No text breaks with hyphenations in a word

[samg89505398]

Hi all,

If I have a word with a hyphenation (eg well-defined) is doens't break off at the hyphenation in English. It does when the text is set in Dutch. How can I fix this?

Thanks for your help!

[Willi Adelberger]

Add this to the dictionary. Add a tilde ~ before the breaking point(s).

[samg89505398]

I am not quite sure how I should do this? You mean for each occassion? Just adding ‘~-’ to the diciotnary doesn't work.

[Peter Spier]

The hyphenation settings are language-specific, so if it works ini Dutch, but not English, you wouold need to edit the word in the Englich dictionary.

[samg89505398]

OK, not a problem to do it individual but in the case it is with all hyphenated words.

So it won't brake off like: well-
defined

But as well-de-
fine

Isn't there a general setting for this?

[Peter Spier]

I've tried this in versions 8, 17 and 18, and I cannot get it to do what you want in any of them, but that doesn't mean it's impossible, necessarily. I thought I had it working using find/change to add a hair space after the hyphen but it won't repeat on a second test.

Maybe someone else has another idea...

[Willi Adelberger]

When you add a word into the dictionary you have to add tildes to the added words. 

[tlmurray23]

I'm getting that as well, and this is crazy. There is no reason that InDesign does not break well-defined at the hyphen. And to add insult to injury, it looks atrocious when there is plenty of room for "well-".  There might be some argument for breaking a word at a syllable and relating it to the hyphenation zone and such, but when you type a hyphen by hand? Really? In a compound word??? 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

It doesn't look as if there is enough spaced to fit "spelled-" on the first line. Track it a little and see if it breaks.

Other possibilities: 

Any chance it's a non-breaking hyphen? Unfortunately, Show Hidden Characters does indicate regular vs non-breaking hyphens.

Another possiblility, although slim, is a no-break setting applied to the word. 

[sohaib_6408]

The issue likely lies in the language settings for your text. English and Dutch have different hyphenation rules. To fix this:

1. Ensure the text's language is set to English in your software or word processor.
2. Check the hyphenation settings for your document. In most programs, you can enable automatic hyphenation and adjust the language-specific options.

If you’re using software like Microsoft Word or Adobe InDesign, you’ll find the language settings under Tools > Language or in the Paragraph/Character settings.

Let me know if this helps!

[tlmurray23]

InDesign is set to English. But you are missing a key point: This is not a language-based hyphenation rule that applies to breaking a word., nor is it a function of the hyphenation zone or the other hyphenation settings. This is InDesign treating your plain typed hyphen as though it were a nonbreaking hyphen (Option+Command+hyphen) and therefore, not breaking after a typed hyphen in a two-word compound. Oh, it will happily break one of the words -- just not at the hyphen you actually want!

[FRIdNGE]

Just a simple Grep Find/Replace:

Before/After:

Win-Win with just 1 click!  😉

1/ only Cut after the composed-word dash (if necessary)

2/ No other hyphenation inside the composed-word (before and after the dash)

3/ No langage matter

(^/)  The Jedi