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Sethgoldstein Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Huffington Post

The Huffington Post uses hyphens in numerical ranges but not in the modifier parts, like this:

30-40 year old men
50-100 mile radius
15-20 gallon containers
20 or 30 year mortgages
20 and 30 year mortgages
$70-$80 million a year industry
15-20% a year increase
$50,000-$60,000 per year income

Does anybody see a problem with the examples above? I don't. Certainly looks better that way then by using suspended (hanging) hyphens. Agree to punctuation in all examples above?

But for standalone items they use hyphens:

40-year-old men
100-mile radius
20-gallon containers
30-year mortgages

Thank you.
  

Top answer

All of the examples from Huffington are correct, not for the reasons you provide, however. All the examples in the first group are modifiers. That is not the point.

— Englishmaven

  • All of the examples from Huffington are correct, not for the reasons you provide, however.
  • All the examples in the first group are modifiers.
  • That is not the point.
  • The hyphens indicate a range.
  • The coordinating conjunctions create compounds, but they are still modifiers.
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2 Answers
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All of the examples from Huffington are correct, not for the reasons you provide, however. All the examples in the first group are modifiers. That is not the point. The hyphens indicate a range. The coordinating conjunctions create compounds, but they are still modifiers.

The last group is described by you as "standalone items." That is not a category of use for hyphens. Those are adject
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Do you agree English Maven with the way Huffington Post punctuates those examples?
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