Saturday, December 8, 2012

punctuation - Should there be a hyphen in expressions such as "currently-available X"?



My natural instinct is to hyphenate expressions such as "currently-available", "currently-implemented", etc., when they modify a noun. Example: "the currently-available version of X". It seems to me that the words function as a compound adjective, and I was taught to hyphenate compound adjectives that occur before a noun.



However, to my surprise, I find this expression often left unhyphenated. Now I'm confused. Is it considered appropriate or inappropriate to hyphenate the words in this situation?




EDIT:
I only now noticed this is essentially a duplicate of this Is “currently-installed” a proper compound adjective?, which is apparently itself a duplicate of others. My apologies.


Answer



Currently is an adverb, and therefore does not form a compound modifier. So, just keep the sentence, but take out the hyphen.



http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/how-to-use-a-hyphen



Hyphens are a “look-it-up” punctuation mark. Though hyphens have several uses, we’re going to focus on how to use hyphens with compound adjectives. Compound adjectives are two or more words that together make an adjective. When they come directly before a noun, they’re known as compound modifiers and usually have a hyphen, like “noise-canceling headphones.” Here are a few more examples:
They had a long-term relationship.

The fire-proof vest proved to be a great life saver for Santa Claus.


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