Hyphens

In many cases hyphenation is optional, and the tendency is for hyphens to become less common through usage. The ETF opts for the non-hyphenated style in words and terms such as ‘coordinate’ and ‘macroeconomic’.

Many newly coined terms (‘e-commerce’) or adverb-adjective compounds (‘long-term’) retain the use of hyphens. Some lose them as their usage spreads, such as happened to ‘email’.

Prefixes take a hyphen (e.g. anti-American, non-governmental, self-employed) except where the prefix has become part of the word by usage (e.g. coordination, cofinance).

Don’t overuse hyphens but use them where you must, for example to indicate the relation of words in a sentence. A ‘government-monitoring programme’ means something else than a ‘government monitoring programme’. ‘In-laws we trust’ means something else than ‘in laws we trust’.

Many different rules govern the usage of hyphens. If you are in doubt, consult the Translation Agency’s style guide here.