How to use hyphens grammar girl quick and dirty tips. In the eleventh edition, we have included rule 2 of hyphens with prefixes and suffixes. One hundred million, fortyfour thousand, nine hundred and eightyfive. Hyphens between words quiz 1 from the blue book of grammar and punctuation. Daily grammar lesson 421 mechanics punctuation hyphens. Written without jargon for all of us who need simple answers to our everyday questions, this new, updated version has 50% more materialrules, exercises, tests, and answersand a new cover that is both sleek and durable.
The blue book of grammar and punctuation by mark nichol no one writing handbook or grammar guide should suffice for careful writers, and though jane strauss the blue book of grammar and punctuation is less comprehensive than some other resources, its largeformat workbook approach provides a readerfriendly introduction to. The big question with a compound noun is whether to leave it as two words e. In general, twoword descriptions are hyphenated before a noun powderblue dress, redhaired cousin, welldone hamburger. Hyphens are a regular source of confusion among grammar girl listeners. Daily grammar lesson 425 mechanics punctuation hyphens. Hyphens english grammar today cambridge dictionary. The blue book of grammar and punctuation succeeds at a rare feat.
In this revised and updated tenth edition of her bestselling book, jane straus adds a new section on confusing words and homonyms with hundreds of the trickiest words defined and explained. Jan 01, 1997 the blue book of grammar and punctuation is filled with easytounderstand rules, realworld examples, dozens of reproducible exercises, and pre and posttests. The blue book of grammar and punctuation 11th edition pages. Hyphens between words quiz 1 the blue book of grammar. Its a refresher for experts, a reference for lay people, and a lesson plan for teachers. May 23, 20 hyphens are a regular source of confusion among grammar girl listeners. A handy rule, whether writing about years, months, or any other period of time, is to use hyphens unless the period of time years, months, weeks, days is written in plural form. The blue book of grammar and punctuation 11th edition. Dec 14, 2012 if the adjectives come after the noun, then they dont need a hyphen. The blue book of grammar and punctuation jane straus. Punctuation definition, overview, and lists of examples. If youre not sure whether a compound word has a hyphen or not, check your preferred dictionary.
The blue book of grammar and punctuation, eleventh edition. Use a hyphen in compounds made up of two or more words used as an adjective adjectives modify or affect the meaning of nouns and pronouns and tell us which, whose, what kind, and how many about the nouns or pronouns they modify. This handy workbook is ideal for teachers, students in middle school through college, esl students, homeschoolers, and professionals. Marcias friend mark notes that hyphens seem to be disappearing. Handbooks on english grammar are too numerous, yet few are written with keeping in mind the usual problems of students. Hyphens are not separated by spaces, while a dash has a space on either side. We usually use a hyphen between the two words in a twopart adjective in which the second part ends in ed or. Therefore, a hyphen is not required after the number in that example.
Compound terms are those that consist of more than one word but represent a single item or idea. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girls quick and dirty tips. A hyphen is a punctuation mark thats used to join words or parts of words. For example, if the hyphen is omitted in a statement such as he is a little known man, the reader might interpret it as meaning he is a known man who is little. Generally, hyphens are used to join two words or parts of words together. If the adjectives come after the noun, then they dont need a hyphen. Hyphens english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. Hyphens with the prefix re grammar and punctuation. But if the description comes after the noun, no hyphen is used a dress of powder blue, a cousin whos red haired, a hamburger well done.
The blue book of grammar and punctuation is filled with easytounderstand rules, realworld examples, dozens of reproducible exercises, and pre and posttests. An easytouse guide with clear rules, realworld examples, and reproducible quizzes, 11th edition. An en dash, roughly the width of an n, is a little longer than a hyphen. Review says it provides an online resource for grammar and punctuation usage with lessons, quizzes, and an optional test to evaluate the understanding of the material. How to punctuate descriptions of colors daily writing tips. My book is full of them because it seemed to reflect how i think, but i wonder if there are conventions for good usage versus, for example, the dry, uninteresting semicolon. Use a hyphen in a sentence to connect two words that function together as a modifier, if there are a series of modifiers, and with numbers and fractions. Among such rare grammar books is the one written by jane straus, named as the blue book of grammar and punctuation. Hyphens are often used to tell the ages of people and things. English punctuation has always had two complementary aspects. For clarity, many writers hyphenate prefixes ending in a vowel when the root word begins with the same letter. Grammar and punctuation the blue book of grammar and.
Compound verbs are either hyphenated or appear as one word. Punctuation in the english language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. For each of the following, choose the correct sentence. Hyphens with numbers english grammar checker software. It is used for periods of time when you might otherwise use to. Hyphens with prefixes quiz 2 the blue book of grammar.
Its not interchangeable with other types of dashes. My question, grammar cat, concerns the use of the emdash. Hyphens advanced level quiz 1 from the blue book of grammar and punctuation. Grammar tip suspended hyphen november 9, 2011 0 comments in grammar by jane watson when you are writing a sentence that contains hyphenated adjectives with the same last word, delete all the repeated words except for the last one. The following explanations offer the most common uses and methods for forming these dashes. The blue book of grammar and punctuation is a concise, entertaining workbook and guide to english grammar, punctuation, and usage. Jane straus is the author of the blue book of grammar and punctuation and developer of. Hyphens with prefixes quiz 2 from the blue book of grammar and punctuation. Constitution but constitutional, the electoral college, department of. Aps rationale is that retaining the hyphen in compound modifiers after the noun helps avoid confusion.
Jun 02, 2009 in the eleventh edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation february 2014, and on our website, we are letting the hyphen do the work of the en dash, and the em dash is simply now the dash or long dash. Using hyphens in compound nouns a single noun made up of two or more words is called a compound noun e. With over 200,000 copies sold, this is one of the most highly trusted english language resources available. A hyphen joins two or more words together while a dash separates words into parenthetical statements. Never use a hyphen in place of an en dash or an em dash. All cheap jabs to the majestic semicolon aside, this is a great question. The hyphensinnumbers rule applies even when the compound number is preceded by other numbers that do not require hyphens.
Hyphens between words quiz 1 the blue book of grammar and. The blue book of grammar and punctuation will amuse you while demystifying the rules of grammar and punctuation. Mar 18, 2014 the blue book of grammar and punctuation, eleventh edition. A suit that is dark blue referring to degree of saturation is a dark blue suit, and a suit that is blue gray identifying a combination of colors is a blue gray suit. So watch for references to pages 123 at the bottom of the topic. As with most other phrasal adjectives, pairs of words that together describe the color of an object should be hyphenated. The blue book of grammar and punctuation, tenth edition designed to answer the most pressing grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and usage questions. This adjective with two words joined by the hyphen is called a compound adjective. Hyphens advanced level quiz 1 the blue book of grammar and. We baked three hundred and twentyfive cookies for the bakeoff.
All it takes is the blue book of grammar and punctuation. This userfriendly resource includes simple explanations of grammar, punctuation, and usage. The two are sometimes confused because they look so similar, but their usage is different. Hyphens betweenwordsquiz 2 108 hyphens with ly wordsquiz 1. Hyphens advanced level quiz 1 the blue book of grammar. But it is far too strong to use words like incorrect and error for spans that are stated with hyphens. Nov 03, 2010 hyphens are the short lines that separate the words in the expressions nonenglish and exhusband. Constitution but constitutional, the electoral college, department of agriculture.
In your physics example, 450 is simply a number, not part of a compound adjective. Hyphens can be used between two words that function together to. In the eleventh edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation february 2014, and on our website, we are letting the hyphen do the work of the en dash, and the em dash is simply now the dash or long dash. Use a hyphen in a compound modifier when the modifier comes before the word its modifying. Now in its tenth edition, the blue book is a masterpiece of clarity and usefulness.
Blue hyphen is an independent firm dedicated to providing exceptional editorial and writing services to a wide range of clients. Jan 22, 2014 the blue book of grammar and punctuation is a concise, entertaining workbook and guide to english grammar, punctuation, and usage. Hyphens are the short lines that separate the words in the expressions nonenglish and exhusband. The hyphen is also used for word division, which is briefly explained here. There are many uses of the en and em dash and also many ways to form these dashes using your computer.
Use a hyphen to show the omission of a connecting word example. If you do not find the verb in the dictionary, hyphenate it. A suit that is dark blue referring to degree of saturation is a darkblue suit, and a suit that is blue gray identifying a combination of colors is a bluegray suit. Below youll find links to our discussion on all punctuation marks. We have broken some of the longer topics into multiple pages. If you go to the latest updates to the blue book of grammar and punctuation on our website hyphens, rule 6, you will find that we have included en dashes in the discussion. For most writers, the hyphens primary function is the formation of certain compound terms. We usually use a hyphen between the two words in a twopart adjective in which the second part ends in ed or ing. It doesnt take a lifetime to master english grammar and punctuation. Apr 03, 2018 aps rationale is that retaining the hyphen in compound modifiers after the noun helps avoid confusion. The mysteries of grammar and punctuation revealed new, expanded eighth edition jane straus on. Since i thought the hyphen section of marcia riefer johnstons new book, word up.
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