Hey, I just corrected someone's grammar in a wiki. I changed "non work related" to "non-work related".
After I did this I realized that I don't actually know which it is (or if it should be "non-work-related", though I'm pretty sure that's not right).
I looked through a bunch of online grammar sites about this, but I couldn't find a situation exactly like this.
Help?
Also, please cite your response if possible since when it comes to grammar, everyone has a different opinion, and many of them are not right.
Posts
If it's before the object it's describing, it's hyphenated. If it's after, it's not.
So, if you're saying "This is a non-work-related expense," it's hyphenated; if you're saying "this expense is non work related," it's not.
Damn! I wish I would have asked here about that before writing my thesis. I never could get a straight answer about it from my advisors (of course, they're psychologists and not english people).
"As happens from time to time, people have questions about non-work related matters."
So it would be "non-work-related"?
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2006/Apr/30/ferguson-when-to-use-hyphen-with-non/
He points out that the only "rule" is when you use non before a capitalized word, like non-Arab. Otherwise, it's actually better to leave it without the hyphen, or create a single world.
This goes into the argument of hyphenating an adjective that's multiple worlds, like "blue-eyed girl" and "speaking in a matter-of-fact way."
edit: and, of course, if a point of grammar or a style technicality bugs you, it's perfectly fine to simply rewrite the sentence to avoid it. You could change it to "people have questions about matters unrelated to work."
I think this is by far the best thing to do. Not least because, if it's put as "non-work related", that implies matters related to 'non-work', which of course is not wrong, but you really mean to negate the entire phrase 'work related'. Since the laws of grammar sadly don't allow us to bracket our grammar like we do our algebra ("non-(work-related)") I'd say no combination of hyphens will look great.
*Phew* I thought I was the only one! I do care about all things grammar. However, hyphenation is probably the one area that rarely bothers me. I think it's probably fine without the hyphens.
However, if you had ended your post with "I think I need to lay down," I would throw a fit. (As I'm sure Thanatos would also freak.)
I don't believe it - I'm on my THIRD PS3, and my FIRST XBOX360. What the heck?
Lie, not lay. 8-)