Punctuation III: Hyphens in Compound Words

I’ve already talked about the hyphen versus the en dash and now I will look at the hyphen in more detail, concentrating on the use of the hyphen in compound words.

Hyphens in compound words

Compound words may consist of two separate words, two words that are hyphenated, or they may have become one word through common usage. Compound words which risk being mispronounced if joined together take a hyphen (e.g. drip-proof, hat-trick). Hyphens are also used to signify an abstract rather than a literal interpretation (e.g. crow’s-feet).

When compound words modify a noun, the rules are as follows:

• Preceding the noun: hyphenate (e.g. I once owned a long-haired cat)
• Following the noun: do not hyphenate (e.g. The cat I once owned was long haired)
  

Ensure you fully understand the description you are proofreading, because a single hyphen can completely change the meaning:

• A stainless steel table is a spotlessly clean table which is made of steel
• A stainless-steel table is a table made of stainless steel
  

Do not hyphenate compounds which use an adverb ending in ‘-ly’ (e.g. They are a happily married couple).

When there is a gerund involved, use a hyphen, as the construction is describing rather than modifying something (e.g. The goat I once owned was a sun-loving goat).

There are some exceptions to the compound words rule: for example, you should not hyphenate capitalised words (e.g. I just can’t read those Old Testament stories); similarly, it is not necessary to hyphenate technical terms (e.g. liquid crystal display).

If in doubt, check in the dictionary!

Capitalisation

As I mainly proofread educational resources which contain a lot of terminology and vocabulary that is important for students to learn, I find myself using the ‘change capital letters to lower case letters’ symbol a lot! This has prompted me to look at the rules regarding capitalisation.

When to Capitalise

• The pronoun ‘I’

• The beginning of a new sentence

• The first letters of the names of people, places, days, months, special days (e.g. New Year’s Day), historical eras (e.g. the Renaissance) and their derivatives (e.g. Scandinavian), but not seasons (e.g. spring)

• The first letters of the main words of titles of books, newspapers, etc. (e.g. The Times, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

• The first letters of the main words of the titles of institutions (e.g. the Houses of Parliament) and people when they precede the name (e.g. President Obama), or when they are directly addressed (e.g. ‘Can you help me, Doctor?’)

• In abbreviations (e.g. UK)

• Points of the compass when they refer to a specific region (e.g. ‘My cousin is visiting from the South’, but not, e.g. ‘When you get to the end of the road, head south’)

With words like act, president and government it can be confusing when trying to remember when to capitalise and when not to. The important thing to recognise is whether you are talking in general or specific terms. See below.

General

1. My ambition is to become the president of a big company.
2. One of the functions of government is to keep order.
3. Which, in your opinion, is the pivotal act of the play?

Specific

1. President Bush won over 50% of the popular vote.
2. The Government has ploughed billions into the banks.
3. Prospero’s speech comes at the close of Act IV.

Punctuation II : Hyphen v En Dash

Now let’s take a look at the distinction between a hyphen and an en dash. Hyphens (-) and en dashes (–) cannot be used interchangeably.

The Hyphen (-)

1. The hyphen is used for linking compound words (e.g. avoid the build-up of waste products; ensure the garment is not dry-clean only), and for words with a prefix (e.g. the pre-war collection), but not in phrasal verbs (e.g. don’t build up your hopes too much).

2. The hyphen is used in compounds which modify nouns (e.g. he was a well-known academic; compare, e.g. the academic was well known), and for showing that a certain group of words in a sentence should be read together (e.g. try our new bake-it-yourself bread).

3. It can also be seen when splitting a word at the end of a line in printed text: the formatting can be automatic or manual, and there are rules about how words should be split.

The En Dash (–)

The en dash is so named because it is the width of the letter n. It is longer than a hyphen. To type an en dash press the Control key and the minus key. There are four main uses of the en dash.

1. Range of values

2000–2010

September–December

16–18 marks

pp. 20–40

2. Relationships and connections

father–son relationship

Mann–Whitney U Test

3. Breaks (which could be marked by a comma, semicolon or colon)

I’m sure I’ve been here before – the buildings look so familiar

4. Parenthesis (which could be marked by brackets)

Her mother – who was a scary woman – insisted on being present

Punctuation I : The Semicolon

Let’s take a break from homophones and consider the semicolon (;).

Semicolons are frequently misused – I generally find that they are either overused (replacing colons and commas) or not used at all.

There are three rules to remember when using a semicolon:

1. A semicolon is used to separate items in a list where there are already commas within items.

You’ll get paid for walking the dogs at numbers 27, 35, and 41; mowing the lawn at numbers 33 and 37; and washing the cars at numbers 23, 25, 27, and 29.

2. A semicolon is used to distinguish between closely related independent clauses that are not joined with a conjunction (and, or, but, so, etc.).

I wanted to sell my house; I put it on the market.

3. A semicolon is placed between an independent clause and a semi clause that is linked with a transitional phrase or a conjunctive adverb (e.g. however, thus, of course, etc.).

It could happen at any time; however, I seriously doubt it.

Of the three rules, Rule 1 is the most common use of the semicolon and Rule 3 is the least common use (it is mostly used in academic texts).

Homophones III

So, its time to analyse advice and advise. This one is pretty simple. All you have to do is remember that one is a verb and one is a noun.

1. Advice is a noun, ‘guidance or recommendations offered with regard to prudent action’ (OED).

For example: I gave my daughter some fatherly advice.

2. Advise is the verb, ‘to offer suggestions about the best course of action to someone’ (OED).

For example: I would like to advise you of the strict guidelines.

The easiest way to remember the difference when writing is to read your sentence aloud. The two words have subtle differences in pronunciation and this should alert you if you have used the wrong spelling!

Advice: /əd'vʌɪs/

Advise: /əd'vʌɪz/

Practice/Practise

Another pair of homophones that is similar to this one is practice and practise. Again, the difference is that practice is a noun and practise is a verb. Unfortunately these cannot be distinguished by pronunciation as both are pronounced the same (/'praktɪs/).

Examples:

I need to practise in order to improve.

It is easy to say, but harder to do in practice.

NB In US English ‘practice’ is the spelling used for both the noun and the verb!

In general, remember that the ‘c’ in practice/advice indicates that it is a noun, and the ‘s’ in advise/practise indicates that it is a verb.

Homophones II

As promised we will now consider the difference between complement and compliment, two words which are often confused.

Complement

Verb: ‘to add to something in a way that enhances or improves’ (OED).

Noun: ‘an addition that improves something’ (OED).

Example: That tie complements your suit very nicely.

Compliment

Verb: ‘to admire or praise someone for something’ (OED).

Noun: ‘an admiring remark’ (OED).

Example: She complimented her friend on her excellent cooking.

The same goes for the adjectives complementary (e.g. choose a complementary colour) and complimentary (e.g. he made a complimentary remark about my dress); but remember that complimentary also means ‘given freely, as a courtesy’ (e.g. she received a complimentary glass of wine with her meal).

Watch out for the next entry on advice and advise!

Homophones I

In the post entitled ‘Ten Tips for Proofreading’ from November 2009, helpful tip number 8 stated:

Watch out for homophones: words that sound the same but have different meanings are commonly confused and may be used incorrectly. Examples of these are discreet/discrete and affect/effect.

In my work as a proofreader and copy-editor I come across examples of these on a daily basis. I believe that some of these homophones merit a more detailed explanation.

One of the worst offenders is the example cited above: affect and effect.

Affect: The important thing to remember here is that affect is a verb.

Definition: ‘have an effect on; make a difference to’ (OED).

Example: Bad weather can affect people’s moods.

Effect: This is used primarily as a noun.

Definition: ‘a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause’ (OED).

Example: The effect of the bad weather on Sally’s mood was obvious.

However, just to be confusing, effect can also be a verb: ‘to cause (something) to happen; bring about’ (OED).

Example: The changes to the model have been effected.

One handy tip to remember the difference is that affect means to ‘make a change to’, i.e. the process of producing an effect/change, whereas effect describes the change that has already been (or will be) made or brought about.

For a longer list of commonly confused words and their definitions, see the Oxford English Dictionary’s extremely useful list.

Watch out for the next entry on complement and compliment!