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4.36 Compounds

A proper noun or adjective in a hyphenated compound retains the capital:

  • Greco-Roman
  • trans-Canada
  • neo-Nazi
  • Pan-American

In general, do not capitalize prefixes or suffixes added to proper nouns:

The President-elect will tour the mid-Atlantic States in an American-made car.

Do not capitalize the second element of a compound if it simply modifies the first or if the hyphenated elements make up a single word:

  • Sonata in E-flat Major
  • Re-education for development
  • Forty-second Street