Ernest Amador is the Testing Coordinator of the Academic Center. While earning his bachelor’s degree from UHV, Ernest worked at the Academic Center as a peer writing tutor from Spring 2006 to Summer 2007. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree from UHV.
 

Compound Adjective- Two or more words functioning as a single adjective.

-adapted from The Bedford Handbook
 

A compound adjective—a group of two or more words that act as a single adjective—is one of the most useful ways to describe something in your writing. For instance, in the noun phrase the half-eaten sandwich, half-eaten is a compound adjective.

Compound adjectives may require a hyphen, but not always. This week we’ll look at a situation in which a hyphen is always required.

(Note: in all of the examples below, the compound adjectives are underlined and the nouns they modify are italicized)

Hyphenate a compound adjective only when it comes before a noun.                                

Ex: Even the well-built house did not withstand the tornado. (The compound adjective comes before the noun.)

Ex: Even the house that was well built did not withstand the tornado. (The compound adjective comes after the noun.)

Next week, we'll look at when you should say "no" to using a hyphen for compound adjectives.