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This workout centers on the first half of section 3, “Compounds Formed with Specific Terms,” in our extended hyphenation table under paragraph 7.96 in CMOS 18.

Advanced editors might tackle the questions cold; learners can study that part of the hyphenation table before answering the questions. (Workout 23, “Hyphens, Part 3b,” covers the second half of section 3.)

Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the linked sections of the Manual. (We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

Note: Dictionaries and style guides sometimes disagree. These questions are designed to test your knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style, which prefers the dictionary at Merriam-Webster.com. Other style guides may follow a different dictionary.

Now updated to refer and link to the 18th edition.

Chicago Style Workout 22: Hyphens, Part 3a

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1. Adverbial phrases containing all are open; adjectival phrases are usually hyphenated both before and after a noun.

all out
all over
an all-out effort
the book is all-encompassing

True

False

2. Phrases formed with borne are always closed.

waterborne
foodborne
mosquitoborne

True

False

3. Nouns formed with century are always open; adjectival compounds are hyphenated before but not after a noun.

the fourteenth century
a fourteenth-century monastery
its style was fourteenth century

True

False

4. Compounds formed with cross are styled as listed in Merriam-Webster; if not listed there, noun forms are open, and adjective, adverb, and verb forms are hyphenated.

a cross-country race
a cross section

True

False

5. E terms are hyphenated except for email, ebook, and esport and certain proper nouns.

email
ebook
esport
eBay
e-commerce

True

False

6. Compounds with elect are hyphenated.

president-elect
vice-president-elect
county-assessor-elect

True

False

7. Ever is usually hyphenated before but not after a noun.

ever-ready help
he was ever eager

True

False

8. Compounds formed with free as the second element are open both before and after a noun.

a toll free number
the driver is accident free

True

False

9. Compounds with full are hyphenated before a noun, otherwise open.

a full-length mirror
the mirror is full length

True

False

10. Grand compounds are closed; great compounds are hyphenated.

grandfather
granddaughter
great-grandmother
great-great-nephew

True

False

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Photo: Courtesy CDC/Amanda Mills, acquired from Public Health Image Library.

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