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Hello. Could you please help me understand the difference between "newly-born babies" and "new-born babies"?
Thank you.
Actually, it's the same case as in my previous message about "deeply rooted". Most dictionaries and guides would write it as "newly born babies" (without a hyphen), but as I mentioned before, not all writers actually follow these guidelines!
"New" can be an adverb, so "new-born babies" is also possible (as well as other hyphenated constructions such as "new-found", e.g. "new-found freedom"). However, it's more common to use "newborn" (unhyphenated), which exists as a word by itself. See this entry in the Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/learner-english/newborn
Most dictionaries and guides say that a hyphen should not be used after an adverb ending in -ly, so it should be "deeply rooted" instead of "deeply-rooted" (for example, see the "Hyphenating "-ly" adverbs" section from Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/6-common-hypercorrections-and-how-to-avoid-them). Although many writers do actually use a hyphen after an -ly adverb, those sources would consider it a mistake.
However, hyphens are used after adverbs that do not end in -ly, e.g. "well-known" and "much-loved". The word "deep" is also an adverb, so we can make the hyphenated compound "deep-rooted".
Hello. Could you please help me understand the difference between "newly-born babies" and "new-born babies"?
Thank you.
Hi Ahmed Imam,
Actually, it's the same case as in my previous message about "deeply rooted". Most dictionaries and guides would write it as "newly born babies" (without a hyphen), but as I mentioned before, not all writers actually follow these guidelines!
"New" can be an adverb, so "new-born babies" is also possible (as well as other hyphenated constructions such as "new-found", e.g. "new-found freedom"). However, it's more common to use "newborn" (unhyphenated), which exists as a word by itself. See this entry in the Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/learner-english/newborn
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello. Could you please help me understand the difference between "deeply-rooted" and "deep-rooted"?
Thank you.
Hi Ahmed Imam,
Most dictionaries and guides say that a hyphen should not be used after an adverb ending in -ly, so it should be "deeply rooted" instead of "deeply-rooted" (for example, see the "Hyphenating "-ly" adverbs" section from Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/6-common-hypercorrections-and-how-to-avoid-them). Although many writers do actually use a hyphen after an -ly adverb, those sources would consider it a mistake.
However, hyphens are used after adverbs that do not end in -ly, e.g. "well-known" and "much-loved". The word "deep" is also an adverb, so we can make the hyphenated compound "deep-rooted".
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team