User:Wavelength/About English/Adverbs and hyphens

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Wikipedia guideline[edit]

WP:HYPHEN, sub-subsection 3, point 8 (version of 16:19, 9 June 2012)

  • A hyphen is not used after a standard -ly adverb (a newly available home, a wholly owned subsidiary) unless part of a larger compound (a slowly-but-surely strategy). A few words ending in -ly function as both adjectives and adverbs (a kindly-looking teacher; a kindly provided facility). Some such dual-purpose words (like early, only, northerly) are not standard -ly adverbs, since they are not formed by addition of -ly to an independent current-English adjective. These need careful treatment: Early flowering plants appeared around 130 million years ago, but Early-flowering plants risk damage from winter frosts; northerly-situated islands.

Hyphen[edit]

[1]
Hyphen#Compound modifiers (version of 09:58, 21 August 2012), paragraph 3

In the 19th century, it was common to hyphenate adverb–adjective modifiers with the adverb ending in -ly. However, this has become rare. For example, wholly owned subsidiary and quickly moving vehicle are unambiguous, because the adverbs clearly modify the adjectives: "quickly" cannot modify "vehicle". However, if an adverb can also function as an adjective, then a hyphen may be or should be used for clarity, depending on the style guide.[1] For example, the phrase more-important reasons ("reasons that are more important") is distinguished from more important reasons ("additional important reasons"), where more is an adjective. Similarly, more-beautiful scenery (with a mass-noun) is distinct from more beautiful scenery. (In contrast, the hyphen in "a more-important reason/a more important reason" is not necessary.) The hyphen in little-celebrated paintings clarifies that one is not speaking of little paintings.

Exceptions made[edit]

Ukraine#Transportation (version of 19:16, 19 July 2013), paragraph 4 of 5

Other large airports in the country include those in Kharkiv, Lviv and Donetsk (all of which have recently-constructed, modern terminals and aviation facilities), whilst those in Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa have plans for terminal upgrades in the near future.

The text in parentheses ("all of which have recently-constructed, modern terminals and aviation facilities") shows that "have" is a full verb and not an auxiliary verb used with the past participle "constructed".

Positions of consecutive adverbs[edit]

  • Positions of consecutive adverbs are affected when an adverb ending in "ly" is modified by "as ... as ..." or one of these quantitative adverbs: "least", "less", "more", "most", "slightly", "quite", "rather", "somewhat", "very", "extremely". Quantifiable adverbs ending in "ly" are affected differently from other adverbs ending in "ly".
  • Quantifiable adverbs ending in "ly" include the following: "closely", "nearly", "distantly"; "newly", "recently"; "heavily", lightly", "darkly"; "highly", "lowly"; "extremely", "greatly", "slightly"; "quickly", "rapidly", "slowly"; "loosely", "tightly"; "deeply"; "broadly", "narrowly", widely"; "coarsely", "finely"; "mainly", "principally"; "covertly", "openly", "overtly", "secretly"; "strongly", "weakly"; "poorly", "richly"; "brightly"; "sharply"; "thickly", "thinly".
  • In the expression "more closely related" (used predicatively), "more" modifies "closely" and "more closely" modifies "related". In the expression "more widely known" (used predicatively), "more" modifies "widely" and "more widely" modifies "known".
  • In the expression "more-closely related" (used attributively), "more" modifies "closely" and "more-closely" modifies "related". In the expression "more-widely known" (used attributively), "more" modifies "widely" and "more-widely" modifies "known". In each of these examples, the hyphen distinguishes an expression where "more" is an adverb modifying another adverb, from an expression where "more" is an adjective modifying a noun.
  • In the expression "more closely related events", "more" is an adjective modifying the noun "events". In the expression "more widely known poets", "more" is an adjective modifying the noun "poets".
  • In the expression "scientifically more accurate", "more" modifies "accurate" and "scientifically" modifies "more accurate". In the expression "financially more sustainable", "more" modifies "sustainable" and "financially" modifies "more sustainable".

Redirected links[edit]

Redirected to "Environmentally friendly"

Environmentally friendlier, Environmentally friendliest, Environmentally least friendly, Environmentally less friendly, Environmentally more friendly, Environmentally most friendly

Two consecutive adverbs ending in "ly"[edit]

Words ending in "ly", as adjectives or adverbs[edit]

Words not ending in "ly", as adjectives or adverbs[edit]

Words as verbs or as nouns[edit]

[adverb][space] or [adjective][hyphen] with: minded, named, shaped, forked, sized, colo(u)red, tinted, rooted, charged, dated, banked, spaced, themed, ranked, based, proportioned, domed, stressed, titled, styled, windowed, weighted, pitched, tilted, aged, planked, walled, bonded, focused, coiled, patterned, scented, numbered, grained, pigmented, pointed, paced, powered, valued, laced, spined

Words without "(e)d"[edit]

Wiktionary entries[edit]

User talk:Wavelength[edit]

User talk:Noetica[edit]

Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style[edit]

Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Hyphens", Punctuation, Grammar book.

OnlineStylebooks.com[edit]

These are some results of a search for adverbs hyphens at OnlineStylebooks.com.

Google Search[edit]

These are some of the first 120 results of a search for adverbs ly hyphens via Google Search in January 2013. The links were updated in December 2015, with the addition of links to archives (A) in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

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