5 Cases of a Missing Hyphen

5 Cases of a Missing Hyphen 5 Cases of a Missing Hyphen 5 Cases of a Missing Hyphen By Mark Nichol In each of the following sentences, omission of a hyphen hinders comprehension; discussion and a revision follows each example. 1. Two and a half months elapse between when the president elect is declared the winner of the election and when he or she takes office. The noun phrase â€Å"president-elect,† based on French syntax (in which adjectives follow nouns), is hyphenated, which helps the reader identify elect as an adjective rather than a verb: â€Å"Two and a half months elapse between when the president-elect is declared the winner of the election and when he or she takes office.† (Phrases referring to mixed fractions, such as â€Å"two and a half,† are often erroneously hyphenated; hyphens are correct only when such a phrase, accompanied by a word referring to a unit of time or distance, collectively modify a noun, such as in â€Å"two-and-a-half-month period.†) 2. I’m just looking for some good tasting coffee. As written, this sentence refers to a type of beverage known as tasting coffee and describes it as good. However, to express a sentiment about coffee that tastes good, hyphenate the phrasal adjective: â€Å"I’m just looking for some good-tasting coffee.† 3. Such documentation requires a decision-tree type approach, in which someone must decide each path to achieve an appropriate control structure. The type of omission illustrated in the previous example can also occur in a phrasal adjective that consists of more than two words. The sentence refers not to a type approach of a decision-tree nature but to an approach of a decision-tree-type nature: â€Å"Such documentation requires a decision-tree-type approach in which someone must decide each path to achieve an appropriate control structure.† 4. It might be a destination you stumbled across on a must-see list on a travel blog or heard was a can’t miss landmark. The writer of this sentence inexplicably correctly hyphenated the phrase â€Å"must see,† which modifies list, but overlooked the necessity of hyphenating the words â€Å"can’t miss,† which serve the same function in describing a kind of landmark: â€Å"It might be a destination you stumbled across on a must-see list on a travel blog or heard was a can’t-miss landmark.† (These phrases should be hyphenated when employed as nouns as well (as in â€Å"The Parthenon is a must-see for visitors to Greece†). 5. The study distinguishes between high and low-risk activities. This sentence refers not to high activities and low-risk activities but to high-risk and low-risk activities, but it does so elliptically, observing the convention that when a two phrasal adjectives in sequence share the same second word, the first can be omitted- but the hyphen must be retained so that the reader knows to supply the implied word: â€Å"The study distinguishes between high- and low-risk activities.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for â€Å"Because† or â€Å"Because Of†26 Feel-Good WordsDouble Possessive

How to Write an Essay Sample For a Contest

How to Write an Essay Sample For a ContestThe How to Write an Essay Sample is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to master the art of writing an essay without sacrificing the joy of learning to write. Having a chance to write this unique essay sample for a contest or publication is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Have you ever dreamed of writing an essay and being published as a published author?Submit your essay and sample to a contest, article submission, or for any other reason you may have. Get published and possibly get an award. Create a novel or become a published author.The How to Write an Essay Sample is filled with all the basic information about how to write an essay. First, let's explore the topic. You want to make sure that you use effective essay style. Even though there are hundreds of styles to choose from, you want to choose the style that best suits your personality and that also serves your purpose.After you have thought of the topic, it is an important question to answ er. Who will read your essay? You can write it yourself or you can hire a professional writer.There are numerous places you can submit your essay to be published. A contest is the most common. There are hundreds of contests every year for writers from any genre and from all over the world.The question is how to submit the essay to a contest. You must understand that contests generally give you a word count of around sixty thousand words, however, remember that if you are submitting your essay for publication you should submit to a contest that has a word count of at least three hundred thousand words. Ifyou do not want to publish your essay, but are still looking for a contest that will publish your essay, then consider submitting a free sample.The How to Write an Essay Sample is not the only sample to write an essay. Other samples include: Best Selling Author, Best Book Review, Book Review, Character Study, Complex Characters, Date Study, Decorating, Documentary, Encyclopedic, Expl ainer, Families and Parenting, First Person Narrative, Funny, Fun, Gross, Grotesque, Humorous, Interesting, Insulting, Inventive, Interesting Narrative, Jazz, Knowledge, Learning, Masterpieces, Mature, Novel, Night, Offbeat, Parody, Picture, Personal, Perfect, Personality, Profane, Quotable, Rambling, Reasons, Relevance, Sentence, Short, Science, Shock and Awe, Talk, Text, Testimonial, Tract, Unique, Vanity, Vitruic, Visible, Writing Tips, Writing Sample, Well-Written, White, and Word Counts. You are given the opportunity to learn more about these samples and to submit a sample for review. There are plenty of resources online that will help you with selecting the best sample.