Dear all,

I am Dr. Can, and I am one of the new professional teachers here in the iTalki Platform.

I will be providing small daily tips to improve your skills in General and Medical English.

·      A hyphen is a punctuation mark that primarily joins words or parts of words

·      You can use hyphens when writing compound modifiers when it comes before the word it’s changing

·      Dictionaries are the best place to find out whether a word needs a hyphen or not!

The primary use of hyphens during formal writing is to show that the linked words should be read together as one unit of meaning.

We call these compound modifiers and they help avoid confusion for the reader.

Here are some more examples:

·      self-induced

·      well-established

·      10-minute intervals

·      check-up

Compound modifiers are two words that work together to change the meaning of the noun that follows. Let’s look at an example:

·      Incorrect: In six days, we will move you to 10 minute sessions.

The sentence above is unclear: Does it mean 10 sessions, one minute long or sessions 10 minutes long?

·      Correct: In six days, we will move you to 10-minute sessions.

By adding the hyphen, the compound modifier becomes clear to your audience!

Compound nouns such as ice cream, lifestyle and even weekend have lost their hyphens over the years to become two separate words or one combined word. These are called closed and open compound words.

Here are some examples of closed compound words:

·      Notebook

·      Waistcoat

·      Fireman

·      Healthcare

Here are some examples of open compound words:

·      Sweet tooth

·      High school

·      Dinner table

·      Coffee mug

Numbers are often hyphenated as well, especially before a noun such as ‘a 59-year-old male’.

Do not hesitate to contact for other questions. You are also always invited to book a trial lesson with me for us to know each other and practice together.

I wish you all the best with your studies!

Dr. Can