Editing Hyphen (section)

== Use in English ==
{{For|Wikipedia's own standards for hyphen use|Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Hyphens|selfref=true}}
{{Original research section|date=January 2016|reason=Almost nothing in this section is tied to reliable sources, and there's a great deal of prescriptivist punditry about "codification" of various "rules".}}

The [[English language]] does not have definitive hyphenation rules,<ref name="Economist intro">{{cite book |title=The Economist Style Guide |edition=11th |date=2015 |editor-first=Ann |editor-last=Wroe |location=London / New York |publisher=Profile Books / PublicAffairs |page=74 |quote='''hyphens'''&nbsp;&nbsp;There is no firm rule to help you decide which words are run together, hyphenated or left separate.}}</ref> though various [[style guide]]s provide detailed usage recommendations and have a significant amount of overlap in what they advise. Hyphens are mostly used to break single words into parts or to join ordinarily separate words into single words. Spaces are not placed between a hyphen and either of the elements it connects except when using a suspended or "hanging" hyphen that stands in for a repeated word (e.g., ''nineteenth- and {{nowrap|twentieth-century}} writers''). Style conventions that apply to hyphens (and dashes) have evolved to support ease of reading in complex constructions; editors often accept deviations if they aid rather than hinder easy comprehension.

The use of the hyphen in [[English compound]] nouns and verbs has, in general, been steadily declining. Compounds that might once have been hyphenated are increasingly left with spaces or are combined into one word. Reflecting this changing usage, in 2007, the sixth edition of the ''[[Shorter Oxford English Dictionary]]'' removed the hyphens from 16,000&nbsp;entries, such as ''fig-leaf'' (now ''fig leaf''), ''pot-belly'' (now ''pot belly''), and ''pigeon-hole'' (now ''pigeonhole'').<ref>{{cite web |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7004661.stm |title=Small object of grammatical desire |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]] |work=[[BBC News]] |location=London |date=20 September 2007}}.</ref> The increasing prevalence of computer technology and the advent of the Internet have given rise to a subset of common nouns that might have been hyphenated in the past (e.g., ''[[toolbar]]'', ''[[hyperlink]]'', and ''[[pastebin]]'').

Despite decreased use, hyphenation remains the norm in certain compound-modifier constructions and, among some authors, with certain prefixes (see [[#Prefixes_and_suffixes|below]]). Hyphenation is also routinely used as part of [[syllabification]] in [[typographic alignment#Justified|justified]] texts to avoid unsightly spacing (especially in [[column (typography)|columns]] with narrow [[line length]]s, as when used with [[newspaper]]s).

=== Separating ===
==== Justification and line-wrapping ====
When flowing text, it is sometimes preferable to break a word into two so that it continues on another line rather than moving the entire word to the next line. The word may be divided at the nearest break point between syllables ([[syllabification]]) and a hyphen inserted to indicate that the letters form a word fragment, rather than a full word. This allows more efficient use of paper, allows flush appearance of right-side margins ([[typographic alignment#Justified|justification]]) without oddly large word spaces, and decreases the problem of [[river (typography)|rivers]]. This kind of hyphenation is most useful when the width of the column (called the "line length" in typography) is very narrow. For example:

{|
|- valign="top"
| ''Justified text<br />without hyphenation''
|
| ''Justified text<br />with hyphenation''
|- valign="top"
| style="font-family: monospace; text-align: justify"|
We,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;therefore,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the<br />
representatives of the United<br />
States of America ...
| style=width:3em;|&nbsp;&nbsp;
| style="font-family: monospace; text-align: justify;"|
We,&nbsp;therefore,&nbsp;the&nbsp;{{not a typo|represen-}}<br />
tatives of&nbsp;the United States <br />
of America ...
|}

Rules (or guidelines) for correct hyphenation vary between languages, and may be complex, and they can interact with other [[Orthography|orthographic]] and [[typesetting]] practices. [[Hyphenation algorithm]]s, when employed in concert with dictionaries, are sufficient for all but the most formal texts.

It may be necessary to distinguish an incidental line-break hyphen from one integral to a word [[use–mention distinction|being mentioned]] (as when used in a [[dictionary]]) or present in an original text being quoted (when in a [[critical edition]]), not only to control its [[word wrap]] behavior (which [[character encoding|encoding]] handles with [[#Soft and hard hyphens|hard and soft hyphens]] having the same [[glyph]]) but also to differentiate appearance (with a different glyph). ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]''<ref name="Gove1993">{{cite book|last=Gove|first=Philip Babcock|title=Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CXR-tTsHo58C&pg=PT23|access-date=28 November 2014|year=1993|publisher=Merriam-Webster|isbn=978-0-87779-201-7|page=14a, §&nbsp;1.6.1}}</ref> and the ''[[Chambers Dictionary]]''<ref name="Chambers2006">{{cite book|last=Chambers|first=Allied|title=The Chambers Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pz2ORay2HWoC&pg=PP38|access-date=28 November 2014|year=2006|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=978-8186062258|page=xxxviii, §&nbsp;8}}</ref> use a [[double hyphen]] for integral hyphens and a single hyphen for line-breaks, whereas Kromhout's Afrikaans–English dictionary uses the opposite convention.<ref name="Kromhout2001">{{cite book|last=Kromhout|first=Jan|title=Afrikaans–English, English–Afrikaans Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/afrikaansenglish00krom|url-access=registration|access-date=28 November 2014|year=2001|publisher=Hippocrene Books|isbn=978-0-7818-0846-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/afrikaansenglish00krom/page/182 182], §&nbsp;5}}</ref> The ''[[Concise Oxford Dictionary]] (fifth edition)'' suggested repeating an integral hyphen at the start of the following line.<ref name="Hartmann1986">{{cite book|last=Hartmann|first=R. Rf. K.|title=The History of Lexicography: Papers from the Dictionary Research Centre Seminar at Exeter, March 1986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cKT4L5Qg7ZkC&pg=PA9|year=1986|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=978-9027245236|page=9}}</ref>

==== Prefixes and suffixes ====
[[Prefix]]es (such as ''de-'', ''pre-'', ''re-'', and ''non-''<ref name="footnote_prefix_list">A fairly comprehensive list, although not exhaustive, is given at [[Prefix#List of English derivational prefixes|Prefix > List of English derivational prefixes]].</ref>) and [[suffix]]es (such as ''{{nowrap|-less}}'', ''{{nowrap|-like}}'', ''{{nowrap|-ness}}'', and ''{{nowrap|-hood}}'') are sometimes hyphenated, especially when the unhyphenated spelling resembles another word or when the [[affix]]ation is deemed misinterpretable, ambiguous, or somehow "odd-looking" (for example, having two consecutive [[phonemic orthography|monograph]]s that look like the [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]]s of English, like e+a, e+e, or e+i). However, the unhyphenated style, which is also called ''closed up'' or ''solid'', is usually preferred, particularly when the [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivative]] has been relatively familiarized or popularized through extensive use in various contexts. As a [[rule of thumb]], affixes are not hyphenated unless the lack of a hyphen would hurt clarity.

The hyphen may be used between vowel letters (e.g., ''ee'', ''ea'', ''ei'') to indicate that they do not form a [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]]. Some words have both hyphenated and unhyphenated variants: ''{{nowrap|de-escalate}}/deescalate'', ''{{nowrap|co-operation}}/cooperation'', ''{{nowrap|re-examine}}/reexamine'', ''{{nowrap|de-emphasize}}/deemphasize'', and so on. Words often lose their hyphen as they become more common, such as ''[[email]]'' instead of ''{{nowrap|e-mail}}''. When there are tripled letters, the hyphenated variant of these words is often more common (as in ''{{nowrap|shell-like}}'' instead of ''{{not a typo|shelllike}}'').

Closed-up style is avoided in some cases: possible [[homograph]]s, such as ''[[recreation]]'' (fun or sport) versus ''{{nowrap|re-creation}}'' (the act of creating again), ''retreat'' (turn back) versus ''{{nowrap|re-treat}}'' (give [[therapy]] again), and ''{{nowrap|un-ionized}}'' (not in [[ion]] form) versus ''unionized'' (organized into [[trade union]]s); combinations with [[proper noun|proper]] nouns or adjectives (''{{nowrap|un-American}}'', ''{{nowrap|de-Stalinisation}}'');<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com/articles/article/426348/2805.htm | contribution = Hyphenated Words: A Guide | title = The Grammar Curmudgeon | publisher = City slide}}.</ref><ref name="Grammar book">{{Citation | url = http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/hyphens.asp | title = Punctuation | publisher = Grammar book | contribution = Hyphens}}.</ref> [[acronym]]s (''{{nowrap|anti-TNF antibody}}'', ''{{nowrap|non-SI units}}''); or numbers (''{{nowrap|pre-1949 diplomacy}}'', ''{{nowrap|pre-1492 cartography}}''). Although ''{{nowrap|[[proto-oncogene]]}}'' is still hyphenated by both ''Dorland's'' and ''Merriam-Webster's Medical'', the solid (that is, unhyphenated) styling (''protooncogene'') is a common variant, particularly among oncologists and geneticists.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

A [[diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] may also be used in a like fashion, either to separate and mark off monographs (as in ''coöperation'') or to signalize a [[vowel|vocalic]] terminal e (for example, ''[[Brontë family|Brontë]]''). This use of the diaeresis peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it was never applied extensively across the language: only a handful of diaereses, including ''coöperation'' and ''Brontë'', are encountered with any appreciable frequency in English; thus ''reëxamine'', ''reïterate'', ''deëmphasize'', etc. are seldom encountered. In borrowings from Modern French, whose [[French orthography|orthography]] utilizes the diaeresis as a means to differentiate [[grapheme]]s, various English dictionaries list the dieresis as optional (as in ''naive'' and ''naïve'') despite the juxtaposition of a and i.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

==== Syllabification and spelling ====
Hyphens are occasionally used to denote [[syllabification]], as in ''syl-la-bi-fi-ca-tion''. Various British and North American dictionaries use an [[interpunct]], sometimes called a "middle dot" or "hyphenation point", for this purpose, as in ''syl·la·bi·fi·ca·tion''. This allows the hyphen to be reserved only for places where a hard hyphen is intended (for example, ''{{nowrap|self-con·scious}}'', ''{{nowrap|un·self-con·scious}}'', ''{{nowrap|long-stand·ing}}''). Similarly, hyphens may be used to indicate how a word is being or should be spelled. For example, ''W-O-R-D spells "word"''.

In nineteenth-century American literature, hyphens were also used irregularly to divide syllables in words from indigenous North American languages, without regard for etymology or pronunciation,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Liberman|first=Mark|title=American Indian Hyphens|url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005174.html|website=Language Log}}</ref> such as "Shuh-shuh-gah" (from [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] ''zhashagi'', "blue heron") in ''[[The Song of Hiawatha]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Longfellow|first=Henry Wadsworth|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19/19-h/19-h.htm|title=The Song of Hiawatha}}</ref> This usage is now rare and proscribed, except in some place names such as [[Ah-gwah-ching, Minnesota|Ah-gwah-ching]].

=== Joining ===
==== Compound modifiers ====
{{Further|Compound modifier|English compound#Hyphenated compound modifiers}}

[[Compound modifier]]s are groups of two or more words that jointly modify the meaning of another word. When a compound modifier other than an [[adverb]]–[[adjective]] combination appears ''before'' a term, the compound modifier is often hyphenated to prevent misunderstanding, such as in ''{{nowrap|American-football}} player'' or ''{{nowrap|little-celebrated}} paintings''. Without the hyphen, there is potential confusion about whether the writer means a "player of American football" or an "American player of football" and whether the writer means paintings that are "little celebrated" or "celebrated paintings" that are little.<ref>[[Gary Blake]] and [[Robert W. Bly]], ''The Elements of Technical Writing'', p. 48. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan Publishers]], 1993. {{ISBN|0020130856}}</ref> Compound modifiers can extend to three or more words, as in ''{{nowrap|ice-cream-flavored}} candy'', and can be adverbial as well as adjectival (''{{nowrap|spine-tinglingly}} frightening''). However, if the compound is a familiar one, it is usually unhyphenated. For example, some style guides prefer the construction ''high school students'', to ''{{nowrap|high-school}} students''.<ref>E.g. {{cite web |url= https://www.jhsph.edu/news/style_manual/h.html |title=H |work=Bloomberg School Style Manual |publisher=Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health |access-date=9 March 2019}}</ref><ref name="IU Style Guide" /> Although the expression is technically ambiguous ("students of a high school"/"school students who are high"), it would normally be formulated differently if other than the first meaning were intended. Noun–noun compound modifiers may also be written without a hyphen when no confusion is likely: ''grade point average'' and ''department store manager''.<ref name="IU Style Guide" />

When a compound modifier ''follows'' the term to which it applies, a hyphen is typically not used if the compound is a temporary compound. For example, "that gentleman is well respected", not "that gentleman is well-respected"; or "a patient-centered approach was used" but "the approach was patient centered."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uhv.edu/ac/newsletters/writing/grammartip2004.11.30.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109235952/http://www.uhv.edu/ac/newsletters/writing/grammartip2004.11.30.htm |url-status = dead|archive-date=9 January 2010 |publisher=UHV |type=Grammar tip |date=2004-11-30 |title=Using Hyphens in Compound Adjectives (and Exceptions to the Rule) |first=John |last=Davis |access-date=2010-01-05}}</ref> But permanent compounds, found as headwords in dictionaries, are treated as invariable, so if they are hyphenated in the cited dictionary, the hyphenation will be used in both attributive and predicative positions. For example, "A cost-effective method was used" and "The method was cost-effective" (''cost-effective'' is a permanent compound that is hyphenated as a headword in various dictionaries). When one of the parts of the modifier is a [[proper noun]] or a [[proper adjective]], there is no hyphen (e.g., "a South American actor").<ref name="Hyphenated Compound Words">{{cite web|url = http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000127.htm|title = Hyphenated Compound Words|access-date = 2014-11-18|website = englishplus.com}}</ref>

When the first modifier in a compound is an adverb ending in ''-ly'' (e.g., "a poorly written novel"), various style guides advise no hyphen.<ref name="Hyphenated Compound Words" />{{additional citation needed|date=January 2016}} However, some do allow for this use. For example, ''[[The Economist]] Style Guide'' advises: "Adverbs do not need to be linked to participles or adjectives by hyphens in simple constructions{{nbsp}}... Less common adverbs, including all those that end ''-ly'', are less likely to need hyphens."<ref name="Economist 12">{{cite book |title=The Economist Style Guide |edition=11th |date=2015 |editor-first=Ann |editor-last=Wroe |location=London / New York |publisher=Profile Books / PublicAffairs |pages=77–78 |quote='''hyphens'''&nbsp;&nbsp; ... 12. Adverbs: Adverbs do not need to be linked to participles or adjectives by hyphens in simple constructions [examples elided]. But if the adverb is one of two words together being used adjectivally, a hyphen may be needed [examples elided]. The hyphen is especially likely to be needed if the adverb is short and common, such as ''ill'', ''little'', ''much'' and ''well''. Less common adverbs, including all those that end ''-ly'', are less likely to need hyphens [example elided].}}</ref> In the 19th century, it was common to hyphenate adverb–adjective modifiers with the adverb ending in ''-ly'' (e.g., "a craftily-constructed chair"). However, this has become rare. For example, ''wholly owned subsidiary'' and ''quickly moving vehicle'' are unambiguous, because the adverbs clearly modify the adjectives: "quickly" cannot modify "vehicle".

However, if an adverb can also function as an adjective, then a hyphen may be or should be used for clarity, depending on the style guide.<ref name="Grammar book" /> For example, the phrase ''{{nowrap|more-important}} reasons'' ("reasons that are more important") is distinguished from ''more important reasons'' ("additional important reasons"), where ''more'' is an adjective. Similarly, ''{{nowrap|more-beautiful}} scenery'' (with a [[mass noun|mass-noun]]) is distinct from ''more beautiful scenery''. (In contrast, the hyphen in "a {{nowrap|more-important}} reason" is not necessary, because the syntax cannot be misinterpreted.) A few short and common words—such as ''well'', ''ill'', ''little'', and ''much''—attract special attention in this category.<ref name="Economist 12" /> The hyphen in "well-[past_participled] noun", such as in "[[Cellular differentiation|well-differentiated cells]]", might reasonably be judged superfluous (the syntax is unlikely to be misinterpreted), yet plenty of style guides call for it. Because ''early'' has both adverbial and adjectival senses, its hyphenation can attract attention; some editors, due to comparison with ''advanced-stage disease'' and ''adult-onset disease'', like the parallelism of ''early-stage disease'' and ''early-onset disease''. Similarly, the hyphen in ''little-celebrated paintings'' clarifies that one is not speaking of little paintings.

Hyphens are usually used to connect numbers and words in modifying phrases. Such is the case when used to describe dimensional measurements of weight, size, and time, under the rationale that, like other compound modifiers, they take hyphens in attributive position (before the modified noun),<ref name="AMA10section8.3.1">{{cite book |last=Iverson |first=Cheryl|title=AMA Manual of Style |edition=10th |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, Oxfordshire |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-517633-9 |section=8.3.1 |url=https://archive.org/details/amamanualofstyle0000unse }}</ref> although not in predicative position (after the modified noun). This is applied whether numerals or words are used for the numbers. Thus ''{{nowrap|28-year-old}} woman'' and ''{{nowrap|twenty-eight-year-old}} woman'' or ''{{nowrap|32-foot}} wingspan'' and ''{{nowrap|thirty-two-foot}} wingspan'', but ''the woman is 28 years old'' and ''a wingspan of 32 feet''.{{efn|name=Plural nouns|With numbers, where a plural noun would normally be used in an unhyphenated predicative position, the singular form of the noun is generally used in the hyphenated form used attributively. Thus ''a woman who is 28 years old'' becomes ''a {{nowrap|28-year-old}} woman''. There are occasional exceptions to this general rule, for instance with fractions (''a two-thirds majority'') and irregular plurals (''a two-criteria review'', ''a two-teeth bridge'').}} However, with symbols for [[SI]] units (such as ''[[metre|m]]'' or ''[[kilogram|kg]]'')—in contrast to the ''names'' of these units (such as ''[[metre]]'' or ''[[kilogram]]'')—the numerical value is always separated from it with a space: ''a 25&nbsp;kg sphere''. When the unit names are spelled out, this recommendation does not apply: ''a {{nowrap|25-kilogram}} sphere'', ''a roll of {{nowrap|35-millimetre}} film''.<ref>Bureau international des poids et mesures, [https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si-brochure/SI-Brochure-9.pdf#page=151 ''Le Système international d'unités (SI) / The International System of Units (SI)'', 9th ed.] (Sèvres: 2019), {{ISBN|978-92-822-2272-0|invalid1=yes}}, sub§5.4.3, p. 149; [http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf "Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)"], NIST Special Publication 811, [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]], March 2008.</ref>

In spelled-out [[fraction (mathematics)|fractions]], hyphens are usually used when the fraction is used as an adjective but not when it is used as a noun: thus ''{{nowrap|two-thirds}} majority''{{efn|name=Plural nouns}} and ''{{nowrap|one-eighth}} portion'' but ''I drank two thirds of the bottle'' or ''I kept three quarters of it for myself''.<ref name="APA6section4.13">{{Citation |author=American Psychological Association (APA) |author-link=American Psychological Association |year=2010 |title=The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association |edition=6th |publisher=American Psychological Association |location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1-4338-0562-2 |url=http://apastyle.org/ |postscript=.}}</ref> However, at least one major style guide<ref name="AMA10section8.3.1" /> hyphenates spelled-out fractions invariably (whether adjective or noun).

In English, {{Anchor|En dash, hyphen, or either one}} an [[en dash]], {{char|–}}, sometimes replaces the hyphen in hyphenated compounds if either of its constituent parts is already hyphenated or contains a space (for example, ''San Francisco–area residents'', ''hormone receptor–positive cells'', ''cell cycle–related factors'', and ''public-school–private-school rivalries'').<ref name="LutzStevenson2005">{{cite book|author1=Gary Lutz|author2=Diane Stevenson|title=The Writer's Digest grammar desk reference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SsQ9ugnMcpUC&pg=PA296|year=2005|publisher=Writer's Digest Books|isbn=978-1-58297-335-7|page=296}}</ref> A commonly used alternative style is the hyphenated string (''hormone-receptor-positive cells'', ''cell-cycle-related factors''). (For other aspects of en dash–versus–hyphen use, see ''[[Dash#En dash|Dash § En dash]]''.)

==== Object–verbal-noun compounds ====
{{anchor|Object–verbal noun compounds||reason=Old section name; lots of redirs point here.}}

When an object is compounded with a verbal noun, such as ''[[Mixer (cooking)|egg-beater]]'' (a tool that beats eggs), the result is sometimes hyphenated. Some authors do this consistently, others only for disambiguation; in this case, ''egg-beater, egg beater,'' and ''eggbeater'' are all common.

An example of an ambiguous phrase appears in ''they stood near a group of alien lovers'', which without a hyphen implies that they stood near a group of lovers who were aliens; ''they stood near a group of alien-lovers'' clarifies that they stood near a group of people who loved aliens, as "alien" can be either an adjective or a noun. On the other hand, in the phrase ''a hungry pizza-lover'', the hyphen will often be omitted (a hungry pizza lover), as "pizza" cannot be an adjective and the phrase is therefore unambiguous.

Similarly, ''a man-eating shark'' is nearly the opposite of ''a man eating shark''; the first refers to a shark that eats people, and the second to a man who eats [[shark meat]]. ''A government-monitoring program'' is a program that monitors the government, whereas ''a government monitoring program'' is a government program that monitors something else.

==== Personal names ====
{{See also|Spanish naming customs#Hyphenation|Portuguese name#Hyphenation}}

Some married couples compose a new [[surname]] (sometimes referred to as a [[double-barrelled name]]) for their new family by combining their two surnames with a hyphen. Jane Doe and John Smith might become Jane and John Smith-Doe, or Doe-Smith, for instance. In some countries only the woman hyphenates her birth surname, appending her husband's surname.

With already-hyphenated names, some parts are typically dropped. For example, Aaron Johnson and Samantha Taylor-Wood became [[Aaron Taylor-Johnson]] and [[Sam Taylor-Johnson]]. Not all hyphenated surnames are the result of marriage. For example [[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]] is a descendant of Louis Lemlé Dreyfus whose son was Léopold Louis-Dreyfus.

==== Other compounds ====
Connecting hyphens are used in a large number of miscellaneous compounds, other than modifiers, such as in ''lily-of-the-valley'', ''cock-a-hoop'', ''clever-clever'', ''tittle-tattle'' and ''orang-utan''. Use is often dictated by convention rather than fixed rules, and hyphenation styles may vary between authors; for example, ''orang-utan'' is also written as ''orangutan'' or ''orang utan'', and ''lily-of-the-valley'' may be hyphenated or not.

==== Suspended hyphens ====
{{anchor|Suspended hyphens}}<!-- Section header used as link target in redirects -->

A '''suspended hyphen''' (also called a '''suspensive hyphen''' or '''hanging hyphen''', or less commonly a '''dangling''' or '''floating hyphen''') may be used when a single base word is used with separate, consecutive, hyphenated words that are connected by "and", "or", or "to". For example, ''short-term and long-term plans'' may be written as ''short- and long-term plans.'' This usage is now common and specifically recommended in some style guides.<ref name="IU Style Guide">E.g. {{cite web |url=https://brand.iu.edu/messaging-strategy/editorial-style/style-guide/h.html |title=H |work=The IU editorial style guide |publisher=Indiana University |access-date=9 March 2019 |archive-date=14 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614170302/https://brand.iu.edu/messaging-strategy/editorial-style/style-guide/h.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Suspended hyphens are also used, though less commonly, when the base word comes first, such as in "investor-owned and {{nowrap|-operated}}". Uses such as "applied and sociolinguistics" (instead of "applied linguistics and sociolinguistics") are frowned upon; the Indiana University style guide uses this example and says "Do not 'take a shortcut' when the first expression is ordinarily open" (i.e., ordinarily two separate words).<ref name="IU Style Guide" /> This is different, however, from instances where prefixes that are normally closed up (styled solidly) are used suspensively. For example, ''{{nowrap|preoperative and postoperative}}'' becomes ''{{nowrap|pre- and postoperative}}'' (not ''{{nowrap|pre- and post-operative}}'') when suspended. Some editors prefer to avoid suspending such pairs, choosing instead to write out both words in full.<ref name="AMA10section8.3.1" />

=== Other uses ===
A hyphen may be used to connect groups of numbers, such as in [[Calendar date|dates]] (see [[Hyphen#Use in date notation|§ Usage in date notation]]), [[Telephone number|telephone numbers]] or sports [[Score (game)|scores]].

It can also be used to indicate a range of values, although many styles prefer an en dash (see {{mslink|Dash|En dash|Ranges of values}}).

It is sometimes used to hide letters in words ([[fillet (redaction)|filleting for redaction or censoring]]), as in "[[G-d]]", although an en dash can be used as well ("G–d").<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davidson |first=Baruch |date=2011-02-23 |title=Why Don't Jews Say G‑d's Name? - On the use of the word "Hashem" - Chabad.org |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1443443/jewish/Why-Dont-Jews-Say-Gds-Name.htm |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=[[Chabad.org]] |quote=It is customary to insert a dash in G-d's name when written or printed on a medium that could be defaced.}}</ref>

It is often used in [[reduplication]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-26 |title=Like vs. Like-Like: A Look at Reduplication in English |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/reduplication/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=[[Dictionary.com]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

Due to their similar appearances, hyphens are sometimes mistakenly used where an en dash or em dash would be more appropriate.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gunner |first=Jennifer |date=2010-02-22 |title=When and How To Use a Hyphen ( - ) |url=https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/punctuation/hyphen-rules.html |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=grammar.yourdictionary.com |language=en |quote=Many people confuse hyphens and dashes because they look similar in printing.}}</ref>

=== Varied meanings ===
Some stark examples of semantic changes caused by the placement of hyphens to mark attributive phrases:
* ''Disease-causing poor nutrition'' is poor nutrition that causes disease.
** ''Disease causing poor nutrition'' is a disease that causes poor nutrition.
* A ''hard-working man'' is a man who works hard.
** A ''hard working man'' is a working man who is tough.
* A ''man-eating shark'' is a shark that eats humans.
** A ''man eating shark'' is a man who is eating shark meat.
* ''Three-hundred-year-old trees'' are an indeterminate number of trees that are each 300 years old.
** ''Three hundred-year-old trees'' are three trees that are each 100 years old.
** ''Three hundred year-old trees'' are 300 trees that are each a year old.