3 Cases of Suspensive Hyphenation That Are Missing a Hyphen

3 Cases of Suspensive Hyphenation That Are Missing a Hyphen 3 Cases of Suspensive Hyphenation That Are Missing a Hyphen 3 Cases of Suspensive Hyphenation That Are Missing a Hyphen By Mark Nichol When an adjective can be shared between two nouns to form a pair of parallel phrasal adjectives modifying another noun, the first instance of the simple adjective can be elided so that it is implied. However, writers often neglect to provide, in the form of a hyphen, a signpost identifying the elision. Here are three sentences featuring that flaw, followed by a discussion about, and a revision of, each. 1. The film covers the scene’s considerable sprawl, from the sketchy clubs and apartment dwellings to the bands and the drug and booze-fueled chaos that followed them. This statement refers to drug chaos and booze-fueled chaos. Obviously, the writer means â€Å"drug-fueled and booze-fueled chaos† but knows the rule described in the introduction to this post; in this case, fueled has correctly been omitted from drug-fueled, the first of two phrasal adjectives. However, the first element of the first phrasal adjective must be followed by a hyphen to signal that the elision is taking place: â€Å"The film covers the scene’s considerable sprawl, from the sketchy clubs and apartment dwellings to the bands and the drug- and booze-fueled chaos that followed them.† 2. This strategy breaks the training material up into several 2-3 minute videos. As constructed, this nonsensical sentence refers to something called minute videos; it refers, in quick succession, to several of them and 2–3 of them. The problem is that the writer knows that a hyphen should link a range of numbers (actually, a dash should, but many publications use a simple hyphen, so the point is acceptable) but errs in applying that rule in this case. This statement is complicated by the need for a phrasal adjective to modify â€Å"videos† with a reference to length, and â€Å"2-3-minute videos† is obviously not correct. The solution is to replace the symbol indicating a number range with to and refer to â€Å"2-minute to 3-minute videos,† though the first instance of minute can be deleted and implied: â€Å"This strategy breaks the training material up into several 2- to 3-minute videos.† 3. Why can’t humans hear infra and ultrasound? Here, the suspensive omission is part of a closed compound. This strategy is technically valid (the proper form is â€Å"Why can’t humans hear infra- and ultrasound?†) but in practice often awkward. In this case, forgo the elision: â€Å"Why can’t humans hear infrasound and ultrasound?† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Writing Prompts 101Capitalization Rules for the Names of Games10 Tips About How to Write a Caption

Art of Postmodernism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Art of Postmodernism - Essay Example The essay "Art of Postmodernism" discusses art in the era of postmodernism. It is known that the tendencies that dominate in society reflect in the artwork of the individuals in this era, so it is not supprising that this all of a sudden break from tradition caused a new artistic style to appear. Today we call this style Modernism. It is evident that in the art of this period there was a mass reduction in works that were produced on commission. The works were instead produced for the benefit of the individual artist for him/herself or for some kind of higher purpose. Once modernism arrived, artists started looking for a new kind of truth – the truth that was backed up by science, industry and reality. The artists’ perception of the world had drastically changed. While in the past the purpose and the characteristics of real art were universal and imperturbable. At that time various groups of artists started emerging, each with their own particular vision of art as well a s truth. For example, take Cubists such as Braque and Picasso who used the principles of geometry to break down real three-dimensional objects in order to find their true forms. A universally accepted genius Salvador Dali and his counterparts, Surrealists, directed all their efforts and talent to various subconscious experiments that opened a door to truth and real art for them. Matisse used color as his vehicle, while Cezanne was consumed by light and form. Balla and Boccioni got fully absorbed by completing Futurist manifestos.