Compound Modifiers
The compound modifier is my very favorite piece of the English language. It’s a hobby of mine to go around hyphenating word groupings that are modifying unbeknownst to them. Once you learn what it’s all about, you’ll do the same. But, what is a compound modifier, you ask. Well, let me tell you…
The rule
Which would you rather read? “She looked up at the green sky and shrunk away from the white lightning” or “She looked up at the eerie-green sky and shrunk away from the white-hot lightning“. A compound modifier refers to two or more words expressing a single concept. Regular adjectives modify nouns all the time, but a compound modifier goes much further.
His yellow-green teeth were visible beneath a salt-and-pepper mustache.
The words yellow and green, and salt and pepper are adjectives modifying the nouns teeth and mustache. Since they appear before the noun, they are hyphenated. If they followed the noun, they would no longer be hyphenated.
From underneath his mustache, which looked like salt and pepper, you could see his teeth of yellow and green.
Exceptions
The only time the compound modifier is not hyphenated ahead of the noun is if the word very or an adverb ending in ly is used. For instance: “The very dark sky hovered over us” versus “The raven-black sky hovered over us.”
Sometimes the compound modifier does keep the hyphenation after the noun – when it follows a form of the verb “to be”. For example: “The soup was water-thin, but delicious all the same.”
More examples
The shelves were buckling under the weight of dust-covered books.
Books covered in dust filled the buckling shelves.
Books, which were dust-covered, filled the sprawling shelves.
We followed the man through a poorly lit corridor.
The room we entered was well-lit.
We entered a well-lit room.
We followed him into a room, well lit with candles and a fire.
Daniel Scocco on June 1, 2007 
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Fantastic! I absolutely love compound modifiers, but I never use them because I am not sure how. Now I know. Thanks!
P.S. Found your site while Stumbling and I love it!
Krissy, thanks for the nice words.
Hope to see you around again.
Once again, great post. I did well in English classes in High School and College, but I never learned some of these things. Thank you for continuing my education!
The best statement of this usage I’ve seen. Thanks.
I take exception to one of your examples, however:
“She looked up at the green sky and shrunk away from the white lightning.”
Until that silly Rick Moranis movie, the simple past of “shrink” was “shrank.” Shrink, shrank, have shrunk.
Hmm. I think there’s a blog topic here.
Maeve
thanks to this website, i’ve learned benefit lessons.
I disagree with the explanation of compound modifiers following any form of the verb “to be”; you should never use a hyphen in these circumstances as it is unecessary. For example simply: “the soup was water thin”. Otherwise keep up the good work! Thanks.
Compound words that together have one specific meaning—that is to say, words that have to be together to make sense—do not get hyphenated. For instance, “high school.” High school is one thing, a compound noun. While I often see “He is a high-school student,” that is incorrect. Those two words do not have to be joined to act as one modifier; they are already one modifier. There are many such examples, often incorrectly punctuated.
Thank you for the info. I was able to have a more clear explanation regarding the compound modifiers when I presented my report in English. Good day!