Can Vale handle compound adjectives vs verb use?

[alecthegeek]

Example: Can I configure Vale stop flagging "well-known" as a spelling mistake when I write "well-known websites" but still flag "some well-known examples from the last twelve months"

I am writing in "Commonwealth" English (so I am using a custom spelling style yaml file), although in this instance it makes no difference to the usage of the language.

I found this description

"The term "well-known" is hyphenated when it functions as a compound adjective before a noun, such as "a well-known author." In contrast, "well known" is used without a hyphen when it follows a verb, as in "Her work is well known"

[daobrien]

I understand what you're trying to do and wish I knew the answer, but I think we need to clarify your initial example.
"well-known websites" and "some well-known examples" are both examples of using "well-known" as a compound adjective, and should be hyphenated. In "her work is well known", however, I believe "well known" is referred to as a predicate adjective, and is not hyphenated.

IOW, your last statement is true and correct, but the first example was a bit misleading. We've also struggled with this issue and would love to see a solution.

[jdkato]

This isn't really an issue of spelling, so it shouldn't be handled in a spelling-based rule. You can target specific cases with sequence:

(See the session).

POS tagging success is very dependent on context and content, though.

[daobrien]

I'd love to try this out. I've struggled with POS tagging in the past, however; most likely due to my own lack of skills :-\

Looking at your example, we'd need a way of flagging "well known" (line 7) and suggesting "well-known". Would that be separate style or a modification to this one?

Thanks for the quick response.

[jdkato]

It would need to be a different rule.

[daobrien]

Yeah, thought as much. This gives me something to play with, though, thanks.