Hyphens

Hyphen Hannah

“Word welding. Meaning mixing.”

What's the problem?

Hyphens show which words belong together. House style hyphenates the specific compound modifiers shown here before nouns, such as well-known and short-term; established open or closed compounds and lexical exceptions also exist. Predicate compounds often stand open, but not universally: house style keeps the adjective compounds self-imposed and self-aware hyphenated. Do not hyphenate an -ly adverb to the word it modifies (carefully planned); this is not a rule for every word ending in -ly. Hyphenate compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and age phrases used as modifiers or nouns, but leave predicate ages open. Prefixes follow the style supplied in each task. A hyphen joins words; this house style uses en dashes for ranges and unspaced em dashes for asides. Other styles can use spaced en dashes for asides. Meaning and the stated style decide the grouping, not a universal rule to hyphenate every compound.

Context: A decision concerns the short term, and the report is two years old.

✗ Hyphen trouble

It is a short term decision, and the report is two-years-old.

✓ Structure clear

It is a short-term decision, and the report is two years old.

Why it works

In "short-term," short modifies term; together they describe the decision before the noun, so the supplied house style hyphenates them. "Two years old" follows "is" as a predicate age and stays open. Predicate compounds often open, but lexical exceptions such as the adjective "self-imposed" stay hyphenated under this house style.