Common Problems (Part 18 of 50)

In English, adjectives modify only nouns and pronouns. To get beyond that rule of grammar, we use the hyphen, which makes both words function as a single adjective.

• He walked along the wrought-iron fences. Without the hyphen, it properly reads, He walked along wrought, iron fences. 
• His oft-spoken words echoed through my head. 
• He held his four-by-six-inch device. All four words modify device. 
• He whispered a soft-but-fervent prayer. By hyphenating, all three words function as a single adjective to modify prayer. 

Serious writers make reading easier by 

remembering simple punctuation tips.

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Cec's new book, Unleash the Writer Within, is now available.