Hyphens

Hyphens

By Kristin Towe

​In some situations, you may use a hyphen to join parts of a name.

​For example:

​

1. Mrs. Easterwood-Towe​ (maiden and married last name)

2. Billy-Bob (two first names)

3. Meany-Pants-Know-It-All (multiple words used to name someone)​

Open Ended

Combine these name parts using a hyphen:

Know It All Meany Pants

​In some situations, you may use a hyphen to describe someone's age

​For example:

​

1. She is a twenty-five-year-old woman.

2. He is an eleven-year-old boy.​

Open Ended

He is a SEVENTY NINE YEAR OLD llama

Type its age using the appropriate hyphens.

Open Ended

She is a SIX FOOT TALL ogre.

Type its height using the appropriate hyphens.

​In some situations, you may use a hyphen to connect compound adjectives.

​For example:

​

1. She is an overly-confident runner.

2. ​The melt-in-your-mouth flavor is delicious.

Open Ended

Combine the words below correctly using a hyphen.

The TOO HOT TO EAT pie is sitting on the counter.

THE EM DASH

basically a longer hyphen

The Em Dash is a longer hyphen

1. Use two hyphens to make it (- -).

2. They are mainly used like parentheses , colons, or commas.

Examples

Ms. Towe (an English teacher) likes to pet llamas.

Ms. Towe --an English teacher-- likes to pet llamas.

Ms. Towe, an English teacher, likes to pet llamas.

Another Example

The field trip--which is tomorrow--is to the zoo.

The field trip, which is tomorrow, is to the zoo.

The field trip (which is tomorrow) is to the zoo.

Multiple Select

Which is correct?

MORE THAN ONE CORRECT ANSWER

• If you want to go--and everyone wants to go--then you must bring back your form.

• If you want to go (and everyone wants to go) then you must bring back your form.

• If you want to go, and everyone wants to go, then you must bring back your form.

• If you want to go-and everyone wants to go-then you must bring back your form.

Multiple Choice

Explain the meaning of this phrase by choosing the correct answer.

my short-sighted cousin

• My cousin who is short.

• My cousin with poor sight.

• My cousin who is short with poor sight.

Multiple Choice

Explain the meaning of this phrase by choosing the correct answer.

my short sighted cousin

• My cousin who is short and can see.

• My cousin who is short with poor sight.

• My cousin who is short and can be seen.

Fill in the Blanks

Rewrite this sentence using hyphen to avoid ambiguity.

We invited thirty nine year old boys.

Multiple Choice

Add the correct hyphen(s) or dash(es) to the below sentence: 
Mr. Lee suits the job he has more experience than everybody else in the department.

• Mr. Lee suits the job he has more experience than everybody else - in the department.
• Mr. Lee suits the job—he has more experience than everybody else in the department.
• Mr. Lee suits the job he has more experience than everybody else — in the department.
• Mr. Lee suits the job - he has more experience than everybody else in the department.

Fill in the Blanks

Rewrite this sentence using hyphen to avoid ambiguity.

Jet was a green eyed cat.

Multiple Choice

Nido a school with a great reputation follows a different schedule than other schools in Chile.

• Nido—a school with a great reputation—follows a different schedule than other schools in Chile.
• Nido a school with a great reputation, follows a different schedule than other schools in Chile.
• Nido - a school with a great reputation - follows a different schedule than other schools in Chile.
• Nido—a school with a great reputation — follows a different schedule than other schools in Chile.

Multiple Choice

What's the difference between an em dash and an en dash?

• An em dash is longer.
• Nothing.
• An em dash is shorter.
• I don't know.

Multiple Choice

Please read pages 171 to 151.
If you wanted to replace the "to" with a punctuation mark, which of the below would you use?

• ; semicolon
• - hyphen
• — dash
• None of the above.