Unlocking the Secret Language of Punctuation: Why Dashes and Hyphens Could Change How You Write Forever
Hyphenated Modifiers
Certain modifier combinations call for hyphenation. When two modifiers together modify another word, they are often hyphenated. For example, in the phrase “real-world situations,” the words real and world are connected with a hyphen. Note that real modifies world (the world is real) and as a single unit (a hyphenated modifier), the two words together modify situation. This is standard practice when one modifier modifies another to form a single modifier to a noun or verb.
Note, however, that adverb-adjective combinations are not normally hyphenated. For example, a “well understood concept” is not hyphenated (well is an adverb modifying the adjective understood).
