Why are hyphens used in the following sentence? "My brother-in-law came to our home this morning to visit and ask a favor." Is it because the sentence includes a compound noun?
English · High School · Thu Feb 04 2021
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Hyphens are used in the sentence "My brother-in-law came to our home this morning to visit and ask a favor" to form a compound noun. A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two or more words that function as a single noun. In this case, "brother-in-law" is the compound noun, comprising three words: "brother," "in," and "law". The hyphens link these words together to show that they have a combined meaning: a male relative through marriage, specifically the brother of one's spouse or the husband of one's sibling.