Decision-making or decision making?

By Mary Morel

Reader’s question: Should decision making be hyphenated, i.e. decision-making?

Answer: Words that are often used together do often become hyphenated over time and sometimes then become one word, for example, web site, web-site, website.

I am not sure that decision making is in that category yet and it isn’t hyphenated in the Macquarie Dictionary.

I would, however, hyphenate decision making when the two words have an adjectival meaning, e.g. decision-making paper.

After I had given this response, I started watching out for decision-making and I have seen it quite a bit. Maybe it is changing.

Learn more

Read my blog on hyphens.

Learn more about punctuation with my online course, An A to Z of Punctuation (A$39)

View the full list of Online Writing Training courses.

 
 

online grammar
Copyright © 2020 All Rights Reserved

Design by mel andersonWordPress website audit by The WP Guy