Hyphens Practice

When trying to decide if a NOUN needs a hyphen, you should. . .

• ask your teacher

• look it up in a reliable dictionary

• guess

• follow the rules for nouns

mother-in-law, father-to-be, merry-go-round, and jack-in-the-box are examples of

• nouns that always get a hyphen

• nouns we need to look up in a dictionary

• compound adjectives

• verbs

The prefixes ______ and _______ always get a hyphen.

• pro, anti

• non, un

• pre, post

• self, ex

Hyphenate compound adjectives when they come before the ___________ they modify.

• noun

• verb

• sentence

• semicolon

anti-American, mid-September, pro-British get hyphens because. . . .

• they are longer than two syllables

• they are nouns

• anti, mid, and pro always get hyphens

• otherwise you would have a capital letter in the middle of a word

Pre-existing, anti-intellectual, co-operator use hyphens because. . .

• the prefix ends with the same vowel as the root word

• pro, anti, and co always use hyphens

• the are nouns

• they are -ly adverbs

Do not hyphenate compound adjectives if. . .

• you don't feel like it

• the first word is an -ly adverb

• if the adjective is actually a noun

• one word is a number

fully equipped campsite

• does need a hyphen

• does not need a hyphen

swiftly moving river

• does need a hyphen

• does not need a hyphen

cutely singing child

• does need a hyphen

• does not need a hyphen