A hyphen is a punctuation mark that is used to join words or parts of words.
A hyphen is a short horizontal line: -
It is not the same as a dash and cannot be interchanged with any of the various dashes.
It shorter than both the m-dash, which is the length of the letter m, and the n-dash, which is the length of the letter n.
Hyphens are usually used in compound modifiers when the compound modifier comes before the word it’s modifying.
Here are a few examples of compound modifiers joined with hyphens:
mind-boggling
heart-warming
soul-stirring
sleep-deprived
fun-loving
rain-soaked
sun-kissed
life-changing
heart-breaking
eye-opening
These modifiers are joined only when they come before the word they describe.
Example:
1) I had an eye-opening experience.
2) My experience was eye opening.
In the first sentence, (1), the modifier, eye-opening, comes before experience, the noun it modifies; therefore, a hyphen joins the two words.
In the second sentence, (2), the modifier, eye opening, comes after experience, the noun it modifies; therefore, no hyphen is used.
