Modifiers are words that provide additional information about or limit the meaning of a word or phrase.
Adjectives modify nouns (person, place, thing). They often are called “describing words,” because they provide more details about a noun.
- She has a pleasant home.
- There are three boys sitting on the fence.
- He’s riding the white horse.
Adverbs modify verbs (action), adjectives, and even other adverbs. They answer questions such as when, where, how, and to what extent.
- when: She travels to Chicago weekly.
- where: He dropped the shovel there.
- how: She pedals her bike furiously.
- to what extent: He mostly agrees with me.
When a single modifier won’t do the job, a hyphen links the elements to form a compound modifier:
- She holds a full-time job.
- He is a good-looking man.
The Associated Press Stylebook, my primary grammar reference, has issued new recommendations for how to hyphenate compound modifiers. Continue
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