Hyphen question...

Off-putting hypens

I gave up hyphens for lent, but Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary only shows off-limits with a hyphen.

Katie, I use AP Stylebook to sort out gnarly hyphenate-or-don't situations. Wisegeek’s typical rules in the URL below are neither better nor worse than many others, but I like the disclaimer.

http://www.wisegeek.com/when-do-you-hyphenate-compound-words.htm

Wisegeek’s disclaimer:

"Hyphens are a notoriously tricky punctuation mark. English is a fairly inconsistent language and the student is not helped by the constant trend of evolution of the rules. To ensure absolute correctness when using hyphens, keep a good dictionary nearby, for knowing when to hyphenate compound words is not a definite science."

The last line (bold added) it all. When I'm in doubt, I check with Webster. Chase
　

Yeah, like, the off-limits bar was off limits to students.

kaitie said:

Thanks.

Ps....anyone know the why? If I can figure out the rule I can usually apply it in other cases as well.

Click to expand...

Essentially, you hyphenate before the noun because you are taking two words and meshing them into one adjective. When two words are found after the noun, each usually functions as a different part of speech - often one word is part of the verb and the other is an adverb.

In "the berry-flavored jelly," "berry-flavored" is one concept that modifies "jelly." In "the jelly was berry flavored," "berry" is an adverb modifying "was flavored."

Off-limits might be an exception to the usual rule, though - even after the noun, it functions as one word, either an adverb or a predicate nominative, depending on which grammatical point one wants to argue.