The symbol (-) is called a hyphen in the English language. A hyphen is a short horizontal line used within words.
The hyphen (-) is different from en dash (–) and em dash/ long dash (—). It is a symbol (-) that is slightly narrower than an en dash (–). The em dash (—) is twice as long as the en dash (–). They are different in appearance and usage.
A hyphen is a punctuation mark with three main uses. Many people confuse this punctuation mark with the dash, but the two are quite different. The hyphen can be used in compound words, to link words to prefixes, and also as a way to show word breaks
The hyphen examples:
When to Use a Hyphen
Hyphenated words are compound words that are made up of two or more words usually with hyphens (-) between them. In simple words, hyphens are used between words to form hyphenated words.
Hyphenated Adjectives
We use hyphens to join adjective, adverb, noun, past participle, present participle… to form compound adjectives in English.
Examples:
Hyphenated adjectives in sentences:
Hyphenated Verbs
We use a hyphen to join two nouns to form a verb.
Examples:
Hyphenated Nouns
Examples:
In English, a prefix is a few letters put at the beginning of a word to change its meaning. We use hyphens in words beginning with the prefixes co-, ex-, pre-, post-…
Examples
Using hyphens in example sentences:
When writing out the numbers twenty-one (21) to ninety-nine (99), we use a hyphen between the tens and units number. Other numbers don’t require a hyphen.
Examples:
Example Sentences:
