Hyphens

A hyphen - is a short mark with no spaces that joins words or parts of words: a well-known writer, re-enter, twenty-one. Joining words with a hyphen can change what they mean.

Key facts

  • Two or more words that work together to describe a noun take hyphens: a part-time job, a ten-year-old boy, an up-to-date map.
  • No hyphen after a word ending in -ly or after very: a brightly coloured kite, a very tall tree.
  • Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine have a hyphen, and so do fractions in words: forty-seven, two-thirds.
  • A hyphen can change the meaning: re-sign (sign again) and resign (leave a job); a man-eating shark (a shark that eats people) and a man eating shark (a man who is eating shark).

Worked examples

Example 1

Add the hyphens: a well known writer

  1. well and known work together to describe the writer.
  2. Join them with a hyphen: a well-known writer.

Answer: a well-known writer

Example 2

Write 34 in words.

  1. Tens and units together take a hyphen.
  2. thirty-four

Answer: thirty-four

Example 3

Add a hyphen: My brother is twenty one.

  1. Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine have a hyphen.
  2. My brother is twenty-one.

Answer: My brother is twenty-one.

Example 4

Add hyphens where they are needed: a three year old girl, She is three years old.

  1. Words joined to describe a noun before it take hyphens: a three-year-old girl.
  2. After the verb they don't: three years old.

Answer: a three-year-old girl; She is three years old. (no hyphens)

Example 5

Explain the difference: a man eating shark and a man-eating shark

  1. The hyphen joins man and eating into one describing word.
  2. Without it, man becomes the one doing the eating.

Answer: without the hyphen a man is eating a shark; with it the shark eats people

Example 6

Does it need a hyphen? a brightly coloured kite

  1. brightly ends in -ly, so it is clear that it describes coloured.
  2. No hyphen after a word ending in -ly: a brightly coloured kite.

Answer: No: there is no hyphen after a word ending in -ly.

Example 7

Choose re-sign or resign: The player will ___ for another season. The manager will ___ after the defeat.

  1. re-sign means sign again: a new contract.
  2. resign means give up the job.

Answer: re-sign, resign