Hyphens

Many of our 4-star authors are stumped by this small punctuation mark. Without a thorough grasp on hyphens, it would be very difficult to reach 5-star status.

The hyphen is most often used to connect compound adjectives — two words modifying the same word — in front of a noun.

For example:

Last weekend, I spent an afternoon babysitting my 3-year-old niece.

The magazine only uses high-quality photos in its pages.

When compound adjectives follow the noun, the hyphen is not used:

Last weekend, I spent an afternoon babysitting my niece, who is 3 years old.

The magazine uses photos that are high quality.

Sometimes, you’ll come across suspended compound adjectives where one or more of the words that modify are separated:

We are looking for a four- or five-bedroom house.

Other places you’ll find a hyphen are in prefixes such as “mid-” and “ex-” or when it’s used to break up syllables in a pronunciation guide.

When you are ready, please take this hyphen test to demonstrate your knowledge.