Hyphens . . . who on earth came up with this idea?? Grammar rules are supposed to be solid rules, not vague ideas that writers can use when logic applies; but whoever said writers were logical?
Open compounds
Two or more words used as one adjective
The school bus driver started yelling.
Hyphenated compounds
Two or more words with a hyphen(s) before a noun
The well-fed child laughed his little head around the floor.
Closed/solid compound
Two words joined as one
The underfed child lay listlessly in the dirt.
So when should I use hyphens?
Most of the time, a sentence’s meaning will be completely clear when the adverbs and adjectives are placed after the noun in a sentence, so hyphens are not required. When adverbs and adjectives are used before the noun, you will probably hyphenate.
The cat was black and white.
The black-and-white cat played with his tail.
“It is never incorrect to hyphenate adjectival compounds before a noun” (CMOS, 7.86).
And when can’t I use hyphens?
If you have an adverb (a word describing an action word) ending in ly matched with an adjective, either before or after the noun.
He was a fascinatingly handsome man.
The man was fascinatingly handsome.
Is there any easy way to remember how this works?
You’ll just have to accept that some compounded words don’t follow the rules. What can you do about this? Buy the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and follow that, although . . . The Chicago Manual of Style will let some originally-hyphenated compounds slide if they are now widely accepted. The CMOS has a style guide for compounds, combining forms, and prefixes at the end of chapter seven.
And so we come back to the original suggestion for when to use hyphens—when it’s logical to do so. Capiche?
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Add a WordPress app. to your smartphone January 31, 2010
Tags: app., automattic, blog, comments, Wordpress.com
“Write posts, upload photos, edit pages, and manage comments on your blog using WordPress for iPhone, WordPress for Blackberry, and m.wordpress.com.”
Automattic have upgraded their app. for WordPress. The iPhone or iPod Touch application lets you see and manage WordPress.com blogs. You can delete a post or a page, edit a post, see commentators’ e-mails, and moderate comments.
“Introducing the only iPhone app that lets you write posts, upload photos, edit pages, and manage comments on your blog from your iPhone or iPod touch. With support for both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress (2.7 or higher), users of all experience levels can get going in seconds.”
For those of you without a WordPress blog, sorry, I know nothing outside of WordPress. For those of you without an iPhone (myself included), by the time you’ve saved up for half the cost of one, I hope it’s come down to half the original price. 😀
Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb.
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