Q - Z

school

Capitalize when part of a proper name: Public School 3, Madison Elementary Schoo. Otherwise, don't capitalize.

semiannual

No hyphen. twice a year, a synonym for biannual. Don’t confuse it with biennial, which means every two years.

sign-up, sign up

(n. or adj.) sign-up. Sign-up button, (v.) sign up. Please sign up for our webinar! Never signup.

smartphone

Not smart phone or smart-phone.

software titles

Do not use quotation marks around such software titles as WordPerfect or Windows; apps; or around names of video, online or analog versions of games: FarmVille, Pokemon Go, The Legend of Zelda, Monopoly.

stand-alone, stand alone

(adj.) It is a stand-alone article. (n.) Use as two words.

telephone numbers

Use figures. The form: 212-621-1500. For international numbers use, 011 (from the United States), the country code, the city code and the telephone number: 011-44-20-7535-1515. Use hyphens, not periods.

their, there, they’re

Their is a plural possessive pronoun and must agree in number with the antecedent.

Wrong: Everyone raised their hands. Right: They raised their hands.

There also is used with the force of a pronoun for impersonal constructions in which the real subject follows the verb: There is no food on the table. They’re is a contraction for they are.

titles

In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used directly before an individual's name.

LOWERCASE: Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with an individual's name: The president issued a statement. The pope gave his blessing.

Lowercase and spell out titles in constructions that set them off from a name by commas: The vice president, Kamala Harris, was elected in 2020. Pope Francis, the current pope, was born in Argentina.

Lowercase occupational descriptions: senior developer Joe Smith, senior director Ka Vang, marketing strategy director Alayah Jefferson.

UPPERCASE:

A formal title generally is one that denotes a scope of authority, professional activity or academic activity: Sen. Paul Wellstone, Dr. Benjamin Spock.

Capitalize formal titles when they are used immediately before one or more names: Pope Gregory, President John Quincy Adams.

If there is doubt about the status of a title and the practice of the organization cannot be determined, use a construction that sets the name or the title off with commas and lowercase them.

voicemail

Not voice mail or voice-mail.

website

Also, webcam, webcast, webmaster, webpage, webfeed, the web. Not web site or web-site.

who, whom

Who is the pronoun used for references to human beings and to animals with a name. Write the person who is in charge, not the person that is in charge. Who is grammatically the subject (never the object) of a sentence, clause or phrase: The woman who rented the room left the window open. Who is there?

Whom is used when someone is the object of a verb or preposition: The woman to whom the room was rented left the window open. Whom do you wish to see?