You will also form compound adjectives by combining various parts of speech. Here's the way hyphenation works:
| Combining Parts of Speech | Rule on Hyphenation | Example |
| adjective + noun with -ed suffix | Hyphenate before noun, open after noun. | straight-laced Senator |
| coarse-grained surface of the table (before noun) | ||
| The surface of the table was coarse grained (after noun). | ||
| adjective or participle + noun | Hyphenate these compounds, which always precede the noun. | hot-water tank |
| ninth-floor office and living-room window | ||
| adverb ending in ‑ly + participle or adjective | Always open (never hyphenated) (this is a common mistake). | publicly traded stock (-ly adverb + past participle) |
| widely used procedure (-ly adverb + past participle) | ||
| rapidly increasing revenues (-ly adverb + present participle) | ||
| privately held corporation (-ly adverb + past participle) | ||
| newly rich nation (-ly adverb + adjective) | ||
| adverb not ending in ‑ly + participle or adjective | Open unless hyphenation needed to avoid ambiguity. | ever faithful friend |
| much loved friend | ||
| much-loved music (to avoid "much loved music") | ||
| less-appreciated art (to avoid "less appreciated art") | ||
| adverbs well, ill, better, best, little, lesser, least + participle or adjective | Hyphenated before noun, open after noun, open if modified by adverb. | well-known actress |
| The actress is well known. | ||
| the supposedly well known actress (modified by adverb supposedly) | ||
| least-desirable procedure | ||
| This procedure is least desirable. | ||
| noun + adjective | Hyphenated before noun, open after noun if ambiguity avoided. | fuel-efficient engine |
| labor-intensive business | ||
| user-friendly computer program | ||
| The computer program is user friendly. | ||
| noun + participle | Hyphenated before noun, open after noun if ambiguity avoided. | decision-making process |
| government-controlled economy | ||
| resource-depleted environment | ||
| The environment was resource depleted. | ||
| profit-making enterprise | ||
| compound adjectives of long standing | Hyphenate phrases of long standing before and after noun. | Before noun: devil-may-care attitude |
| Before noun: up-to-date review. | ||
| After noun: The review is up-to-date. | ||
| Before noun: over-the-hill athlete. | ||
| After noun: The athlete is over-the-hill. | ||
| phrase ending with preposition | Hyphenate before noun, open after noun if no ambiguity | spelled-out fraction |
| unheard-of defense | ||
| This defense was unheard of. | ||
| made-up compound adjective | ||
| The compound adjective was made up. | ||
| proper nouns used as adjective | Hyphenated, open, or closed depending on how the compound appears in the dictionary. | Afro-American family |
| Scotch-Irish ancestry | ||
| Austronesian heritage |
Previous: Compound Adjectives - A Long List
Next: Chapter 11 - Apostrophe
Have a discussion about this article with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In