Lots of people have problems using hyphens so I thought it would be a good idea to add a few examples to this node.
Examples of usage
Some strong examples of
semantic changes caused by the placement of hyphens:
Disease causing poor nutrition, meaning that a disease causes poor nutrition, and
Disease-causing poor nutrition, meaning that poor nutrition causes disease
Man-eating shark, meaning a dangerous animal, and
Man eating shark, which reverses the relationship between the two
New age-discrimination rules, meaning new rules regarding discrimination according to age, and
New-age discrimination rules, meaning rules regarding discrimination (not necessarily according to age) consistent with the New Age movement
Additional examples of proper use:
text-only document (but ... document is text only)
Detroit-based organization (but ... organization is Detroit based)
state-of-the-art product (but ... product is state of the art)
board-certified strategy (but ... strategy is board certified)
thought-provoking argument (but ... argument is thought provoking)
time-sensitive error (but ... error is time sensitive)
case-sensitive password (but ... password is case sensitive)
government-issued photo ID (but ... photo ID is government issued, or, better, ... is issued by the government)
light-gathering surface (but ... surface is light gathering)
award-winning novel (but ... novel is award winning, or, more likely, ... won an award)
web-based encyclopedia (but ... encyclopedia is web based)
fun-loving person (but ... person is fun loving)
how to wire-transfer funds
how to tax-plan
advertising-supported service (but ... service is advertising supported, or, better, ... is supported by advertising)