Compound modifiers are groups of two or more words that jointly modify the meaning of another word. When a compound modifier other than an adverb–adjective combination appears "before" a term, the compound modifier is often hyphenated to prevent misunderstanding, such as in " player" or " paintings". Without the hyphen, there is potential confusion about whether the writer means a "player of American football" or an "American player of football" and whether the writer means paintings that are "little celebrated" or "celebrated paintings" that are little. Compound modifiers can extend to three or more words, as in " candy", and can be adverbial as well as adjectival (" frightening"). However, if the compound is a familiar one, it is usually unhyphenated. For example, some style guides prefer the construction "high school students", to " students". Although the expression is technically ambiguous ("students of a high school"/"school students who are high"), it would normally be formulated differently if other than the first meaning were intended. Noun–noun compound modifiers may also be written without a hyphen when no confusion is likely: "grade point average" and "department store manager".