This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
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The English language is well-known for its inconsistent grammar and spelling rules. The “how-to” versus “how to” debate is a classic example of this—which version of this phrase is correct, and how are you supposed to pluralize it? We’ve unpacked everything you need to know, so you can confidently use the correct form of this phrase in your future conversations.
Things You Should Know
- Include a hyphen in “how-to” when you’re referring to a set of instructions.
- Leave the hyphen out of “how to” when you’re using “how” as a conjunction (a word that connects a clause or sentence, like “but” or “and”).
- Pluralize “how-to” as "how-tos" rather than "how-to’s".
Steps
Expert Q&A
Tips
References
- ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/how
- ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/how
- ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/seven-sins-of-writing/4
- ↑ https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/apostrophes
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/hyphen_use.html
- ↑ http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/punctuation/hyphen.html
- ↑ http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/punctuation/hyphen.html
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/hyphen_use.html
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/hyphen_use.html