Asked by junior

A writer should hyphenate a compound modifier that

contains an adverb ending in -ly.
comes after the noun it modifies.
comes before the noun it modifies.
contains an adjective ending in -ive.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Comes before the noun it modifies.

Hyphenate compound modifiers when they appear before the noun (attributive position) to avoid ambiguity — e.g., "a well‑known author," "a small‑business owner." Do not hyphenate when the modifier comes after the noun (predicative): "The author is well known." Also do not hyphenate when the first word is an adverb ending in -ly: "a highly qualified candidate."