When two words connected by a conjunction are severally compound parts of a following word, the hyphen is omitted; as: {p87}
We use cast and wrought iron pillars.
I have pruned my peach and apple trees.
Some authors follow the German style, inserting the hyphens; thus:
We use cast- and wrought-iron pillars.
I have pruned my peach- and apple-trees.
But this style is rare.
Precision requires that hyphens should be inserted in fractions expressed in words; as “one-half,” “three-fifths,” etc.
How many oranges are seven and three fourths oranges?
There being no hyphen in the above example, the “seven” and “three” are in the same category as “peach” and “apple” in the last previous example. The answer is ten‐fourths, or 2½.