Usage of hyphens

- Compound adjectives are a combination of two or more adjectives that modify the same noun. They require a hyphen to avoid confusion. Examples include:

French-speaking	Small-town	Slow-moving	Up-to-date
All-too-common	Low-risk	Ill-equipped	Sure-footed
Long-winded	Part-time	Open-minded	Four-year

Ex	Erin received high marks on her well-written essay.
	Luna installed state-of-the-art technology in her office.

- Phrases with compound adjectives require a hyphen to avoid confusion and ambiguity. Note that once the words are combined, they form an adjective to modify the noun.

2. Hyphens in numbers

Note that numbers written out should include a hyphen between each individual number.

Ex	Eighty-two
	Thirty-five

3. Hyphenated prefixes

- A prefix is an affix placed at the beginning of another word to modify the word’s meaning. But, when does a prefix need a hyphen? Here are some general rules to follow about hyphenating prefixes.

Common prefixes
(sometimes used with the hyphen, sometimes without)
Pre-	Post-	Anti-	Pro-
Con-	Ex-	Non-	Omni-
Inter-	Intra-	Macro-	Micro-
Auto-	Extra-	Homo-	Hetero-

- Always use a hyphen with a proper noun and the prefixes ex- and self-. Always use a hyphen is there are two of the same vowels in a row. However, different vowels in a row do not require a hyphen. When in doubt, add a hyphen to eliminate confusion.

Ex	Self-aware
	Ex-wife
	Re-enter
	Re-press (without a hyphen, this could be confused with repress)