Hyphens and compound words

2.46

General. Compounds may be written as two or more separate words, or with hyphen(s), or as a single word: and many compounds have followed precisely those steps (data base, data-base, database). Use hyphens sparingly but to good purpose: the phrase crude oil production statistics needs a hyphen to tell the reader whether 'crude' applies to the oil or to the statistics. Sometimes hyphens are absolutely necessary to clarify the sense: re-cover — recover; re-creation — recreation; re-form — reform; re-count — recount

2.47

There are few hard and fast rules, but note the following examples: well-known problem; hot-rolled strip; broad-based programme (but a broadly based programme); oil-bearing rock; user-friendly software; two-day meeting; four-month stay (but four months' holiday) balance-of-payments policy; cost-of-living index; crude-oil production; low-interest loans; flood-control measures; melting-point temperature.

2.48	In adverb-adjective modifiers, no hyphen is needed when the adverb ends in -ly: occupationally exposed worker, a beautifully phrased sentence

2.49	Many compounds lose their hyphens when not used attributively: policy for the long term, production on a large scale (but he works full-time)

2.50	Chemical terms. Note that open compounds designating chemical substances do not take a hyphen in attributive position: boric acid solution, sodium chloride powder.

2.51

Prefixes are usually hyphenated in recent or ad hoc coinages: anti-smoking campaign, co-responsibility levies, co-sponsor, ex-army, non-resident, non-flammable, pre-school, quasi-autonomous If they are of Latin or Greek origin, however, they tend to drop the hyphen as they become established: antibody, codetermination, codecision, cofinancing, cooperation, subcommittee, subparagraph Others are more resistant to losing the hyphen: end-user, end-phase, end-product, all-embracing, all-metal, off-market operations, off-duty but note endgame, nonsense, overalls

2.52	Nouns from phrasal verbs. These are often hyphenated, but the situation is fluid and US usage (no hyphen) is increasingly adopted in British English too. Thus handout, takeover, comeback but follow-up, run-up, spin-off.

2.53	Present participles of phrasal verbs. When used as attributes they are generally hyphenated: cooling-off period;

2.54

Avoiding double consonants and vowels. Hyphens are often used to avoid juxtaposing two consonants or two vowels: aero-elastic, anti-intellectual, part-time, re-election, re-entry, re-examine The hyphen is often omitted in frequently used words: bookkeeping, coeducation, cooperation, coordinate, macroeconomic, microeconomic, radioactive.

2.55	Numbers and fractions. Numbers take hyphens when they are spelled out. Fractions take hyphens when used attributively, but not when used as nouns: twenty-eight, two-thirds completed But: an increase of two thirds.

2.56	Prefixes before proper names. Prefixes before proper names are hyphenated: pro-American, intra-Community, mid-Atlantic, pan-European, trans-European (NB: Trans-European Networks). Note, however, that transatlantic is written solid.

2.57

Coordination of compounds. Hyphenated compounds may be coordinated as follows: gamma- and beta-emitters, acid- and heat-resistant, hot- and cold-rolled products Where compounds are not hyphenated (close compounds), or should you choose to write them so, they should not be coordinated but written out in full: macrostructural and microstructural changes, minicomputers and microcomputers, prenatal and postnatal effects, agricultural inputs and outputs NOT macro- and microstructural changes, mini- and microcomputers, pre- and postnatal effects, agricultural in- and outputs (BUT of course macro- and micro-structural changes, pre- and post-natal effects)

2.58

Close compounds in technical texts. There are two major categories. Firstly, those that consist of pairs of short native English words: sugarbeet, pigmeat, sheepmeat, feedingstuffs, groundwater, yellowcake, wetfish, shortgrasses; secondly, there is the highly productive category of compounds derived from Greek or Latin stems: keratoderma, keratomalacia, keratolytic, phyllophaga, phyllopod.

2.59	VAT. If you need to write this out in full in Commission documents, write value added tax.

3.	PUNCTUATION

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