Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hyphens and Dashes 1
Hyphens and Dashes 1
Hyphens and Dashes 1
A Mini-Lesson
The Differences
• The hyphen (-) is used to separate parts of a word.
• a well-written document
• a thought-provoking story
• out-of-state students
• out-of-shape people
• a five-year-old boy
• (BUT: The boy is five
• years old.)
• secretary-treasurer
• student-teacher ratio
• work-study program
• inner-city schools
• jack-in-the-box
• mother-in-law
Use a Hyphen
To set off certain prefixes
well-being
well-preserved
self-conscious
self-employed
all-purpose
ex-minister
ex-husband
anti-intellectual
pro-American
Use a Dash
(carefully and sparingly)
To add emphasis