Putting a hyphen between two words makes the pair of words a compound adjective, telling you that they work together to modify the noun.
No hyphen gives you the punchline!
Bio
Rogers George has been a technical writer for more than 20 years. He has written on subjects as diverse as outhouse assembly, restaurant reviews, software, information security, and scientific equipment. He has his own writing consultancy and is always happy to discuss writing and grammar. Drop him a line at curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.
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