Hyphenation in “first century AD” etc as an adjective
I edit a lot of articles that contain phrases such as "A first century AD inscription..." or "First century BC writer Herodotus..." I know that a compound adjective before a noun is usually hyphenated, so if the phrase were just "A first-century inscription" I would hyphenate accordingly, but "A first-century-AD inscription", despite seeming grammatically correct, feels somehow wrong (I think because of the abbreviation) and I don't recall ever seeing this used. Meanwhile, "a first-century AD inscription" I'm fairly sure is ungrammatical.
So to sum up, which should it be?
- A first century AD inscription
- A first-century AD inscription
- A first-century-AD inscription
Many thanks.
abbreviations hyphenation compound-adjectives
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I edit a lot of articles that contain phrases such as "A first century AD inscription..." or "First century BC writer Herodotus..." I know that a compound adjective before a noun is usually hyphenated, so if the phrase were just "A first-century inscription" I would hyphenate accordingly, but "A first-century-AD inscription", despite seeming grammatically correct, feels somehow wrong (I think because of the abbreviation) and I don't recall ever seeing this used. Meanwhile, "a first-century AD inscription" I'm fairly sure is ungrammatical.
So to sum up, which should it be?
- A first century AD inscription
- A first-century AD inscription
- A first-century-AD inscription
Many thanks.
abbreviations hyphenation compound-adjectives
asked 1 hour ago
Nams
386
add a comment |
I edit a lot of articles that contain phrases such as "A first century AD inscription..." or "First century BC writer Herodotus..." I know that a compound adjective before a noun is usually hyphenated, so if the phrase were just "A first-century inscription" I would hyphenate accordingly, but "A first-century-AD inscription", despite seeming grammatically correct, feels somehow wrong (I think because of the abbreviation) and I don't recall ever seeing this used. Meanwhile, "a first-century AD inscription" I'm fairly sure is ungrammatical.
So to sum up, which should it be?
- A first century AD inscription
- A first-century AD inscription
- A first-century-AD inscription
Many thanks.
abbreviations hyphenation compound-adjectives
asked 1 hour ago
Nams
386
I edit a lot of articles that contain phrases such as "A first century AD inscription..." or "First century BC writer Herodotus..." I know that a compound adjective before a noun is usually hyphenated, so if the phrase were just "A first-century inscription" I would hyphenate accordingly, but "A first-century-AD inscription", despite seeming grammatically correct, feels somehow wrong (I think because of the abbreviation) and I don't recall ever seeing this used. Meanwhile, "a first-century AD inscription" I'm fairly sure is ungrammatical.
So to sum up, which should it be?
- A first century AD inscription
- A first-century AD inscription
- A first-century-AD inscription
Many thanks.
abbreviations hyphenation compound-adjectives
abbreviations hyphenation compound-adjectives
asked 1 hour ago
Nams
386
asked 1 hour ago
Nams
386
asked 1 hour ago
Nams
386
asked 1 hour ago
Nams
386
asked 1 hour ago
Nams
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386
add a comment |
add a comment |
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Every permutation of the sentence you provided is grammatical.
Your question is really just about style. Hyphenation is about so-called convenience, the communication of a phrase that becomes more understandable (less open to ambiguity) because of the hyphenation.
The essential question is, will anybody be likely to misinterpret the sentence if it's not hyphenated? If not, and if hyphenating it in some way looks wrong, then don't hyphenate it.
On the other hand, if you follow a style guide that says to hyphenate it specifically, then do that.
My personal opinion, which is not in any way definitive, is that if you're going to hyhenate first-century, you should also add hyphenation to the AD part.
Not only would it be consistent, but it's possible there could be misinterpretation if you don't. You could be talking about a first-century [AD inscription]—assuming such a thing existed.
So, I would choose to either hyphenate all three words (and perhaps have it look a little strange even though not open to any misinterpretation) or none of them (which might look better and would very probably not be misinterpreted). But that's not to say that you should make that choice.
answered 51 mins ago
Jason Bassford
15.6k31941
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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Every permutation of the sentence you provided is grammatical.
Your question is really just about style. Hyphenation is about so-called convenience, the communication of a phrase that becomes more understandable (less open to ambiguity) because of the hyphenation.
The essential question is, will anybody be likely to misinterpret the sentence if it's not hyphenated? If not, and if hyphenating it in some way looks wrong, then don't hyphenate it.
On the other hand, if you follow a style guide that says to hyphenate it specifically, then do that.
My personal opinion, which is not in any way definitive, is that if you're going to hyhenate first-century, you should also add hyphenation to the AD part.
Not only would it be consistent, but it's possible there could be misinterpretation if you don't. You could be talking about a first-century [AD inscription]—assuming such a thing existed.
So, I would choose to either hyphenate all three words (and perhaps have it look a little strange even though not open to any misinterpretation) or none of them (which might look better and would very probably not be misinterpreted). But that's not to say that you should make that choice.
answered 51 mins ago
Jason Bassford
15.6k31941
add a comment |
Every permutation of the sentence you provided is grammatical.
Your question is really just about style. Hyphenation is about so-called convenience, the communication of a phrase that becomes more understandable (less open to ambiguity) because of the hyphenation.
The essential question is, will anybody be likely to misinterpret the sentence if it's not hyphenated? If not, and if hyphenating it in some way looks wrong, then don't hyphenate it.
On the other hand, if you follow a style guide that says to hyphenate it specifically, then do that.
My personal opinion, which is not in any way definitive, is that if you're going to hyhenate first-century, you should also add hyphenation to the AD part.
Not only would it be consistent, but it's possible there could be misinterpretation if you don't. You could be talking about a first-century [AD inscription]—assuming such a thing existed.
So, I would choose to either hyphenate all three words (and perhaps have it look a little strange even though not open to any misinterpretation) or none of them (which might look better and would very probably not be misinterpreted). But that's not to say that you should make that choice.
answered 51 mins ago
Jason Bassford
15.6k31941
add a comment |
Every permutation of the sentence you provided is grammatical.
Your question is really just about style. Hyphenation is about so-called convenience, the communication of a phrase that becomes more understandable (less open to ambiguity) because of the hyphenation.
The essential question is, will anybody be likely to misinterpret the sentence if it's not hyphenated? If not, and if hyphenating it in some way looks wrong, then don't hyphenate it.
On the other hand, if you follow a style guide that says to hyphenate it specifically, then do that.
My personal opinion, which is not in any way definitive, is that if you're going to hyhenate first-century, you should also add hyphenation to the AD part.
Not only would it be consistent, but it's possible there could be misinterpretation if you don't. You could be talking about a first-century [AD inscription]—assuming such a thing existed.
So, I would choose to either hyphenate all three words (and perhaps have it look a little strange even though not open to any misinterpretation) or none of them (which might look better and would very probably not be misinterpreted). But that's not to say that you should make that choice.
answered 51 mins ago
Jason Bassford
15.6k31941
Every permutation of the sentence you provided is grammatical.
Your question is really just about style. Hyphenation is about so-called convenience, the communication of a phrase that becomes more understandable (less open to ambiguity) because of the hyphenation.
The essential question is, will anybody be likely to misinterpret the sentence if it's not hyphenated? If not, and if hyphenating it in some way looks wrong, then don't hyphenate it.
On the other hand, if you follow a style guide that says to hyphenate it specifically, then do that.
My personal opinion, which is not in any way definitive, is that if you're going to hyhenate first-century, you should also add hyphenation to the AD part.
Not only would it be consistent, but it's possible there could be misinterpretation if you don't. You could be talking about a first-century [AD inscription]—assuming such a thing existed.
So, I would choose to either hyphenate all three words (and perhaps have it look a little strange even though not open to any misinterpretation) or none of them (which might look better and would very probably not be misinterpreted). But that's not to say that you should make that choice.
answered 51 mins ago
Jason Bassford
15.6k31941
answered 51 mins ago
Jason Bassford
15.6k31941
answered 51 mins ago
Jason Bassford
15.6k31941
answered 51 mins ago
Jason Bassford
15.6k31941
15.6k31941
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