# Hyphen ## Compound adjectives Hyphenate compound adjectives which precede nouns. If two compound adjectives end in the same word and modify the same noun, the last word should be omitted from the first compound adjective, as below. ### Examples * The state-of-the-art model * A long-term relationship * A 20-year-old boy * 19th- and 20th-century literature ## Following a noun A hyphen is generally unnecessary when the compound adjective follows the noun. ### Examples * Their relationship is long term. * The boy is 20 years old. However, some adjectives are always hyphenated. ### Examples * The model was state-of-the-art. ## Initial adverbs Do not hyphenate compound adjectives which begin with the word *very* or with an adverb ending in -ly. If these words are not the first word of the adjective, the adjective should usually be hyphenated. ### Examples * Correct: The very tired man slept in his wonderfully soft bed. * She received a not-very-nice phone call from her boss. * Incorrect: The very-tired man slept in his wonderfully-soft bed. * She received a not very nice phone call from her boss. ## Clarity Use hyphens as needed to clarify the meanings of compounds. Also use hyphens in words which may be misread without a hyphen. ### Examples * Small-business owner (owner of a small business) vs. small business owner (small owner of a business) * Re-creation (creation occurring again) vs. recreation (activity carried out for fun) ## Non-adjective compounds Compounds which are not adjectives do not follow any simple rule. In most cases, if you are not sure whether a compound should be hyphenated, consult a dictionary or Google Ngrams to determine the most common form. The most common non-adjective compounds in synopses are compound age nouns, which are hyphenated (e.g. an 18-year-old). ## See also {% content-ref url="../capitalization" %} [capitalization](https://malrewrite.gitbook.io/important-docs/reference/capitalization) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="../numbers" %} [numbers](https://malrewrite.gitbook.io/important-docs/reference/numbers) {% endcontent-ref %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://malrewrite.gitbook.io/important-docs/reference/punctuation/hyphen.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.