hyphens: nouns with adjectives and participles
- Hyphenate noun-plus-adjective compounds (in that order), whether they are used attributively (before the noun) or predicatively:
- duty-free goods / The goods were duty-free.
- tax-exempt bonds / The bonds are tax-exempt.
- Hyphenate noun-plus-participle compounds regardless of the position:
- snow-capped mountains / The mountains are snow-capped.
- a time-consuming activity / This activity is time-consuming.
Exceptions: There are a number of them, including handmade and handwritten.
- Do not hyphenate compounds formed from a noun and a gerund (present participle used as a noun). Some noun-plus-gerund compounds are written as one word:
- housekeeping
- shipbuilding
- sightseeing
- cabinetmaking
Others are written as separate words:
- decision making
- power sharing
- problem solving
- deficit spending
Exceptions:
- foot-dragging
- gut-wrenching
See hyphens: compound adjectives for such compounds used adjectivally.
Copyright notice for Writing Tips Plus
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
A tool created and made available online by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada
Search by related themes
Want to learn more about a theme discussed on this page? Click on a link below to see all the pages on the Language Portal of Canada that relate to the theme you selected. The search results will be displayed in Language Navigator.
- Date modified: