Is it recover or re-cover; recreate or re-create; reenforce/reinforce or re-enforce/re-inforce; reform or re-form?

Many people make the mistake of just automatically adding a hyphen when using ‘re’ on the front of other words.

However, when we add ‘re’ to words, to make them sound like you are doing things again (apart from reiterate), most of them do not actually use a hyphen, even when the next letter is a vowel. See (3) and (4) below.

Example:

  1. visit – revisit
  2. target – retarget
  3. assure – reassure
  4. align – realign

Example 1 – cover:

  • re-cover – to cover again
  • recover – to get better (This is another word in its own right.)

Example 2 – create:

  • re-create – to create again
  • reform – to improve, as by alteration, to change for the better (This is another word in its own right.)

Example 4 – lay:

  • relay – to receive and pass on (information or a message) (This is another word in its own right.)
  • re-lay – to place again, like to re-lay the carpet.

What about ‘reinforce’?

Although ‘reinforce’ sounds like ‘to enforce again’, it is spelled with the letter ‘i’ and is not:

  • re-enforce or
  • reenforce