Hyphen – Explanation and Its Uses

Hyphen 

It is a punctuation mark that joins at least two words or word parts together to make another word. A dash isolates two explanations. They appear to be identical, however, have totally different capacities. 

Hyphenated Compound Adjectives 

They are utilized before nouns. At times hyphens are not utilized while following a noun. For instance, “widely-known Sportster” utilizes a hyphen. A Sportster who is widely known doesn’t utilize a hyphen. There are no spaces around dashes. 

• He is a much-regarded specialist. The specialist is very much regarded. 
• She is a well-known educator in this region. The educator is well known around here. 
• She lives in an off-grounds house. Her house is off grounds. 

Hyphenated Compound Nouns 

A few compound nouns can be joined by a hyphen. Hyphens are frequently utilized with the ages of individuals or things except if it is in plural structure. Additionally, dashes are utilized with relatives that are in-laws. (father/mother-in-law, sister/brother-in-law, son/daughter-in-law). There are no spaces around hyphens. 

• His self-esteem decreased in the wake of losing the challenge. 
• My girl loves to ride the merry-go-round at the amusement park. 
• Our three-year kid is exceptionally dynamic. 
• My eight-month-old is eating solid food. 
• My mother-in-law is extremely loud. 

Hyphens- Avoid Confusion 

A few joined words can create confusion and change the importance of the sentence. 

• The competitor needs to re-sign with the group. 

(Here re-sign means to sign an agreement again with his group.) 

• The competitor needs to resign. 

(Here resign means to quit.) 

• We want to re-cover our couch. It has an excessive number of stains. 

(Here re-cover means to put another cover on the couch.) 

• We really want to recover our couch. It was taken during the theft. 

(Here recover means to get back something taken.) 

Hyphens in Numbers 

Hyphens can be utilized with numbers. They are utilized to join numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine. They are additionally utilized while working out fractions. They are also utilized when a number is part of a compound adjective. 

• My wife will be forty-two next week. 
• I want one-fourth cup of rice. 
• The pot is just two-fifths full. 

• We went for a 14-day journey around the Caribbean islands. 
• Our 10-year-old dog died a week ago. 

Hyphens with Prefixes 

Commonly, words with prefixes use a hyphen. In the event that the prefix closes in a vowel and the base word begins with a vowel, a hyphen is placed in the middle of the prefix and the base word.  

• The officer was re-appointed. 

• He has a license to drive a semi-automatic vehicle. 
• She is my ex-employee. 
• I’m self-employed. 

Dash 

It is utilized to demonstrate a break or a pause in the sentence. It is used to give importance to a word or set of words in the sentence. There are regular spaces around dashes. 

• You might believe you’re the best – you’re truly not. 
• Oliver – the world’s most prominent canine – died yesterday. 
• Davy – my true friend – came to help me today.