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Index A
- a
- a- (1)
- a- (2)
- AB
- ab-
- abbreviations: acronyms and initialisms
- abbreviations: ampersand
- abbreviations: business terms and symbols
- abbreviations: capitals and hyphens
- abbreviations: corporate names
- abbreviations: days and months
- abbreviations: degrees and distinctions
- abbreviations: general guidelines
- abbreviations: geographical names
- abbreviations: imperial system
- abbreviations: International System of Units (SI)
- abbreviations: latitude and longitude
- abbreviations: military abbreviations
- abbreviations: monetary units
- abbreviations: netspeak
- abbreviations: number symbols
- abbreviations: parts of a book or document
- abbreviations: periods
- abbreviations: plurals
- abbreviations: scientific and technical terms
- abbreviations: time zones
- abbreviations: titles with personal names
- abeyance
- abide
- abide by
- about
- above-mentioned
- abreast
- absolutely essential
- absolute phrases
- abstain
- abstain from
- abstain in
- abstain on
- accede to
- accordance
- according to
- according to our records
- accord (of one’s own)
- accountable for
- accountable to
- accuracy
- accurate
- acquiesce in
- acquiesce to
- acquiesce with
- action verbs
- active voice
- act on
- act upon
- acu-
- addresses: official languages
- addresses on envelopes and parcels (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- adequate amount of
- adequate number of
- adjective
- adjective clause
- adjective comparison
- ADT
- adverb clause
- adverb comparison
- adverbs
- adverse
- adverse to
- advice
- advise
- aero-
- a few
- affect
- Afghan
- afghani
- aforementioned
- Afro-
- after
- again
- ageing
- agenda
- agendas
- aggravate
- aging
- agreeable
- agree on
- agree to
- agree with
- agro-
- Alberta
- Albertan
- alliteration
- allo-
- all over again
- allow for
- allow to
- all ready
- all right
- all-time record
- all together
- allude
- allusion
- almost without exception
- along these lines
- already
- alright
- Alta.
- alternate(ly)
- alternative(ly)
- altogether
- alumna
- alumnus
- a.m.
- a mari usque ad mare
- ambi-
- American dollar (symbol) (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- Americo-
- amount
- an-
- an
- an abundance of
- analyse
- analyze
- and
- and/or
- and so as a result
- Anglo-
- Anglophone
- anniversary
- answer for
- answer to
- ante-
- anti-
- anticipate
- anxious about
- anxious at
- anxious for
- anxious to
- any
- apostrophe: contractions
- apostrophe: plurals
- apostrophe: possession
- apparent
- appear
- appositives
- appraise
- apprise
- approval of
- approval to
- approve
- approve of
- approximately
- approximately about
- apt
- aqua-
- aqui-
- Arabo-
- arch-
- Armeno-
- Armistice Day
- around (1)
- around (2)
- as a consequence of
- as a matter of fact
- as a result of
- as a result of the fact that
- ascend
- ascent
- as far as
- aspire after
- aspire to
- as regards
- assent
- associate to
- associate with
- as soon as
- assume
- assure
- AST
- asterisk at end of sentence
- astro-
- as well as
- Atlantic Daylight Time
- Atlantic provinces
- Atlantic Standard Time
- attention
- attentive
- attentiveness
- at that point in time
- at the present time
- at this point in time
- at variance among
- at variance with
- audit and derived terms (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- Austro-
- authentic
- autumn
- auxiliary verbs
- avenge
- averse to
- avocation
- awards
- aware of
- Azerbaijani
- Azeri
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Search and Functionalities Area
abbreviations: plurals
Follow the guidelines below to form the plural of different types of abbreviations.
Plurals formed with s alone
Add an s, but not an apostrophe, to form the plural of most abbreviations:
- ADMs
- BMWs
- CAs
- CRs
- FTEs
- GICs
- MPs
- PCBs
- 747s
Add an s without an apostrophe to form the plural of abbreviations with only one period. The s is added before the period:
- Gens.
- pts.
Plurals formed with apostrophe s
In cases where the resulting form would be ambiguous, add an apostrophe before the s:
- Q’s and A’s
- SIN’s
Add an apostrophe and s to form the plural of abbreviations containing more than one period:
- c.o.d.’s
- G.M.’s
Use an apostrophe and s to form the plural of numerical names of aircraft ending in a single letter:
- 727-100C’s
- 747B’s
- Cessna 402B’s
Irregular plurals
The plurals of Mr. and Mrs. are irregular:
- Mr., Messrs.
- Mrs., Mmes.
The plural forms of the abbreviations for certain bibliographic references are different:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| l. (line) | ll. |
| p. (page) | pp. |
| f. (and the one following) | ff. |
| c., ch. (chapter) | c., ch. |
| MS (manuscript) | MSS |
| but | Plural |
| s. (section) | ss. |
| subs. (subsection) | subss. |
Note that SI/metric symbols maintain the same form for both singular and plural and are written without periods, except at the end of a sentence:
- 1 cm
- 5 cm
- 75 kg
- The boxer weighed only 75 kg.
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