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5 You could discuss this as a whole class.
Focus on … compound nouns
Get students to work through this section in pairs. You might also 
like to make the point that the two halves of some compound 
nouns are separated by a hyphen. Explain that there are no rules 
which determine whether a compound noun is one word, two 
words or two halves separated by a hyphen. Ideally, students 
should try and memorize how the noun appears in a dictionary; it 
is not the end of the world if they do not: native speakers might 
write the same compound noun in different ways.
More activities
1 Ask students to scan the text and fi nd the word should. 
Elicit that should you wish means ‘if you (should) wish’. 
Point out that sentences with inversion, like this, can be 
considered more formal than those that begin with if. 
The next sentence could also have begun with should 
– Should you still have any concerns
 … . Inversion is 
also used in conditional sentences with were and had, 
e.g. Were you to need the loan facility, you would have 
to return the form by June 30th. Had I needed the loan 
facility, I would have returned the form by June 30th
.
2 Ask students to fi nd two examples of hyphens in the letter 
– 4-weekly (used twice), co-operation. Elicit or explain that 
the fi rst one has been used because the writer is talking 
about ‘4 weekly’ ‘payments’ – not ‘4’ ‘weekly payments’ 
or ‘weekly pay cycle’, i.e. the hyphen is between the two 
linked words. The second one has been used because 
coop
has two vowel sounds, not one – although some 
people would not include a hyphen in this word. (A 
hyphen can also be used in coordinate.)
3 Elicit or explain that hyphens can also be used to join 
words when talking about ages and periods of time. For 
example: My cousin is ten years old – I’ve got a ten-year-
old cousin, I’m going on holiday for three weeks – I’m 
going on a three-week holiday
. Remind students to use 
the singular form of year, week, etc. in such hyphenated 
expressions.