Hyphen Basics
A hyphen is a punctuation mark that connects words.
Use a hyphen when a compound phrase is used as an adjective to modify the following word:
Example: The peer-reviewed research suggested...
Example: As a fourth-grade teacher, I...
Example: Anderson (1998) tried to avoid face-to-face conflicts.
- Take the APA Style Diagnostic Quiz for more practice.
- Review APA 7, Section 6.12 for even more detailed hyphen guidelines.
Do Not Use Hyphens...
- When a compound word comes after the noun it modifies.
Incorrect: The research was peer-reviewed.
Correct: The peer-reviewed research... - Using most prefixes and suffixes. Words such as "extra" and "phobia" can be combined with other words without using a hyphen.
Example: The unbiased study displayed multifaceted information about agoraphobia.
Here is a list of these prefixes and suffixes:
- after
- anti
- bi
- co
- counter
- equi
- extra
- infra
- inter
- intra
- macro
- mega
- meta
- micro
- mid
- mini
- multi
- non
- over
- post
- pre
- pro
- pseudo
- re
- semi
- socio
- sub
- super
- supra
- ultra
- un
- under