Punctuality Rules!

MM: Hyphenation

MM: Hyphenation

mangled2

Back in February (yes, I’m late), Peter asked:

I would like to know when you are allowed to use the hyphen (”-”). I tend to use it pretty often – like now – and I’m wondering if it is proper use. I also get confused when two words are joined up through a hyphen. In my primary language – which is dutch – we tend to stick words together. With english, I’m not always sure when you are supposed to place a hyphen, leave a gap, or join the words togethers. Like for instance: all together, altogether, all-together. Well placed, well-placed, wellplaced?

First, there is a difference between a dash and a hyphen. We’ve discussed dashes before–they are used to indicate a break or pause in thought, much like a comma does. Where Peter says “– like now-” he should rightfully use two dashes together (–).

A Hyphen, on the other hand, has two functions.

  • One is for pulling words together. (“Well-placed”)
  • One is for separating them into syl-la-bles.

Since Peter’s questions is mostly about the first one, we’re going to focus on that.
I’ve touched on the first one, back when I told you about compound-adjectives, but the “compound” part is not restricted solely to adjectives. Generally speaking, when you’re putting two or more words together because they are acting as a team, you need to tie them together with hyphens. (“Blue-green yarn.” “The next-to-the-last chair in the row.” “The well-placed decoration is just the right touch.”)

If they are working individually, however, you keep them separate. (“I like the blue, green, and yellow yarns.” “I’m sitting next to the door.” “I must say, that chair is so well placed, it never falls over.”)

Also, if they get tied together long enough, they eventually become one word. (Handspun yarn. Lightbulb.) So in Peter’s question about “all together,” you can use “all together” to describe the action of a group, but you would not use “all-together” at any time I can immediately think of. “Altogether,” of course, can describe (ahem) a person without clothes, as in “The king was in the altogether, as naked as the day that he was born.” If you’re not sure whether a pairing has passed into the not-needing-hyphen stage yet, it doesn’t hurt anything to use it.

Thanks for the question, Peter. Hope this helps. Anybody else have questions?

4 thoughts on “MM: Hyphenation

  1. Melissa Donovan

    I’ve got one that I see written incorrectly all the time:

    She was a 23 year old librarian.
    Nope. It’s:
    She was a 23-year-old librarian.

    I see these types of age adjectives written all kinds of crazy ways.

    Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Poetry and Grammar

  2. --Deb Post author

    Now, why didn’t I think of that when I was trying to come up with examples?

  3. Melissa Donovan

    @Deb, probably because whenever we try to come up with examples, they evade us. It happens to me all the time. That is one reason to rough draft several days before deadline. All kinds of great lines, metaphors, and examples will pop into your head while the draft is simmering on the back burner.

    Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Poetry and Grammar