10 Types of Hyphenation Errors

10 Types of Hyphenation Errors 10 Types of Hyphenation Errors 10 Types of Hyphenation Errors By Mark Nichol I’ve written more than once about hyphens, including this previous post, but it remains a troublesome topic, so I’ll approach it from this direction, too: the categories of hyphenation errors. 1. Omitting Hyphens in Phrasal Adjectives Some phrasal adjectives (including â€Å"civil rights,† â€Å"stock market,† and â€Å"high school†) don’t require hyphenation when they appear before a noun; they’re so well entrenched in the language that no risk of ambiguity exists, and their status is enshrined by inclusion in dictionaries. But when two words team together to describe a noun, they’re usually hyphenated. (Leave them open after a noun, however.) If you can’t find them in your well-thumbed dictionary, attach them and don’t hesitate to link more than two words: â€Å"The company instituted a pay-as-you-go plan.† 2. Adding Hyphens to Compound Words Compound words come in three forms: open (â€Å"sand dollar†), hyphenated (sand-blind), and closed (sandbag). As you see from these examples, compounds including the same particular word are not necessarily treated the same; compounding is a random process related to usage. (Popular treatment of long-hyphenated compounds changes so rapidly that dictionaries change them in new editions to reflect prevailing usage; pigeonhole formerly pigeon-hole is just one example.) 3. Adding Hyphens to Prefixes Prefixes, on the other hand, are almost always closed up to the root word. Exceptions include when the root word is a proper name (pre-Christian) and when the prefix ends and the root word begins with an i (anti-inflammatory). Note, however, that this is not true in the case of e (preempt). Another exception is words beginning with c preceded by co-, because to many people, terms like co-chair look awkward without a hyphen. 4. Omitting Hyphens from Potential Homographs Sometimes, prefixed words that would otherwise be closed up retain a hyphen to distinguish them from otherwise identical-looking words, such as re-cover as opposed to recover and re-creation as distinct from recreation. 5. Omitting Hyphens in Verb Phrases Compound verbs, those consisting of more than one word, are hyphenated (test-drive) or closed (troubleshoot); the dictionary will let you know which form to employ. Note, however, the difference in nearly identical-looking compound verbs and open compound nouns: â€Å"I’m going to test-drive it tomorrow,† but â€Å"I’m going to take it on a test drive tomorrow.† Also, consider the subtle difference between gerunds formed from a hyphenated compound verb that are followed, or not followed, by an object: â€Å"I was spot-checking the report when I found a serious error,† but â€Å"I’m going to do a little spot checking.† 6. Adding Hyphens to Adverbial Phrases Adverbs are not attached to adjectives when they team up to modify a noun: â€Å"The slowly melting ice rendered the river crossing a perilous enterprise.† However, the presence of an adverb does not negate the need for a hyphen in a phrasal adjective that follows it: â€Å"Hers was an eloquently sharp-tongued response.† 7. Adding Hyphens to Prepositional Phrases Phrases telling the reader to do something in which the first word is a verb and the second is a preposition are not hyphenated: â€Å"Sign in at the registration table.† (The phrase is hyphenated, however, when it modifies a noun: â€Å"Go to the sign-in table.†) 8. Adding or Omitting Hyphens When Referring to Ages or Physical Dimensions When a person is identified by their age with the phrase â€Å"seven-year-old,† for example, the phrase is hyphenated whether it modifies child, boy, girl, and so on or the noun is implied. (Note that two hyphens are necessary and that, for the spelled-out form of a two-digit number, three are required: â€Å"twenty-seven-year-old.†) However, the constituent words are unattached when the phrase follows the noun: â€Å"The child is seven years old. By the same rules, words describing an object’s physical dimensions are similarly linked: â€Å"Cut the eight-foot-long board in half.† Note, again, that all the words describing the length of the board are attached: If the final hyphen is incorrectly omitted, the reference to a board that is eight feet long is erroneously changed to describe a long board with eight feet. 9. Omitting Letter Spaces When Using Hyphens When you see a hyphen followed by a letter space, don’t assume the space is an error. â€Å"The assignment is a 2,000- to 5,000-word essay† is correct; word has been omitted after the first number because it is implied by its presence after the second number. (This usage is called suspensive hyphenation.) 10. Confusing Hyphens and Dashes Many publications, for the sake of simplicity or because the producers don’t know any better, use single hyphens in place of em dashes or double hyphens (the less aesthetically pleasing alternative that is frequently employed online). But they look stubby and ugly, and this crime against aesthetics is compounded when letter spaces around them are omitted, producing abominations such as â€Å"The key-and this is important-is to keep stirring constantly.† 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:Has vs. HadOne Fell SwoopWood vs. Wooden

Quick Facts on the Korean War

Quick Facts on the Korean War The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 and ended on July 27, 1953. Where The Korean War took place on the Korean Peninsula, initially in South Korea, and then later in North Korea as well. Who North Korean communist forces called the North Korean Peoples Army (KPA) under President Kim Il-Sung began the war.  Mao Zedongs Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army (PVA) and the Soviet Red Army joined later. Note - the majority of the soldiers in the Peoples Volunteer Army were not really volunteers. On the other side, the South Korean Republic of Korea Army (ROK) joined forces with the United Nations. The UN force included troops from: United States (approx. 327,000)Great Britain (14,000)Canada (8,000)Turkey (5,500)Australia (2,300)Ethiopia (1,600)The Philippines (1,500)New Zealand (1,400)Thailand (1,300)Greece (1,250)France (1,200)Colombia (1,000)Belgium (900)South Africa (825)The Netherlands (800)Sweden (170)Norway (100)Denmark (100)Italy (70)India (70)Luxembourg (45) Maximum Troop Deployment South Korea and UN: 972,214 North Korea, China, USSR: 1,642,000 Who Won the Korean War? Neither side actually won the Korean War. In fact, the war goes on to this day, since the combatants never signed a peace treaty. South Korea did not even sign the Armistice agreement of July 27, 1953, and North Korea repudiated the armistice in 2013. In terms of territory, the two Koreas returned essentially to their pre-war boundaries, with a demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing them roughly along the 38th parallel. The civilians on each side truly lost the war, which resulted in millions of civilian deaths and economic devastation. Total Estimated Casualties South Korea and UN troops: 178,236 killed, 32,844 missing, 566,314 wounded.North Korea, USSR, and Chinese troops: Numbers are unclear, but American estimates range from 367,000 to 750,000 killed, about 152,000 missing or taken prisoner  and 686,500 to 789,000 wounded.South Korean civilians: 373,599 killed, 229,625 wounded, and 387,744 missingNorth Korean civilians: estimated 1,550,000 casualtiesTotal civilian deaths and injuries: approximately 2.5 million Major Events and Turning Points June 25, 1950: North Korea invades South KoreaJune 28, 1950: North Korean forces capture southern capital, SeoulJune 30, 1950: US pledges troops to UN effort for defense of South KoreaSept. 15, 1950: ROK and UN troops confined to Pusan Perimeter, launch counter-offensive Invasion of InchonSept. 27, 1950: UN troops recapture SeoulOct. 9, 1950: ROK and UN troops drive KPA back across 38th Parallel, South Koreans and allies invade North KoreaOct. 19, 1950: ROK and UN capture northern capital of PyongyangOct. 26, 1950: South Korean and UN troops mass along Yalu River, the North Korea/China borderOct. 27, 1950: China enters war on North Korean side, pushes UN/South Korean troops backNov. 27-30, 1950: Battle of Chosin ReservoirJan. 15, 1951: North Korean and Chinese troops retake SeoulMarch 7 - April 4, 1951: Operation Ripper, ROK and UN push combined communist forces above 38th parallel againMarch 18, 1951: UN forces recapture Seoul once moreJuly 10 - Aug. 23, 1951: Truce negotiations at Kaesong amidst continued bloody fighting Nov. 27, 1951: 38th parallel set as line of demarcationThroughout 1952: Bloody battles and trench warfareApril 23, 1953: Kaesong peace talks resumeJuly 27, 1953: UN, North Korea, and China sign armistice, ending fighting More Information on the Korean War: Detailed Timeline of the Korean WarPhotographs from the Korean WarThe Invasion of IncheonMap of the Pusan Perimeter and the Invasion of Incheon