A hyphen ( – ) is a short dash used inside certain words.
Compound words are two words joined together as one.
doghouse
fireman
snowflake
Each compound word is made up of two smaller words.
Some compound words are spelled with a hyphen. Here is one group of hyphenated compound words:
father-in-law
mother-in-law
brother-in-law
sister-in-law
son-in-law
daughter-in-law
Here are some other compound words spelled with a hyphen:
next-door
ready-made
follow-through
two-faced
ice-cold
broken-hearted
two-fold
Some compound words are spelled with a hyphen. We have no set rule to help you remember which compound words use a hyphen. You just have to memorize the spelling of these hyphenated compound words.