Tuesday, November 5, 2019
5 Examples of How Hyphens Help
5 Examples of How Hyphens Help 5 Examples of How Hyphens Help 5 Examples of How Hyphens Help By Mark Nichol Confusion about whether or not to use a hyphen remains one of the most common mechanical problems in writing. Here are five sentences in which hyphens are erroneously omitted. 1. ââ¬Å"The head on crash sent three people to the hospital.â⬠This sentence creates the unfortunate impression that a human head is somehow responsible for a car accident: The phrasal adjective ââ¬Å"head onâ⬠should be hyphenated before the noun it refers to (but, like all the other examples in this post, should left open when it follows the noun): ââ¬Å"The head-on crash sent three people to the hospital.â⬠2. ââ¬Å"Itââ¬â¢s unfortunate that she didnââ¬â¢t make better informed decisions.â⬠One could refer to informed decisions that are better, but thatââ¬â¢s not quite what is meant here. The reference is to decisions that are better informed, so the phrasal adjective should be hyphenated: ââ¬Å"Itââ¬â¢s unfortunate that she didnââ¬â¢t make better-informed decisions.â⬠3. ââ¬Å"His report suggested a less than careful analysis of the facts.â⬠What kind of analysis being discussed? One that is less than careful. So this combination of words should be hyphenated: ââ¬Å"His report suggested a less-than-careful analysis of the facts.â⬠4. ââ¬Å"She showed excellent time management skills.â⬠This sentence can be read only as intended, but because ââ¬Å"time managementâ⬠is not awarded status as a standing phrase by being honored with a dictionary entry, it should be treated like any other temporary phrasal adjective: ââ¬Å"She showed excellent time-management skills.â⬠5. ââ¬Å"By observing quality of care measures at that point, they could predict with 77 percent accuracy who would drop out of high school.â⬠The issue is not care measures and their quality; it is measures of quality of care, or ââ¬Å"quality-of-care measuresâ⬠: ââ¬Å"By observing quality-of-care measures at that point, they could predict with 77 percent accuracy who would drop out of high school.â⬠Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?8 Types of Parenthetical PhrasesLetter Writing 101
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