UWF Writing Laboratory Mini-Lesson #67 51/158 474-2029 Hyphens! UWF Writing Laboratory Mini-Lesson #67 51/158 474-2029

I am giving you a sign up sheet to distribute so that students interested in attending the play can sign up and reserve a seat. Which two words in the above sentence should be combined with a hyphen?

I am giving you a sign up sheet to distribute so that students interested in attending the play can sign up and reserve a seat. Which two words in the above sentence should be combined with a hyphen? RIGHT! “sign” and “up” Without the hyphen, the reader may be momentarily derailed. The sentence seems to read as follows: I am giving you a sign….

The hyphen is most commonly used to separate a word that is divided by the right hand margin, but a hyphen also has the following conventional uses: To separate the parts of a compound modifier or multiword adjective when the modifier/ adjective precedes the word that it modifies (e.g. “When he is out of town, he uses out-of-town checks.”); To separate compounds of equal weight (e.g. male-female relationships);

3. To set off prefixes of words beginning with the prefixes well-, all-, self-, and ex- (e.g. “all-purpose,” “ex-wife,” “well- informed,” and “self-centered”); 4. To set off some compound nouns (e.g. “mother-in-law”) or to set off prefixes before a proper noun or adjective (e.g. “all-American”); 5. To separate numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and fractions such as two-thirds.

Exceptions Do not hyphenate words that begin with the prefixes pre-, un-, re-, inter-, non-, multi-, bi-, semi-, up-, over-, and intra (e.g. “preschool,” “rearrange,” “overworked,” “intercollegiate,” “multicultural,” “bipartisan,” nonviolent, bipartisan, and “semisweet”). Occasionally, hyphens are used to avoid confusion (e.g. “re-solve” instead of “resolve”). Consult a dictionary when you’re in doubt.

Practice! Air traffic was so dense that afternoon that air traffic control could hardly cope. Air traffic was so dense that afternoon that air-traffic control could hardly cope. Nancy’s exhusband is an antifeminist. Nancy’s ex-husband is an antifeminist. My mother in law works for a quasi official corporation that does two thirds of its business with the government. My mother-in-law works for a quasi-official corporation that does two-thirds of its business with the government.

Remember to differentiate between a hyphen and a dash. HYPHEN (to separate words) - DASH (to separate sentences) --