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hyphenation - Is the use of a hyphen between "non" and an adjective strictly necessary?


Do I need to put a "-" between "non" and an adjective? As an example in physics we say "a non isolated photon", "non tight photon"... The context is very formal (paper publications and similar). Is there a general rule? Are there some differences between countries?



Answer



Yes, a two-word modifier (like this one) requires a hyphen, except that the commonly held convention is that adverbs ending in "ly" don't (like that one). See this table in the Chicago Manual of Style.


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