Hyphens
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A hyphen (—) is the small horizontal mark used to divide a word between syllables at the end of a line and to join words to form compound words. Consult a dictionary to determine whether a compound word is hyphenated or not. Along with a dictionary, the following conventions can help you place hyphens properly.

Hyphenation . . .

• at the End of a Line
• with Compound Modifiers
• with Fractions and Compound Numbers
• with Prefixes and Suffixes
• with Awkward or Ambiguous Words

Hyphenation at the End of a Line

If a word at the end of a line must be divided, divide it properly, with these rules in mind:

1. Do not divide one syllable words and do not leave or carry over only one or two letters:

   Wrong: stre-ngth
   Corrected: strength
   Wrong: he-licopter or helicopt-er
   Corrected: heli-copter
   

2. Divide words only between syllables:

   Wrong: tra-nsfer
   Corrected: trans-fer

    

3. Divide hyphenated words after the hyphen, rather than at any other syllable:

   Wrong: long-dis-tance
   Corrected: long-distance

Hyphenation with Compound Modifiers

When two or more words function together as a modifier before a noun, use a hyphen to join them into a unit. This convention is used to facilitate reading:

Thomas Pynchon is a well-known writer.
The overpass has a five-centimeter clearance for trucks.

However, do not use a hyphen for compound modifiers after the noun.

The writer is a well known.
The overpass has a clearance of five centimeters.

Do not use a hyphen when a compound modifier is in the comparative or superlative form:

Wrong: He is the least-welcome visitor to our home.
Corrected: He is the least welcome visitor to our home.

Wrong: This news network has more-extensive coverage than that of CNN.
Corrected: This news network has more extensive coverage than that of CNN.

Do not use a hyphen when a compound modifier starts with an adverb ending in -ly.

Wrong: A quickly-moving UFO ignited the night sky.
Corrected: A quickly moving UFO ignited the night sky.

Use suspended hyphens in a series of compound words that share the same base word: 

For your trip, would you like first-, second-, or third-class seats?

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Hyphenation with Fractions and Compound Numbers

When writing out fractions, use a hyphen to join the numerator and denominator: 

Two-fifths of this song is only a single word.
He could only cover seven-eighths of the poster with paint.

Hyphenate compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine both when they stand alone and when they are part of larger numbers:

He is thirty-eight.
Three hundred fifty-four years from now no one will have heard of me.

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Hyphenation with Prefixes and Suffixes

Many words with prefixes and suffixes are written as a single word. Only in the following cases of prefixes and suffixes, do words require a hyphen:

1. Capitalized Base Words

   pre-World War I
   anti-conservative

2. Numerical Figures

   pre-1920
   post-1990

3. With All-, Ex-, Self-, and -Elect

   all-inclusive
   ex-wife
   self-conscious
   president-elect

4. Before Compound Words

   anti-gun control
   pre- high school

Hyphenation with Awkward or Ambiguous Words

Without a hyphen, a reader could not distinguish between words such as recreation and re-creation and words such as re-cover and recover:

Swimming in streams is my favorite recreation.
The model is a re-creation of the battle of Waterloo.

Did he recover from his illness?
I re-covered my couch for the third time.

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