second-largest vs. second largest

[rubes1]

I am editing a piece by a native English speaker and he hyphenates ordinal numbers and the adjective that follows, i.e. second-largest. I have not encountered this often, so I did a quick search on the NY Times website & they are not consistent on this matter. The question is, which is more correct? I prefer no hyphen, but I'd like to hear your opinions as well.

Thanks!

 

[Musical Chairs]

I always do it without the hyphen, and that's how I see it all the time.

 

[mjscott]

I always do it with the hyphen.

 

[rubes1]

Thank you, but I guess we do not have a consensus! I have seen it more often without the hyphen, though I'm not sure which is actually the most grammatically correct.

 

[liliput]

I can't see any need for a hyphen here.

 

[panjandrum]

I should declare some bias in that if in doubt I hyphenate.
I don't think you'll find any source to say that either is grammatically correct. The use of hyphens in many cases is a matter of style, not rule.

In this case, second and largest are not two distinct adjectives. As there can only be one largest banana, the concept of a second, largest banana is illogical. So I would prefer the second-largest banana.
(That's a lie of course, because I would prefer the largest banana, but sometimes one must bend the truth to convey the message.)

 

[rubes1]

I should declare some bias in that if in doubt I hyphenate.
I don't think you'll find any source to say that either is grammatically correct. The use of hyphens in many cases is a matter of style, not rule.

In this case, second and largest are not two distinct adjectives. As there can only be one largest banana, the concept of a second, largest banana is illogical. So I would prefer the second-largest banana.
(That's a lie of course, because I would prefer the largest banana, but sometimes one must bend the truth to convey the message.)

Thanks Panjandrum and thanks to all of you for your input. I think then if there is correct or incorrect, the best rule to go with is consistency!!!!