Page 157 - New Grammar with a Smile 8

The Hyphen

The hyphen, like the apostrophe, is used between the letters of a word.

Uses

♦ Its primary use is to connect the component words of a compound word.
For example,

Jack-of-all-trades, father-in-law, passers-by.

♦ It is also used with certain prefixes, particularly if there is the possibility of
confusion in the pronunciation of the resulting word. For example,
vice-captain, ex-president, re-entry

♦ As a special case of compound words, the numbers from 21 to 99, excepting 30, 40,
etc. are written with a hyphen when they are spelt out. For example,

thirty-one, eighty-six, ninety-two

Inverted Commas

These are also called quotation marks and are of two types—single inverted
commas and double inverted commas. British usage favours single inverted commas,
while American usage favours double inverted commas.

Uses

1. The primary use of inverted commas is to enclose direct speech. For example,
• ‘Please bring me a glass of milk,’ said the son to his mother.
• ‘Where do you live?’ asked the stranger.

2. If a quotation occurs within a quotation, the inner one is enclosed within double
inverted commas. For example,

• ‘You might as well say,’ added the March Hare, ‘that “I like what I get” is the
same thing as “I get what I like”.’

3. Inverted commas are also used to indicate the titles of books, poems, stories,
films, etc. For example,
• ‘Macbeth’, ‘Ode to a Skylark’, ‘The Kabuliwallah’.

4. They are also used to emphasise or draw attention to a particular word in
a sentence. For example,
• I thought that you told me that your friend is ‘thin’.

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