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Hyphens' main purpose is to glue words together. They notify the reader that two or more elements in a sentence are linked.

Hyphenating Compound Words

You use a hyphen to split a word (between syllables) at the end of a line, but you also use a hyphen to join some compound words.

A compound word is a word made up of two words. For example, eyelash (eye lash), billboard (bill board), and airplane (air plane).

The rules about when to hyphenate a compound word are a bit tricky. The problem is that compound words go through an evolution from open compound (two separate words) to hyphenated compound to closed compound (one word with the two parts shoved together).

The best advice I can give you is to just Google it when you aren't sure whether to hyphenate a compound word or not.

You often use a hyphen between compound adjectives that come directly before the noun they modify. Compound adjectives are two or more words that together create an adjective, and should be understood as one word. But do not hyphenate these adjectives when they come after the noun they modify.

They are in a long-term relationship.

Their relationship is long term.

So in the above example, 'relationship' is the noun and 'long term' is the adjective, because it is describing how long, modifying the relationship (noun).

When the adjective comes before the noun, you hyphenate it. When the adjective comes after the noun, it stays as is.

Here's where grammar gets a bit tricky, again.

When two adjectives modify a noun, sometimes a sentence can be read two different ways, causing the reader to become confused.

Wendy shopped at the silver-jewelry kiosk.

That sentence is clear that Wendy shopped at the kiosk that only sells silver jewelry. Take away the hyphen and the sentence could have a completely different meaning.

Wendy shopped at the silver jewelry kiosk.

Now, you can't tell whether or not the jewelry or the kiosk is silver.

For three adjectives modifying a noun, the same theory applies.

Wendy wanted the purple stitched jean jacket.

From this example, we can't tell if the stitching is purple or the jacket is purple.

Wendy wanted the purple-stitched jean jacket.

Okay, so now we know that the jean jacket has purple stitching.

Wendy wanted the purple stitched-jean jacket.

Here, we know that the jean jacket is purple with stitching.

Hyphens With Age

I touched upon this in the previous part, 'Top Writing Errors Most Wattpad Writers Struggle With.'

If you are writing out the age of a character hyphens may be needed.

When the age is an adjective that comes before the noun and modifies the noun, or when the age is a noun, hyphenate.

For example:

Thirty-year-old Andy was unemployed.

The lazy thirty-year-old was unemployed.

Andy is a thirty-year-old, who is unemployed.

When the age is part of an adjectival phrase after the noun, don't hyphenate.

Andy is thirty years old and unemployed.

Hyphens and Adverbs

They do not mix! Again, an adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. When trying to find adverbs, look for words that tell how, when, or where. Remember that many adverbs, but not all, end in -ly.

Example 1:

He is a clear-thinking person.

Example 2:

He likes only individually wrapped cheese.

In the first example, he is a person who thinks clearly; 'clear-thinking' is an adjective, which is hyphenated because it comes before the noun, 'person.'

In the second example, 'individually' is an adverb describing how the cheese is wrapped, so you don't use a hyphen.

Hyphens and Other Verbs

Using a hyphen may eliminate confusion when it is used to clarify pronunciation. See how these two verbs mean different things with and without a hyphen.

I need to re-press my jeans.
(meaning I need to iron them again)

I need to repress those memories.
(meaning I need to suppress those memories)

Rules That Apply to Hyphens

Despite the major leeway when it comes to hyphens in English grammar, there are a few solid rules you can follow.

1. When joining a prefix to a word that must be capitalized:
• anti-American
• un-American
• pre-Mesozoic

2. When joining a letter or number to a word:
• X-ray
• A-list
• T-shirt
• 100-foot

3. When joining a prefix to a date:
• pre-1200
• mid-1990s

4. When separating words with the same three letters in a row:
• fall-like (not falllike)
• shell-like (not shelllike)

5. When writing out numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine:
• twenty-six
• fifty-four
• eighty-nine

Hyphens and Prefixes

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.

Some prefixes–such as ex, near, mid, self, and all–usually require a hyphen.

My great-grandmother's ex-husband–he was born in the mid-1800s–was self-employed and all-knowing.

However, not all prefixes require a hyphen, such as a, un, and dis, for example, political, apolitical; friendly, unfriendly; honor, dishonor.

Other Ways To Utilize Hyphens

Some words are meant to be read as a single-unit, so a hyphen would be useful.

The California-Nevada border runs through Lake Tahoe.

Use a hyphen when writing fractions as adjectives or adverbs, but not as nouns.

His one-third share of the treasure belonged to her.
(adjective)

He gave her one third of the treasure.
(noun)

Suspended Hyphens

You can suspend a hyphen. Suspended or suspensive hyphens are used with adjectives. It's actually pretty simple if you're able to break down a sentence. Take a look at this example:

Merry ordered the blue-striped scarf for Gene.

But then Merry decides to order striped scarves in many different colors for all her friends.

To write this in the easiest way possible (without formatting it into a list), you'd use one word, but it is connected to a list of words that describe one noun.

Merry ordered the blue-, red-, yellow-, and green-striped scarf for her friends.

This means that Merry ordered the blue-striped, red-striped, yellow-striped, and green-striped scarves for her friends. Four different scarves, each striped with a different color, but it's a lot easier to read (and write) it when you use suspended hyphens.

Here are other examples of suspended hyphens:

Do you want a one- or two-bedroom apartment?

Please pick up a ten- or twelve-foot pipe at the hardware store.

It's fine to every now and then to write an adjective using a long string of hyphenated words for effect, but don't go overboard with it. You may start to become an irritating hyphenate-everything-in-sight-for-no-reason writer.

A tip: Grammar Girl suggests that you can also achieve the same effect by enclosing the words in single quotation marks without hyphens.

And, again, if you're unsure or doubting even in the slightest, just Google it, or even pick up a dictionary, if it isn't too painful.

Hyphens and Dashes

Do not confuse the hyphen with the dash, which is noticeably longer.

There are three types of dashes:

1. A short en dash ﹘
2. A regular-sized en dash –
3. An em dash —

A hyphen is not a dash. Using them interchangeably creates chaos. They have very different jobs.

Also, there should not be any spaces around dashes.

Incorrect form of an em dash:
100—175 people

Incorrect form of an en dash:
100 – 175 people

Correct form of a hyphen:
100-175 people

The main reason the first two are incorrect is because there are numbers around the dash.

When writing out numbers like this, use a hyphen.

Also, the second example is incorrect because there are spaces around the dash. Dashes never have spaces before and after it.

Please give this part a vote if it enlightened you.