Hyphenate compound modifiers—two or more words that modify the same noun.
- Examples: world-class university, full-time student
Hyphenate phrases to avoid ambiguity.
- Examples: small-business owner, special-education teacher, etc.
In general, do not hyphenate words with prefixes and suffixes (non, pre, wide, etc.).
- Examples: nonresident, prearrange, campuswide
Hyphenate to avoid triple consonants and double vowels.
- Examples: pre-election, pre-establish, pre-existing, pre-eminent
- Exceptions: cooperate, coordinate
Hyphenate if the word that follows a prefix begins with a capital letter.
- Examples: un-American, mid-March