hyphens: nouns with adjectives and participles

1. Hyphenate noun-plus-adjective compounds (in that order), whether they are used attributively (before the noun) or predicatively:

• duty-free goods / The goods were duty-free.
• tax-exempt bonds / The bonds are tax-exempt.

2. Hyphenate noun-plus-participle compounds regardless of the position:

• snow-capped mountains / The mountains are snow-capped.
• a time-consuming activity / This activity is time-consuming.

Exceptions: There are a number of them, including handmade and handwritten.

3. Do not hyphenate compounds formed from a noun and a gerund (present participle used as a noun). Some noun-plus-gerund compounds are written as one word:

• housekeeping
• shipbuilding
• sightseeing
• cabinetmaking
  

Others are written as separate words:

• decision making
• power sharing
• problem solving
• deficit spending

Exceptions:

• foot-dragging
• gut-wrenching

See HYPHENS: COMPOUND ADJECTIVES for such compounds used adjectivally.

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