Exclamation points, plural compound words like “mothers-in-law,” and scare quotes are tricky for writers concerned with proper grammar, punctuation, and usage. Writers tend to use “almost” and “most of” with imprecision as well. Keep reading to learn the best way to use these words and punctuation marks.

How to Effectively Use Exclamation Points!

As with many things, overuse of a technique will diminish its power. So it is with the oft-overused exclamation point. This powerful little punctuation mark loses its punch if it appears too often or, worse, in multiples. Use the exclamation point for emphasis, humor, strong emotion—but use it sparingly to avoid sounding like a lovesick teenager.

The concert was great!!! Joel was totally awesome!!! I’m in love!!!

Another example of overusing the exclamation point:

The car took the turn too quickly! Martha shrieked in fear and stomped on invisible brakes, but it was too late! Her baby was in the backseat! Skidding, the SUV broke through the barricade and disappeared over the edge of the embankment!

Despite the tension of the entire paragraph, only one exclamation point is appropriate—Her baby was in the backseat!—and using more than one in a paragraph is almost always overkill. Not that the exclamation point doesn’t have its uses—if there’s no emphasis in a scene that screams for emphasis, the writing will come across as the equivalent of monotone.

What Are Scare Quotes?

Have you ever seen a sign like this at your local grocery store?

Today only! Buy one, get one “free”!

Is the second item free or not? The scare quote casts doubt on the word it encloses, even though the author’s intention was simply to make the word “free” stand out. Many writers make this mistake when trying to emphasize a particular word or phrase.

Cathy didn’t know why her friends were making her an “outcast.”

I felt “ripped off” by my agent.

Scare quotes should be used to express skepticism or derision about the enclosed word or phrase. They are especially useful when you’re aiming for irony or sarcasm:

The so-called “humane” society put over a hundred dogs to death this year.

It was hard to believe this noise was actually classified as “music.”

You may also use scare quotes to distance yourself from a word or phrase. For example, if you are writing a self-help book, you may surround “inner child” with quotes to show it’s not your own term, and that you may not even agree with the phrasing.

Be careful how you use these “scary” quotes or your reader may have trouble interpreting your meaning. If you offer a 19th-century saga of the “Western” frontier, your readers may assume they’re going to be tricked and denied any cowboys and Indians.

How to Make Compound Words Plural

Compound words are often hyphenated (brother-in-law). Since the first word in the compound (brother) is the most important, it is the part that is pluralized: brothers-in-law.

Other examples of compound words in plural form:

                        passerby                          passersby

                        matron of honor              matrons of honor

                        knight-errant                  knights-errant

Do not add an apostrophe “s” to the end to make it plural, unless it is possessive.

Correct:            My mother-in-law’s opinion matters to me. (Singular)

                        My mothers-in-law’s opinions matter to me. (Plural)

Almost (all of) vs Most (of)

These phrases can be pitfalls for writers, and their different nuances can change the meaning of your sentence. So can the placement.

1.  I almost failed all of my classes. (I nearly failed but ended up passing all of my classes.)

2.  I failed almost all of my classes. (I did fail most of my classes.)

3.  I failed most of my classes. (I failed more than half of my classes.)

Here’s how to remember where in a sentence to write “almost.”

“Almost” means “nearly.”

“Almost all” means close to all, but not quite all.

“Most of” implies more than half.

“Almost all” and “most of” are very similar and can be used in similar ways, although “almost all” is stronger than “most of.” (I like almost all of his movies implies that I’m a bigger fan than I like most of his movies.)

Here are a few more examples:

1. She almost planted all her roses. (She was interrupted before she could finish or start.)

2. She planted almost all her roses. (She was able to plant nearly all of her roses.)

3. She planted most of her roses. (She was able to plant at least half of them.)

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Knowing how to recognize and spell compound words can sometimes be tricky. Hyphen or no hyphen? One word or two? Here are some tips to help you correctly form compound nouns and adjectives:

Definition: A compound word is formed when two or more words join to form a new word that has its own meaning. Although compound words are often written as single words (such as teapot), sometimes they are not. That’s why it is important to understand that there are three types of compound words: closed compounds, hyphenated compounds, and open compounds. Let’s take a look at each of them:

Closed Compounds definition: compounds written as single words (newspaper, goldfish, highway)

Hyphenated Compounds definition: compounds that are hyphenated (mother-in-law, second-rate, court-martial)

Open Compounds definition: compounds written as separate words (end zone, high school, health care)

Sometimes knowing when to write compounds as single words, hyphenated words, or separate words is difficult. That’s because some compound words change their type based on their function in a particular sentence.

For example, when used as a noun, backup is written as one word: The police officer called for backup. However, when the same compound word is used as a verb, it is written as two words (back up): Did you back up your computer files? When used as an adjective, backup is one word: What is your backup plan for tomorrow evening?

Thus, the first tip for understanding how to write a compound word is knowing the word’s function in the sentence. Let’s take a look at a few more examples of this:

1. handout: As Jill was walking down the street, a man gave her a handout advertising a free concert in the park. (Here, handout is a noun.)

2. hand out: John handed out the flyers. (Here, handed out is a verb.)

3. upside down: The cake landed upside down. (Here, upside down is an adverb telling how the cake landed.)

4. upside-down: The upside-down poster announced a free concert in the park. (Here, upside-down is an adjective describing poster.)

When in doubt about the spelling of a compound word, you should first consult a dictionary, such as Merriam-Webster, which will list the appropriate spellings based on the word’s function in the sentence.

You will find, too, that many compound words are always spelled one way, regardless of their function. For example, according to Merriam-Webster, high school is written as two words regardless of whether it is used as a noun—Peggy has just started high school—or an adjective—Peggy is a high school student.

The confusion occurs when the compound word is not found in the dictionary. (Also see Commonly Confused Words and More Misused (and Mistreated) Words.) Then, writers need to rely on their judgment to ensure that their intended meaning is preserved.

Here are some tips to help you deal with compound words that are not in the dictionary:

1. Hyphenate the compound word if its meaning will be ambiguous without the hyphen.

Example: Dr. Lawrence, a small-town practitioner, was the first official to arrive on the scene. (Here, the hyphen is necessary; without it, readers may think that the practitioner was a small man, rather than a practitioner who works in a small town.)

2. Never hyphenate compound words that are created with -ly adverbs.

Example: Tammy and Bob bought the recently renovated house on Main Street.

3. Hyphenate the elements of a compound adjective that occurs before a noun.

Example: They attended a black-tie affair.

Note: The following kinds of compound adjectives almost always need to be hyphenated:

Noun + adjective (tax-exempt), Noun + participle (government-owned), Adjective + participle (friendly-looking), Adjective + noun + ed (high-priced)

The Bottom Line: Compound Word Rules Made Easy
Remember these points when working with compound words, and you should have no trouble with their spelling:

1. There are three types of compound words: closed compounds, hyphenated compounds, and open compounds.

2. If you are in doubt about the spelling of a compound word, you should check a dictionary before you apply any other guidelines.

3. Hyphenate if ambiguity will result without the hyphen.

4. Never hyphenate -ly adverbs.

NOTE: If compound words are still confounding you, Writer’s Relief can help. Since 1994, writers have been using our proofreading and formatting services to make sure their submissions are clean and professional—and grammatically correct!—giving their work its best shot at publication.