GRAMMAR: Use of

Hyphens in

Medical Writing

Nouns Combined With Adjectives• Some nouns are combined with adjectives to indicate the condition of a person, place

or thing• Such combinations are hyphenated, such as cholesterol-induced, antibiotic-resistant,

water-soluble– The first word in such combinations is always a noun which is followed by an

adjective

Examples:– The compound used for stabilizing the growth media is water-soluble (Not watery-

soluble)– Transcutaneous ultrasonography is useful for studying peripheral blood flow,

particularly in the assessment of endothelium-mediated vasodilation (Not endothelial-mediated)

Nouns Combined With Nouns

• Nouns which are linked to nouns usually indicate that they are of equal value, or that they have some common characteristics

Example: – His knowledge as a researcher-debater-educationist shows his hard work in his

field of study• Note that the slash mark (/) should not be used in noun-noun combination as it

will indicate that the words are separated, and not connected with each otherExample:

– His knowledge as a researcher/debater shows his hard work in his field of study

Numerals and Hyphens

• Hyphens are used for writing the quantity in numerals, such as 3.5-fold, 15-fold etc.

• When writing spelt-out words, hyphens are not used, such as threefold, tenfold etc.

Examples: – A threefold decrease in the growth of bacteria was observed in cell-culture media

containing antibiotics– Due to increased use of organic manures, the nutritional value of the lentils has

increased 2-fold

To Hyphenate, or Not to Hyphenate!

Hyphens and Prefixes

• A hyphen is used when a proper noun, or an adjective follows a prefix

Examples: – Anti-inflammatory agents, post-mortem, anti-social behavior etc.

• Some words starting with re- should be hyphenated to avoid ambiguity

Examples: – Re-creation, re-mark, re-solve etc.

Non-breaking Hyphens

• Are used to avoid breaking of a text the end of a line • Not really a hyphen; it is a command not to hyphenate

– A non-breaking hyphen in front of a word, or a group of characters, such as a phone number, web address or email address, will not let the characters be hyphenated

• Can be inserted in a word document: – By: Ctrl + shift + hyphen, or

– By selecting: Insert > Symbol> Special Characters > Non breaking Hyphen from

the main menu

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