I’ve had some reminders that I have this blog. I apologize for the absence, but I’ve been extremely occupied.

One request I had was to address the little dash called a hyphen, and tell about its uses. Although people say Morse Code is a system of dots and dashes, the dashes are really hyphen-size in that code.

But let's talk about the more common use of a hypen first.

When writing, hyphens are used to break up a word to go to the next line (after a return on the keyboard). The break is placed after a syllable. For example, the word usu-

ally would be broken up like it is in this sentence.

But hyphens play a bigger role when you want to form a compound adjective modifying a noun or pronoun. They help the reader understand that the compound adjective modifies the noun. Otherwise, without the hyphens, the sentence could get confusing.

For example: According to The Grammar Desk Reference by Gary Lutz and Diane Stevenson, there’s a difference between a homeless outreach worker and a homeless-outreach worker.

The first outreach worker is homeless. The second outreach worker is one who helps the homeless.

Here’s a long compound adjective: The first-of-its-kind hybrid. You can see how awkward that might be without the hyphens: The first of its kind hybrid. Hmm, I never heard of a kind hybrid. Have you?

There are many more rules that apply to the hyphen, but the ones above are the most common for hyphen usage.