How should this sentence be hyphenated?
As the number one credit union owned and operated EFT network and processor in the country, ...
Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "hyphenation" to get these possible sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen
http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/hyphenation.html
http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/hyphens1.html
In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search.
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
To determine how the sentence should be hyphenated, you need to consider the rules of hyphenation. Here are a few steps you can follow:
1. Check if any hyphenation rules apply to the specific words in the sentence. For example, "credit union" and "EFT network" are noun phrases that do not typically require hyphenation.
2. Consider whether any compound modifiers need hyphenation. In this sentence, the phrase "owned and operated" functions as a compound modifier for "EFT network and processor." Therefore, it should be hyphenated as "owned-and-operated."
3. Look for additional compound modifiers or expressions that might need hyphenation. In this sentence, none are present.
4. Double-check your hyphenation choices against reputable sources, such as dictionaries or style guides. This step helps ensure consistency and accuracy.
So, the hyphenation in this sentence should be:
"As the number one credit union-owned-and-operated EFT network and processor in the country..."
Remember, hyphenation rules can vary, especially depending on style guides or specific requirements.