This is a blog kept by students of Written Expression III at ISFD 30. Enjoy!

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Compound modifiers

How can you turn a whole phrase into a modifier?

A compound modifier is a combination of two or more words. Compound modifiers are grammatically equivalent to single-word modifiers and can be used in combination with other modifiers.  
Compound modifiers that appear before a noun phrase must include a hyphen between each word in order to avoid confusion. Without hyphens, a reader might interpret the words separately, rather than as a phrase.
The hyphen helps the reader differentiate a compound modifier from two adjacent modifiers that modify the noun independently. Compare the following examples:
·         "small appliance industry": a small industry producing appliances

·         "small-appliance industry": an industry producing small appliances

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