Skip navigation.

Note: You are reading this message because you either cannot see our CSS files, or are using a non-standards-compliant browser. Although the content of this site will be accessible in any browser, please consider upgrading to a web standards-compliant browser such as Firefox, Mozilla, Opera to better enjoy the new design and functionality of our site (all links open in a new window).

The Street City Church

9 Hania Street
PO Box 6218, Marion Square,
Wellington
Tel +64 4 385 7315
Fax +64 4 385 7309
Email office@thestreet.org.nz

You are here > Home / Styleguide / Hyphens

Hyphens

Use a hyphen when you join two words to form an adjective. This eliminates confusion.

  • first-year course
  • full-time equivalent
  • third-year students
  • part-time studies
  • the government-mandated budget cut

Use no hyphen when the meaning is clear and there is no ambiguity.

  • one half course
  • a full course
  • one half of the students

A hyphen should not be used to join a prefix to a root/base except to avoid doubling a vowel, tripling a consonant, duplicating a prefix or when the context is confusing or causes ambiguity.

  • anticlimax (a familiar term, requiring no hyphen)
  • antibiotic

but

  • anti-inflation
  • anti-junta
  • anti-ageism
  • anti-racism
  • anti-Semitic

Use a hyphen with the prefix “re” where the word would otherwise be confusing.

  • re-admission
  • re-entry
  • re-coiled the rope (as opposed to recoiled in horror)
  • re-covered a chair (as opposed to recovered from an illness)