three-quarters five-ninths (iii) Hyphens are used to join compound words so that they become one word: my son-in-law a twenty-pound note her happy-go-lucky smile You will sometimes need to check in a dictionary whether a word is hyphenated or not. Sometimes words written separately in a ten- year-old dictionary will be hyphenated in a more modern one; sometimes words hyphenated in an older dictionary will now be written as one word. Is it washing machine or washing-machine, wash-basin or washbasin, print-out or printout? Such words need to be checked individually. (iv) Hyphens are used with some prefixes: co-author, ex-wife, anti-censorship Check individual words in a dictionary if you are in doubt. Always use a hyphen when you are using a prefix before a word that begins with a capital letter: pro-British, anti-Christian, un-American Sometimes a hyphen is used for the sake of clarity. There is a difference in meaning between the words in these pairs: re-cover and recover re-form and reform co-respondent and correspondent (v) Hyphens are also used to indicate a range of figures or dates: 109 HYPHENS HYPOCRISY There were 12-20 people in the room. He was killed in the 1914 - 18 war. hypocrisy (not -asy) hypocrite hypocritical See HYPERCRITICAL OR HYPOCRITICAL?. hypothermia See HYPERTHERMIA OR HYPOTHERMIA?. hypothesis (singular) hypotheses (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. hypoventilate See HYPERVENTILATE OR HYPOVENTILATE?. 110 I/me/myself These three words are pronouns and cause a great deal of confusion. (i) Most people use the pronoun T correctly when it is used on its own: I love cats. I like chocolate. I mow the lawn every Sunday. I am trying to lose weight. I have two sisters. Confusion generally arises with phrases like 'my husband and I' and 'my husband and me'. Which should it be? The simplest method is to break the sentence into two and see whether T or 'me' sounds right: My husband likes chocolate. I like chocolate. MY HUSBAND AND I like chocolate. (ii) Most people use the pronoun 'me' correctly when it is used on its own: The burglar threatened ME. It was given to ME. Once again confusion arises when a pair is involved. The advice remains the same. Break the sentence into two and see whether T or 'me' sounds right: The burglar threatened my husband. The burglar threatened ME. The burglar threatened MY HUSBAND AND ME. It was given to my husband. n 111 -IBLE It was given to ME. It was given to MY HUSBAND AND ME. (iii) The pronoun 'myself has two distinct functions. It can be used in constructions like this where it is essential to the sense: I cut MYSELF yesterday. I did it by MYSELF. It can be used to help emphasise a point. In these cases, it can be omitted without changing the overall sense: I'll wrap the parcel MYSELF. MYSELF, I would disagree. 'Myself should never be used as a substitute for T or 'me'. My friend and myself had a wonderful time in Austria. My friend and I had a wonderful time. They presented my brother and myself with a silver cup. They presented my brother and me with a silver cup. This is from Henry and myself. This is from Henry and me. -ible See -ABLE/-IBLE. idea or ideal? Bristolians have particular difficulty distinguishing between these two because of the intrusive Bristol T. These exemplar sentences should help: Your IDEA is brilliant. This is an IDEAL spot for a picnic. His IDEALS prevent him from eating meat. 112 IMPLY OR INFER? idiosyncrasy (not -cy) -ie- See EI/IE SPELLING RULE. illegible or ineligible? ILLEGIBLE = not able to be read INELIGIBLE = not properly qualified illusion See ALLUSION, DELUSION OR ILLUSION?. imaginary or imaginative? IMAGINARY = existing only in the imagination IMAGINATIVE = showing or having a vivid imagination, being creative, original imformation Wrong spelling. See INFORMATION. immediately (not immeadiately or immediatly) immense immensely (not immensly) immigrant See EMIGRANT OR IMMIGRANT?. imminent See EMINENT, OR IMMINENT?. immoral See AMORAL OR IMMORAL?. implicit See EXPLICIT OR IMPLICIT?. imply or infer? To IMPLY something is to hint at it: She IMPLIED that there were strong moral objections to his appointment but didn't say so in so many words. 113 IMPOSSIBLE To INFER is to draw a conclusion: Am I to INFER from what you say that he is unsuitable for the post? impossible (not -able) imposter/impostor Both spellings are correct. The second form (-or) is, however, more common. impractical or impracticable? IMPRACTICAL = could be done but not worth doing IMPRACTICABLE = incapable of being done incidentally incidental + ly (not incidently) incredible (not -able) indefensible (not -able) indelible (not -able) independence (not -ance) independent (not -ant) index (singular) indexes or indices (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. See INDEXES OR INDICES?. indexes or indices? Both are acceptable plural forms of 'index' but they are used differently. Use INDEXES to refer to alphabetical lists of references in books. 114 . parcel MYSELF. MYSELF, I would disagree. 'Myself should never be used as a substitute for T or 'me'. My friend and myself had a wonderful time in Austria. My friend . un-American Sometimes a hyphen is used for the sake of clarity. There is a difference in meaning between the words in these pairs: re-cover and recover re-form and reform co-respondent and . (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. See INDEXES OR INDICES?. indexes or indices? Both are acceptable plural forms of 'index' but they are used differently. Use INDEXES to refer