When do we add a hyphen (-) to a complex adjective word?
When do we add a hyphen (-) to a complex adjective word?
Here are a few examples:
This is an Xbox-compatible game.
This is a Creation-Kit-compatible 3d asset.
This is a SkyRe-compatible Skyrim mod.
More often than not all these examples are used without a hyphen or hyphens. Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
hyphens
edited 11 hours ago
psmears
40739
asked yesterday
repomonsterrepomonster
1,051116
add a comment |
When do we add a hyphen (-) to a complex adjective word?
Here are a few examples:
This is an Xbox-compatible game.
This is a Creation-Kit-compatible 3d asset.
This is a SkyRe-compatible Skyrim mod.
More often than not all these examples are used without a hyphen or hyphens. Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
hyphens
edited 11 hours ago
psmears
40739
asked yesterday
repomonsterrepomonster
1,051116
The hyphen is used to indicate that it is a morphological compound word consisting of two bases, as opposed to a syntactic construction consisting of head+modifier.
– BillJ
20 hours ago
1
My employer couldn't read my signature, so I re-signed the contract. Afterwards, I resigned.
– Strawberry
12 hours ago
Robusto's and fred2's answers don't address a situation which often causes doubt as to whether to write a hyphenated word or two separate words, namely, where the second is an adjective, and the first is an adverb modifying it. This answer to another question might help.
– Rosie F
8 hours ago
add a comment |
When do we add a hyphen (-) to a complex adjective word?
Here are a few examples:
This is an Xbox-compatible game.
This is a Creation-Kit-compatible 3d asset.
This is a SkyRe-compatible Skyrim mod.
More often than not all these examples are used without a hyphen or hyphens. Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
hyphens
edited 11 hours ago
psmears
40739
asked yesterday
repomonsterrepomonster
1,051116
When do we add a hyphen (-) to a complex adjective word?
Here are a few examples:
This is an Xbox-compatible game.
This is a Creation-Kit-compatible 3d asset.
This is a SkyRe-compatible Skyrim mod.
More often than not all these examples are used without a hyphen or hyphens. Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
hyphens
hyphens
edited 11 hours ago
psmears
40739
asked yesterday
repomonsterrepomonster
1,051116
edited 11 hours ago
psmears
40739
asked yesterday
repomonsterrepomonster
1,051116
edited 11 hours ago
psmears
40739
edited 11 hours ago
psmears
40739
edited 11 hours ago
psmears
40739
40739
asked yesterday
repomonsterrepomonster
1,051116
asked yesterday
repomonsterrepomonster
1,051116
asked yesterday
repomonsterrepomonster
1,051116
1,051116
The hyphen is used to indicate that it is a morphological compound word consisting of two bases, as opposed to a syntactic construction consisting of head+modifier.
– BillJ
20 hours ago
1
My employer couldn't read my signature, so I re-signed the contract. Afterwards, I resigned.
– Strawberry
12 hours ago
Robusto's and fred2's answers don't address a situation which often causes doubt as to whether to write a hyphenated word or two separate words, namely, where the second is an adjective, and the first is an adverb modifying it. This answer to another question might help.
– Rosie F
8 hours ago
add a comment |
The hyphen is used to indicate that it is a morphological compound word consisting of two bases, as opposed to a syntactic construction consisting of head+modifier.
– BillJ
20 hours ago
1
My employer couldn't read my signature, so I re-signed the contract. Afterwards, I resigned.
– Strawberry
12 hours ago
Robusto's and fred2's answers don't address a situation which often causes doubt as to whether to write a hyphenated word or two separate words, namely, where the second is an adjective, and the first is an adverb modifying it. This answer to another question might help.
– Rosie F
8 hours ago
The hyphen is used to indicate that it is a morphological compound word consisting of two bases, as opposed to a syntactic construction consisting of head+modifier.
– BillJ
20 hours ago
The hyphen is used to indicate that it is a morphological compound word consisting of two bases, as opposed to a syntactic construction consisting of head+modifier.
– BillJ
20 hours ago
1
1
My employer couldn't read my signature, so I re-signed the contract. Afterwards, I resigned.
– Strawberry
12 hours ago
My employer couldn't read my signature, so I re-signed the contract. Afterwards, I resigned.
– Strawberry
12 hours ago
Robusto's and fred2's answers don't address a situation which often causes doubt as to whether to write a hyphenated word or two separate words, namely, where the second is an adjective, and the first is an adverb modifying it. This answer to another question might help.
– Rosie F
8 hours ago
Robusto's and fred2's answers don't address a situation which often causes doubt as to whether to write a hyphenated word or two separate words, namely, where the second is an adjective, and the first is an adverb modifying it. This answer to another question might help.
– Rosie F
8 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
This is not a question of grammar, but of style. Writers use hyphens with compound adjectives to avoid ambiguity so that the reader does not have to read and re-read a sentence to garner the meaning from it.
Consider:
John was a white bearded man.
Someone might try to parse this sentence at first to mean he was a white man who had a beard.
John was a white-bearded man.
This makes it quite clear that John was a man with a white beard, not a white man with a beard.
answered yesterday
RobustoRobusto
12.1k23042
2
So both can mean the same thing, but the other is more precise in its meaning?
– repomonster
yesterday
2
Yes. Consider hyphenating compound adjectives as providing a courtesy to your readers.
– Robusto
yesterday
"John was a white-bearded man" does not rule out the possibility that John was a white man with a white beard.
– Jasper
yesterday
13
@Jasper: That is irrelevant. The statement does not rule that out, nor does it rule out that he is a criminal or a spendthrift or an asthmatic. The only facts that can be determined from the statement involve his having a white beard. That is unambiguous, and it is everything that modest statement hoped to accomplish.
– Robusto
23 hours ago
@Jasper That's a white red-herring. As opposed to a white-red herring, which is pink. (See also: "There he was left, hand on the wheel" and "there he was, left-hand on the wheel")
– Chronocidal
10 hours ago
|
show 5 more comments
Robusto's answer is correct, I'm just adding another thought.
You asked:
Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
Robusto didn't quite address that question head on. While there is a lot of flexibility in punctuation, I would say any professional editor worth his or her salt would correct 'white bearded' to 'white-bearded'. Leaving out the hyphen is not optional.
Yes, in informal contexts, writers very often leave out the hyphens, either because they are unsure how to use them, or they forget. But that's not the same as saying they are optional. They are making a mistake which can lead to misunderstandings, and knowing how and why to use hyphens in compound adjectives places you at an advantage.
Finally, often with punctuation, we say "well, it doesn't exist in spoken English, so is it really required?"
But in spoken English there is an audible difference between
The white, bearded man.
and
The white-bearded man.
It's subtle, but it's there, and it makes all the difference to the interpretation of the sentence.
answered yesterday
fred2fred2
2,957719
The audible difference is that, in the former, there is a short pause which is absent in the latter.
– John Bentin
19 hours ago
@JohnBentin Agreed, and I would add that I wouldn’t think of the comma as necessarily representing the pause or vice versa. I think the comma and the pause serve the same purpose: distinction.
– Chase Ryan Taylor
6 hours ago
"But in spoken English there is an audible difference between" Although I did once spend a few moments wondering what a "blackhead coach" is due to an announcer's poor prosody.
– Acccumulation
6 hours ago
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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active
oldest
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2 Answers
2
active
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active
oldest
votes
This is not a question of grammar, but of style. Writers use hyphens with compound adjectives to avoid ambiguity so that the reader does not have to read and re-read a sentence to garner the meaning from it.
Consider:
John was a white bearded man.
Someone might try to parse this sentence at first to mean he was a white man who had a beard.
John was a white-bearded man.
This makes it quite clear that John was a man with a white beard, not a white man with a beard.
answered yesterday
RobustoRobusto
12.1k23042
2
So both can mean the same thing, but the other is more precise in its meaning?
– repomonster
yesterday
2
Yes. Consider hyphenating compound adjectives as providing a courtesy to your readers.
– Robusto
yesterday
"John was a white-bearded man" does not rule out the possibility that John was a white man with a white beard.
– Jasper
yesterday
13
@Jasper: That is irrelevant. The statement does not rule that out, nor does it rule out that he is a criminal or a spendthrift or an asthmatic. The only facts that can be determined from the statement involve his having a white beard. That is unambiguous, and it is everything that modest statement hoped to accomplish.
– Robusto
23 hours ago
@Jasper That's a white red-herring. As opposed to a white-red herring, which is pink. (See also: "There he was left, hand on the wheel" and "there he was, left-hand on the wheel")
– Chronocidal
10 hours ago
|
show 5 more comments
This is not a question of grammar, but of style. Writers use hyphens with compound adjectives to avoid ambiguity so that the reader does not have to read and re-read a sentence to garner the meaning from it.
Consider:
John was a white bearded man.
Someone might try to parse this sentence at first to mean he was a white man who had a beard.
John was a white-bearded man.
This makes it quite clear that John was a man with a white beard, not a white man with a beard.
answered yesterday
RobustoRobusto
12.1k23042
2
So both can mean the same thing, but the other is more precise in its meaning?
– repomonster
yesterday
2
Yes. Consider hyphenating compound adjectives as providing a courtesy to your readers.
– Robusto
yesterday
"John was a white-bearded man" does not rule out the possibility that John was a white man with a white beard.
– Jasper
yesterday
13
@Jasper: That is irrelevant. The statement does not rule that out, nor does it rule out that he is a criminal or a spendthrift or an asthmatic. The only facts that can be determined from the statement involve his having a white beard. That is unambiguous, and it is everything that modest statement hoped to accomplish.
– Robusto
23 hours ago
@Jasper That's a white red-herring. As opposed to a white-red herring, which is pink. (See also: "There he was left, hand on the wheel" and "there he was, left-hand on the wheel")
– Chronocidal
10 hours ago
|
show 5 more comments
This is not a question of grammar, but of style. Writers use hyphens with compound adjectives to avoid ambiguity so that the reader does not have to read and re-read a sentence to garner the meaning from it.
Consider:
John was a white bearded man.
Someone might try to parse this sentence at first to mean he was a white man who had a beard.
John was a white-bearded man.
This makes it quite clear that John was a man with a white beard, not a white man with a beard.
answered yesterday
RobustoRobusto
12.1k23042
This is not a question of grammar, but of style. Writers use hyphens with compound adjectives to avoid ambiguity so that the reader does not have to read and re-read a sentence to garner the meaning from it.
Consider:
John was a white bearded man.
Someone might try to parse this sentence at first to mean he was a white man who had a beard.
John was a white-bearded man.
This makes it quite clear that John was a man with a white beard, not a white man with a beard.
answered yesterday
RobustoRobusto
12.1k23042
edited yesterday
answered yesterday
RobustoRobusto
12.1k23042
answered yesterday
RobustoRobusto
12.1k23042
answered yesterday
RobustoRobusto
12.1k23042
12.1k23042
2
So both can mean the same thing, but the other is more precise in its meaning?
– repomonster
yesterday
2
Yes. Consider hyphenating compound adjectives as providing a courtesy to your readers.
– Robusto
yesterday
"John was a white-bearded man" does not rule out the possibility that John was a white man with a white beard.
– Jasper
yesterday
13
@Jasper: That is irrelevant. The statement does not rule that out, nor does it rule out that he is a criminal or a spendthrift or an asthmatic. The only facts that can be determined from the statement involve his having a white beard. That is unambiguous, and it is everything that modest statement hoped to accomplish.
– Robusto
23 hours ago
@Jasper That's a white red-herring. As opposed to a white-red herring, which is pink. (See also: "There he was left, hand on the wheel" and "there he was, left-hand on the wheel")
– Chronocidal
10 hours ago
|
show 5 more comments
2
So both can mean the same thing, but the other is more precise in its meaning?
– repomonster
yesterday
2
Yes. Consider hyphenating compound adjectives as providing a courtesy to your readers.
– Robusto
yesterday
"John was a white-bearded man" does not rule out the possibility that John was a white man with a white beard.
– Jasper
yesterday
13
@Jasper: That is irrelevant. The statement does not rule that out, nor does it rule out that he is a criminal or a spendthrift or an asthmatic. The only facts that can be determined from the statement involve his having a white beard. That is unambiguous, and it is everything that modest statement hoped to accomplish.
– Robusto
23 hours ago
@Jasper That's a white red-herring. As opposed to a white-red herring, which is pink. (See also: "There he was left, hand on the wheel" and "there he was, left-hand on the wheel")
– Chronocidal
10 hours ago
2
2
So both can mean the same thing, but the other is more precise in its meaning?
– repomonster
yesterday
So both can mean the same thing, but the other is more precise in its meaning?
– repomonster
yesterday
2
2
Yes. Consider hyphenating compound adjectives as providing a courtesy to your readers.
– Robusto
yesterday
Yes. Consider hyphenating compound adjectives as providing a courtesy to your readers.
– Robusto
yesterday
"John was a white-bearded man" does not rule out the possibility that John was a white man with a white beard.
– Jasper
yesterday
"John was a white-bearded man" does not rule out the possibility that John was a white man with a white beard.
– Jasper
yesterday
13
13
@Jasper: That is irrelevant. The statement does not rule that out, nor does it rule out that he is a criminal or a spendthrift or an asthmatic. The only facts that can be determined from the statement involve his having a white beard. That is unambiguous, and it is everything that modest statement hoped to accomplish.
– Robusto
23 hours ago
@Jasper: That is irrelevant. The statement does not rule that out, nor does it rule out that he is a criminal or a spendthrift or an asthmatic. The only facts that can be determined from the statement involve his having a white beard. That is unambiguous, and it is everything that modest statement hoped to accomplish.
– Robusto
23 hours ago
@Jasper That's a white red-herring. As opposed to a white-red herring, which is pink. (See also: "There he was left, hand on the wheel" and "there he was, left-hand on the wheel")
– Chronocidal
10 hours ago
@Jasper That's a white red-herring. As opposed to a white-red herring, which is pink. (See also: "There he was left, hand on the wheel" and "there he was, left-hand on the wheel")
– Chronocidal
10 hours ago
|
show 5 more comments
Robusto's answer is correct, I'm just adding another thought.
You asked:
Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
Robusto didn't quite address that question head on. While there is a lot of flexibility in punctuation, I would say any professional editor worth his or her salt would correct 'white bearded' to 'white-bearded'. Leaving out the hyphen is not optional.
Yes, in informal contexts, writers very often leave out the hyphens, either because they are unsure how to use them, or they forget. But that's not the same as saying they are optional. They are making a mistake which can lead to misunderstandings, and knowing how and why to use hyphens in compound adjectives places you at an advantage.
Finally, often with punctuation, we say "well, it doesn't exist in spoken English, so is it really required?"
But in spoken English there is an audible difference between
The white, bearded man.
and
The white-bearded man.
It's subtle, but it's there, and it makes all the difference to the interpretation of the sentence.
answered yesterday
fred2fred2
2,957719
The audible difference is that, in the former, there is a short pause which is absent in the latter.
– John Bentin
19 hours ago
@JohnBentin Agreed, and I would add that I wouldn’t think of the comma as necessarily representing the pause or vice versa. I think the comma and the pause serve the same purpose: distinction.
– Chase Ryan Taylor
6 hours ago
"But in spoken English there is an audible difference between" Although I did once spend a few moments wondering what a "blackhead coach" is due to an announcer's poor prosody.
– Acccumulation
6 hours ago
add a comment |
Robusto's answer is correct, I'm just adding another thought.
You asked:
Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
Robusto didn't quite address that question head on. While there is a lot of flexibility in punctuation, I would say any professional editor worth his or her salt would correct 'white bearded' to 'white-bearded'. Leaving out the hyphen is not optional.
Yes, in informal contexts, writers very often leave out the hyphens, either because they are unsure how to use them, or they forget. But that's not the same as saying they are optional. They are making a mistake which can lead to misunderstandings, and knowing how and why to use hyphens in compound adjectives places you at an advantage.
Finally, often with punctuation, we say "well, it doesn't exist in spoken English, so is it really required?"
But in spoken English there is an audible difference between
The white, bearded man.
and
The white-bearded man.
It's subtle, but it's there, and it makes all the difference to the interpretation of the sentence.
answered yesterday
fred2fred2
2,957719
The audible difference is that, in the former, there is a short pause which is absent in the latter.
– John Bentin
19 hours ago
@JohnBentin Agreed, and I would add that I wouldn’t think of the comma as necessarily representing the pause or vice versa. I think the comma and the pause serve the same purpose: distinction.
– Chase Ryan Taylor
6 hours ago
"But in spoken English there is an audible difference between" Although I did once spend a few moments wondering what a "blackhead coach" is due to an announcer's poor prosody.
– Acccumulation
6 hours ago
add a comment |
Robusto's answer is correct, I'm just adding another thought.
You asked:
Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
Robusto didn't quite address that question head on. While there is a lot of flexibility in punctuation, I would say any professional editor worth his or her salt would correct 'white bearded' to 'white-bearded'. Leaving out the hyphen is not optional.
Yes, in informal contexts, writers very often leave out the hyphens, either because they are unsure how to use them, or they forget. But that's not the same as saying they are optional. They are making a mistake which can lead to misunderstandings, and knowing how and why to use hyphens in compound adjectives places you at an advantage.
Finally, often with punctuation, we say "well, it doesn't exist in spoken English, so is it really required?"
But in spoken English there is an audible difference between
The white, bearded man.
and
The white-bearded man.
It's subtle, but it's there, and it makes all the difference to the interpretation of the sentence.
answered yesterday
fred2fred2
2,957719
Robusto's answer is correct, I'm just adding another thought.
You asked:
Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of preference?
Robusto didn't quite address that question head on. While there is a lot of flexibility in punctuation, I would say any professional editor worth his or her salt would correct 'white bearded' to 'white-bearded'. Leaving out the hyphen is not optional.
Yes, in informal contexts, writers very often leave out the hyphens, either because they are unsure how to use them, or they forget. But that's not the same as saying they are optional. They are making a mistake which can lead to misunderstandings, and knowing how and why to use hyphens in compound adjectives places you at an advantage.
Finally, often with punctuation, we say "well, it doesn't exist in spoken English, so is it really required?"
But in spoken English there is an audible difference between
The white, bearded man.
and
The white-bearded man.
It's subtle, but it's there, and it makes all the difference to the interpretation of the sentence.
answered yesterday
fred2fred2
2,957719
answered yesterday
fred2fred2
2,957719
answered yesterday
fred2fred2
2,957719
answered yesterday
fred2fred2
2,957719
2,957719
The audible difference is that, in the former, there is a short pause which is absent in the latter.
– John Bentin
19 hours ago
@JohnBentin Agreed, and I would add that I wouldn’t think of the comma as necessarily representing the pause or vice versa. I think the comma and the pause serve the same purpose: distinction.
– Chase Ryan Taylor
6 hours ago
"But in spoken English there is an audible difference between" Although I did once spend a few moments wondering what a "blackhead coach" is due to an announcer's poor prosody.
– Acccumulation
6 hours ago
add a comment |
The audible difference is that, in the former, there is a short pause which is absent in the latter.
– John Bentin
19 hours ago
@JohnBentin Agreed, and I would add that I wouldn’t think of the comma as necessarily representing the pause or vice versa. I think the comma and the pause serve the same purpose: distinction.
– Chase Ryan Taylor
6 hours ago
"But in spoken English there is an audible difference between" Although I did once spend a few moments wondering what a "blackhead coach" is due to an announcer's poor prosody.
– Acccumulation
6 hours ago
The audible difference is that, in the former, there is a short pause which is absent in the latter.
– John Bentin
19 hours ago
The audible difference is that, in the former, there is a short pause which is absent in the latter.
– John Bentin
19 hours ago
@JohnBentin Agreed, and I would add that I wouldn’t think of the comma as necessarily representing the pause or vice versa. I think the comma and the pause serve the same purpose: distinction.
– Chase Ryan Taylor
6 hours ago
@JohnBentin Agreed, and I would add that I wouldn’t think of the comma as necessarily representing the pause or vice versa. I think the comma and the pause serve the same purpose: distinction.
– Chase Ryan Taylor
6 hours ago
"But in spoken English there is an audible difference between" Although I did once spend a few moments wondering what a "blackhead coach" is due to an announcer's poor prosody.
– Acccumulation
6 hours ago
"But in spoken English there is an audible difference between" Although I did once spend a few moments wondering what a "blackhead coach" is due to an announcer's poor prosody.
– Acccumulation
6 hours ago
add a comment |
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The hyphen is used to indicate that it is a morphological compound word consisting of two bases, as opposed to a syntactic construction consisting of head+modifier.
– BillJ
20 hours ago
1
My employer couldn't read my signature, so I re-signed the contract. Afterwards, I resigned.
– Strawberry
12 hours ago
Robusto's and fred2's answers don't address a situation which often causes doubt as to whether to write a hyphenated word or two separate words, namely, where the second is an adjective, and the first is an adverb modifying it. This answer to another question might help.
– Rosie F
8 hours ago