On(hyphen/no hyphen) and off(hyphen)site...
Brian Phelps
I'm writing a piece about marketing writing services, so I want to get
the following usage of compound-adjectives absolutely right:
The piece currently says:
"They can work on- or off-site to meet your needs."
Which is my understanding of correct grammer--the compound-adjective, if
hyphenated when the two words are next to each other, is also hyphenated
in the above usage. (I guess this begs the question, are "on-site" and
"off-site" both properly hyphenated as compound adjectives? My research
on the usage indicates they are properly hyphenated.)
The client is questioning the usage cited above. Can any of you
professionals out there vouch for my comprehension of English grammer,
or am I way off base?
--
Brian Phelps
btph...@whitestag.org
Charles A. Lee
Dear Brian,
On Mon, 01 Jun 1998 17:23:07 -0700, Brian Phelps
<btph...@whitestag.org> wrote:
>I'm writing a piece about marketing writing services, so I want to get
>the following usage of compound-adjectives absolutely right:
>
>The piece currently says:
>
>"They can work on- or off-site to meet your needs."
>
>Which is my understanding of correct grammer--the compound-adjective, if
>hyphenated when the two words are next to each other, is also hyphenated
>in the above usage.. . .
>The client is questioning the usage cited above. Can any of you
>professionals out there vouch for my comprehension of English grammer,
>or am I way off base?
You're only a little off (site). It's true that words compounded into
adjectives are hyphenated, but those same words used in their native
state (as prepositions, verbs, or whatever) are not hyphenated, as
should be the case in your example.
You can tell this is the case since adjectives modify nouns. In your
sentence, there is no noun that "on or off site" modifies. These two
technical terms are easily misunderstood because in current speech
each of them has begun to take on the sound of a single term.
Examples help.
"The risks of an off-site computer are higher." (computer modified by
off-site)
"I try to work with and against the grain, on and off site."
(Prepositions, with, against, on, and off share in pairs the objects
grain and site.)
Cheers.
Charles A. Lee
http://www.concentric.net/~azcal
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+"Marriage is like a hot bath; +
+ once you get used to it, +
+ it ain't so hot." +
+ - Minnie Pearl +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
j. lyle
In article <357345EA...@whitestag.org>,
Brian Phelps <btph...@whitestag.org> wrote:
>I'm writing a piece about marketing writing services, so I want to get
>the following usage of compound-adjectives absolutely right:
>
>The piece currently says:
>
>"They can work on- or off-site to meet your needs."
>
>Which is my understanding of correct grammer--the compound-adjective, if
>hyphenated when the two words are next to each other, is also hyphenated
>"off-site" both properly hyphenated as compound adjectives? My research
>on the usage indicates they are properly hyphenated.)
>
>professionals out there vouch for my comprehension of English grammer,
>or am I way off base?
Merriam Webster's 10th now considers the hyphenated form correct for both
adjective and adverb, so the way you have it is fine. A lot of people
don't agree with MW10, but I do. This kind of compound is different from
one such as "on demand" in "They do on-demand printing" and "They do
printing on demand," in which case "on demand" would not be hyphenated as
an adverb. The difference is that "on-site" (like "on-line," "on-screen")
loses the "the" or other qualifier that you would expect to find when the
compound is used as an adverb: "On-site engineers work on your/a/the
site." Also, these compounds eventually tend to become closed up (even
though I do think some of them look ugly that way!): "onshore," "onstage";
that is a good indicator that they are perceived as a unit in people's
minds, not as simply a preposition and a noun.
I am an in-house editor. That, to me, means that I work in-house, not in
house. (And MW10 agrees with me on this one, too.)
On the other hand, if the client doesn't like it, that should carry some
real weight!
Jane Lyle
Indiana University Press
Stan Brown
[posted and emailed]
btph...@whitestag.org (Brian Phelps) skrev i meddelelsen
<357345EA...@whitestag.org>:
>"They can work on- or off-site to meet your needs."
There is no need to hyphenate the prepositional phrases "on site" and
"off site" when they are not used as adjectives before the noun. (Some
people would say that they need not be hyphenated even then.) So
They can work on or off site to meet your needs.
is correct. "to meet your needs" is otiose, however: the clients should
assume that they'll be working to meet the clients' needs.
>Which is my understanding of correct grammer--the compound-adjective, if
Much more important that hyphenation puzzles is correct spelling.
Spelling errors will not bother some potential clients; it will bother
others enough to toss your material in the round file(*) without a second
thought.
(*) Note to non-native speakers: "The round file" is American idiom for
the trash can, because the typical office trash can used to be round.
>The client is questioning the usage cited above. Can any of you
>professionals out there vouch for my comprehension of English grammer,
>or am I way off base?
I agree with your client: the hyphens don't belong in the cited sentence.
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
http://www.concentric.net/%7eBrownsta/
My reply address is correct as is. The courtesy of providing a correct
reply address is more important to me than time spent deleting spam.
Michael Cargal
"They can work on- or off-site to meet your needs."
In your example, I would not use hyphens, though I would use them if
they were adjectives, as "We offer on-site training."
In a lot of the material I edit at work, I see the adjective run
together, as "onsite training." I see it so often I'm about to give up
and stop changing it to "on-site."