Purdue University North Cental Writing Center Handout

 Uses of the Hyphen

 The hyphen is used to:

1.      divide a word at the end of a line

                      (according to dictionary syllable division).

2.      join together words or prefixes and words.                 

                       (ex.  self-service, great-grandfather)

3.      join a prefix to a proper noun.        

                         (ex.  anti-Nixon, un-American)

4.      join a prefix ending in a vowel to a word beginning with the same vowel.   

                           (ex.  anti-intellectual, co-ordinate)

5.      join a prefix to a word to discriminate between words.   

                           (ex.  recreation, re-creation)

6.      join two or more adjectives used as one word to modify another word.

              (ex.  low-level official, devil-may-care attitude)

7.      join compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and in specific fractions.

              (ex.  forty-three, two-thirds)