Comments on: When to Hyphenate https://proofed.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/ Wed, 18 May 2022 08:20:25 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.1 By: Proofed https://proofed.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/#comment-494183 Wed, 18 May 2022 08:20:25 +0000 http:/proofed.preview.uk.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/#comment-494183 In reply to Mary Frances.

Hi, Mary. Neither “social media” nor “public health” would typically need to be hyphenated in that context (both are well-established open compounds rather than novel compound modifiers, and hyphenation wouldn’t be necessary for clarity). It terms of the comma, you only need a comma between adjectives when they are coordinate (i.e., when they modify a word in the same way). I don’t think that is really the case here (assuming “social media” refers to the type of platform and “public health” refers to its purpose or focus). But this may depend on how you are using the term. A helpful test for whether adjectives are coordinate is to try placing “and” between them, so if “a social media and public health platform” sounds like a good description of what you’re trying to communicate, then “social media, public health platform” would be correct. If the “and” sounds out of place, then “social media public health platform” may be more appropriate.

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By: Mary Frances https://proofed.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/#comment-494052 Wed, 18 May 2022 03:15:22 +0000 http:/proofed.preview.uk.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/#comment-494052 If someone wrote “_____, a social media public health platform, …” should the two double adjectives be hyphenated (i.e. “…a social-media public-health platform…” or separated by a comma (i.e. “…social media, public health platform…”)?

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By: Proofed https://proofed.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/#comment-431861 Thu, 06 Jan 2022 16:59:31 +0000 http:/proofed.preview.uk.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/#comment-431861 In reply to Racquel Marsh.

Typo now fixed. Thanks, Racquel.

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By: Racquel Marsh https://proofed.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/#comment-431847 Thu, 06 Jan 2022 16:21:43 +0000 http:/proofed.preview.uk.com/writing-tips/hyphenate/#comment-431847 “Rules about which words should be hyphenated can very between institutions, though, so be sure to double check your style guide.” I suggest changing “very” to “vary.”

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