I was wondering if two nouns require a hyphen in between them.     Mist pond or Mist-pond?   Or am I confusing the first noun for a verb?
4905
Some compound words are written without hyphens (nonaggression, nonbeliever), some with hyphens (well-intentioned), and others with spaces (post office).  Is there a rule or good guide as to which option should be used?
83604
Do I need to put a "-" between "non" and an adjective? As an example in physics we say "a non isolated photon", "non tight photon"... The context is very formal (paper publications and similar). Is there a general rule? Are there some differences between countries?
123667
Plenty of nouns change the second letter to become plural (man->men, goose->geese) but does anything change its first letter.  I've hunted high and low over the internet, and spent ages browsing the questions at  but I can't find anything.
11534
My example in this case is &quot;activity- and experience verbs&quot;, in the meaning &quot;activity verbs and experience verbs&quot;. Does the hyphen suggest that &quot;activity-verb&quot; or &quot;activityverb&quot; is the uncontracted phrase, or is it correct to use a hyphen like shown in this case?
95997
Can you explain to me whether I should or should not use ‑s at the end of the  verb allow in this sentence?     This function requires that the container class allow[s] random access   The sentence in the book I read wrote allow without ‑s. However, the container class is a third-person singular, so the ‑s must be required. Is that right?
7481
Is this the proper way to use two possessive nouns in a row?     I am going over to Lauren's parents' house this evening.   or     The store's manager's niece was quite attractive.   What about three?*     The United States Army's general's wife's dog is on the lamb, somebody stop it.   *Three seems both unrealistic, and in the specific example I used you could make a case for adding a fourth United State's Army's but I think that seems even more unrealistic.  Additionally, I would never write this in any sort of setting other than the purpose of knowing what the rules are.  Thanks in advance, I apologize in advance if this is duplicate
46910
I have a question regarding the use of hyphens in words with certain prefixes. For example,     Neo-Nazism   Neo-Confucianism   Neo-liberal     are words with a hyphen, but     Neoplatonism   Neocolonialism   are words without hyphens. I'm especially confused with neo-Confucianism and neoplatonism: one contains  a hyphen and a capital letter and the other doesn't.  Is there a specific rule for hyphens in words with prefixes or is it purely arbitrary?
85433
John did not come because of the rain.   This sentence seems to allow the following two completely different interpretations.   John did not come. And the reason was the rain. John came. But the reason was not the rain.    Questions  A.  How does this ambiguity arise? Is it because of negation?  B.  What is the easiest way to avoid this ambiguity?
6839
I know that words like login and payoff are properly nouns but I increasingly notice many (not at all uneducated) people use them as verbs:     Will you payoff your credit card this month?   and     Please check this when you login.   To me (a non-native English user), that seems incorrect because separating the core noun from a preposition is what I was taught: Please check this when you log in. (My emphasis)  Is this use proper or not?
104495
Is it allowed to have multiple hyphens in one word? I want to use the word semi-self-sustaining in the sentence     However, the ability to produce semi-self-sustaining stations is   possessed by up to a quarter of all nations.   Should we use semi-selfsustaining or avoid it by using partially self-sustaining?
75206
I took this photo by the lake last Saturday, Grandma. It looks lovely.   Do you know any of these people?      Yes, I do. The man who’s reading the newspaper is William.      He’s wearing a nice hat.      He is, isn’t he? Grandpa knows him, I think!   Why don't they say "he was wearing a nice hat" because that was happening in the past?  Can we use the present tense to describe people in a video?  For example, "Look at you in this video! You are smiling and swimming in a bathtub".
40451
Sentences are:   "The rainforests are in danger." "Rainforests are in danger."  So in this case, I think that they are both correct sentences...but:  "Guitars are musical instruments."  "The guitars are musical instruments."  In this case, we are still making generic statements about a plural noun, but the second one sounds bizarre. This for a student. I'm not sure WHY it's awkward. Why do we opt for "The guitar is a musical instrument."  Thanks in advance :)
110454
I've seen the hyphen (-) used in phrases a lot, for example:     audience-knowing      moves-sometimes      do-gooder   When and why is the hyphen used, and what does it mean when it's used?
34134
When there are several cottages each with several tariffs (depending on the season), should the plural be "cottage tariffs" or "cottages tariffs"?  For context, this is to be a section title on a website renting out the cottages.  An explanation of the grammatical rules would be helpful.
82955
I am a learner of English. Sometimes I see an article (a and the) before the noun (life) but sometimes I also see the noun without any article. So I am confused when should I use an article before the noun and when I should not. Please check the examples and let me know are they correct?     Examples:      His life is an awesome life.      I want to get a beautiful life.      I like the life he lived.
86462
How do I list multiple things that are compound words?  In my own language I'm used to writing these lists like this:  "I kicked foot-, basket-, and volleyball"  The sentence is supposed to mean that I kicked all types of balls (football, basketball and volleyball). However, it does not seem correct to me. Should I write them as whole words, with or without hyphen, or how?
19241
I cannot differentiate the meanings of the two words. Could you please clarify?   In general, when should I use a noun (distribution) or an adjective (distributed) for verbs similar to distribute, like organize, create?