Writing Tip: Phrasal Adjectives and Hyphens

While responding to an author's query regarding the correct use of a hyphen, I thought the following thoughts:

Hey! Maybe others are wondering the same thing!

Hey! Maybe I should share this kind of information with these others!

Thus begins my series of writing tips.

Phrasal adjectives and hyphens

Phrasal adjectives are also known as compound modifiers.

What I'm talking about:
Sometimes two words appear before a noun that describe the noun, a two-word adjective. To avoid confusion, often a hyphen needs to be added to these two words to signify that together they make up the adjective. Most of the time little confusion exists, but sometimes it does.

For example:
Crazy cat lady vs. Crazy-cat lady. The first tells the reader that the cat lady is crazy; the second says that she is a lady who likes crazy cats.

Nasty looking glass vs. nasty-looking glass. The first tells the reader that the mirror is nasty; the second says that the glass looks nasty.

Fast moving van vs. fast-moving van. The first tells the reader that the moving van is fast; the second says that a van is moving fast.

Fancy pants store vs. fancy-pants store. The first tells the reader that the pants store is fancy; the second says that the store sells fancy pants.

Exceptions to this rule are proper nouns and verbs ending in "ly."

Proper nouns
I like Cyber Cafe coffee.
I like Hugh Jackman movies.
These do not need hyphens. Ambiguity is basically nonexistent.

Verbs ending in "ly"
Fiscally-conservative Republican = wrong. (The hyphen, not the person).

The "ly" already modified the "fiscal," so no need for a hyphen. It's redundant, such as saying it was 2:00 a.m. in the morning. (Bleeding-heart liberal needs the hyphen.) And ambiguity is once again unlikely.

Correct: Exceptionally beautiful wife

While we're on the subject of little dashes that appear between two letters, let me introduce you to the lesser-known en dash. You may have come across these before, and, if you noticed them, you likely thought they were a hyphen in a different font. Nope. These longer dashes are en dashes, and serve an important purpose.

The en dash is most often used to connect numbers, depending on publishing company preference (I lived there from 2000-2002, the party is from 7:00-9:00), but they are used to connect words as well. En dashes are appropriate for compound adjectives when one of the adjectives is an open compound, meaning one of the adjectives is two words that must remain together.

For example:
Pre-civil war era vs. pre-civil war era. The first indicates the war era was before civil; the second says era was before the civil war.

The hyphen incorrectly connected "pre" with only "civil," when "pre" needed to connected to "civil war." Use the en dash as well when two two-word adjectives are combining to form a compound modifier (red state-blue state dynamic).

Summary:
Modify compound adjectives with a hyphen to avoid confusion, except with proper nouns and words ending in "ly."
Use an en dash when creating a compound adjective with 1+2, 2+1, 2+2 words.

Now that you've learned this, tell all of your friends, and anyone you meet (to make new friends).