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Punctuation Marks     Part 4

10.  Hyphen

The difference between the hyphen and the dash is a difference in function: a hyphen connects, a dash separates. The two create problems because some people use them interchangeably. However, they not only function differently but they are also not the same length. The hyphen is short - while the dash is as long as
two hyphens –.

In a Compound Modifier The hyphen is used in a compound modifier that precedes the word or phrases it modifies.

The new department store was particularly crowded yesterday because of a one-of-a-kind sale on free-standing mirrors.

If the hyphen were dropped in the second modifier, a reader might misread the modification and believe the sale involved free standing mirrors.

The hyphen is extremely crucial when a noun and a verb function as a compound modifier. Without the hyphen a person might read the noun as the subject of the verb.

U.S. RUN TRUCE
QUIETS LEBANESE
AND ISRAELI GUNS

Granted the verb run does not agree with U.S. in number, but the addition of the hyphen would clear all doubt.

U.S.-RUN TRUCE
QUIETS LEBANESE
AND ISRAELI GUNS

Do not hyphenate when the compound modifier is an adverb and a participle. For example:

the heavily guarded road; the well built fort; the happily married couple; the well known composer

Readers understand the function of adverbs; it is unlikely they will get confused without the hyphen. That is why the hyphen should be used only when necessary for clarity. In football, some players are running backs and play in the running-back position. That is not the same as the running back position. which sounds like somebody running backward. Likewise, there is a difference between a child teaching expert, which suggests a child teaching an expert. and a child-teaching expert, an expert who teaches children.

With a Prefix The hyphen is also used to attach a prefix to a proper noun. It is anti-American, not antiamerican or antiAmerican. Similarly, you should use the hyphen when the prefixed word might be misread. A favourite example of one editor is anticrime, which he says could he mispronounced as an-TICK-re-mi. Another tongue twister; antimale. No, it's not the opposite of tamale. The following eye baffler appeared in headline type: multiemplayer.

With a Repeated Vowel, For Word Distinction

When a vowel is repeated in the prefixing process, use a hyphen, as in re-election. That convention, however, isn't absolute, as cooperation shows. (But you need the hyphen in co-op lest you write coop.) Sometimes a writer uses the hyphen when adding an ending to a word to create a new word.

One listener complained that reception was "echo-ey."

The reader might have difficulty with the hyphenless word echoey. Similarly, the reader would have difficulty realizing you meant co-inmates if you wrote coin- mates.

The hyphen distinguishes between two words that look the same. Hence, you recover from an illness but you re-cover a book; you recount a story but re-count the results of an election. To duplicate a painting is re-creation, which you might do for recreation if contact sports aren't for you. Likewise, you might resent it when your grades are missent, but you'll be happy when they're found and re-sent.

Imagine if one of those words was hyphenated at the end of a typewritten line of copy, with re- on one line and the rest of the word on the following line. What does the person setting type do if the word fits on one line? Will the person know the difference? Rather than hope so, the person writing on a typewriter should not hyphenate any word at the end of news copy (computers don't require end-of-line hyphens). If anyone or anything is going to make a mistake, such as the-rapist for therapist, let it be the computer.

Other Uses

Self is followed by a hyphen when it begins a word. Likewise, the hyphen is used in some compound nouns, such as chess-player and well-being and a host of others that are in any dictionary. Some compound nouns also function as verbs; then the hyphen is not used. The noun fade-in, to mention one of many, is fade in as a verb. (Some compound nouns, following the traditional process of many of our words, are written solid – breakout, shutdown – but the verbs remain two words – break out, shut down.)

Most prefixes (which precede a word) and suffixes (which follow) are not hyphenated when attached to words (except proper nouns). All as in all-star, ex as in ex-governor and non as in non-restrictive seem to be the only hyphenated ones. As a prefix. in is not hyphenated (insatiable) when it means not. But it is hyphenated in such constructions as in-service, where it does not mean not. As a suffix, it is sit-in and break-in. Most other prefixes and suffixes are not hyphenated.

Clarity

The hyphen can make a difference in a headline or sentence that begins with the article a (and the power of the alledged bomb!).

And it can make a difference in those words that function as nouns when hyphenated but function as verbs when written as separate words.

In the following example the lack of a hyphen creates confusion, but not until you've read about half of the sentence, at which time you must start again to get the meaning.

After tax earnings last year were reduced by about $2.3 million because of interest not recorded on some loans.

Read the sentence again with a hyphen in the compound modifier after tax and you'll get the message.

After-tax earnings last year were reduced by about $2.3 million because of interest not recorded on some loans.

In the following a hyphen would make the sentence clearer by creating a paired noun.

Still pictures were allowed only before the president went on television.
Still-pictures were allowed only before the president went on television.

Without the hyphen the first sentence appears to need a comma.

Still, pictures were allowed only before the president went on television.

But what is meant is still-pictures, the kind you see in newspapers or have in the family album.

The hyphen is also usually used in constructions like this:

The people paid the 50-cent fares.

Without the hyphen the sentence could mean thc people paid 50 one-cent fares. Likewise, don't hyphenate 50 dollar bills if you mean 50 one-dollar bills. The hyphen would mean $50 bills.

The hyphen is also used to show a person with two jobs or identities.

Harry Sneer, head coach of the Cadbury Tigers, discusses with producer-hostess Mary Rubin ...

And:

When the two-hour show began in February 1969, actress-interviewer Mary Todd was co-host.

The 1970 stylebook jointly prepared by The Associated Press and United Press International contains a good example of how a hyphen can change a meaning.

The 6-foot man eating shark was killed. (the man was killed while eating shark)

The 6-foot man-eating shark was killed. (the shark was killed)

Suspensive Hyphenation

Suspensive hyphenation is the tying of two prefixes to one word by using hyphens.

The 20- and 30-degree temperatures common to this area do not suit me.

Writers should avoid the opposite construction:

University-owned and -operated airplanes are always an issue at budget hearings.

There's nothing wrong with repeating university. It makes the sentence clear.

University-owned and university-operated airplanes are always an issue at budget hearings.

Ages   The hyphen is also used in ages functioning as compound modifiers and nouns.

Tracey, an 8-year-old girl, won the prize for 8-year-olds.

The hyphen is used in fractions (four-tenths, eight-tenths) and in numbers when the first word ends in y (seventy-five, sixty-eight).

Broadcast Copy

In broadcast copy the hyphen appears between letters of abbreviations when the letters should be read individually. A broadcast newswriter would use the hyphen like this:

Y-W-C-A
C-I-A
F-B-I
U-C-L-A
U-S Information Agency
U-S Supreme Court

Where there are hyphens each letter is pronounced. The newspaper equivalent is the full stop, although the full stop is not used as much in abbreviations as it once was.

Authorities disagree on hyphenation more than on any other punctuation mark. Also, there are just too many rules for one human being to learn. Therefore, the following rules should be considered as guidelines only.

Hyphens Between Words

Rule 1. To check if a compound noun is two words, one word, or hyphenated, you must look it up in the dictionary. If you can’t find the word in the dictionary, treat the noun as separate words.

Examples:
eyewitness, eye shadow, eye-opener

NOTE: All these words had to be looked up in the dictionary to know what to do with them!

Rule 2. Phrases that have verb and noun forms should appear as separate words when used as verbs and as one word when used as nouns.

Examples:
The engine will eventually break down. (verb)
We suffered a breakdown in communications. (noun)

Rule 3. Compound verbs are usually hyphenated or appear as one word. If you do not find the verb in the dictionary, hyphenate it.

Examples:
To air-condition the house will be costly.
We were notified that management will downsize the organization next year.

Rule 4. Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea.

Examples:
well-known actress BUT The actress is well known.
his easy-going nature BUT By nature, he is easy going.
one-way street BUT This street is one way.
bright young woman (No hyphen appears because bright and young are two separate ideas.)

Rule 5. Remember to use a comma between two adjectives when you could have used and between them.

Example:
I have classified, secret information.

Hyphens with ly Words

Rule 1. When the first word of the two-word modifier ends in ly, hyphenate if the ly word acts as one idea with the second word AND the ly word can be used alone with the noun (i.e., the ly word is an adjective).

Example:
friendly-looking man
Friendly modifies looking and is an adjective describing man.

friendly little girl
No hyphen is used because friendly does not act as one idea with little.

brightly lit room
Brightly is an adverb because it could not be used to describe room.

Rule 2. When the word and can be inserted between the ly word and the next adjective, use a comma between them.

Example:
A lovely, fragrant bouquet was sent to Jennifer on Valentine’s Day.

Hyphens with Prefixes

Rule 1. The current trend is to do away with unnecessary hyphens. Therefore, attach prefixes and suffixes onto root words.

Example:
noncompliance, copayment, semiconscious, fortyish

Exceptions:
bell-like (Avoid three l’s in a row.)
non-civil service position (Use the hyphen with compound words or words already hyphenated.)

Rule 2. Hyphenate prefixes when they come before proper nouns.

Example:
un-American

Rule 3. Hyphenate prefixes ending in a or i only when the root word begins with an a or i.

Examples:
ultra-ambitious
semi-invalid

Rule 4. Double e’s and double o’s are usually made into one word.

Examples:
preemployment, coordinate

Exceptions:
de-emphasize, co-owner

Rule 5. When a prefix ends in one vowel and a root word begins with a different vowel, generally attach them without a hyphen.

Examples:
antiaircraft, proactive

Rule 6. Hyphenate all words beginning with self except for selfish and selfless.

Examples:
self-assured, self-respect, self-addressed

Rule 7. Use a hyphen with the prefix ex.

Example:
His ex-wife sued for nonsupport.

Hyphens with re Words

Rule 1. Use the hyphen with the prefix re only when:

a. the re means again, AND

b. omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with another word.

Examples:
Will she recover from her illness? (Re does not mean again.)

I have re-covered the sofa twice. (Re does mean again AND omitting the hyphen would have caused confusion with another word.)

The stamps have been reissued. (Re means again but would not cause confusion with another word.)

I must re-press the shirt. (Re means again AND omitting the hyphen would have caused confusion with another word.)

11.  Dash

The dash – often typed as two hyphens side by side with no space between the dash and the words on either side of it – is used to connect groups of words to other groups. Generally, the dash does this in two ways: it separates words in the middle of a sentence from the rest of the sentence, or it leads to material at the end of a sentence.

Separating Words in the Middle of the Sentence

As described in our section on commas, writers often place a component in a sentence and set the component off with commas. Sometimes, however, you might wish to place special emphasis on the component, but commas are too weak to serve this purpose. If this is the case, you may wish to use dashes for added emphasis. For example, look at these two pairs of sentences:

1. Linda Simpson, the president’s most trusted economic advisor, will resign her office during today’s press conference.
2. Linda Simpson – the president’s most trusted economic advisor – will resign her office during today’s press conference.
3. Simpson’s prescription for the economy, lower interest rates, higher employment, and less government spending, was rejected by the president’s administration.
4. Simpson’s prescription for the economy – lower interest rates, higher employment, and less government spending – was rejected by the president’s administration.

All four examples are correct, but numbers 2 and 4 place more emphasis on the component within them because of the dashes. Also, you have probably noticed that number 4 is much clearer than number 3 because the dashes clearly mark where the component begins and ends, whereas the reader might become confused by all the commas in number 3. In other words, you can use the dash to make sure your reader clearly understands your point.

In addition, you have an added advantage when using dashes over commas: you can use a full sentence as a component. For example, examine these sentences:

Linda Simpson – her enemies call her the author of our nation’s economic woes – has resigned her office with the present administration.

The present economic condition – Linda Simpson calls it an economic disaster – will require stringent fiscal measures before improving.

Notice how economical your sentence is when you can interject another entire sentence into the middle of it. Combining sentences in this way accentuates the relationship between the ideas and helps you draw attention to the component within the dashes.

Adding Words to the End of a Sentence

You can also use a dash to attach material to the end of your sentence when there is a clear break in the continuity of the sentence. Here are two examples:

The president will be unable to win enough votes for another term of office – unless, of course, he can reduce unemployment and the deficit simultaneously.

Generally, the president’s economic policies have proven ineffective – although, it’s true that he has lowered inflation considerably.

These two samples show how you can attach added material to the end of your sentence.

Use dashes sparingly – only for those occasions when you wish to show special emphasis. They can help you communicate effectively in certain situations, but you don’t want to clutter your prose with too many of them.

The dash is used for emphasis, usually to set off material a writer wants to stress.

Journalists tend to overuse the dash, sometimes making it do the work of the colon or parentheses.

With the routine business out of the way, the chairman introduced the two candidates – T.X. Stein of Clive and Leonard E. Tressler of Cadbury – and began the interview by asking the first question.

Lengthy Apposition

The dash is used in lengthy lists in apposition to a noun.

Members of the trustee advisory committee Michael Baker Jr., chairman; Harry R. Ulrich, Ralph Hetzel, Walter J. Conti, Helen Wise, Samuel F. Hinkle and J. Lewis Williams – will screen persons for the provost position (Note the use of the semicolon)

Stress

The dash is also used to stress a word or phrase at the end of a sentence.

A 25-year-old Visalia man was charged yesterday with possession of cocaine and attempting to conceal it – in his stomach.

The dash also completes or sums up an involved sentence.

The senator said the amendment failed on the floor for two reasons – he had failed to make a last-minute cheek of its pledged voters and he could not counter the feeling that the bill would not work.

As a Colon

Journalists often use the dash where a colon could work as well. The contributing factors fall in three groups natural conditions, the type of materials used and the design elements of the day.

Or where parentheses might also fit.

Under apartheid the "coloureds" – people of mixed race considered neither black nor white – live apart from the other races and have more advantages than blacks but fewer than whites.

Misused

Occasionally dashes are used where commas are better.

Proving assault will be difficult – T.L. Holt, the chief of police, said – because the alleged victim had no marks on him when he made the charge.

Lists

Dashes are used by some journalists to indicate a continued subject and verb throughout a list.

The Council also:
– voted not to meet next week.
– postponed action on May Day plans.
– set June 21 as the date for a public hearing on the proposed sidewalk ordinance.
– told James H. Andrews he could proceed with his plans to clean up Walnut Spring Park as part of a Boy Scout project.

The Council voted to:
– keep meeting the first Monday of the month:
– call special meetings when necessary;
– ban smoking in the meeting room.

Because continuity from line to line is desired, some editors punctuate all but the last line of such a list with semicolons. Others prefer full stops. Whichever, it is a matter of newspaper style, not some convention of punctuation.

Rule:   Always leave one space after a full stop (.), a comma (,), colon (:) and semicolon (;).

One Space After Punctuation

Use only one space after a full stop, a colon, exclamation marks, question marks and quotation marks. In short, use only one space after any punctuation mark that separates two sentences.

How can this be? Yes, for years, you have been told to insert two spaces after a full stop, and on a typewriter you should. However, a computer with a word processing program is no typewriter!

On a typewriter all characters are monospaced, that is, they each take up the same amount of space. For example, the letter i occupies as much space as the letter m. Because the characters are monospaced, you must insert two spaces after full stops to separate one sentence from the next. Frankly, your eye needs the “white space” to make reading easier, to help you distinguish one sentence from the next. Reading is made easier by variability of space. Monospacing results in no variability of space while two spaces adds variability.

One a computer, whether you are using a Macintosh or a Microsoft Windows computer, all characters are proportionally spaced. The only exceptions are the fonts Courier and Monaco. Proportional spacing means that each character only occupies the amount of space that it needs; and that space is proportional to the space occupied by other characters. For example, the letter i only occupies about one-fifth of the space occupied by the letter m. Consequently, the need for two spaces after punctuation to add “white space” to make reading easier becomes a moot point. It simply is no longer necessary.

Take a look at this example:

Notice in this paragraph how the letters line up in columns, one under the other, just as on your typewriter. This is because each character takes up the same amount of space. This monospacing is what makes it necessary to use two spaces to separate sentences.

This paragraph, however, uses a font with proportional spacing. Each character takes up a proportional amount of the space available. Thus the single space between sentences is enough to visually separate them, and two spaces creates a disturbing gap.

If you still are doubtful, try this: Type the sentences above in your favourite word processor. Type the first paragraph in Courier. Then type the second in another font, say Times New Roman or Bookman.

Of course, this one-space rule applies just as well to the spacing after colons, semicolons, question marks, quotation marks, exclamation points, or any other punctuation you can imagine. Yes, this is a difficult habit to break, but it must be done.

Take a look at any magazine or book on your shelf. You will never find two spaces between sentences!

13.  Parenthesis

Information enclosed within parentheses is usually an explanation, a qualification or an example. Such information is not usually crucial to the main thought of the sentence. Journalists use parentheses to enclose explanatory information where it is immediately useful.

Scientists believe that if the icebreak drift begins soon, it will contribute to the first worldwide experiment of GARP (the Global Atmospheric Research Program).

Most ethologists (students of animal behavior) contend that genetic patterning determines how all creatures except humans behave.

Other Uses

A journalist will use a parenthetical insert to call attention to something the journalist wants stressed, as John Sherwood of the late Washington Star did in an interview with Theodore A. Wertime, a Smithsonian research associate.

The affluent American way of life as we knew it (he uses the past tense) is already over.

And from a front page story:

Ten men were in the mine when the explosion occurred at 4:40 p.m. Pacific Coast Time (7:40 p.m. Eastern daylight time).

Parentheses also set off information that is not part of an official name but is necessary for complete identification.

Warren (Pa.) Times Observer

Tamaqua (Pa.) Historical Society

Sometimes editors will insert two or three paragraphs of local information into a wire story. The information is set off by parentheses in the following manner.

Todd accused Hill of choosing this weekend to call a strike because Hill knew 35 percent of the drivers would have pulled off the highway for the holiday weekend.

(No protesting or striking truckers were reported at the Bald Eagle Truck and Auto Plaza at the Milesburg interchange of the Keystone Shortway this morning.

(Milesburg state police said truck traffic on the Shortway appeared to be normal today.

(They said it generally tapered off a bit over long holiday weekends )

Early reports on truck traffic were mixed.

The convention is the same one used for direct quotations continued uninterrupted over two or more paragraphs--a parenthesis at the beginning of each new paragraph and a parenthesis also at the end of the last paragraph.

One place a parenthetical insert does not belong is in a lead. If information is worth being in the lead, then it is worth showing off, not hiding within parentheses--a structure that disrupts the lead's flow.

The present New Mexico Power Company line could be improved without any sizable expansion (which would considerably lower the cost), a Taos Planning Commission member said last night.

The parenthetical information rates its own sentence, perhaps leading off the second paragraph.

Holding down on expansion would also lower the cost, William Kitchen said last night.

Broadcast newswriters use parentheses to insert a phonetic spelling behind a word or name.

When a name is uncommon, the phonetic spelling is repeated every time the name appears.

Abuse Despite the valuable function of parentheses, journalists use them sparingly. In addition to disrupting sentence rhythm, parenthetical inserts are considered non-essential and can be discarded. The good writer doesn't want to hide information inside parentheses, as this writer did:

Other large expenditures in the taxi budget are drivers' labor ($1 ,330); gasoline and oil ($23,400); dispatching services ($22,000); maintenance ($11,800); insurance ($7,850).

The parenthetical information in that sentence is part of the main information and should not be hidden.

Other large expenditures in the taxi budget are drivers' labor, $41,330, gasoline and oil, $23,400: dispatching services, $22,000; maintenance, $11,800; insurance, $7,850.

Rule 1. Use parentheses to enclose words or figures that clarify or for an aside.

Examples:
I expect five hundred dollars ($500).
He finally answered (after taking five minutes to think) that he did not understand the question.

Commas could have been used in the above example. Parentheses show less emphasis or importance. Dashes could also have been used instead of parentheses to show emphasis.

Rule 2. Use parentheses to enclose numbers of listed items in a sentence.

Example:
We need a telephone operator who can (1) think quickly, (2) remember not to leave people on hold, and (3) handle complaints from the public.

Full stops or half parentheses are acceptable also.

Rule 3. Full stops go inside parentheses only if an entire sentence is inside the parentheses.

Example:
Please read the analysis (I enclosed it as Attachment A.). OR
Please read the analysis. (I enclosed it as Attachment A.) OR
Please read the analysis (Attachment A).

Brackets   [ ]

Brackets indicate to the reader that a reporter or editor has inserted something into quoted matter. The reporter or editor may do this to substitute a name for a pronoun where the antecedent is unclear or to give additional information to the reader.

"I don't think he [Zelenski] has been on top of the situation the way a public official should be," the candidate said.

Some editors would discard the pronoun in the interest of rhythm, but no rule governs the usage.

"I don't think [Zelenski] has been on top of the situation the way a public ...

In the following sentence, the material inside the brackets provides additional information:

"I think the secret to this team's success [Baltimore is 6-1] is that we don't have any one guy we rely on," the coach said.

Other Uses When reporters quote a grammatical error or misuse of the language, they tell the reader by doing the following.

"After what I read in that newspaper, I'm going to sue them for slander [sic]," the council member said.

The council member apparently meant libel.

Brackets are sometimes used to set off refers--phrases at the end of paragraphs indicating where a story giving more detail on the paragraph appears.

Meanwhile, a presidential aide announced that the president would take a vacation next week. [Story on Page 6. ]

Abuse The problem with brackets lies in their intrusive nature and their overuse. At one time journalists were conservative about inserting anything into quoted matter. Instead, they paraphrased any statement that otherwise needed bracketed inserts for clarity. Unfortunately, that is no longer true. It now seems that journalists the country wide are competing to see how many miles of bracketed inserts they can work into a story. Here are two paragraphs from a 14-paragraph story.

"[Dallas Coach] Tom Landry is a genius. Why do you think he has a shifting offense? Well, it's to confuse the defense.''

"It's a lot like the Cowboys' [offense] except they put [Roger] Staubach back in the shotgun. With Fran, we don't have to because he can get back fast enough [to pass]."

If journalists stopped acting like tape recorders, they wouldn't create such messes. Instead of bracketing, clarify and paraphrase.

Tarkenton called Dallas coach Tom Landry a genius. "Why do you think he has a shifting offense? Well, it's to confuse the defense.''

Grant compared the Vikings' offensive strategy to the Cowboys' and found the only difference in the Cowboys' use of quarterback Roger Staubach in the shotgun. "With Fran, we don't have to because he can get back fast enough" to pass.

Is there a rule for the use of brackets? No, but it helps to remember that clarity rules the written word. Too many bracketed inserts grind the gears of clarity. Use bracketed inserts sparingly.

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