http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aPrefixes+tag%3aPrepositional+verbs&tag=Prefixes,Prepositional+verbs&orTags=0Search results for 'tag:Prefixes tag:Prepositional verbs' matching tags 'Prefixes' and 'Prepositional verbs'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3232.18851)http://www.englishforums.com/English/NeedHelp/mkbr/post.htm#61863Thu, 16 Dec 2004 20:13:12 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:61863Teacher Eric1. "Worse" is the comparative of "bad" while "worst" is the superlative. <br /> <br />bad-worse-the worst <br /> <br />His new movie is worse than his last. <br />Your cooking is getting worse! (compared to before) <br />Among his movies, the newest one is the worst. <br />This is the worst of all! <br /> <br /> <br />2. I'm reproducing Taiwandave's post in its entirety. The article mainly reflects British English usage. As follows: <br /> <br />Rules for using hyphens <br />Posted: 24 Jun 2004 01:11 AM <br />There have been a number of recent questions concerning when to use hypens. The following is an excerpt from The Economist magazine's style guide. <br /> <br />© The Economist Newspaper Limited 2004 <br /> <br />Use hyphens for: <br /> <br />1. FRACTIONS (whether nouns or adjectives): two-thirds, four-fifths, one-sixth, etc. <br /> <br />2. MOST WORDS THAT BEGIN with anti, non and neo. Thus anti-aircraft, anti-fascist, anti-submarine (but antibiotic, anticlimax, antidote, antiseptic, antitrust); non-combatant, non-existent, non-payment, non-violent (but nonaligned, nonconformist, nonplussed, nonstop); neo-conservative, neo-liberal (but neoclassicism, neolithic, neologism). <br /> <br />Words beginning Euro should also be hyphenated, except Europhile, Europhobe and Eurosceptic; euro zone and euro area. <br /> <br />Some words that become unmanageably long with the addition of a prefix. Thus under-secretary and inter-governmental. Antidisestablishmentarianism would, however, lose its point if it were hyphenated. <br /> <br />A sum followed by the word worth also needs a hyphen. Thus $25m-worth of goods. <br /> <br />3. SOME TITLES <br /> <br />vice-president, director-general, under-secretary, secretary-general, attorney-general, lieutenant-colonel, major-general, field-marshal <br /> <br />but <br /> <br />general secretary, deputy secretary, deputy director, district attorney <br /> <br />4. TO AVOID AMBIGUITIES <br /> <br />a little-used car <br />a little used-car <br />cross complaint <br />cross-complaint <br />high-school girl <br />high schoolgirl <br />fine-tooth comb (most people do not comb their teeth) <br />third-world war <br />third world war <br /> <br />5. AIRCRAFT <br /> <br />DC-10, Mirage F-1E, MiG-23, Lockheed P-3 Orion <br />(If in doubt, consult Jane's "All the World's Aircraft".) <br /> <br />6. ADJECTIVES FORMED FROM TWO OR MORE WORDS <br /> <br />right-wing groups (but the right wing of the party), balance-of-payments difficulties, private-sector wages, public-sector borrowing requirement, a 70-year-old judge, state-of-the-union message, value-added tax (VAT). <br /> <br />Adverbs do not need to be linked to participles or adjectives by hyphens in simple constructions: The regiment was ill equipped for its task; The principle is well established; Though expensively educated, the journalist knew no grammar. But if the adverb is one of two words together being used adjectivally, a hyphen may be needed: The ill-equipped regiment was soon repulsed; All well-established principles should be periodically challenged. The hyphen is especially likely to be needed if the adverb is short and common, such as ill, little, much and well. Less-common adverbs, including all those that end -ly, are less likely to need hyphens: Never employ an expensively educated journalist. <br /> <br />Do not overdo the literary device of hyphenating words that are not usually linked: the stringing-together-of-lots-and-lots-of-words-and-ideas tendency can be tiresome. <br /> <br />7. SEPARATING IDENTICAL LETTERS: <br /> <br />book-keeping (but bookseller), coat-tails, co-operate, unco-operative, pre-eminent, pre-empt (but predate, precondition), re-emerge, re-entry (but rearm, rearrange, reborn, repurchase), trans-ship. Exceptions include override, overrule, underrate, withhold. <br /> <br />8. NOUNS FORMED FROM PREPOSITIONAL VERBS: <br /> <br />bail-out, build-up, call-up, get-together, lay-off, pay-off, round-up, set-up, shake-up, etc. <br /> <br />9. THE QUARTERS OF THE COMPASS: <br /> <br />north-east(ern), south-east(ern), south-west(ern), north-west(ern), the mid-west(ern). <br /> <br />10. HYBRID ETHNICS: <br /> <br />Greek-Cypriot, Irish-American, etc, whether noun or adjective. <br /> <br />Words gathered together in quotation marks to serve as adjectives do not usually need hyphens as well: the "Live Free or Die" state. <br /> <br />---------------- <br /> <br />A general rule for makers: if the prefix is of one or two syllables, attach it without a hyphen to form a single word, but if the prefix is of three or more syllables, introduce a hyphen. So carmaker, chipmaker, peacemaker, marketmaker, troublemaker, but candlestick-maker, holiday-maker, tiramisu-maker, antimacassar-maker. Policymaker (one word) is an exception. <br /> <br />With other words ending -er that are similar to maker (builder, dealer, driver, grower, owner, player, runner, seeker, trafficker, worker, etc) the general rule should be to insert a hyphen. But some prefixes, especially those of one syllable, can be used to form single words (coalminer, foxhunter, householder, landowner, metalworker, muckraker, nitpicker, shipbroker, steeplechaser), and some combinations will be better left as two words (insurance broker, crossword compiler, tuba player). <br /> <br /> <br />ONE WORD: <br />airfield <br />airspace <br />airtime <br />antibiotic <br />anticlimax <br />antidoteantiseptic <br />antitrust <br />bedfellow <br />bestselling <br />bilingual <br />blackboard <br />blueprint <br />bookmaker <br />businessman <br />bypass <br />carmaker <br />cashflow <br />ceasefire <br />chipmaker <br />clockmaker <br />coalminer <br />coastguard <br />codebreaker <br />comeback <br />commonsense (adj) <br />cyberspace <br />dotcom <br />fallout <br />farmworker <br />figleaf <br />foothold <br />forever (adv, when it precedes the verb) <br />foxhunter (-ing) <br />goodwill <br />halfhearted <br />handout <br />handpicked <br />hardline <br />headache <br />hijack <br />hobnob <br />kowtow <br />lacklustre <br />landmine <br />landowner <br />laptop <br />loophole <br />lopsided <br />lukewarm <br />machinegun <br />marketmaker (-ing) <br />metalworker <br />minefield <br />multilingual <br />nationwide <br />nevertheless <br />nitpicker (-ing) <br />nonetheless <br />offline <br />offshore <br />oilfield <br />online <br />onshore <br />overpaid <br />overrated <br />override <br />overrule <br />overrun <br />payout <br />peacekeepers (-ing) <br />peacemaker (-ing) <br />peacetime <br />petrochemical <br />placename <br />policymakers(-ing), but foreign-policy makers (-ing) <br />profitmaking <br />rainforest <br />roadblock <br />rustbelt <br />salesforce <br />seabed <br />shipbroker (-ing) <br />shipbuilder (-ing) <br />shipowner <br />shortlist <br />shutdown <br />soyabean <br />spillover <br />statewide <br />steelmaker (-ing) <br />steelworker (-ing) <br />stockmarket <br />streetwalker <br />strongman <br />subcommittee <br />subcontinent <br />subcontract <br />subhuman <br />submachinegun <br />sunbelt <br />takeover <br />threshold <br />timetable <br />transatlantic <br />transpacific <br />troublemaker (-ing) <br />turnout <br />underdog <br />underpaid <br />underrated <br />videodisc <br />videocassette <br />wartime <br />website <br />windfall <br />workforce <br />worldwide <br />worthwhile <br /> <br />TWO WORDS: <br />ad hoc (always) <br />air base <br />air force <br />arm's length <br />any more <br />ballot box <br />birth rate <br />car maker <br />child care (noun) <br />common sense (noun) <br />dog owner <br />errand boy <br />for ever (when used after a verb) <br />girl friend <br />health care (noun) <br />Land Rover <br />no one <br />on to <br />some day <br />under way <br />vice versa <br /> <br />TWO HYPHENATED WORDS: <br />agri-business <br />aid-worker <br />aircraft-carrier <br />asylum-seekers <br />bail-out <br />bell-ringer <br />build-up <br />buy-out <br />call-up (noun) <br />catch-phrase <br />copper-miner <br />death-squads <br />drawing-board <br />drug-dealer (-ing) <br />drug-trafficker (-ing) <br />end-game <br />end-year <br />faint-hearted <br />field-worker <br />front-line <br />front-runner <br />fund-raiser (-ing) <br />get-together (noun) <br />gun owner <br />gun-runner <br />hand-held <br />health-care (adj) <br />heir-apparent <br />hot-head <br />ice-cream <br />infra-red <br />inter-governmental <br />interest-group <br />joint-venture <br />kerb-crawler <br />know-how <br />lay-off (noun) <br />like-minded <br />long-standing <br />machine-tool <br />mid-week, mid-August, etc <br />mill-owner <br />nation-building <br />nation-state <br />news-stand <br />pay-off (noun) <br />post-war <br />pot-hole <br />pressure-group <br />pre-war <br />pull-out (noun, not verb) <br />question-mark <br />rain-check <br />re-create (meaning create again) <br />re-present (meaning present again) <br />re-sort (meaning sort again) <br />round-up (noun) <br />set-up (noun) <br />shake-out (noun) <br />stand-off <br />starting-point <br />start-ups <br />sticking-point <br />stumbling-block <br />talking-shop <br />task-force <br />tear-gas <br />think-tank <br />time-bomb <br />truck-driver <br />turning-point <br />vote-winner <br />working-party <br /> <br />THREE WORDS: <br />ad hoc agreement (meeting, etc) <br />armoured personnel carrier <br />chiefs of staff <br />half a dozen <br />in as much <br />in so far <br />multiple rocket launcher <br />nuclear power station <br />third world war (if things get bad) <br /> <br />THREE HYPHENATED WORDS: <br />A-turned-B (thief-turned-journalist) <br />brother-in-law <br />chock-a-block <br />commander-in-chief <br />no-man's-land <br />prisoners-of-war <br />second-in-command <br /> <br />Avoid from 1947-50 (say in 1947-50 or from 1947 to 1950) and between 1961-65 (say in 1961-65, between 1961 and 1965 or from 1961 to 1965). <br /> <br />“If you take hyphens seriously, you will surely go mad” (Oxford University Press style manual). <br />http://www.englishforums.com/English/RulesForUsingHyphens/gqxx/post.htmWed, 23 Jun 2004 17:11:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:34354taiwandaveThere have been a number of recent questions concerning when to use hypens. The following is an excerpt from The Economist magazine's style guide. <br /> <br />© The Economist Newspaper Limited 2004 <br /> <br />Use hyphens for: <br /> <br />1. FRACTIONS (whether nouns or adjectives): two-thirds, four-fifths, one-sixth, etc. <br /> <br />2. MOST WORDS THAT BEGIN with anti, non and neo. Thus anti-aircraft, anti-fascist, anti-submarine (but antibiotic, anticlimax, antidote, antiseptic, antitrust); non-combatant, non-existent, non-payment, non-violent (but nonaligned, nonconformist, nonplussed, nonstop); neo-conservative, neo-liberal (but neoclassicism, neolithic, neologism). <br /> <br />Words beginning Euro should also be hyphenated, except Europhile, Europhobe and Eurosceptic; euro zone and euro area. <br /> <br />Some words that become unmanageably long with the addition of a prefix. Thus under-secretary and inter-governmental. Antidisestablishmentarianism would, however, lose its point if it were hyphenated. <br /> <br />A sum followed by the word worth also needs a hyphen. Thus $25m-worth of goods. <br /> <br />3. SOME TITLES <br /> <br />vice-president, director-general, under-secretary, secretary-general, attorney-general, lieutenant-colonel, major-general, field-marshal <br /> <br />but <br /> <br />general secretary, deputy secretary, deputy director, district attorney <br /> <br />4. TO AVOID AMBIGUITIES <br /> <br />a little-used car <br />a little used-car <br />cross complaint <br />cross-complaint <br />high-school girl <br />high schoolgirl <br />fine-tooth comb (most people do not comb their teeth) <br />third-world war <br />third world war <br /> <br />5. AIRCRAFT <br /> <br />DC-10, Mirage F-1E, MiG-23, Lockheed P-3 Orion <br />(If in doubt, consult Jane's "All the World's Aircraft".) <br /> <br />6. ADJECTIVES FORMED FROM TWO OR MORE WORDS <br /> <br />right-wing groups (but the right wing of the party), balance-of-payments difficulties, private-sector wages, public-sector borrowing requirement, a 70-year-old judge, state-of-the-union message, value-added tax (VAT). <br /> <br />Adverbs do not need to be linked to participles or adjectives by hyphens in simple constructions: The regiment was ill equipped for its task; The principle is well established; Though expensively educated, the journalist knew no grammar. But if the adverb is one of two words together being used adjectivally, a hyphen may be needed: The ill-equipped regiment was soon repulsed; All well-established principles should be periodically challenged. The hyphen is especially likely to be needed if the adverb is short and common, such as ill, little, much and well. Less-common adverbs, including all those that end -ly, are less likely to need hyphens: Never employ an expensively educated journalist. <br /> <br />Do not overdo the literary device of hyphenating words that are not usually linked: the stringing-together-of-lots-and-lots-of-words-and-ideas tendency can be tiresome. <br /> <br />7. SEPARATING IDENTICAL LETTERS: <br /> <br />book-keeping (but bookseller), coat-tails, co-operate, unco-operative, pre-eminent, pre-empt (but predate, precondition), re-emerge, re-entry (but rearm, rearrange, reborn, repurchase), trans-ship. Exceptions include override, overrule, underrate, withhold. <br /> <br />8. NOUNS FORMED FROM PREPOSITIONAL VERBS: <br /> <br />bail-out, build-up, call-up, get-together, lay-off, pay-off, round-up, set-up, shake-up, etc. <br /> <br />9. THE QUARTERS OF THE COMPASS: <br /> <br />north-east(ern), south-east(ern), south-west(ern), north-west(ern), the mid-west(ern). <br /> <br />10. HYBRID ETHNICS: <br /> <br />Greek-Cypriot, Irish-American, etc, whether noun or adjective. <br /> <br />Words gathered together in quotation marks to serve as adjectives do not usually need hyphens as well: the "Live Free or Die" state. <br /> <br />---------------- <br /> <br />A general rule for makers: if the prefix is of one or two syllables, attach it without a hyphen to form a single word, but if the prefix is of three or more syllables, introduce a hyphen. So carmaker, chipmaker, peacemaker, marketmaker, troublemaker, but candlestick-maker, holiday-maker, tiramisu-maker, antimacassar-maker. Policymaker (one word) is an exception. <br /> <br />With other words ending -er that are similar to maker (builder, dealer, driver, grower, owner, player, runner, seeker, trafficker, worker, etc) the general rule should be to insert a hyphen. But some prefixes, especially those of one syllable, can be used to form single words (coalminer, foxhunter, householder, landowner, metalworker, muckraker, nitpicker, shipbroker, steeplechaser), and some combinations will be better left as two words (insurance broker, crossword compiler, tuba player). <br /> <br /> <br />ONE WORD: <br />airfield <br />airspace <br />airtime <br />antibiotic <br />anticlimax <br />antidoteantiseptic <br />antitrust <br />bedfellow <br />bestselling <br />bilingual <br />blackboard <br />blueprint <br />bookmaker <br />businessman <br />bypass <br />carmaker <br />cashflow <br />ceasefire <br />chipmaker <br />clockmaker <br />coalminer <br />coastguard <br />codebreaker <br />comeback <br />commonsense (adj) <br />cyberspace <br />dotcom <br />fallout <br />farmworker <br />figleaf <br />foothold <br />forever (adv, when it precedes the verb) <br />foxhunter (-ing) <br />goodwill <br />halfhearted <br />handout <br />handpicked <br />hardline <br />headache <br />hijack <br />hobnob <br />kowtow <br />lacklustre <br />landmine <br />landowner <br />laptop <br />loophole <br />lopsided <br />lukewarm <br />machinegun <br />marketmaker (-ing) <br />metalworker <br />minefield <br />multilingual <br />nationwide <br />nevertheless <br />nitpicker (-ing) <br />nonetheless <br />offline <br />offshore <br />oilfield <br />online <br />onshore <br />overpaid <br />overrated <br />override <br />overrule <br />overrun <br />payout <br />peacekeepers (-ing) <br />peacemaker (-ing) <br />peacetime <br />petrochemical <br />placename <br />policymakers(-ing), but foreign-policy makers (-ing) <br />profitmaking <br />rainforest <br />roadblock <br />rustbelt <br />salesforce <br />seabed <br />shipbroker (-ing) <br />shipbuilder (-ing) <br />shipowner <br />shortlist <br />shutdown <br />soyabean <br />spillover <br />statewide <br />steelmaker (-ing) <br />steelworker (-ing) <br />stockmarket <br />streetwalker <br />strongman <br />subcommittee <br />subcontinent <br />subcontract <br />subhuman <br />submachinegun <br />sunbelt <br />takeover <br />threshold <br />timetable <br />transatlantic <br />transpacific <br />troublemaker (-ing) <br />turnout <br />underdog <br />underpaid <br />underrated <br />videodisc <br />videocassette <br />wartime <br />website <br />windfall <br />workforce <br />worldwide <br />worthwhile <br /> <br />TWO WORDS: <br />ad hoc (always) <br />air base <br />air force <br />arm's length <br />any more <br />ballot box <br />birth rate <br />car maker <br />child care (noun) <br />common sense (noun) <br />dog owner <br />errand boy <br />for ever (when used after a verb) <br />girl friend <br />health care (noun) <br />Land Rover <br />no one <br />on to <br />some day <br />under way <br />vice versa <br /> <br />TWO HYPHENATED WORDS: <br />agri-business <br />aid-worker <br />aircraft-carrier <br />asylum-seekers <br />bail-out <br />bell-ringer <br />build-up <br />buy-out <br />call-up (noun) <br />catch-phrase <br />copper-miner <br />death-squads <br />drawing-board <br />drug-dealer (-ing) <br />drug-trafficker (-ing) <br />end-game <br />end-year <br />faint-hearted <br />field-worker <br />front-line <br />front-runner <br />fund-raiser (-ing) <br />get-together (noun) <br />gun owner <br />gun-runner <br />hand-held <br />health-care (adj) <br />heir-apparent <br />hot-head <br />ice-cream <br />infra-red <br />inter-governmental <br />interest-group <br />joint-venture <br />kerb-crawler <br />know-how <br />lay-off (noun) <br />like-minded <br />long-standing <br />machine-tool <br />mid-week, mid-August, etc <br />mill-owner <br />nation-building <br />nation-state <br />news-stand <br />pay-off (noun) <br />post-war <br />pot-hole <br />pressure-group <br />pre-war <br />pull-out (noun, not verb) <br />question-mark <br />rain-check <br />re-create (meaning create again) <br />re-present (meaning present again) <br />re-sort (meaning sort again) <br />round-up (noun) <br />set-up (noun) <br />shake-out (noun) <br />stand-off <br />starting-point <br />start-ups <br />sticking-point <br />stumbling-block <br />talking-shop <br />task-force <br />tear-gas <br />think-tank <br />time-bomb <br />truck-driver <br />turning-point <br />vote-winner <br />working-party <br /> <br />THREE WORDS: <br />ad hoc agreement (meeting, etc) <br />armoured personnel carrier <br />chiefs of staff <br />half a dozen <br />in as much <br />in so far <br />multiple rocket launcher <br />nuclear power station <br />third world war (if things get bad) <br /> <br />THREE HYPHENATED WORDS: <br />A-turned-B (thief-turned-journalist) <br />brother-in-law <br />chock-a-block <br />commander-in-chief <br />no-man's-land <br />prisoners-of-war <br />second-in-command <br /> <br />Avoid from 1947-50 (say in 1947-50 or from 1947 to 1950) and between 1961-65 (say in 1961-65, between 1961 and 1965 or from 1961 to 1965). <br /> <br />“If you take hyphens seriously, you will surely go mad” (Oxford University Press style manual). <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />