However, a fireman’s wife would never describe her husband as a “fighter”, we would not point to the birds gathering on the “table” and we would not leave our car in the “park”. The final arbiter of how a word is treated is a dictionary — or, if a publication for some reason prefers an alternate form, a published style guide such as The Chicago Manual of Style or a house, or internal, style guide compiled by one or more editors of that publication. As a writer, if you’re struggling with hyphens in long modifier chains, moving the modifier to the end of the phrase can help untangle more obscure or dense sentences. But I am curious to know why you wrote Let’s look at this concept using our above examples. The two words are often adjectives or nouns, and can be used by themselves, but combined with a hyphen they represent a different thing. If I wished to use copywriter, I would say “book-jacket copywriter,” which would also be correct in this context. [17] When a compound modifier follows the term to which it applies, a hyphen is typically not used if the compound is a temporary compound. Grammarly says hyphenating is necessary for a compound adjective before a noun as follows. I speak and write American English, and my posts almost invariably represent that bias, hence my reference to the obsolescence of co-operate. Compounds are also frequently hyphenated in compound adjectives like "funny-looking" or "sun-bleached," but are typically left open when the first element is an adverb, as in "lightly salted peanuts." However, similar noun+verb compounds, like eye-opener, are valid. But two of the open compound words, “ice cream” and “high school,” are commonly used as adjectives as well, as in “ice cream social” and “high school student.” Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Compound adjectives are usually hyphenated. Rule 3. The latter, because “one-year-old” modifies child. So I appreciate being brought up to date by columns such as this one and probably will start to adopt “cooperate” and coordinate”, though I still resist “no one” (= nobody) for the reason I give above. Many compounds begin as open, progress to hyphenated, and finish as closed. … 3. Why on earth, I thought, did the copywriter think that word-choice merits hyphenation? However, a hyphenated compound noun joins these two words with a punctuation mark called a hyphen. For example, “well-being” is a hyphenated compound word because it connects two words together with a hyphen. Unlike regular nouns, a compound noun is made up of two words. An often overlooked rule for hyphens: The adverb very and adverbs ending in ly are not hyphenated. A hyphenated compound is made from two words in English combined by a hyphen. Most hyphenation in compound adjectives occurs when the compound adjective comes before the noun, that is, in the attributive position. This is why I feel that “language-lover” does require a hyphen. I wondered whether Garner had noticed these errors when he received his first copy. Since "golf ball" is a compound noun we consider it as a single noun and so it has a single main stress - on the first word. . or, in the absence of a similar term, use the simplest possible construction. Closed compounds are those written as single words, with no hyphenation. Should it be hyphenated or left as single words, or just the three words (numeral)-year-old hyphenated with child being the noun? A single noun made up of two or more words is called a compound noun (e.g., cooking-oil, pickpocket). I don’t think language-lover should be hyphenated in general, but in the phrase “well-informed language-lover” I think it is very acceptable to hyphenate in order for “well-informed” to modify “a lover of languages” and not just “language”. The Three Types of Compound Words Open compounds are written as separate words, such as “school bus” and “high school.” Hyphenated compounds, such as “merry-go-round” and “well-being,” are the second type. "Hyphens and Compound Nouns." The hyphenation of word-choice is unequivocally wrong, but who is to say that Garner and the jacket-copy writer erred with language-lover? hyphens: compound nouns A compound noun is simply a compound that functions as a noun. On the question of American English having retained old usage long-since discarded this side of the Atlantic, Bill Bryson’s book “Mother tongue” gives some interesting examples. of word-choice.”. jacket-copy writer. Applying this approach, I developed the following arguments on this subject: Where the main nouns in word pairs can stand alone, either generally or in a context that helps to define them, there is no need for a hyphen. And not jacket copy writer or jacket copywriter? The tendency to hyphenate all compound adjectives is different from compound nouns since compound nouns are not always hyphenated. Compounds can be formed by combining two or more words (as in double–check, cost–effective, farmhouse, graphic equalizers, park bench, around–the–clock, or son of a gun), by combining prefixes or suffixes with words (as in ex–president, shoeless, presorted, or uninterruptedly), or by combining two or more word elements (as in macrophage or photochromism). well-known), or from a phrase (e.g. https://www.grammar.com/hyphens-and-compound-nouns. Fowler, when I found what I felt to be an ironic instance: an error. I agree on “word choice” (there should be no hyphen) but disagree on “language-lover” (hyphen required in my opinion). In the case of language-lover, the term does not appear in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, nor does it grace Chicago’s pages. These are often referred to as closed or solid compound nouns. An example of a compound adjective is ‘blue-eyed.’ Here is a sentence which contains the word to show how it would work. I was reading the jacket copy for Garner’s Modern American Usage, the successor to the similarly titled classic reference work by H.W. (And we don’t hyphenate no-one.). Examples include six-pack, five-year-old, and son-in-law. Compound modifiers that contain a past participle also follow the same rules as any other compound modifier. I read somewhere recently that the OED had just published a very long list of words that were previously hyphenated in British English for which the hyphen could (should?) In the above example from 1984, the result would be prize physique and fighter’s physique. Check a dictionary if you’re not sure whether to use a hyphen or not. up-to-date), you should use a hyphen when the compound comes before the noun: well-known brands of coffee. After all, most communication takes place in reports, emails, and instant messages. Most Not HyphenatedMost compound nouns are not hyphenated: Complete WordsOthers have migrated and become complete words, spelled as one word, with no hyphen: For variations of these compound nouns, e.g., rest house, reference book, always check the dictionary for proper spelling.Hyphenated Compound NounsSome compound nouns are hyphenated: Previous: Hyphens and Compound Words Next: Hyphens and Compound Adjectives. Thanks for your vote! Hyphens in Compound Nouns. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? In many cases, though, styling is a question of taste and tradition. And if we were discussing a watch’s suitability for use while swimming, we would not talk of its “resistance”, even though the context made it clear that resistance to dust or shocks was not being referred to. Grammar.com. I was taught at school (in UK) that hyphens were required where the attachment of prefixes without could modify pronunciation due to vowel combination. So in the terms “fire-fighter”, “bird-table”, “car-park”, and “water-resistance” the two nouns are indissociable and therefore require a hyphen. It’s always written as co-operate. be dropped. Subscribers get access to our archives with 800+ interactive exercises! It’s now more important than ever to develop a powerful writing style. Common examples are “part-time,” “high-speed,” and “editor-in-chief.”. Open Form: These are compound nouns that function as one unique word, but are still written as two or more separate words, with a space between each component. No-one (that’s no-one not noone) writes cooperate in the UK. Web. Noun–noun compound modifiers may also be written without a hyphen when no confusion is likely: grade point average and department store manager. See the use of “gotten”, for example. A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. Over time, many hyphenated compounds become closed compounds— teen-ager became teenager for instance. As a broad rule, when a compound adjective appears after the noun it modifies, that is, in the predicative position, it will not be hyphenated. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen “co-operate”, except hyphenated across a line-break…. I find this discussion very interesting but do not entirely agree. Many writers insert a hyphen in “decision making,” “problem solving,” and the like, though such treatment is justified only when the compound modifies a following noun (“decision-making apparatus,” “problem-solving skills”). It was published in the United Kingdom, whose form of English (the oldest among nations where English is widely spoken, though that doesn’t make it the definitive form) has only recently begun to veer from favoring such constructions. Hyphens in Compound Adjectives The words in a compound adjective (a single adjective made up of two or more words) can be linked together by hyphens to show they … A compound noun is a word made up of two separate nouns. Many veterinarians find meat-fed cats to be quite healthy. What is the correct way of writing one-year-old-child (or two, three, four etc.)? Compound nouns are sometimes one word, like toothpaste, haircut, or bedroom. It is necessary to hyphenate compound adjectives because without the hyphenation, the modifier would be read differently. Categorized Examples. Here are a few examples of common hyphenated compound words: an up-to-date account. Not so. “Jacket copywriter” implies someone who crafts prose to be printed on coats. Check your text and writing for style, spelling and grammar problems everywhere on the web! No-one (that’s no-one not noone) writes cooperate in the UK. STANDS4 LLC, 2020. Not that anyone would interpret it that way, but without the hyphen, the emphasis of how you read it to yourself would make it seem that the language was well-informed, not the lover of the language (an absurdity, of course). For example, sing-along is a compound formed from a verb and an adverb, but it functions as a noun: Minutes later, I was reading an entry, and I noticed the second error repeated therein: “The word denotes a well-informed language-lover and word connoisseur.” This time — assuming the author, while reading the proof, had not overlooked a copy editor’s erroneous insertion — the culprit was Garner himself. And I left the UK in 1990. Hyphen in a Compound Expression With a Noun and Past Participle. The municipal government is funding a community-based education system. There’s just one error: In the third-last paragraph, you used the word “alternate” when you meant “alternative.”, Copyright © 2020 Daily Writing Tips . We truly appreciate your support. One easy way to tell if you should use a hyphen is to pair each describing word on its own with the noun it’s describing. ‘My wife and daughter are both blue-eyed.‘ Compound nouns are words which give a name to something. Hyphenated Compound Noun; Hyphenated compound nouns are those words that are connected by one or more hyphens such as sister-in-law, mother-in-law, jack-in-the-box, state-of-the-art, brother-in-law, shout-out, mind-set, five-year-old, etc. Otherwise, no hyphens are needed. As the names imply, “open compounds” are written as separate words, “hyphenated compounds” are written with one or more hyphens, and “closed compounds” are written as a single word. An online search for “language lover” yields one hyphen-free usage after another, which confirms my opinion that in American English, at least, the hyphen is extraneous. Hyphenated Form: These compound nouns connect two or more words with one or more hyphens between them. Compound nouns are formed by the combination of two words. Writers using familiar compound verbs and nouns should consult a dictionary or look online to decide if these verbs and nouns should be hyphenated. For variations of these compound nouns, e.g., rest house, reference book, always check the dictionary for proper spelling. Many writers insert a hyphen in “decision making,” “problem solving,” and the like, though such treatment is justified only when the compound modifies a following noun (“decision-making apparatus,” “problem-solving skills”). Hyphenated compound words place a hyphen between the two words. Complete Words Others have migrated and become complete words, spelled as one word, with no hyphen: headache checkbook boardinghouse clearinghouse. If the words don’t make sense without each other, you should hyphenate them. Compound nouns can be made up of two or more other words, but each compound has a single meaning.They may or may not be hyphenated, and they may be written with a space between words—especially if one of the words has more than one syllable, as in living room.In that regard, it’s necessary to avoid the over-simplification of saying that two single-syllable words are written together … Thus, if we hear “I’m going to the well today”, as long as we know that the speaker is an oil worker (and not a drawer of water), it is perfectly understood that well means oil well and the terms are interchangeable. 18 Dec. 2020. I have to say hyphenation of compound words in English is completely arbitrary. All completely just based on the standard of the moment, and language is constantly in flux. However, this was in the 1970s. Twenty examples of hyphenated compound nouns are listed below. American English is very often an older form, long obsolete in British English, which long along “veered from favouring such constructions.” (And sometimes veers back again, under American influence). Hyphenated compound words are the ones (obviously) with a hyphen between the words. . A compound is a word or word group that consists of two or more parts that work together as a unit to express a specific concept. However, similar noun+verb compounds, like eye-opener, are valid. Usually, a compound noun will contain a noun as one of its elements. While compound nouns do not require hyphens, some people prefer to use them. Sometimes, more than … But that doesn’t have to be the case. Compound nouns comprised of a noun and a participle (in any order) must be hyphenated when being used as an adjective: a garden-filled city, cutting-edge methods. For example, it helps us know if somebody sa… Incidentally, I heartily agree with Sarah Turner on “no-one” (in preference to the often-used “no one”, which to my mind has a different meaning (e.g “Of the many ideas put forward, no one solution on its own was seen as workable”), and I also favour “co-operate”, though I note that “cooperate” is considered correct in the US and find that it increasingly being used in the UK too (along with coordinate, proofread, etc., etc.) Compound nouns tend to have more stress on the first word. The rules on whether to use a hyphen, a space, or nothing between the words in a compound noun are inconsistent. You'll also get three bonus ebooks completely free. Hyphenate nouns or adjectives beginning with the prefixes ex (meaning "former"), self, all and quasi: 1. ex-wife 2. ex-premier Getty 3. self-control 4. self-assured 5. all-inclusive 6. all-powerful 7. quasi-judicial 8. quasi-stellar However, when self is the base word to which a suffix is added, do nothyphenate: 1. selfish 2. selfhood 3. selfsame 4. selfless but not when the compound comes after the noun: His music was also well known in England. Improve your grammar, vocabulary, and writing -- and it's FREE! Sometimes you separate them out into two words, sometimes you put them together, sometimes you separate with a hyphen. Being a translation quality manager by profession, but with no formal training in linguistics, semantics or other relevant specialised fields, I have developed my own rules on the basis of wide reading experience, study of established (British) reference works and the application of logic. Compound words can be written in three ways: as open compounds (spelled as two words, e.g., ice cream), closed compounds (joined to form a single word, e.g., doorknob), or hyphenated compounds (two words joined by a hyphen, e.g., long-term). . We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. The book’s description refers to its attention to “questions . Authors are usually given the opportunity to proof their books, and occasionally have a chance to weigh in on the cover art, but rarely, if ever, do they get to see jacket copy before publication. Aide-de-camp; Merry-go-round; Coat-of-male; Commander-in-chief; Forget-me-not; Touch-me-not; Knight-errant; Knight-templar; Man-of-war; Good-for-nothing; Father-in-law; Lord-justice; Lord-lieutenant; Passer-by; Hanger-on; Looker-on; Happy-go-lucky; Tug-of-war; Pick-me-up; Go-between In the phrase "pink ball", both words are equally stressed (as you know, adjectives and nouns are always stressed). Whenever I see hyphenated compound nouns such as this, I feel as if I’m being whisked in a time machine to a bygone era in which hyphenation of word pairs was rampant: to-day, co-operate, tea-cup, and so on. And a writer’s rule of thumb is that if a term has not made its way into a dictionary, use a corollary form (would you hyphenate “cat lover” or “coffee lover”?) I beg to differ: “no one” and “cooperate” are the primary spellings listed in the OED. 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