Punctuation

Hyphens

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.

1. When a compound word comes after the noun it modifies.

   Incorrect: The research was peer-reviewed.
    
   Correct: The peer-reviewed research...

2. 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