Hyphenating Adjectives and Adverbs

Last updated Jan 22, 2024
By Gwenydd Jones

Test your knowledge of hyphenating adjectives and adverbs. In today’s quiz, they mostly come in the form of adjectival and adverbial compounds before a noun.

Learn about hyphenating adjectives and adverbs in our punctuation course Punctuation Pro.

Which of these adjectives and adverbs need a hyphen?

  1. He was wearing a long black belt.
  2. She chose a rather ill fitting blouse.
  3. The small greenish blue bag.
  4. A dangerously high ledge.

Scroll down for the answers.

Answers

  1. Correct answer: he was wearing a long black belt. These adjectives independently modify belt, not each other. So, no hyphen is needed.
  2. Correct answer: she chose a rather ill-fitting blouse. Ill modifies fitting. Ill is derived from an adjective and fitting is derived from a verb, so the two words are hyphenated to become a compound adjective.
  3. Correct answer: the small greenish-blue bag. Greenish modifies blue. Both are adjectives and so they must be hyphenated.
  4. Correct answer: A dangerously high ledge. Dangerously is an ­-ly adverb. These types of adverbs aren’t hyphenated in compounds.

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Test your knowledge on hyphenating adjectives and adverbs in this quick quiz. #t9n #editing #writing Share on X

Written by Gwenydd Jones

Gwenydd Jones is a Spanish- and French-to-English translator, an SEO blogger and a course creator. She is the founder of The Translator's Studio and the lead teacher on its courses. Connect with Gwenydd on LinkedIn or contact her through this website.

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