| Hyphens make some compound words (all-star, toll-free) |
To avoid awkward spelling or confusion use hyphens with prefixes (shell-like, not shelllike) |
Hyphens are used to between fractional parts (eleven sixty-fourths, 11/64 ths) |
New words can be created with hyphens (high-tech, self-healing) |
Hyphens can join letters to words (X-ray, U-turn) |
Hyphens join two or more words to make a single thought adjective (state-of-the-art, video-recognition) |
Do not use a hyphen to join words if the first word ends in -ly (newly built) |
| Never divide a one-syllable word (high, see) |
Avoid dividing a word with 5 letters or less (paper, book) |
Never divided off a one-syllable letter (omit-ted, not o-mitted) |
Never divide an abbreviation or a contraction |
Divide after single vowel syllable (epi-sode, not ep-isode) |