Why do some words have dashes and others don't?

Question

How come words like "time-saving, mail-order, e-mail, etc..." have dashes between the conjoined words but words like "no one, etc..." don't? How do you know when to use that "-"?!

Answer 1

A definitive collection of hyphenation rules does not exist. Therefore, the writer or editor should consult a manual of style or dictionary of his or her preference, preferably for the country in which he or she is writing. The rules of style that apply to dashes and hyphens have evolved to support ease of reading in complex constructions; editors often accept deviations from them that will support, rather than hinder, ease of reading. Spaces should not be placed between a hyphen and either of the words it connects except when using a suspended hyphen (e.g. nineteenth- and twentieth-century writers

Answer 2

There are two answers to this.

A hyphen is placed between two words (with no spaces) when it is an adjective like "time-saving," "state-of-the-art." If you use terms without the hyphen, it does not have the same meaning "It takes a lot of time saving for the future." (that sentence does not use the hyphen.

A dash is often used in place of commas - depending on the sentence. "The party - considered a boring event by many - was highly attended."

Some prefer to use a comma, but it depends on the context. Words like no one are not adjectives, that's why they're not hyphenated.

Answer 3

In some cases, that is something that evolves over time. For instance, "today" and "tomorrow" used to be spelled "to-day" and "to-morrow".



But in general, it helps make the meaning much clearer in what could otherwise be an ambiguous sentence. Yesterday we were re-installing the Windows operating system on an old PC, and during the installation procedure, we both burst out laughing when this message popped up:



"Installing malicious software removal tool..."



There are two ways to interpret this, both with very different meanings. What Microsoft presumably meant to say was "Installing malicious-software removal tool...", meaning a (helpful) tool to remove malicious software.



But without the hyphen, it could just as easily (and just as correctly) be interpreted as "Installing malicious software-removal tool...", meaning a malicious tool that will remove software, most likely in a bad way.



The art of proper hyphen usage is rapidly being lost, which means that I generally have to read posts a few times to figure out what the writers actually meant.

Answer 4

Hm, good question. But, those aren't dashes, they're hyphens. Dashes are the ones that look like extra long hyphens.



Hyphen: -

Dash: —

Answer 5

http://www.jeanweber.com/newsite/?page_id=57



read this article it offers a few good explanations