Hyphens are an integral part of the punctuation and it is important for you to have adequate knowledge about the commonly used punctuation marks. In fact if you are not very sure as to where to use the various punctuation marks you are not in a position to present a flawless written document. As far as hyphen is considered a lot of confusion arises because many people have a tendency to replace the hyphen with a dash but that is not the correct way.
The hyphen has several uses in the English language. The various forms in which hyphen is used are as follows:
In the first place it is used when a prefix is added to some of the words. Some of the examples in which hyphen is used in the prefixes are as follows re-enter and re-examine. But all words which have a prefix do not follow the same rule. In this regard it can be said in case of words like undo or reorganize you do not use the hyphen. Keep in mind that when you are using hyphen in any words they need to be dependent on one another like the words “ex-wife” and “re-edit”. As you are using these if you have any doubt it is advised that you refer to the dictionary.
Hyphens are also used in case complex words are made from simple words. In this case at the end of every word you need to put in a hyphen. Some such words are “up-to-the-minute news” and “over-the-hill pop stars”.
Similarly you need to use hyphens when you are writing numbers in words like forty-seven cars, twenty-one schools and the like. Similarly when you are using numbers more than hundred as adjectives then also it gets hyphenated. For example, the two-hundredth birth anniversary.
Some other cases where hyphens are used in case we are using two parts adjective to describe a person or thing. For example in case of cute-looking baby, smart-looking car have hyphens in between the two words. Even in case of adjectives which have the sense of between hyphens are customarily used. Like when you say India-Pakistan.
Again in case you are using a long phrase as an adjective in a sentence it is advised that you use the words in a hyphenated form.
Sometimes hyphens are used to separate words at the end of a line. But to know rightly as to where you can separate the words you need to refer to the dictionary. Just like that you should not separate the words.
But in the modern age the use of hyphens is becoming less and less, the main reason to this being the rules of hyphen being very complicated. Today most of the words which could have been used with hyphens are written with a space between them like the word bed room.
It is recommended if you are not sure as to how you should use the hyphens you write the words without the hyphen because if you use the hyphen in the wrong place the meaning of the word changes altogether.