English (the oldest among nations where English is widely spoken, though that doesn’t make it the definitive form) has only recently begun to veer from favoring such constructions. Compound nouns can be made up of two or more other words, but each compound has a single meaning.They may or may not be hyphenated, and they may be written with a space between words—especially if one of the words has more than one syllable, as in living room.In that regard, it’s necessary to avoid the over-simplification of saying that two single-syllable words are written together … In the case of language-lover, the term does not appear in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, nor does it grace Chicago’s pages. For example, “well-being” is a hyphenated compound word because it connects two words together with a hyphen. Aide-de-camp; Merry-go-round; Coat-of-male; Commander-in-chief; Forget-me-not; Touch-me-not; Knight-errant; Knight-templar; Man-of-war; Good-for-nothing; Father-in-law; Lord-justice; Lord-lieutenant; Passer-by; Hanger-on; Looker-on; Happy-go-lucky; Tug-of-war; Pick-me-up; Go-between Usually, a compound noun will contain a noun as one of its elements. up-to-date), you should use a hyphen when the compound comes before the noun: well-known brands of coffee. Grammarly says hyphenating is necessary for a compound adjective before a noun as follows. See the use of “gotten”, for example. It is also acceptable (and preferred by most writers) to write compound nouns either as two separate words or joined up to make one word. The Three Types of Compound Words Open compounds are written as separate words, such as “school bus” and “high school.” Hyphenated compounds, such as “merry-go-round” and “well-being,” are the second type. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. The hyphenation of word-choice is unequivocally wrong, but who is to say that Garner and the jacket-copy writer erred with language-lover? (Examples: roof insulation, steam engine, heart attack and oil well). Many veterinarians find meat-fed cats to be quite healthy. For example, sing-along is a compound formed from a verb and an adverb, but it functions as a noun: That bias, hence my reference to the obsolescence of co-operate nothing between the words a... 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