Grammar-Quizzes.com

Use a hyphen between two nouns of equal importance:

 singer-songwriter, city-state, producer-director

Use a hyphen between two numbers spelled out:   tens and units (21 – 99):

AP  "when large numbers must be spelled out, use a hyphen to connect a word ending in -y to another word: twenty-one, fifty-five, etc."

CMOS spells out numbers one to ninety-nine; AP & APA spells out numbers one to nine)

I counted sixty-five.

She is twenty-one.

BUT: I met her in 1991. Do not spell out the names of years.

Use a hyphen between two letters to avoid a word that can be misread:
Including the hyphen visually separates the final letter of the prefix and the initial letter of the root word.

reenter  re-enter; reelection  re-election, antiitch anti-itch, coopt  co-opt, deice de-ice, shelllike  shell-like, nonnative non-native (but not cooperate and coordinate)

Use a hyphen to distinguish homonyms:
Including the hyphen more easily differentiates the word from another word with a closed spelling.

recreation re-creation; unionized un-ionized, remark  re-mark, resign re-sign, reserve re-serve; recover re-cover

Use a hyphen to link two nouns that modify another noun:

The Menlo-Atherton train station, The California-Nevada border

Use a hyphen to clarify a modifier and a noun:
(hyphens and readability; CMOS 7.85)

[three foot] stools   three-foot stools; 

Use a hyphen to link multiple words together as modifiers:
(multiple hyphens; CMOS 7.88)

The forget-me-not state flower
He is a Jack-of-all-trades guy.
If you are a  do-it-yourself person, don't call us for an estimate.
We offer one-to-one classes at convenient times.

Use a hyphen to link a modifying fraction:

a one-half inch piece (adj.)  but not one half of Congress (n.)
a quarter-mile run (adj.) ; a half-mile race  but not a half mile (n.);

Use a hyphen to link a modifying number:

an eight-hour day, a two-week vacation; a 40-hour-work week, It was a two-thousand-twenty-six dollar-fine, a fourteenth-century church, twenty-first century literature, a sixteen-year-old girl, a ninety-year-old woman; a third-floor apartment

Use a hyphen to link a modifying color:

emerald-green lake, coal-black eyes   but emerald green (n.) coal black (n.)
purplish-pink paint, purple and pink paint  but black-and-white paint

Use a hyphen to indicate an inexact amount: (odd)

sixty-odd people

Use a hyphen to link an adjective and a noun modifier:
(adjective+noun; CMOS 7.9)

small-state senators, high-stakes gambling, middle-class neighborhood, kilowatt-hour meter, same-sex marriage, a tenure-track position

Use a hyphen to link a modifying adverb (not ending in -ly):   ill-, well-, lesser-, little-, much-, best-, most (CMOS 7 .86)

ill-favored project, well-known person, little-known fact, best-selling novel, most-skilled workers

Use a hyphen to link a modifying -ing participle: (before and after the noun)

mind-blowing experience, thirst-quenching drink, tongue-lashing speech; cutting-edge technology, chopping-block technique

Use a hyphen to link a modifying -ed participle:  (before and after the noun)

web-based course, fast-paced movie, double-padded shoulders, open-mouthed jar, mass-produced cars; dressed-up people, stuffed-shirt executive

  cross-, full-, ex-, ever-, e-

cross-country race, a full-length mirror, the ever-present road congestion,ex-boyfriend, e-commerce web site

- free, -sided, -fold, -elect 

a toll-free number, a nicotine-free cigarette, wood-sided house, four-fold recipe, president-elect, mayor-elect;

Use a hyphen to link a proper noun and an adjective:

Afro-American  woman (but not African American) Greco-Roman wrestling; Franco-American Studies Center (but not French Canadian or Latin American)

Use a hyphen to link a relationship term: (-in-law, great-, self-)

sister-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, great-grandmother,
self-knowledge study, self-educated man, self-possessed child

Use a hyphen to link a modifying prefix with a proper noun or number:
Separate prefixes from proper nouns with a hyphen.

pro-British forces, anti-Semitic statement (prefixes with proper nouns), pre-1900 coin (prefixes with dates), mid-1985 to late 1986 music, pro-American magazine, un-American activities

ante, anti, bi, bio, co, counter, cyber, extra, hyper, infra, inter, intra, macro, mega, meta, micro, mid, mini, multi, neo, non, over, post, pre, pro, proto, pseudo, re, semi, social, super, supra, trans, ultra, un, under

meta-analysis, multi-institutional, pro-life,

All prefixes are usually one word.
antebellum, antibacterial, binomial, bioscience, coauthor, counterclockwise, cyberspace, extrafine, hypertext, infrastructure, interfaith, intramural, macroeconomics, megavitamins, metadata, microeconomics, midcareer, minivan, multicolor, neonatal, nonviolent, overwork, posttest, preterm, promarket, prototype, pseuonym, semiconductor, sociolinguistics, subzero, supermarket, supraorbital, transatlantic,ultrasound, unfunded, underrate

un-, pro-, anti-, pre-, trans-, mid-, etc.

Except with proper nouns:
un-American, pro-Arab, pro-Canadian, anti-Reagan, trans-America, mid-July, post-Vietnam, un-English, Pre-Rafaelite, pseudo-Tudor, pre-1900

anti-, re-, co, non, un-, intra-, etc.

Except when separating root words with same initial letter: anti-intellectual, re-entry, co-own, un-unionized, intra-arterial, semi-invalid

sub-

Except with double prefixes:
sub-subparagraph

anti-, pro- 

Except when indicating favor for some party, system, idea:  pro-British, pro-choice, pro-labor, pro-environment, pro-communist, anti-Semitic anti-abortion, anti-war, anti-labor, anti-aircraft, anti-social

Most prefixes are usually one word.

co-     

co-author, co-chairman, co-defendent, co-host, co-owner, co-pilot, co-signer, co-star, co-worker  

coed, coeducation, coequal, coexist, *cooperate, *coordinate

non-     

Except when separating a prefix ending in the same letter that begins the root word: non-native, non-nuclear  

(usually one word)

pre-     

Except when prefixes precede proper nouns and dates: pre-Christian, pre-Columbian, pre-K pre-1900  

(usually one word)

post-   

post-bellum, post-mortem (but post office)

(usually one word)

trans-   

trans-American (but transatlantic, transcontinental)

sub-

Except with double same prefix:  sub-sub paragraph  

(usually one word)

PREFIX EXAMPLES

mini, multi, non, over, phobia, post, pre, pro, pseudo, quasi, re, semi socio, sub, super, supra, ultra, un, under

MOST PREFEXES ARE NOT HYPHENATED

minisession, multiphase, nonsignificant, overaggressive, agora phobia, quasiperiodic, reevaluate, semidarkness, socioeconomic, subtest, superordinate, supraliminal, ultrahigh, unbiased, underdeveloped

EXCEPTION 1    

A compound is which the word is capitalized, a number, an abbreviation, more than one word

SECOND ELEMENT IS CAPITALIZED OR MULTIPLE WORDS

pro-British, post-911, pre-UCB application, non-native-language-students
 

EXCEPTION 2  

All self- compounds

SELF-

self-test, self-motivated, self-esteems
 

EXCEPTION 3   

Words that could be misunderstood

CONFUSING HOMONYMS

re-pair/repair; re-form/reform, un-ionized/unionized
 

EXCEPTION 4   

Words in which the prefix ends and the base word begins with the same vowel.
 

DOUBLE LETTER SEQUENCE

meta-analysis, anti-intellectual, co-occur

AN EXCEPTION TO THE EXCEPTION

BUT NOT  RE-   reevaluate

CAPITALIZE FIRST ELEMENT

CAPITALIZE FIRST ELEMENT

CAPITALIZE FIRST ELEMENT

Cross-Country Skiing

Cross-country Skiing

Cross-Country Skiing

Self-Actualization Workshop

Self-actualization Workshop
 

Self-Actualization Workshop

CAPITALIZE SECOND ELEMENT if not an article, prep, or conjunction.

DO NO CAPITALIZE SECOND ELEMENT

CAPITALIZE SECOND ELEMENT if not an article, prep., conj.,or musical flat

Ever-Present Road Congestion

Ever-present Road Congestion

Ever-Present Road Congestion

President-Elect Barack Obama

President-elect Barack Obama

President-Elect Barack Obama

City-States in Nineteenth Century Europe

City-states in Nineteenth Century Europe

City-States in Nineteenth Century Europe

A Series of Web-Based Courses

A Series of Web-based Courses

A Series of Web-Based Courses

Cutting-Edge Nanotechnology

Cutting-edge Nanotechnology

Cutting-Edge Nanotechnology

Self-Sustaining City of the Future

Self-sustaining City of the Future

*Self-Sustaining City (participles often lowercase)

Full-Fashioned Clothing

Full-fashioned Clothing

Full-Fashioned Clothing    (participles often lowercase)

Over-the-Counter Testing Kits

Over-the-counter Testing Kits

BUT: Over-the-Counter Testing Kits   (article)

Bread-and-Butter Basics

Bread-and-butter Basics

BUT: Bread-and-Butter Basics  (conjunction)

E-Flat Minor Melody

E-flat Minor Melody
 

BUT: E-flat Minor Melody; (flat – sharp)

CAPITALIZE SECOND ELEMENT

CAPITALIZE SECOND ELEMENT if a proper noun or proper adjective.  

CAPITALIZE SECOND ELEMENT if a proper noun or proper adjective.  

Franco-American Studies Center

Franco-American Studies Center

Franco-American Studies Center

Anti-American Protestors Storm Embassy 

Anti-American Protestors Storm Embassy 

Anti-American Protestors Storm Embassy  

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

BUT: Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs

BUT: Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Treatments

Pro-Reagan Viewpoints  (proper noun)

Pro-Reagan Viewpoints  (proper noun)

Pro-Reagan Viewpoints  (proper noun)

Pro-life Viewpoints (Hyphenate when coining words that denote support for something.)
 

BUT: Prolife Viewpoints (closed in CMOS; hyphenated in AP)

BUT: Prolife Viewpoints (not a proper noun)

CAPITALIZE SECOND ELEMENT   including numbers.

DO NOT CAPITALIZE  a spelled out number (21-99).  

DO NOT CAPITALIZE  a spelled out number (21-99).  

Fifty-Piece Orchestra Plays Sold-out Hall

Fifty-piece Orchestra Plays Sold-out Hall

Fifty-Piece Orchestra Plays Sold-out Hall

Fifty-One Violinists Compete for Title

Fifty-one Violinists Compete for Title

BUT: Fifty-one Violinists Compete (spelled number)
 

BREAK RULES  if a consistent look is needed.

*Twenty-First-Century Furnishings ("first" if lowercase, would look inconsistent)

*Hand-me-downs  (lowercase short unstressed elements)

*Write-ins and Cross-outs  (lowercase short unstressed elements)