Direct info: First hand vs. firsthand vs. first-hand

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Direct info: First hand vs. firsthand vs. first-hand

Anyone who’s
used the English language knows from direct experience that multiple spellings of many words exist. Such is the case with this set of words.

Traditionally, first-hand (with a hyphen) is an adverb, as in: We’d seen first-hand the horrors of living in a war-ravaged country. In this case, first-hand shows how something was seen (which is a verb).

Firsthand (all one word) is an adjective, as in: Thanks to the outdoor navigation course, we had firsthand experience using a compass. In this sentence, firsthand shows the kind of experience (which is a noun) that one had.

First hand (two words), however, is improper (no matter how well one knows English).

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