TO HYPHENATE OR NOT TO HYPHENATE
In general, be sparing with hyphens and close up words where the sense suggests and where they look familiar and
right (e.g., businessperson, intercontinental, etc.). Remember that style is individual and your company style may differ.
If your organization doesn’t adhere to a style guide, you may find these tips helpful. While this list only scratches the
surface, below are some common types of compounds that cause confusion.
In general, hyphenate two or more words when they come before a noun they are modifying (for example, fire-proof
box/the box is fire proof — fire and proof both modify the noun box), and leave the hyphen out when the noun follows
the two words:
Drug testing, drug free:
We enforce a drug-free workplace.
Our workplace is drug free.
Our drug-testing program will go into effect on May 1st.
Provide employees with a list of labs within 10 miles that conduct drug tests.
Full time, part time, long term:
She is applying for a full-time position.
The job is part time.
The company’s long-term goals are ambitious.
The policy will be in effect for the long term.
Figures in times, ages, days:
Each half-hour session begins promptly on the half hour.
The three-thirty meeting has been moved back one hour.
The policy applies to children three years old and younger.
A nine-year-old may not be covered under the policy.
The conference will be held over five days.
The three-day trial period is about to end.
Prefixes can often stand without a hyphen. Add the hyphen where the joined word could cause confusion, when double
vowels exist, or when paired with a proper noun:
Anti/anti-: Antiharassment, antidiscrimination, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory.
Multi/multi-: Multistate, multilingual, multi-employer, multi-user.
Non/non-: Noncompliance, nondenominational, non-English, non-native.
Pre/pre-: Preschool, pre-existing.
Re/re-: Revisit, redirect, re-examine, re-use. Note that the hyphen should be used where there could be
serious ambiguity in compounds such as re-creation (recreation), re-cover (recover) and re-dress (redress).
Semi/bi: Semiweekly, semiskilled, biannual, bipartisan. There is rarely a need to hyphenate words with these
prefixes.
Edition: 01.0515
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