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Compoun Adjective - A Lon Lis

This Grammar.com article is about Compound Adjectives - A Long List enjoy your reading!

Here,foryourreference,isalonglistofthemostfrequentlyencounteredtypesofcompoundadjectivesandtheruleson
hyphenation.Whenindoubt,alwayscheckthedictionary.

Compound Adjective Rule on Hyphenation Example

Formed With
all Always hyphenate. all-inclusive study
century Always hyphenate. twentieth-century
technology
cross Some hyphenated, some open, some closed. Check the dictionary. cross-referencedsection
cross-country skis
But: crosscut saw
fold Closed unless formed withnumbers of 100 or more. tenfold increase
100-fold increase
full Hyphenated before noun, openafter noun. full-scale drawings
The drawings are full scale.
half Most hyphenated, some closed.Check the dictionary. half-inch measurement
half-baked plan
halfway house
halfhearted attempt
high, low, upper, lower, Most hyphenated before noun,open after noun. high-volume trading
middle,mid
highbrow organization
(check the dictionary!)
middle-class voters
midlife crisis
mid-Atlantic region
Mideast peace process
like Closed unless root word ends in lor ll or has three syllables or more. catlike jumping ability
childlike demeanor
cathedral-like faade
number+ odd Always hyphenate compoundsformed with numbers (words or numerals) twenty-odd pages
plus the word odd.
360-odd days
four-hundred-odd socks
...
 but, four hundred odd
socks
number Always open when used toexpress a ratio (with the word percent). ten percent increase
100 percent change
Number+ Unit of Measure Always hyphenate three-mile limit
two-week vacation
150-yard skid mark
Number+ Unit of Measure Always hyphenate two-year-old daughter
+ Adjective
sixty-five-year-old man
two-and-a-half-year-old
child
twenty-five-foot-highwall
But: six year-old girls
Number+ Number + Unit Hyphenate the number and thenthe adjective twenty-four six-inch-
of Measure + Adjective longmeasurements
Number+ Unit of Measure Hyphenate the number a man sixty-five years
+ Adjective (coming after old(note plural years)
noun)
No hyphen a wall three meters high
Hyphenate the number twenty-four boys five
yearsold
fractionalnumbers Hyphenate spelled-outfractions used as adjectives. two-thirds majority
In mixed fractions, the whole numberis not joined to the fraction by twenty-one and one-
another hyphen. quartermiles
four and one-eighthinches
numbers Hyphenate only the numbersfrom twenty-one through ninety-nine. All twenty-four bottles ofbeer
others are open. on the wall
two hundred rock stars
over, under Closed unless the word theappears in the compound. overexposed film
underrated basketballteam
over-the-counter stock
market
under-the-table deal
self Most hyphenated. Closed ifprefix un- is added or suffix added to self. self-confidentapplicant
self-conscious speaker
unselfconscious speaker
selfish act
selfless charactertrait
wide Always closed unlesscumbersome. Cumbersome compounds are statewide referendum
hyphenated when they appear before thenoun modified and open after
the noun modified.
worldwide legalservices
university-wide
crusade(comes before the
noun modified)
The crusade was
universitywide (after noun
modified)

Previous:CompoundAdjectivesandlyAdverbs(/CompoundAdjectivesandlyAdverbs)Next:CombiningVariousPartsof
Speech(/CombiningVariousPartsofSpeech)

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