Three Cases of Extraneous Hyphens

Writers, even professionals, have a difficult time with hyphens, frequently perplexed about whether to use one — or, worse, blithely certain they’re inserting or omitting a hyphen correctly when doing so is wrong. Here are some sentences that should be bereft of hyphens.

1. “In the city’s first cop-killing since 1935, a detective was found shot at a residence.”

There’s no reason to link the adjectival use of cop with the noun killing, unless killing is joining cop as a phrasal adjective, as in “The suspect is a cop-killing menace.” The correct usage is “In the city’s first cop killing since 1935, a detective was found shot at a residence.”

2. “A privately-built spacecraft will try a second flight in an effort to secure the prize.”

Writers frequently confuse adverbs ending in -ly, which are never connected to the verbs they modify, with adjectives, which are usually hyphenated in phrases like the one referred to in the previous item. Complicating the matter is that adjectival phrases including an adjective ending in -ly, such as grandfatherly-looking in “a grandfatherly-looking fellow,” are hyphenated before (and after) a noun.

The difference in these usages is that privately describes how the spacecraft was built; privately modifies built. In “grandfatherly-looking fellow,” however, the first two words are hyphenated to indicate that together, they modify fellow. The sentence should read, “A privately built spacecraft will try a second flight in an effort to secure the prize.”

3. “They prefer to dump the label for a more-effective brand.”

When a comparative or superlative modifier — less or least, or more or most — modifies an adjective, do not connect the terms with a hyphen: “They prefer to dump the label for a more effective brand.” (If the sentence is ambiguous without the hyphen, as in “The team had several more successful seasons,” revise the sentence according to the intended meaning: “The team had several seasons that were more successful” or “The team had several successful seasons after that.”)

Five Examples of the Need for Multiple Hyphenation

Complex and compound phrasal adjectives, in which more than two words unite to modify a noun that follows the phrase, pose a challenge for many writers. How many hyphens are required, and where do they go? These examples demonstrate the proper application of hyphens in such cases.

1. “He broke the 21-year old world record at the tournament.”

Hyphenation errors frequently occur in references to age or duration. In this case, the reference seems to be to an old record of a 21-year nature, but it can mean only that a record that has stood for 21 years has been broken. The record is 21 years old, so those three terms should be hyphenated together: “He broke the 21-year-old world record at the tournament.” (Or, if the number is spelled out, “He broke the twenty-one-year-old world record at the tournament.”)

2. “The project exemplifies his wheeling and dealing ways.”

The ways described involve wheeling and dealing. Because the two verbs are often used in tandem as an idiom referring to underhanded negotiations, they and the intervening conjunction should all be linked: “The project exemplifies his wheeling-and-dealing ways.”

3. “They’re taking a wait and see approach.”

As with “wheeling and dealing,” “wait and see” is an idiom; it means that observers will refrain from interference or deliberation until a catalyzing event occurs. All the words in the phrase should be hyphenated together: “They’re taking a wait-and-see approach.”

4. “He sustained non-life threatening injuries in the accident.”

As styled, the central phrase seems to refer to threatening injuries not associated with life. But the reference applies to injuries that are not threatening to life. Although non would normally be attached directly to a root word (for example, in nonprofit), in this case, because it is associated with the entire phrase “life-threatening injuries,” it is correctly attached to life with a hyphen. But life-threatening is a stock phrasal adjective, and a hyphen should connect those two terms here as well: “He sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the accident.”

5. “The soldiers were injured in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.”

This sentence implies that the soldiers were injured in a grenade attack that was rocket propelled — meaning that enemy troops themselves were propelled by rockets as they threw grenades. But the weapons were rocket-propelled grenades. Because this phrase modifies attack, grenade is attached to rocket-propelled: “The soldiers were injured in a rocket-propelled-grenade attack.”

How to Test for Hyphenation in Phrasal Adjectives

One of the most frequent style errors among writers is the omission of one or more hyphens in a phrasal adjective, a phrase consisting of two or more words linked to show that they’re teaming up to modify a noun that follows them. There’s an easy test to help you see that the hyphen is necessary.

When you write a phrase consisting of a noun preceded by two words describing the noun, confirm that the first and second word together modify the third, rather than that the second and third words constitute a compound noun modified by the first word. In the following sentence, for example, the latter holds true: “Indeed, the agency grants authority for community prevention efforts.” Here, “prevention efforts” is an open compound noun modified by community — the sentence does not refer to efforts to prevent community — so no hyphen is required.

Also, note that not every phrasal adjective requires a hyphen. Many open compound nouns (for example, “high school,” “income tax,” and “real estate”) are so well established that they appear in dictionaries as terms in their own right and do not require hyphenation when they are converted into adjectives to modify a noun (for example, “high school student,” “income tax form,” and “real estate agent”).

In a given sentence with a modified noun, ask yourself what kind of thing is being described, then hyphenate accordingly:

1. “This foundation has a feel good name.”

What kind of a name does it have? One designed to make you feel good, not a good name that feels. So, it’s a feel-good name: “This foundation has a feel-good name.”

2. “The small Victorian beach town lifted a decades old ban.”

What kind of a ban is it? One that has lasted for decades, not an old ban that is decades. So, it’s a decades-old ban: “The small Victorian beach town lifted a decades-old ban.”

3. “A truck and a car collided, triggering a seven vehicle crash.”

What kind of crash was it? One involving seven vehicles, not a vehicle crash that is seven. So, it’s a seven-vehicle crash: “A truck and a car collided, triggering a seven-vehicle crash.”

4. “It’s the Bay Area’s fastest growing town.”

What kind of town is it? One that is growing faster than any other, not a growing town that’s fastest. So, it’s the fastest-growing town: “It’s the Bay Area’s fastest-growing town.”

5. “The bumps have been causing two hour delays.”

What kind of delays are they? Ones lasting two hours, not hour delays that are two. So, they’re two-hour delays: “The bumps have been causing two hour delays.”