Question

select the correct answer.
which sentence is correctly hyphenated?
a. she decided to take the long-winding road.
b. a tall-dark man approached the entrance with determination.
c. the twentieth-century had the most tornadoes on record.
d. the hikers spotted a red-tailed pheasant.

Explanation:

• Option A: "long-winding" is incorrect; compound adjectives with "-ing" participles that come before a noun do not need a hyphen here, as "long winding road" is the correct form.
• Option B: "tall-dark" is incorrect; coordinate adjectives (describing separate traits of the man) should not be hyphenated, but separated by a comma instead: "tall, dark man".
• Option C: "twentieth-century" is incorrect; when a compound adjective comes after the noun it modifies, it does not need a hyphen. The correct form is "the twentieth century".
• Option D: "red-tailed" is correct; this is a compound adjective before the noun "pheasant", where the hyphen links the adjective "red" to the past participle "tailed" to describe the type of pheasant.

Answer:

D. The hikers spotted a red-tailed pheasant.