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File fuchsia Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

Hyphenation of short words

I would really appreciate some guidance on whether to hyphenate short words across lines in a text.

I have found a lot of sites that recommend not to hyphenate short words, but I am not sure how short is short. 5 letters, 6 letters, 7 letters?

For example:
The matter was sim-
ple, John had to go.
First the worst, sec-
ond the best.
That type of music was rad-
ical for them.

The best guidance for the hyphenation I have found so far is: http://usefulenglish.ru/writing/division-of-words but it doesn't specify the actual length of a short word. Unfortunately the text has to be hyphenated due to narrow columns and typesetting.

Many thanks!
  

Top answer

Could you tell us in what possible situation—in this computer age—you would need to hyphenate at all?

— Mister Micawber

  • Could you tell us in what possible situation—in this computer age—you would need to hyphenate at all?
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9 Answers
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Could you tell us in what possible situation—in this computer age—you would need to hyphenate at all?
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It's for a book that is going to be printed. Books still exist in the modern computer age Emotion: smile Can you help me to apply the rules?
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file fuchsiaIt's for a book that is going to be printed. Books still exist in the modern computer age
All books justify their lines now, in this computer age. Let your publisher handle it.
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The publisher asked me to check the word splits. Any help would be gratefully received.
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Then you have an incompetent publisher. Any word of two syllables or more can be hyphenated at the break between syllables. Most dictionaries divide words into their syllables: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/simple —

sim·ple
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A dictionary will show the syllable breaks. You can hyphenate between syllables.
Single-syllable words like through, stretch and strength are not hyphenated.
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Thanks! So it's ok to hyphenate simple and second although only 6 letters?
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I just found a rule on dictionary.com saying do not split if 6 letters or less http://dictionary2.classic.reference.com/writing/styleguide/division.html I think I'll go with that. Thanks for the comments
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file fuchsiaI just found a rule on dictionary.com saying do not split if 6 letters or less
It is probably not a rule but a guideline. For example any and ivy are two syllables, but it would be best not to hyphenate them. If you hyphenate 6-letter words like sim-ple to make the page look better, the publisher can always change it.
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