Homophones and Hyphens

Homophones Words that sound alike or nearly alike but have different meanings and spellings are called homophones. affect: (verb) to exert influence effect: (verb) to accomplish; (noun) result principal: (adj.) most important; (noun) head of a school principle: (noun) a general or fundamental truth

Homophones

The Hyphen Use a hyphen to connect two or more words functioning together as an adjective before a noun. - Mrs. Douglas gave Toshiko a seashell and some newspaper-wrapped fish to take home to her mother. - Richa Gupta is not yet a well-known candidate.

The Hyphen Generally, do not use a hyphen when such compounds follow the noun. - After our television campaign, Richa Gupta will be well known. Do not use a hyphen to connect ly adverbs to the words they modify. - A slowly moving truck tied up traffic.

The Hyphen Hyphenate the written form of fractions and of compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine. - One-fourth of my salary goes to pay child care expenses. Use a hyphen with the prefixes all, ex, and self and the suffix –elect. - The charity is funneling more money into self-help products - Anne King is our club’s president-elect.

The Hyphen A hyphen is used in some words to avoid ambiguity or to separate awkward double or triple letters. ◦Without the hyphen there would be no way to distinguish between words such as re-creation and recreation. ◦Hyphens are sometimes used to separate double or triple letters in compound words.  Anti-intellectual; cross-stitch.

The Hyphen If a word must be divided at the end of a line, divide it correctly. ◦Divide words between syllables; never divide a one-syllable word. When I returned from my semester over seas, I didn’t recog- nize one face on the magazine covers.

The Hyphen Never divide a word so that a single letter stands alone at the end of a line or fewer than three letters begin a line. ◦She’ll bring her brother with her when she comes a- gain. ◦As audience to the play The Mousetrap, Hamlet is a watch- er watching watchers.

The Hyphen When dividing a compound word at the end of a line, either make the break between the words that form the compound or put the whole word on the next line. ◦My niece Marielena is determined to become a long-dis- tance runner.