Question

Which sentence is correct? Coarse-grained sandstone used to be quarried at Will’s Creek, not far from our town. Coarse-grained-sandstone used to be quarried at Will’s Creek, not far from our town. Coarse grained sandstone used to be quarried at Will’s Creek, not far from our town.

Answer 1

Answer: A) Coarse-grained sandstone used to be quarried at Will’s Creek, not far from our town.

Explanation: a hyphen is a punctuation mark that is used to join words to indicate that they have a combined meaning or that they are linked in the grammar of a sentence, it is also used to indicate the division of a word at the end of a line, or to indicate a missing or implied element. From the given options, the correct sentence is the corresponding to option A: Coarse-grained sandstone used to be quarried at Will’s Creek, not far from our town, because the hyphen is used to indicate that both adjectives (coarse and grained) are modifying the noun "sandstone."

Answer 2

The correct sentence is the first option:

Coarse-grained sandstone used to be quarried at Will’s Creek, not far from our town.

coarse-grained is written with a hyphen because compound adjectives count as a single-word modifier; both words coarse and grained refer to the noun sandstone