adverb-(hyphen)-adjective

Philip — Tue, 22 May 2007 00:25:14 GMT

I can't find a source that explains what I thought I understood many years ago. The question deals with joining an adverb and an adjective with a hyphen before the noun, but not afterward:

the freshly-cut lawn smells great ~ the lawn is freshly cut

he is a highly-admired admiral ~ the admiral is highly admired.

Now, someone whom I respect has told me that this is true only with "well":

the well-known actress is crazy ~ the actress is well known for her crazy antics.

Any thoughts from punctuation experts?

Re: dashes---causing problems or solving them?

Clonc — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 09:04:00 GMT

Forgive me, but what do you mean by a âdash.â All the examples here show two hyphens. These are not dashes.

There are three types of dashes, namely Hyphens, Em Dashes and En Dashes

The hyphen is the shortest of the three and is used most commonly to combine words (compounds such as "well-being" and "advanced-level," for example) On typewriter and computer keyboards, the hyphen appears on the bottom half of the key located on the top row between the "0" and the equals mark (=).

The em dash

The em dash is the mark of punctuation most of us think of when we hear the term "dash" in regard to a sentence. It is significantly longer than the hyphen. We use the em dash to create a strong break in the structure of a sentence. Dashes can be used in pairs like parenthesesâthat is, to enclose a word, or a phrase, or a clauseâor they can be used alone to detach one end of a sentence from the main body. Dashes are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex or in one that has a number of commas within it.

When we confuse the em dash with the hyphen, we make a sentence virtually impossible to read. Notice the sentence containing dashes in the preceding paragraph. If a hyphen is used in place of each dash, it would seem as though we had hyphenated two pairs of words in the sentence: "parentheses-that" and "clause-or," neither pair of which makes any sense.

The en dash

The en dash is slightly longer than the hyphen but not as long as the em dash. (It is, in fact, the width of a typesetter's letter "N," whereas the em dash is the width of the letter "M"âthus their names.) The en dash means, quite simply, "through." We use it most commonly to indicate inclusive dates and numbers: July 9âAugust 17; pp. 37â59.

Many people were not even aware of the distinction between the en dash and the em dash until the advent of word processors, when software programs enabled us to use marks of punctuation that once had been available only to professional printers.

Typing the En Dash and Em Dash

Our typewriter and computer keyboards lack individual keys that display either of the dashes. (The symbol above the hyphen is an underline, not a dash.) Before word processing, we had to type an em dash by typing two hyphens. Now, many word processing software programs will automatically turn those two hyphens into an em dash (if we correctly leave NO space before or after them).

We can also choose en and em dashes from a menu of symbols that do not appear on the keyboard. In Microsoft Word, for example, we can pull down the "Insert" window, click on "Symbol," and go to the "normal text" window. The en and em dashes appear on the bottom row.

In any software program that handles text, the em dash can be typed on an enhanced keyboard as Alt + 0151âthat is, hold down the "alternate" key and type, using the numerical pad on the right side of the keyboard, the numbers 0151. The en dash can be typed as Alt + 0150.

TEST YOURSELF

Can you spot any errors in the use of the hyphen, the en dash, or the em dash in the following sentences?

1. The instructions were written on pages 33-47.

2. The conference will be held June 30 - July 2 in New York.

3. Juan had tried begging, bribing, and even demanding cooperation from his staff-all of whom were swamped with other work-before he gave up and wrote the report himself.

4. No one - not even the president of the company - realized the company would have to declare itself bankrupt so quickly.

ANSWERS

1. The instructions were written on pages 33â47. (Use an en dash, not a hyphen, to indicate inclusive page numbers.)

2. The conference will be held June 30âJuly 2 in New York. (Use an en dash, not a hyphen, to indicate inclusive dates. Do not space before or after dashes.)

3. Juan tried begging, bribing, and even demanding cooperation from his staffâall of whom were swamped with other workâbefore he gave up and wrote the report himself. (Use em dashes, not hyphens, to indicate a break in thought.)

4. No oneânot even the president of the companyârealized the company would have to declare itself bankrupt so quickly. (Use em dashes, not hyphens, to show a break in thought. Do not space before or after dashes.)

Re: Can you please check my motivation letter? Thanks in advance..:)

Mister Micawber — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 07:34:01 GMT

To whom, not For whom
Colon, not comma after concern
for the patent, not for patent
spell out small numbers: three
in a good, not within good
to European, not at European
no hyphen: North American
no capitals: the construction site
gained in not gained into the
no comma after problems
don't use the ampersand in business letters
willingness not wiling
myself is one word
a key role, not key role
approaching, not getting closer to
commissioning not Commissioning
forward to not forward of
No comma after job
the engineering domain, not engineering domain
an electrical engineer, not electrical engineer
current not at current
the electrical engineering domain

Delete this: With the hope that you will consider my profile as applicable for patent examiner position, I wish you all the best

and add this: I hope that you will find my application of interest for your Patent Examiner position. Please advise me if you requir any further information.

Yours faithfully,

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adverb-(hyphen)-adjective

Re: dashes---causing problems or solving them?

Re: Can you please check my motivation letter? Thanks in advance..:)