Are you “pre-pared”?

This month’s Chicago style workout focuses on the fourth and last section of our hyphenation table, “Words Formed with Prefixes.”

You’ll find the hyphenation table under paragraph 7.89 in CMOS 17.

Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the table or consult the searchable PDF version for easier navigation. (We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

Note: Style guides and dictionaries sometimes disagree. This quiz is designed to test your knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style. For terms formed with prefixes, CMOS generally follows Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) or the dictionary at Merriam-Webster.com (where the two sources differ, prefer the latter), though some of the terms that appear in this quiz are not listed in either dictionary.

[Editor’s note: This quiz relies on and links to the 17th edition of CMOS.]

Chicago Style Workout 41: Prefixes

1. Most compounds formed with prefixes (e.g., anti, multi, pre) are hyphenated.

True

False

2. A prefix that results in two consecutive a’s or i’s usually requires a hyphen (e.g., anti-inflammatory).

True

False

3. A prefix that results in two consecutive e’s or o’s never requires a hyphen (e.g., deemphasize).

True

False

4. Prefixes that result in two consecutive consonants always require a hyphen (e.g., counter-revolution).

True

False

5. Prefixes that would not result in a doubled letter never require a hyphen (e.g., destress).

True

False

6. When two prefixes apply to the same word, and the first one stands alone, a suspended hyphen is required (e.g., over- and underfed).

True

False

7. A prefix is normally joined to a proper noun or adjective with a hyphen and remains lowercase (e.g., sub-Saharan).

True

False

8. When a prefix is joined to an open compound, an en dash is used instead of a hyphen.

True

False

9. The terms Pre-Raphaelite (with a capital P) and transatlantic (no hyphen, lowercase a) are exceptions to the rule for joining prefixes to proper nouns or adjectives.

True

False

10. Chicago’s preferred spelling is unselfconscious, not un-self-conscious.

True

False

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