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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary.
I'm Neil. And I'm Catherine.
And today we're talking about hyphenations.
Hyphens – those little signs, like dashes, that we use in writing to join two words together.
Yes, like in old -fashioned.
There's always a hyphen between old and fashioned.
So let's start with a clip from Brian.
He's a news reporter and he's reporting from a high school about an election.
Think about this question while you're listening.
How does Brian describe the young people at the school?
Here's Brian. I asked some 18 -year -old students at this secondary school how they're voting in this year's election.
They're all hard -working young people.
22 of them are undecided and are likely to make a last -minute decision.
But a sizeable group say today's politicians are not well -respected and their attitudes are out of date.
Back to the studio.
So, we asked you, how does Brian describe the young people at the school?
And the answer is, he says they are hard -working.
That means they work hard. Now, there are lots of compound adjectives like hard -working that we make with an adjective or adverb like hard plus a present participle like working.
And we always write them with a hyphen, so hard -hyphen working.
And we can make compound adjectives in other ways too.
Listen to this clip for three more examples.
I asked some 18 -year -old students at this secondary school how they're voting in this year's election.
22 of them are undecided and are likely to make a last -minute decision.
First we had 18 -year -old students.
18 -year -old is an adjective made from three words joined together with hyphens.
When we write age before a noun, we use hyphens.
Exactly, and it's the same with numbers.
For example, we write the phrase a two -door car like this.
But that's only for numbers before the noun.
If you write the students are 18 years old, you don't need hyphens.
Now, the second compound in that clip was 22.
And the rule is always use hyphens in numbers from 21 to 99.
20 hyphen 1. 290 hyphen 9.
Good. Now, the last compound adjective we had there was last minute.
The students were going to make a last -minute decision.
And that's the adjective last plus the noun minute joined with a hyphen.
Now for another clip.
Listen out for some more compound adjectives.
A sizeable group say today's politicians are not well respected and their attitudes are out of date.
Well respected – that's an adverb, well, and the past participle of a verb, respected.
And together they make an adjective and the two parts of the adjective need a hyphen when we write them before a noun.
So it's a well -respected politician with a hyphen.
Well, hyphen, respected, politician.
Yes, but in a phrase like, the politicians were well -respected, we don't use a hyphen because the adjective comes after the noun, not before.
And that rule is the same for three -word compound adjectives like out of date.
So, the phrase out -of -date attitudes has hyphens because the adjective is before the noun.
But the phrase their attitudes are out -of -date doesn't have hyphens.
Exactly. And one last rule is that we never use hyphens in compound adjectives that have an adverb which ends in ly.
No, we don't. So, in phrases like a carefully written letter, we don't use hyphens.
Now, let's talk about compound nouns.
In our clip, Brian was reporting from a secondary school and the phrase secondary school is a compound noun and there's no hyphen in it.
No, there isn't. Most compound nouns are written as two separate words.
If you're not sure, check in a good dictionary.
And it's time for a quiz.
Number one. What's the compound adjective in this sentence and does it need a hyphen?
We were late because of the slow -moving traffic.
Slow -moving is the compound adjective and it needs a hyphen.
Very good. And number two.
Is there a hyphen in a 40 -mile run?
run. Yes there is. 40 hyphen mile run.
And number three. The teacher was very well liked.
Is there a hyphen in well liked?
We don't need a hyphen there.
Well done if you got those right.
And before we go, here's a vocabulary tip.
When you're reading, make a note of compound adjectives and nouns with and without hyphens.
Keep a list and check it regularly.
Yes, There's more about this at bbclearningenglish .com.
Join us again for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.
Goodbye. Bye.