The Basic Cozy Punctuation Course
on video or dvd

Lesson Nine

Punctuation Within A Sentence

Hyphen-

Setting: Haig-Brown Heritage House
(13:06)

"The hyphen is used within a sentence to show a separation between parts of a word. The hyphen is like a railway crossing sign. Just as a railway crossing sign tells us that a junction is ahead, so a hyphen tells us that words are joined.  A hyphen is more a mark of spelling than of punctuation."   Marie takes us to the riverside Heritage Home of the late author, fly-fishing expert, and conservationist Roderick Haig-Brown.  As we tour around the grounds Marie makes up examples using forget-me-nots, the trees surrounding the property, a trellised garden gate, apples freshly picked from the old orchard, Haig-Brown's name, facts about Haig-Brown's accomplishments, and quotes from his writings, to teach the seven basic ways to use the hyphen.  These uses are: to join parts of compound words, to separate the syllables of a word divided at the end of a line, to separate a prefix from a word with a similar vowel, to separate a prefix from a proper noun, to avoid confusion with a different word, to express numbers and fractions in words, and to express time in words.