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Is first come, first served hyphenated (first-come, first-served? Thank you.

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  • What did google tell you?
    – AndyT
    Aug 2, 2017 at 16:18
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    Google, quoting the Cambridge Dictionary (of Cambridge University Press) does not use hyphens here, nor does the fount of all wisdom - the OED. However Wikipedia (for what that's worth) does hyphenate it - a first-come, first-served basis.
    – WS2
    Aug 2, 2017 at 16:28

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Depends on how it's used in a sentence:

This is set on a first-come, first-served basis. (Hyphens necessary because it's defining "basis")

Or

Reservations are first come, first served. (No hyphens necessary because it appears after the verb "are")

Edit: I am citing the Chicago Manual of Style "Compounds and Hyphenation" Sections 7.82 and 7.90 on "Compounds According to Type." For phrases such as first come, first served, I would only hyphenate if used as an adjectival phrase as I've indicated.

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  • Welcome to ELU! Do you have any citations to prove your answer? You may find the tour useful.
    – marcellothearcane
    Aug 2, 2017 at 16:49
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    Hello, Nadia. Though 'hyphenate compound premodifiers when using them attributively but not when using them predicatively' is a pretty good rule of thumb, it's not infallible. In this case, different variants seem to be in common use. ODO, for instance, gives a counterexample: ‘tickets are available on a first come, first served basis’. Hyphens are being increasingly commonly dropped where doing so is considered not to lead to confusion.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Aug 2, 2017 at 16:55
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    I am citing the Chicago Manual of Style "Compounds and Hyphenation" Sections 7.82 and 7.90 on "Compounds According to Type." For phrases such as first come, first served, I would only hyphenate if used as an adjectival phrase as I've indicated.
    – Nadia
    Aug 2, 2017 at 17:01
  • Hi, Nadia. You should add your citation to your answer; not all users will read the comments.
    – vpn
    Aug 2, 2017 at 18:19
  • But some compounds retain the hyphens when used prenominally. Hyphens are not always considered mandatory when confusion wouldn't arise were they dropped. The general analysis has been given on ELU before; is this one of the exceptions?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Aug 2, 2017 at 19:14

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