Hyphens are a regular source of confusion among Grammar Girl listeners. Since I thought the hyphen section of Marcia Riefer Johnston’s new book, Word Up!, was particularly helpful, this week, we have a show about hyphens based on an excerpt of her book.

Hyphens Unite!

Marcia’s friend Mark notes that hyphens seem to be disappearing. “Not sure why,” he says. “Hyphens make reading easier.” He’s talking about those times when two or more adjectives join forces, working together as a compound adjective in front of a noun. (Compound adjectives go by various names. You might know them as adjectival compounds, phrasal adjectives, compound modifiers, or unit modifiers.)

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Does the lowly hyphen—that dinky half-dash, that barely there conjoiner of words—deserve a whole essay? Is any punctuation mark less emblematic of power? If you were choosing teammates, you’d pick the hyphen last. A hyphen doesn’t even merit sand in the face; bullies simply ignore it, inflicting the ultimate humiliation: leaving it out.

But when you see the hyphen for what it is, when you take the time to appreciate its unique qualities, you’ll find it a powerful ally indeed.

Example:

true blue friend

Do you need a hyphen here? Try this test: say each adjective (true and blue) with the noun separately. True friend. That makes sense. Blue friend. That makes sense only if you’re talking about a Smurf. So you don’t have a true blue friend. True and blue work together. Call on the hyphen’s unifying force, and you’ve got a true-blue friend.

Try the test on clean energy consultant. Pair each adjective with consultant separately. Energy consultant. That almost makes sense. Clean consultant. That makes sense only if the consultant just took a shower. Clean and energy work together: clean-energy consultant.

Other hyphenless headscratchers:

• sick ward nurse (a ward nurse with the flu)
• light green suitcase (a green suitcase that weighs little)
• ride on mower (a ride on a mower)
• little used cigar (eww!)

Usually, people can decipher a phrase like this from its context—after they stop, go back, and reread the words. But why make them reread? Why slow them down when a hyphen could speed them along? For example, let’s say you run a prestigious hospital, and you’re about to print a full-page ad on the back cover of the New York Times Magazine with this headline (complete with these unfortunate line breaks):

You’d want to stop the press and unite father and son (father-son bond…) rather than force people—millions of people in this case—to stop and reread a headline that so inappropriately separates this dad from this boy. (1)

Next: Exceptions

Exceptions

Should you always hyphenate a compound adjective (that is, two or more words working as one adjective) when those words come right before a noun? Some say yes. Commonly, though, when a whole phrase, noun and all, becomes widely recognized, the hyphen disappears. For example, even in the language-usage-curmudgeon-filled-technical-writing world, the hyphen has all but dropped out of certain common terms, like content management system or (more controversially in the curmudgeonliest circles) quick reference card. Those comfortable with these omissions argue that, in these cases, the hyphen no longer has a job to do.

Why Not Leave It In?

It does no harm, though, to keep the hyphen, even in frequently used phrases. Sometimes a style guide (or a boss) wants it left out in certain contexts, in which case the wise writer complies. Otherwise, if the hyphen’s knack for uniting could prevent even a few readers from stumbling, why not send the little guy in? As Edward Johnson says, “Even the most familiar compounds can be ambiguous, and the writer, who knows the intended meaning, often will not notice the ambiguity; only the reader will.” (1) The Chicago Manual of Style says, “With the exception of proper nouns (such as United States) and compounds formed by an adverb ending in ly plus an adjective … it is never incorrect to hyphenate adjectival compounds before a noun.” (2) Usage authority Bryan Garner states the risk of going hyphenless this way: “almost all sentences with unhyphenated phrasal adjectives will be misread by someone.” (3)

To Hyphenate or Not To Hyphenate After a Noun: That Is the Wrong Question

So far, we’ve been talking only about phrasal adjectives that precede the noun they modify. What happens when they follow the noun? Should we hyphenate there, too?

That is the wrong question. Consider this sentence:

• This job is long-term.
• This job is long term.

Do you need the hyphen here? Most authorities say no. Don’t hyphenate a compound modifier when it follows the modified noun. Before the noun, yes (This is a long-term job), but after, no (This job is long term).

Most authorities also point out exceptions. They say that some compounds need a hyphen even when they follow the noun. Which compounds, though … razor-sharp? risk-averse? time-sensitive? all-encompassing? cost-effective? blue-green? Authorities disagree. Some defer to dictionaries, but you can’t necessarily go by a dictionary. As The Chicago Manual of Style says, “When such compounds follow the noun they modify, hyphenation is usually unnecessary, even for adjectival compounds that are hyphenated in Webster’s (such as well-read or ill-humored).” (4)

Crazy-making! As John Benbow, once editor of the Oxford University Press stylebook, is widely quoted as warning, “If you take hyphens seriously, you will surely go mad.” (5)

So much for seeking the right answer.

Happily, we’re seeking not a right answer but a right question. Most authorities don’t tell you that if you wonder, Do I need a hyphen here? after the modified noun, you ask the wrong question. They don’t tell you what you most need to know: that a post-noun modifier almost always follows a be-verb (is, are, was) or some other linking verb (seem, appear, become, remain, grow, get). And they don’t tell you that linking verbs almost always signal an opportunity to strengthen a sentence.

So what question should you ask yourself when faced, heaven forbid, with sentences like these?

• This job is long term.
• That child is razor-sharp.
• The suit is blue-green (or blue green).

Ask yourself, What do I have to say about that long-term job, that razor-sharp child, that blue-green suit? Then, eliminate the linking verb, and swap in some substance, some muscle:

• This long-term job pays more than anyone in Joan’s family has ever made.
• Those razor-sharp kids speak twelve languages.
• Donovan thought that the blue-green suit made the professor look glamorous.

In all those examples, the compound adjective is hyphenated because it comes before the noun. And now, you have yourself sentences worth reading.
 

Footnotes

1 This hyphenless headline, which splashed across the back cover of the New York Times Magazine on November 27, 2011, also suffers from a noun-pronoun mismatch. Grammatically, the they refers to the would-be subject, bond, as if to say, “The bond are joined at the liver.” Ouch again. Not the best way for a hospital to advertise its attention to detail.

References

1.  Johnson, Edward D. The Handbook of Good English: Revised and Updated (New York: Facts on File, 1991), p. 205.
2.  The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010), p. 373.
3.  Garner, Bryan. Garner’s Modern American Usage, p. 627.
4. The Chicago Manual of Style, p. 373-374.
5. Benbow, John. Manuscript & Proof: The Preparation of Manuscript for the Printer and the Handling of the Proofs, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1937), 92.

Find out more about Marcia Riefer Johnston’s book Word Up! How to Write Powerful Sentences and Paragraphs (And Everything You Build from Them) at her website, HowToWriteEverything.com.