Hyphens and dashes · Grade 12
In Grade 12 you get fluent with: hyphens in describing words: a well-known writer; hyphens in numbers and fractions; hyphens that change the meaning: re-sign and resign.
A hyphen - is short and joins words or parts of words: a well-known writer, re-enter, twenty-one. A dash – is longer, with a space on each side, and separates parts of a sentence: I opened the box – it was empty!
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
Answer: a well-known writer
Example 2
Write 34 in words.
Answer: thirty-four
Example 3
Add hyphens where they are needed: a three year old girl, She is three years old.
Answer: a three-year-old girl; She is three years old. (no hyphens)
Example 4
Explain the difference: a man eating shark and a man-eating shark
Answer: without the hyphen a man is eating a shark; with it the shark eats people
Example 5
Choose re-sign or resign: The player will ___ for another season. The manager will ___ after the defeat.
Answer: re-sign, resign
Example 6
Use a dash for effect: I opened the letter. It was from the Queen.
Answer: I opened the letter – it was from the Queen.