Writing tip: How to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors

How to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors

by Mark Nichol http://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-punctuate-descriptions-of-colors/

Use of hyphens and commas in phrases that include names of colors is the cause of some confusion among writers. Here’s a discussion of when to insert or omit these punctuation marks when referring to colors.

Whether to hyphenate modifying phrases referring to types of colors depends on the function of the modification: A suit that is dark blue (referring to degree of saturation) is a dark blue suit, but a suit that is blue gray (identifying a combination of colors) is a blue-gray suit. (Note that a modifying phrase referring to color, like most phrasal adjectives, is not hyphenated when it follows rather than precedes the noun it modifies: “The suit is blue gray.”)

The previous rule applies not only to combinations of colors but to degrees (“greenish-blue dress,” “a dress that is greenish blue”) or comparisons (“snow-white fabric,” “fabric that is snow white”) of color.

Remember, too, that light has two distinct meanings: A light green package is a green package that doesn’t weigh much; a light-green package is a package that is a light shade of green. When the adjective or phrasal adjective follows the noun or noun phrase, and no hyphenation occurs, the distinction is still clear: The first description is of a green package that is light, and the second is of a package that is light green.

When the name of a color is one of two or more adjectives preceding a noun, whether and which of the adjectives are separated by commas depends on whether they are coordinate adjectives or not — whether they each modify the noun, rather than one modifying a phrase consisting of an adjective and a noun.

For example, in “a tall, green pole,” a comma separates the two adjectives because they are coordinate, or equivalent. To test this fact, either replace the comma with and (“a tall and green pole”) or reverse the order of the adjectives (“a green, tall pole”). If these changes make sense (even though the original syntax is better), the adjectives are coordinate, meaning that they both refer to the pole, and the comma is required. In “a weathered green pole,” by contrast, the adjectives are noncoordinate: Weathered and green do not each modify pole; weathered modifies “green pole,” so no comma is necessary.

Various references to combinations of two or more colors are also distinguished by the use or omission of hyphens. For example, “She has only black and white shoes” means that all of the person’s shoes are either black or white, but “She has only black-and-white shoes” means that the person’s shoe collection consists only of shoes in which each pair is black and white.

“Yellow, pink, and red flowers” refers to flowers colored yellow, pink, or red, whereas “yellow-pink-and-red flowers” denotes tricolored flowers.