6 Minute Vocabulary - Hyphenation

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Like in old fashioned , there's always a hyphen between old and fashioned . So let's start with a clip from Brian . He's a news reporter and he's reporting from a high school about an election . Think about this question while you're listening . How does Brian describe the young people at the school ? Here's Brian . I asked some 18 year old students at secondary school how they're voting in this year's election . They're all hard working young people , 22 of them are undecided and are likely to make a last minute decision . But a sizable group say today's politicians are not well respected and their attitudes are out of date . Back to the studio . So we asked you , how does Brian describe the young people at the school ? And the answer is , he says they are hard working . That means they work hard . Now , there are lots of compound adjectives like hard working that we make with an adjective or adverb , like hard plus a present participle like working . And we always write them with a hyphen . So hard hyphen working . And we can make compound adjectives and other ways to listen to this clip for three more examples . I asked some 18 year old students at this secondary school how they're voting in this year's election . 22 of them are undecided and are likely to make a last minute decision . First , we had 18 year old students , 18 year old is an adjective made from three words joined together with hyphens . When we write age before a noun , we use Ivens 18 hyphen year hyphen old . Exactly . And it's the same with numbers . For example , we write the phrase a two door car like this , a two hyphen door car . But that's only four numbers before the noun , if you the students are 18 years old , you don't need hyphens . Now , the second compound in that clip was 22 . And the rule is always use hyphens in numbers from 21 to 99 , 20 , hyphen one 290 , hyphen nine . Good . Now , the last compound adjective we had there was last minute the students were going to make a last minute decision and that's the adjective last plus a noun . Minett joined with a hyphen . Now for another clip , listen out for some more compound adjectives . A sizable group say today's politicians are not well respected and their attitudes are out of date . Well respected . That's an adverb . Well , and the past participle of a verb respected . And together they make an adjective and the two parts of the adjective need a hyphen when we write them before a noun . So it's a well respected politician with a hyphen , well hyphen . Respected politician . Yes , but in a phrase like the politicians were well respected . We don't use a hyphen because the adjective comes after the noun , not before . And that rule is the same for three word compound adjectives like out of date . So the phrase out of date attitudes has hyphens because the adjective is before the noun , but the phrase their attitudes are out of date doesn't have hyphens . Exactly . And one last rule is that we never use hyphens in compound adjectives that have an adverb which ends in our Y . No , we don't . So in phrases like a carefully written letter , we don't use hyphens . Now let's talk about compound nouns . In our , Brian was reporting from a secondary school and the phrase secondary school is a compound noun and there's no hyphen in it . there isn't . Most compound nouns are written as two separate words . If you're not sure , check in a good dictionary . Six minutes from the BBC and it's time for a quiz . No one wants the compound adjective in this sentence and doesn't need a hyphen . We were late because of the slow moving traffic . Slow moving is the compound A. and it needs a hyphen . Very good . And number two , is there a hyphen in a 40 mile run ? Yes , there is 40 hyphen mile run our number three . That teacher was a very well liked . Is there a hyphen and well-liked ? We don't need a hyphen that well done . If you got those right . Before we go , here's a vocabulary . When you're reading , make a note of compound adjectives and nouns with and without hyphens , keep a list and check it regularly . Yes , there's more about this at ABC Learning English dot com . Join us again for more six minute vocabulary . Goodbye by six minutes from the BBC . But . He's defeated the most formidable super villains known to man now the world's most famous superhero faces the ultimate challenge . Parenthood from the creators of The Flash the new series Superman and Lois . Will Clark and Lois , his teenage sons , be able to handle the truth about their dad's true identity ? The Kent family's most amazing adventure is about to begin . 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