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He's a self(-)made millionaire.

Is a hyphen obligatory or optional?

Many thanks.

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Re: hypen

Yoong Liat wrote:

He's a self(-)made millionaire.

Is a hyphen obligatory or optional?

Many thanks.

optional

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Many thanks, Contrex.

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Actually, the hyphen is NOT optional, according to the Modern Language Association. Hyphens connect two or more words fuctioning together as an adjective before a noun.

So, the same applies to:

self-centered
self-evident

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Actually, the hyphen IS optional, according to me. The use of hyphens to join compound words has be decreasing for decades.

The spelling of "centered" shows where that particular piece of advice is coming from.

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contrex wrote:

Actually, the hyphen IS optional, according to me. The use of hyphens to join compound words has be decreasing for decades.

The spelling of "centered" shows where that particular piece of advice is coming from.

Sorry to step on your gramatically incorrect toes, but you're wrong.

"Self" functions as a noun, and "made" as a verb, unless the two words are combined with a hyphen.

I spelled centered correctly, you'll notice.

Does it hurt, falling from a horse so tall?

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Gargamel wrote:

Sorry to step on your gramatically incorrect toes, but you're wrong.

No you're wrong, bub, and you can't spell "grammatically".

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contrex wrote:

Gargamel wrote:
Sorry to step on your gramatically incorrect toes, but you're wrong.

No you're wrong, bub, and you can't spell "grammatically".

Typos will happen. At least I understand the difference between a verb, a noun, and an adjective.

I apologize for bruising your delicate ego, but I really don't think you ought to be offering advice on the English forum.

Your failure to offer reasons or explanations is pretty condemning. It's unfortunate you can't admit you're wrong, the way adults do.

Thanks for playing!

To Yoong Liat: I notice you've been receiving a lot of advice from Contrex, which is unfortunate. I will make an effort to check his posts and make sure you're getting sound advice. Cheers

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contrex wrote:

Actually, the hyphen IS optional, according to me. The use of hyphens to join compound words has be decreasing for decades.

"Has be decreasing for decades."

Care to explain that?

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Yoong Liat, I will not be posting on here any more because of Gargamel. He has volunteered to answer your questions from now on, I think, however he has vowed to check my answers to you and I cannot tolerate that. I feel he is an egotistical troll. So I will say farewell and best wishes!

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contrex wrote:

Yoong Liat, I will not be posting on here any more because of Gargamel. He has volunteered to answer your questions from now on, I think, however he has vowed to check my answers to you and I cannot tolerate that. I feel he is an egotistical troll. So I will say farewell and best wishes!

Oh, what a devastating loss! How will A2K ever recover?

Baby.

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contrex wrote:

Yoong Liat, I will not be posting on here any more because of Gargamel. He has volunteered to answer your questions from now on, I think, however he has vowed to check my answers to you and I cannot tolerate that. I feel he is an egotistical troll. So I will say farewell and best wishes!

No, Contrex. You should not give up. I didn't say that you gave me the wrong information. I think it is ok if Gargamel disagrees with what you say. On the other hand, if Gargemel says things which you disagree, you can always give your version.

Best wishes.

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Gargamel wrote:

Actually, the hyphen is NOT optional, according to the Modern Language Association. Hyphens connect two or more words fuctioning together as an adjective before a noun.

Gargamel is correct.

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Yoong Liat wrote:

contrex wrote:
Yoong Liat, I will not be posting on here any more because of Gargamel. He has volunteered to answer your questions from now on, I think, however he has vowed to check my answers to you and I cannot tolerate that. I feel he is an egotistical troll. So I will say farewell and best wishes!

No, Contrex. You should not give up. I didn't say that you gave me the wrong information. I think it is ok if Gargamel disagrees with what you say. On the other hand, if Gargemel says things which you disagree with, you can always give your version.

Best wishes.

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I agree that the use of hyphens is not optional. The general rule is if both words are needed to modify the word and cannot stand alone, you use a hyphen, as in "well-made". This rule is pretty standard.

You wouldn't say "He's a self made millionaire", you'd say "self-made" because he's not a self millionaire or a made millionaire.

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Since this has come up several times with native speakers giving disinformation I'd like to toss in my two cents to agree that the hyphen is not optional. Multi-word adjectives should be hyphenated.

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