The hyphen ‐ is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. Son-in-law is an example of a hyphenated word.

Can you hyphenate any word?

Generally, you need the hyphen only if the two words are functioning together as an adjective before the noun they're describing. If the noun comes first, leave the hyphen out.

What do you mean by hyphenation?

Hyphenation is what you do when you use a dash-like punctuation mark to join two words into one or separate the syllables of a word. ... The process of using a hyphen, that short dash in compound words like dog-friendly, fast-acting, and well-known, is what hyphenation is all about.