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Today while surfing the internet I came across an article titled Compound Adjectives. As you can see from the picture above a hyphen changes the meaning of a sentence.
An adjective describes a noun,
She likes to eat red apples every day.
(red is an adjective because it describes the apples)
A compound adjectives are adjectives that are made of two or more words. Hyphens (-) are used between the words.
Examples :
- Our office is in a twenty-storey building.
- I have just finished reading a 300-page book.
- He is a well-known writer.
- An English-speaking country.
- A time-saving gadget.
- A thirty-floor building.
Common types of compound adjectives.
Adverb+past participle / noun + ed
a well-known singerdeeply-rooted traditions
a well-mannered man
a good-looking boy
a free-standing tower
Noun+past participle
a tongue-tied girl
a sun-dried fruit
a long-haired woman
a sun-dried fruit
Adjective+past participle / noun + ed
a short-sighted boya long-haired woman
Noun+ adjective
a world-famous writer
Adjective+noun
a last minute decision
deep-sea diving
a last minute decision
deep-sea diving
Noun+noun
a part-time job
a part-time job
Proper nouns
We don't use a hyphen between two names. For an example :
Simon bought the Charles Dickens books for them.
When do you use the hyphen?
Let's look at the sentences.
Daisy has a big red car.
If you can add the word "and" between the two adjectives (Daisy has a big and red car), then you don't have to insert the hyphen.
Daisy is a world famous writer.
Daisy is a world and famous singer. The sentence does not sound correct so you need to use a hyphen.
To practice, just click on this link Compound Adjectives
Until next time..
Cheers.....
