It would be difficult to remember every rule associated with a hyphen because there are so many different ways to use them. The key though, is knowing that hyphens are very different to em dashes and en dashes and they are not interchangeable as some people mistakenly believe. If you look over this guide a few times though, you should get to grips with hyphens and their various uses. Just remember the rule from the section on when not to use a hyphen though, so you don’t make the common mistakes that others do.

Hyphen Examples

• An English-speaking country.
• A full-length portrait of the Queen hung on the wall.
• Writing a dictionary is a never-ending task.
• Co-worker, co-pilot, co-operation.
• He’s working maybe twenty-five hours a week.