Hi, fun nation! (See what I did there?) Today, we’re boldly going where no other punctuation mark dares to go, where lasting connections are forged or relentlessly torn asunder—to the jurisdiction of the mighty hyphen.
In modern English, the hyphen seems to pop up all over the place, so it can be hard to keep track of all the nuances of its use. Thus, for your convenience, I have compiled a list of the hyphen’s favorite hangouts, complete with examples and short explanations of why it hangs out there:
Prefixes
ex: Out of sheer self-preservation, the author’s ex-boyfriend does all that he can to steer clear of local book conventions, bookstores, libraries, and all places book related.
This is one of the most familiar and traditional instances of hyphen use. Essentially, we are using the hyphen to attach an affix (which is the umbrella term under which prefixes and suffixes fall) to a word.
Hanging hyphens
ex: In his mid- to late-thirties, Ben Franklin surprised his peers by leaving politics and joining Han Solo to become a space-faring smuggler of intra- and extra-galactic repute.
Now, we venture from the familiar to the slightly weird: the suspended, or hanging, hyphen. As with traditional prefixes and suffixes, this strange-looking convention is all about familiarity; when writers are feverishly pecking out a sentences and come to one which calls for the suspended hyphen for the first time, the sheer strangeness of it can be enough to stop them in their tracks, which is exactly what we don’t want to happen. More often than not, and after much frustrating consideration, they ultimately opt to leave it out, resulting in awkward phrases like first, second, and third-place winners or 11 and 12 foot beams. (What are “foot beams,” and why do you have so many of them?)
To that, dear writers, I say, “No more!” Henceforth, suspend your hyphens in confidence!
Numbers
ex: Despite having stayed awake for one hundred and seventy-two hours, the frazzled student had only completed two of the required twenty-five pages for his essay.
When writing out a number above twenty, always hyphenate between tens and ones, e.g., twenty-two, eighty-nine. When writing out a number above ninety-nine, only hyphenate the tens and ones, e.g., one hundred fifty-four, eighteen sixty-five. Use a hyphen between the elements of a fraction, e.g., two-thirds, unless one of those elements is greater than twenty, e.g., two thirty-thirds, six twenty-fifths.
Compound noun
ex: Citizens of the city-state thought Caesar was a stick-in-the-mud until he bought everyone a round, proclaiming, “A six-pack for all, and all for a six-pack!”
Some compound nouns, such as father-in-law, a five-year-old, and four-fifths, rely on hyphens to tie their components together. For other compound nouns, the use of the hyphen is quite arbitrary and dependent on the author’s preferred dictionary: tap dancer or tap-dancer; vice presidency or vice-presidency; copy editor, copyeditor, or copy-editor.
Compound adjectives
ex: Having locked herself out, the ever-resourceful Rebecca scaled the wall to her third-floor apartment using a pair of plungers as suction cups.
This type of hyphen is particularly crucial because its absence can result in some pretty absurd (and often times hilarious) misinterpretations. Consider, for instance, a big-county legislator versus a big county legislator. Is it a legislator from a big county (big-county legislator), or is it a county legislator who’s big (big county legislator)? One teeny, tiny hyphen makes all the difference in preventing a fundamental (and perhaps embarrassing) misunderstanding.
Spelling
ex: “Out!” Fred screamed. “O-U-T, out!”
This one is as straightforward as it is useful. If you (or your characters) are spelling out words, use hyphens to separate the letters. You can also use this convention when your characters are saying phone numbers, as follows: “Quick, dial 9-1-1,” she cried. “I broke a nail!”
Line wrapping
ex: Teddy Roosevelt was a mountain of a man, so it’s fitting that his bespect-
acled, mustachioed likeness is permanently etched into Mount Rushmore.
Here’s one you’re likely used to seeing. It simply lets the reader know that a given word spills onto the next line—easy as that! By far, the most important thing to know about line-wrapping hyphens is this: Do not insert them manually! When it comes time to format the manuscript, your typesetter/formatter will take care of them for you. If you do insert them manually, it’s extremely likely to cause problems during formatting, so resist the urge to do so at all cost—you’ll save your typesetter/formatter a lot of trouble and time. (And saving time means getting your book faster!)
So, there you have it—a nice compilation of hyphen hangouts. I hope it gives you the freedom to wield the hyphen with confidence, knowing that you have complete control over one more punctuation mark to ensure optimum reader comprehension.