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ESL forum > Ask for help > written forms    

written forms



saszka2
Poland

written forms
 
I sometimes have problems with written forms of words consisting of two words like: dishwasher, washing machine etc. I �m not sure whether I should write the two words separately, together or with a hyphen. The problem is that different sources of reference give different possibilities. For example my dictionary says that you should write the word ice cream separately(as 2 words), but a book for children says it should be written with a hyphen: ice-cream. Another example is voicemail which according to my dictionary should be written together (as 1 word), but according to the coursebook that I use with my students it should be written separately (as 2 words):i.e. voice mail. Are both forms correct? I feel confused:/ Please help.

17 Mar 2010      





dawnmain
United Kingdom

there aren �t rules for this - some compound nouns are with hyphen and others aren �t.
of the examples you mention this is my verdict -
ice cream
voicemail

17 Mar 2010     



Lina Ladybird
Germany

I�ve seen the compound noun table cloth written in 3 different ways and they are all correct: table-cloth, table cloth or tablecloth. Don�t worry too much about it as there are no clear rules!! ;))))
 
Here �s a quite interesting reading about your question: http://www.wilbers.com/part24.htm

17 Mar 2010