Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will continue to answer a question from Yousra, from Egypt, about using hyphens when making compound nouns.
你好！本周的“请教老师”节目中，我们将继续回答来自埃及的 Yousra 提出的关于在制作复合名词时使用连字符的问题。
Hello, my name is Yousra from Egypt.
你好，我叫尤斯拉，来自埃及。
I would like to know when I should use a hyphen (-) between two words like, “top-selling” or “well-being.”
我想知道何时应该在“最畅销”或“幸福”等两个单词之间使用连字符 (-)。
Dear Yousra,
亲爱的尤斯拉，
Thank you for your question! In this week’s program, we will learn some general rules for creating compound nouns with hyphens.
谢谢你的提问！在本周的节目中，我们将学习一些创建带连字符的复合名词的一般规则。
Review of hyphens
连字符的审查
In last week’s program, we talked about using hyphens to create a compound adjective. For example, top-selling , meaning, “having the most sales.”
在上周的节目中，我们讨论了使用连字符创建复合形容词。例如，最畅销，意思是“销量最多”。
A hyphen (-) is used to combine two or more words together.
连字符 (-) 用于将两个或多个单词组合在一起。
What is a compound noun?
什么是复合名词？
A compound noun is two or more nouns combined to create a single noun expression. While we write most compound nouns as one word (“raindrop”) or two separate words (“high school”), some compound nouns use a hyphen. For example, “well-being,” or the state of being happy, healthy, or successful.
复合名词是两个或多个名词组合起来形成一个名词表达式。虽然我们将大多数复合名词写为一个单词（“raindrop”）或两个单独的单词（“high school”），但有些复合名词使用连字符。例如，“幸福”，或者快乐、健康或成功的状态。
We use hyphens with compound nouns so that the sentence is clear and understandable. Just like compound adjectives, you can create compound nouns from adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and other nouns.
我们在复合名词中使用连字符，以便句子清晰易懂。就像复合形容词一样，您可以从形容词、动词、副词和其他名词创建复合名词。
How to use hyphens to make compound nouns
如何使用连字符构成复合名词
1. When combining a verb and an adverb to create a compound noun, use a hyphen. The hyphen connects the adverb to the verb and not another word in the sentence. For example, let’s look at the compound noun, “take-out.” It means food you order from a restaurant to pick up and take with you.
1. 将动词和副词组合成复合名词时，请使用连字符。连字符将副词与动词连接起来，而不是句子中的其他单词。例如，让我们看一下复合名词“take-out”。这意味着您从餐厅订购并随身携带的食物。
Every Friday night I love getting take-out from my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant.
每个星期五晚上我都喜欢从我最喜欢的中东餐厅叫外卖。
2. A hyphen is required for compound nouns made from two nouns. These types of nouns act as a unit , like in these examples, “English-speakers” or “hunter-gatherer.”
2. 由两个名词组成的复合名词需要连字符。这些类型的名词作为一个单位，就像这些例子中的“英语使用者”或“狩猎采集者”。
There are over 1.5 billion English-speakers in the world!
世界上有超过 15 亿讲英语的人！
There are many hunter-gatherer societies today that still depend on the natural environment for food.
今天有许多狩猎采集社会仍然依赖自然环境获取食物。
3. Always check your dictionary if you are unsure if a compound noun requires a hyphen. There are many exceptions to these rules. And, sometimes, a word that once required a hyphen changes over time to become a one-word compound or a two-word compound.
3. 如果您不确定复合名词是否需要连字符，请务必检查字典。这些规则有很多例外。有时，曾经需要连字符的单词会随着时间的推移而变化，变成一个单词的复合词或两个词的复合词。
Please let us know if these rules, explanations, and examples have helped you, Yousra.
Yousra，请告诉我们这些规则、解释和示例是否对您有帮助。
What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
您对美式英语有什么疑问？给我们发送电子邮件至learningenglish@voanews.com
Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
你有什么问题要问老师吗？我们希望收到您的来信。在评论部分给我们写信。