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Goronsky Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Bye-bye to suspended hyphenation?
CMOS doesn't really touch upon suspended hyphenation. Many online sources are encouraging the omission of the suspended hyphen because of aesthetic reasons. One source discourages it (see below). The modern trend appears to favor less and less clunky, cluttered punctuation as long as readability is not compromised. Do you agree?
When you have two phrases in a sentence that would both take a hyphen if the noun were repeated, you have to decide whether or not to use a suspended hyphen. I think it is unnecessary and ugly, but it is commonly used.
•All the part- and full-time workers went on strike.
•Better: All the part and full-time workers went on strike.
Another source advocates:
•four and five-year-olds
•$10,000 to $20,000-a-year tax cuts
•He held a fifty-five to sixty-thousand-dollar a year position.
Do you see a problem with this? Or do you support the omission of the suspended hyphen in these four examples?
When you have two phrases in a sentence that would both take a hyphen if the noun were repeated, you have to decide whether or not to use a suspended hyphen. I think it is unnecessary and ugly, but it is commonly used.
•All the part- and full-time workers went on strike.
•Better: All the part and full-time workers went on strike.
Another source advocates:
•four and five-year-olds
•$10,000 to $20,000-a-year tax cuts
•He held a fifty-five to sixty-thousand-dollar a year position.
Do you see a problem with this? Or do you support the omission of the suspended hyphen in these four examples?
Top answer
In cases like these, writers simply need to decide which source they are going to rely on. There are some who advocate dropping certain commas as well. [ He has lived in Denver, Colorado , for ten years.
- In cases like these, writers simply need to decide which source they are going to rely on.
- There are some who advocate dropping certain commas as well.
- [ He has lived in Denver, Colorado , for ten years.
- For me, the only reason that second comma exists is "convention" rather than logical rule.
- ] If you are writing as a professional or semi-professional, the main thing is to be consistent.
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3 Answers
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In cases like these, writers simply need to decide which source they are going to rely on. There are some who advocate dropping certain commas as well. [ He has lived in Denver, Colorado, for ten years. For me, the only reason that second comma exists is "convention" rather than logical rule. ]
If you are wr
If you are wr
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Personally, Phillip, do you like the absence of the suspended hyphens in those? I agree with you about the logic in this one: He has lived in Denver, Colorado for ten years.
The comma doesn't belong after 'Colorado', just as it should be omitted in 'The Denver, Colorado native . . .'
If I had my druthers I'd go with:
•four and five-year-olds
•$10,000 to $20,0
The comma doesn't belong after 'Colorado', just as it should be omitted in 'The Denver, Colorado native . . .'
If I had my druthers I'd go with:
•four and five-year-olds
•$10,000 to $20,0
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I hate to be evasive, but I suggest you go with your druthers. I would probably have to look at the entire text I was writing to determine which looked better.
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