H - P

hands-free

Not handsfree.

healthcare

We deviate from AP style on this one.

homepage

Not home page or home-page.

-in

Precede with a hyphen: break-in, walk-in, cave-in, write-in.

in, into

In indicates location: He was in the room. Into indicates motion: She walked into the room.

inquire, inquiry

Not enquire, enquiry.

internet

Not capitalized.

IT

Abbreviation for information technology.

it’s, its

It’s is a contraction for it is or it has: It’s up to you. It’s been a long time. Its is the possessive form of the neuter pronoun: The company lost its assets.

JPEG, JPG

Acronyms for Joint Photographic Experts Group, a common image format used on the World Wide Web. Acronyms acceptable in all references.

keywords

Not key words or key-words.

lay, lie

The action word is lay. It takes a direct object. Laid is the form for its past tense and its past participle. Its present participle is laying.

like-

Follow with a hyphen when used as a prefix meaning similar to: like-minded, like-natured. No hyphen in words that have meanings of their own: likelihood, likewise, likeness.

long term, long-term

Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier: We will win in the long term. He has a long-term assignment.

long time, longtime

They have known each other a long time. They are longtime partners.

-ly

Do not use a hyphen between adverbs ending in -ly and adjectives they modify: an easily remembered rule, a badly damaged island, a fully informed woman.

magazine names

Capitalize the initial letters of the name, but do not place it in quotes. Lowercase magazine unless it is part of the publication’s formal title: Harper’s Magazine, Newsweek magazine, Time magazine.

M.D.

A word such as physician or surgeon is preferred. The periods in the abbreviation are an exception to Webster’s New World College Dictionary.

microtunnels

No hyphen.

months

Capitalize the names of months in all uses. When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Spell out when using alone, or with a year alone.

more than, over

Acceptable in all uses to indicate greater numerical value. Salaries went up more than $20 a week. Salaries went up over $20 a week.

multifactor

No hyphen.

nationwide

Not nation wide or nation-wide.

Netherlands

In datelines, give the name of the community followed by Netherlands: MAASTRICHT, Netherlands (AP) – In stories: the Netherlands or Netherlands as the construction of a sentence dictates.

none

When used to mean no one, not one or no amount of it, none takes singular verbs and pronouns: None of us is perfect. None of the seats was in its right place. None of the coffee was poured.

off-site

Also: on-site.

on

Do not use on before a date or day of the week when its absence would not lead to confusion, except at the beginning of a sentence: The meeting will be held Monday. He will be inaugurated Jan. 20. On Sept. 3, the committee will meet to discuss the issue.

onetime, one-time, one time

He is the onetime (former) heavyweight champion. She is the one-time (once) winner in 2003. He did it one time.

on-premesis rather than on-premise, followed by on-prem after the first mention.

Business that choose on-premesis might find later down the road that on-prem is not the best option for them.

on-site

Also off-site.

part time, part-time

Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier: She works part time. She has a parttime job.

passwordless

No hyphen.

prefixes

Generally, do not hyphenate when using a prefix with a word starting with a consonant.

Three rules are constant:

• Except for cooperate and coordinate, use a hyphen if the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel.

• Use a hyphen if the word that follows is capitalized.

• Use a hyphen to join doubled prefixes: sub-subparagraph.