In most instances, a hyphen is not needed to connect the prefixes pre- and post- to words.
- Samantha and Rick attended prenatal classes before the birth of their first child.
- Enrolling in postsecondary education can lead to a brighter future.
However, a hyphen is used in the following cases:
- when the root word starts with a capital:
- The museum has many trilobites in its Pre-Cambrian fossil collection.
- Is this an example of pre- or post-World War II architecture?
- when the root word begins with the same letter as the last letter in the prefix:
- Dr. Keon is a pre-eminent heart surgeon.
- Some veterans experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
- when you add post or pre to a compound:
- Pre-nineteenth-century art focussed mainly on religious themes.
- Applicants taking part in the literacy test were given pre‑high school texts to read.
- when you connect pre or post to numbers:
- Current fashions mimic pre-1980s styles.
- The exhibit focussed on the artist’s post-1920s drawings and lithographs.
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