When a phrasal adjective precedes a noun, it usually takes a hyphen or, for phrases of three or more words, hyphens.
A single adjective made up of two or more words is called a compound adjective. The words in a compound adjective are linked together by a hyphen (or hyphens) to show that they are part of the same adjective. For example (compound adjectives shaded): Read more about compound adjectives. . . . [The hyphens in phrasal adjectives] warn the reader that he must fuse two ideas before he can perceive how they apply to the subject. Upon encountering a [hyphenated] phrasal adjective, the reader isn’t misled into thinking momentarily that the modifying phrase is really a noun itself. In other words, the hyphens greatly clarify the meaning. Lawyers who make basic usage and grammar mistakes produce readers who are less receptive to their arguments.  Most hyphenation in compound adjectives occurs when the compound adjective comes before the noun, that is, in the attributive position. As a broad rule, when a compound adjective appears after the noun it modifies, that is, in the predicative position, it will not be hyphenated. Thus: the well-known actress. The above rule applies to ‑ly adverbs. But when you form a compound adjective with adverbs not ending in ‑ly, such as well or ill, the expression is hyphenated when it comes before the modified noun. If the compound adjective isfurther modified by an adverb, no hyphen appears. With compound adjectives formed from the adverb well and a participle (e.g. well-known), or from a phrase (e.g. up-to-date), you should use a hyphen when the compound comes before the noun: well-known brands of coffee. an up-to-date account. but not when the compound comes after the noun: It’s important to use hyphens in compound adjectives describing ages and lengths of time: leaving them out can make the meaning ambiguous. For example, 250-year-old trees clearly refers to trees that are 250 years old, while 250 year old trees could equally refer to 250 trees that are all one year old. A single adjective made up of two or more words is called a compound adjective. The words in a compound adjective can be linked together by a hyphen (or hyphens) to show they are part of the same adjective. In the UK, your readers will expect you to use hyphens in compound adjectives. The words in a compound adjective are linked together by a hyphen (or hyphens) to show that they are part of the same adjective. For example (compound adjectives shaded): Read more about 2. Don’t use hyphens after verbs. When the multiple-word adjective (or phrase involving a quantifier or adjective + noun) comes after the main verb (or is the main verb), do NOT use hyphens. Let’s take a look at the previous examples: 1  Her report was up to date. 2  The images in our presentation were computer generated.  A phrasal adjective (also known as an adjective phrase or compound adjective) is a phrase that modifies a noun. Phrasal adjective hyphenation. When a phrasal adjective precedes a noun, it usually takes a hyphen or, for phrases of three or more words, hyphens. This makes things easier for your reader and helps prevent miscues—for example: razor-sharp wit. over-the-top characters. larger-than-life personality The hyphens are unnecessary in sentence 1 because the phrase five years of age is not being used as a single adjective. In sentence 2, however, the phrase five-year-old is being used as a single descriptor for the noun boy. Not one of the words in that phrase would work alone; that is, he is not a five boy, a year boy, or an old boy. We have to pull all those words together to form a single adjective. The hyphen in sentence 3 is correct because we always use a hyphen in compound numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine. The descriptions too-tall-to-tango and bramble-covered are also correctly hyphenated in sentence 6 because they precede the nouns they modify. Notice that we did not include the word tough in the hyphenated phrase too-tall-to-tango because it is a separat
http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/hyphens_in_compound_adjectives.htm https://lawyerist.com/52084/persnickety-lawyers-hyphenate-phrasal-adjectives/ http://www.grammar.com/compound-adjectives/ http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/hyphen http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/hyphens_in_compound_adjectives.htm http://blog.esllibrary.com/2013/01/10/when-to-use-hyphens-rules-for-multiple-word-adjectives/ http://grammarist.com/grammar/phrasal-adjectives/ http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/040201HyphAdj.htm
hyphen adjective phrase