Question

question 12 (5 points)
which of these sentences shows the appropriate use of a hyphen?

the technology used on the site is first-rate.
the author is widely-known.
she exhibited a lot of self-confidence as she walked across the stage.
it was a nice-ly written article.

Explanation:

Analyze hyphenation rules for compound adjectives and prefixes

• "first-rate" is a compound adjective modifying a noun, but here it is a predicate adjective. However, "first-rate" is permanently hyphenated in standard dictionaries.
• "widely-known" is incorrect because adverbs ending in "-ly" are never hyphenated to the adjectives they modify.
• "self-confidence" uses the prefix "self-", which almost always requires a hyphen when joined to a noun or adjective.
• "nice-ly" is incorrect because "-ly" is a suffix, not a separate word requiring a hyphen.

Evaluate the best options

• "She exhibited a lot of self-confidence as she walked across the stage." is universally correct because "self-" always takes a hyphen.
• "The technology used on the site is first-rate." is also correct as "first-rate" is a standard hyphenated compound.
• Comparing standard grammar assessments, "self-confidence" is the primary textbook example of mandatory hyphenation with the prefix "self-".

Answer:

• The technology used on the site is first-rate.
• The author is widely-known.
• She exhibited a lot of self-confidence as she walked across the stage. (Correct answer)
• It was a nice-ly written article.