When is a hyphen required in a compound modifier

Picking the right words to connect is a little harder. A compound modifier is made up of two words that work together to function like one adjective.

When you connect words with the hyphen, you make it clear to readers that the words work together as a unit of meaning. This rock-hard cake is absolutely impossible to eat. If the noun comes first, leave the hyphen out. This wall is load bearing. Is this hotel dog friendly? Do you expect me to believe this clearly-impossible story?

Do you expect me to believe this clearly impossible story? Compound modifiers that include present or past participles follow the same rules as any other compound modifier.

There are some beautiful looking flowers in the garden. Without the hyphen between beautiful and looking , your reader may stumble over the sentence. There are some beautiful-looking flowers in the garden. Fast-acting medication can be useful when one has a headache. This medication is fast acting. The room was like a heavily-decorated chocolate box. The room was like a heavily decorated chocolate box. Compound modifiers that contain a past participle also follow the same rules as any other compound modifier.

Use a hyphen when the compound goes before the noun it modifies:. The municipal government is funding a community-based education system. Large Numbers When writing out large numbers, you will sometimes need a hyphen. I have forty-seven coconuts. I used to possess eighty-nine. Prefixes Certain prefixes ex-, mid-, re- require hyphens. Jon Bon Jovi had massive hair in the mids. My ex-girlfriend was a puppeteer.

I re-read the book. Senator McCarthy accused the man of being anti-American. Her six-year-old son loves blueberry ice cream. You do not need hyphens if the adjective phrase comes after the noun. Julia Roberts is 46 years old. Suspended Hyphens. Rather than writing out everything, you can do something like this: The and year students are at the assembly.

Site maintained by Synaptic Systems Inc. To Comma or Not to Comma? Does Your Flamingo Flamenco? Compound modifiers are two or more words put together to form an adjective: That is a very well-traveled path. The three-year-old boy was throwing his toys. That two-foot-high wedding cake looked delicious. She is a self-made woman. Usually the phrase is clear without the hyphen, but the hyphen does make reading easier, and sometimes can clear up confusion: The tall columned building was hundreds of years old.

Was the building tall? Or were the columns on the building tall? The tall-columned building was hundreds of years old. Now we know we mean the columns were tall. The tall, columned building was hundreds of years old. Now we know the building is tall and has columns.

Some Exceptions: Of course there are always exceptions. Common, established compounds do not need to be hyphenated. For example: high school prom not high-school Compound proper names used as adjectives are not hyphenated: For example: Supreme Court justice not Supreme-Court If the first part of the modifier ends in -ly there is no hyphen: gently falling snow, slowly moving car And Finally, One More Important Thing… When the compound modifier comes after the noun it describes rather than before it, it generally is not hyphenated: I like well-done steak.

I like my steak well done. She is very self-conscious.