What is a hyphen and examples?

What is a hyphen and examples?

A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark used to join the separate parts of a compound word. To join the words of a compound adjective (e.g., “five-page” document) To join the words of compound noun (e.g., “cooking-oil”) To join a prefix to a word (e.g., “re-examine”).

What is a hyphen in literature?

A hyphen is a small horizontal line, such as given in these brackets (-), which is used between parts of a compound name or word, or between syllables of words at the end of a sentence or line. Hyphens serve to remove confusion from sentences, and to combine multiple words to form a single meaning.

How do you use a hyphen in writing?

The Hyphen

1. Use a hyphen at the end of a line to divide a word where there is not enough space for the whole word.
2. Use a hyphen to indicate a word spelled out letter by letter.
3. Use a hyphen to join two or more words to form compound adjectives that precede a noun.
4. Use a hyphen to avoid awkward doubling of vowels.

What are punctuation marks and examples?

There are 14 punctuation marks that are commonly used in English grammar. They are the period, question mark, exclamation point, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, parentheses, brackets, braces, apostrophe, quotation marks, and ellipsis.

Why are some words hyphenated?

Hyphens are used in many compound words to show that the component words have a combined meaning (e.g. a pick-me-up, mother-in-law, good-hearted) or that there is a relationship between the words that make up the compound: for example, rock-forming minerals are minerals that form rocks.

Why are words hyphenated?

Hyphens’ main purpose is to glue words together. They notify the reader that two or more elements in a sentence are linked. Although there are rules and customs governing hyphens, there are also situations when writers must decide whether to add them for clarity.

How do you write punctuation marks?

Period:

1. Use at the end of sentences.
2. Use with abbreviations: govt., St., etc.
3. Use an ellipsis to indicate an omitted word or omitted words in a quotation.
4. Don’t use after a sentence ending in a punctuated abbreviation.
5. Don’t use after a Roman numeral that is part of a name.

How do you write a hyphen?

To create a hyphen using a U.S. keyboard, press the hyphen key. It’s on the same key as the underscore ( _ ), to the right of the zero key. The hyphen is easier to use on the numeric keypad with math formulas.

What is a hyphen vs dash?

A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that’s used to join words or parts of words. It’s not interchangeable with other types of dashes. A dash is longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. The most common types of dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—).

What’s a hyphen look like?

Alternatively known as a dash, subtract, negative, or minus sign, the hyphen ( – ) is a punctuation mark on the underscore key next to the “0” key on US keyboards. Pictured is an example of the hyphen and underscore key on top of the keyboard. Keyboard help and support.