Is "family-owned-and-operated business" punctuated correctly? Yes or no?
Certainly looks better than:
a family-owned- and -operated business
And in predicative position, is this okay? "The business was family-owned-and-operated." Or drop the hyphens altogether in this construction?
Thanks.
Best Answer
Both phrases use hyphens correctly to form a compound “phrasal” adjective, family-owned-and-operated:
Neither phrase needs hyphens, however, in an unambiguous context:
Many writers omit unnecessary hyphens for the sake of neatness. In comparison, the hyphens should indeed be included here:
Was the business family-owned during all the years that it was in operation?
Further reading
EL&U – When is it necessary to use a hyphen in writing a compound word?
Wikipedia – Compound modifier
Get It Write – Compound Words: When to Hyphenate