While taking the punctuation quiz
I noticed that I struggled with punctuating ages. Sometimes I see ages
hyphenated and sometimes I don’t. Also, I tend to get confused on whether or
not to use an apostrophe for age groups.
Page 9 of The AP Stylebook talks
about ages and how to punctuate them. First off, when referencing age groups,
the book says you do not need to use an apostrophe. An example of this is: She
is in her 30s. This rule is also used for years (1920s, 1930s, etc.).
Page 9 also discusses hyphenating
ages. It suggests using hyphens “for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun
or as substitutes for a noun.” This gave me a little clarity, but I was still a
bit confused. I found a page on grammarly.com that gives some good definitions
and examples. If an age is describing a noun, hyphenate it. Also, if an age
precedes a noun, hyphenate it. An example of this is: The 10-year-old boy rode
a bike. The age is describing the boy, so the age is hyphenated.
The site also said when not to
hyphenate an age. If an age comes after the noun it describes, don’t hyphenate
it. An example is: My cat just turned 10 years old. The noun (the cat) comes
before the age, so the age is not hyphenated.
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/year-old-hyphen/
Punctuating ages throws me for a loop as well! I'm always wanting to put the first hyphen, but never the second. It's a struggle to remember when hyphenating is and isn't appropriate. Thank you for the reminder and tips.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful that you touched on this subject as I missed this age question on the quiz. I like that you personalized your blog with insights, your own struggles that we all can relate to and examples on how to use age related hyphens. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI feel like hyphens are often brushed aside in the punctuation world. Thank you for explaining those important rules, I never quite understood them until I read your post. I will no longer be a victim of hyphenating errors related to age.
ReplyDeleteHyphens are such tricky things to understand! Thank you for clearing up a bit of the confusion. Also, I appreciate the page numbers immensely.
ReplyDelete