- Law 28: Clarify and improve readability using hyphens.
Hyphens are dash characters that are available
on all standard keyboards.
So hyphens are not special characters.
Because of this, hyphens are the dash character
that you're probably the most familiar with.
Hyphens are less wide than both em dashes and en dashes.
Although most people are familiar with hyphens,
their usage can be a little bit confusing
and sometimes complicated.
Writers and editors are really the people
who are responsible for including hyphens in the text
that you may be typesetting.
So, as a desktop publisher,
what do you need to know about hyphens
and when to use them?
Hyphens should be used to improve readability
and clarify meaning.
Let's look at a few examples.
Hyphens are used when two or more words
are acting as a single modifier and appear before a noun.
An example of this is five-dollar bills.
Using the hyphen here makes it clear
that we're talking about multiple bills
that are worth five dollars each.
Because we join the words "five" and "dollar" with a hyphen,
it's clear that both of those words are acting
as a single phrase to modify or describe the word "bills."
The phrase five dollar bills, with no hyphens,
is describing very different.
This phrase is describing five one-dollar bills.
Without the hyphen, the word "five" is assumed
to be modifying or describing the words "dollar bills."
Let's look at some other examples
where hyphens can help clarify meaning
or make words easier to read.
You should use a hyphen when you're joining
a letter with a word, like A-frame or X-ray.
Without the hyphen, these words could cause some difficulty
when reading in a document.
You should use a hyphen when you're using
the prefix re and you mean "to do over."
An employee who re-signs is very different
from an employee who resigns.
Use a hyphen if you're joining a prefix with a proper noun.
An example is anti-American.
The uppercase letter of the proper noun, here, American,
without a hyphen, makes this a strange-looking word.
Use a hyphen if you're joining a prefix with a root word
and the prefix ends in the same letter
that the root word starts with.
An example is ultra-ambitious, or non-native.
You can see that the a in "ultra" and the a in "ambitious,"
the n in "non" and the n in "native" both repeat.
Without the hyphens, these words are pretty clumsy
and difficult to read.
Use a hyphen if you're joining two words
that contain the same three letters in a row,
such as cross-section.
Again, without the hyphen, this word becomes
a little clumsy and definitely more difficult to read.
You should hyphenate all numbers between 21 and 99.
This helps make it clear that two words are being combined
to form one number.
Use hyphens in phone numbers and social security numbers.
Here, hyphens are being used
to chunk these strings of numbers and to help
clearly define them for readers.
If you're in the United States
and you see this string of numbers,
you would know right away that this is probably
a telephone number.
But without the hyphens, this string becomes
a lot less obvious.
Also use a hyphen if a person has two last names
that are being joined together.
It's important to note that a hyphen
is not the same as a minus sign.
If you're creating a document
that contains mathematical formulas,
don't use a hyphen if what you really need is a minus sign.
A minus sign is a special character that's included
in most professionally-designed typefaces.
Notice how the hyphen looks really small.
The minus sign's been properly sized
for the numbers that surround it.
Let's summarize.
Hyphens can be confusing little bits of punctuation.
To help clarify the confusion, remember to use a hyphen
if it improves readability or clarifies meaning.
When in doubt, you can always consult a dictionary
or a style guide.
You may find conflicting hyphenation rules
between these sources.
People don't always agree on what should be hyphenated
and what shouldn't.
But what's most important is consistency.
Pick a rule and stick with it throughout your documents.
That's law 28.
Clarify and improve readability using hyphens.