Hyphenation

Welcome to my new blog. In addition to starting a new editing business, I'm starting a blog to answer grammar questions. I'm one of those people who notice every little mistake. That's good when I'm editing; it's not so good when I can't do anything about it! I've even considered become one of those who defaces signs--just to correct the grammar or the punctuation. (No, I've never done it, nor am I likely to do so.)

The mistake I saw today was on the rear of a furniture delivery truck. It said: "Like New Furniture at Used Prices." The problem is that the adjective (like new) should be hyphenated: "Like-New Furniture."

How do you know when to hyphenate? In this example, "like" modifies "new" and together they modify "furniture." So it's hyphenated. If both adjectives modified the noun, then no hyphen is needed. For instance, "Good Used Furniture." The furniture is good and it is used.

Feel free to comment if you need more clarification or have a specific example.