[Grammar] Which one is correct "learn-by-doing" or "learn by doing"?

[Zoli]

[FONT=&quot]I wrote a short review for a book and I'm not sure If I did it right.

This book takes a "learn by doing" approach and teaches you how to build a website with WordPress from the ground up. The only prerequisite is some basic knowledge of HTML and CSS.[/FONT]

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I wrote a short review for a book and I'm not sure If I did it right.

This book takes a "learn by doing" approach and teaches you how to build a website with WordPress from the ground up. The only prerequisite is some basic knowledge of HTML and CSS.

Good question!

You're not quoting anyone, so the expression doesn't want quotation marks.

You're creating an adjective to modify approach. When we create adjectives by combining words, we usually use hyphens. So learn-by-doing is correct.

 

[GoesStation]

Hyphens or quotation marks are possible. I prefer the latter. The quotation marks in this case mean that you're citing a familiar phrase, not quoting someone.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I'm much more conservative with quotation marks than Goes is.

Quotation marks are used three ways. One is to imply that it's an opinion you don't share — that it's what others would say, but you disagree. Since you do share the opinion, I think it can confuse the reader.

But this is not a big deal. You can certainly use either choice — quotation marks or hyphens.

 

[GoesStation]

I'm much more conservative with quotation marks than Goes is.

This isn't a matter of conservative practice. You'll find familiar phrases set in quotation marks in literature from the nineteenth century. I'm pretty sure Mark Twain did it, but I can't think of a way to find examples. The phrase can be set as a quotation because the author wants to emphasize that he or she did not originate it.