1. ends in a consonant,
2. is preceded by a single vowel,
3. is accented on the last syllable (hence all one-syllable words also), and
4. the suffix begins with a vowel (for example, -ing, -ed, and -er).

Examples

bare becomes baring and bared (word ends in a vowel, not a consonant);

air becomes aired (preceded by a double vowel);

program becomes programed, programing (accent not on last syllable).

Examples

travel becomes traveler, not traveller (accent not on last syllable);

focus becomes focused, not focussed (accent not on last syllable);

level becomes leveled, not levelled (accent not on last syllable);

benefit becomes benefited, not benefitted (accent not on last syllable).

Words frequently misspelled

 Abbreviations - sing, singular; pl, plural; n, noun; vb, verb; adj, adjective; adv, adverb.

A

aboveground (adj)

acknowledgement

advertise

adviser

age-group, age-old

agenda (sing), agendas (pl)

airtight

all-important (adj)

all right (not alright)

analyze

anemia

baseline (n, adj)

benefited

black Africa - do not use

bottle-feed (vb)

break down (vb), breakdown (n)

break even (vb), break-even (adj)

breastfeed (vb), breastfeeding (n), breast-fed (adj)

build up (vb), buildup (n)

bureaus

by-product (n)

cast-off (adj), castoff (n), cast off (vb)

catalogue, cataloguing, catalogued

centreline

channeled, channeling

cheque, chequebook

clean up (vb), cleanup (n), clean-up (adj)

clear-cut (adj, vb)

co-author

colour, colouring, colourable, colourless, but coloration (see spelling rule 1)

commonsense (adj), common sense (n)

controlled

co-op (n, use cooperative)

cooperate

counterbalance (n, vb)

co-worker

criterion (sing), criteria (pl)

cross-reference (n, vb)

cross section (n), cross-section (vb), cross-sectional (adj)

database (n, adj)

datum (sing), data (pl)

decision-maker, -making

de-emphasize (vb), de-emphasis (n)

defence (n, vb)

dependant (n), dependent (adj)

diarrhea

die, died, dying, dieback

discreet and discrete

dissect

disseminate

draft (not draught)

dropout (n)

dry, dried, dries, but drying (vb)

dry, drier, driest (adj), but dryer (machine)

dryland (adj)

empty-handed

endeavour

end point

end product

enquire (use inquire)

exaggerate

fababean

family planning (n), family-planning (adj)

favour, favouring, favourable, favourless, favourite, favoured

feces

fetus (sing), fetuses (pl)

field test (n), field-test (vb)

fieldwork, fieldworkers

Filipina (female), Filipino (male person), Filipinos (pl), Pilipino (language)

flavour, flavouring, flavourable, flavourless, but flavorous (see spelling rule 1)

flip chart

flowchart

focused, focusing

follow up (vb), follow-up (n, adj)

forgo and forego

formulas

forums

freewheeling

freeze-dry (vb)

freshwater (adj)

fuelwood (n)

fulfill

full-scale (adj)

gauge

genebank

germplasm (n, adj)

gillnet (vb), gill net (n)

goodwill

grassroots

grey (grey water) 

groundwater; groundwork

handpump; handwheel

harass

health-care (adj), health care (n)

hematology

hemorrhage

high-yield (adj)

honour, honourable, honourably, but honorary, honorarium (see spelling rule 1)

humour, but humorous (see spelling rule 1)

in-depth

infrared

in-migration

innovative

inpatient

inquire (not enquire)

inquiry (not enquiry)

in-service (adj)

judge, judgement

kilometre, millimetre

knowledge, knowledgeable

know-how

labeling, labeled

landowner

less-developed (use developing)

leukemia

licence (n, vb)

liquefy (not liquify)

litre (abbreviated as L)

long-standing, long-term

lump-sum (adj), lump sum (n)

mass-produce (vb), mass production (n)

metalworking

meter (measuring device)

metre (unit of measure)

micro-organism

midday

modeled

mould

nationwide

neighbourhood

northeast

occur, occurred, occurring, occurrence

odour, but odorous (see spelling rule 1)

omit, omitted

one-half, one-third, one-quarter

ongoing

organization

outdated

out-migration

outmoded

outpatient

output

outturn

paddy (sing), paddies (pl) (not padi)

pamphlet

parallel, paralleled

pediatrics

percent

percentage

peri-urban

personnel

phenomenon (sing), phenomena (pl)

phosphorous (adj), phosphorus (n)

piecemeal

piecework

Pilipino (language) - Filipino or Filipina (person)

plow (not plough) (n, vb)

policymaker, policy-making

polyethylene (not polythene)

polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

postproduction

practice (n, vb)

prefer, preferred

preventive (preferred to preventative)

principle (n)

print out (vb), printout (n)

program, programing, programed, but programmatic, programmer

pursue

riboflavin (not riboflavine)

rigour, but rigorous

riverbank

roadside

salable (not saleable)

salt water (n), saltwater (adj)

savanna (not savannah)

savour, savoured, savouring, savoury

secondhand (adj), second hand (n)

semi-arid

set up (vb), setup, (n)

side effects (n)

smallholder

so-called

socio-economic

socio-political

somberly

Southeast Asia

soybean

spin-off (n)

stay-at-home

straightforward

subsistence

sugarcane

sulfur (not sulphur)

supersede

surmise

textbook

Third World (note capitals)

threshold

tie, tied, tying (vb)

tiptoe

tire (not tyre)

toward (not towards)

totaled

transfer, transferred, transferring (vb)

transferability (n)

travel, traveler, traveled

tug-of-war

tyre (use tire)

UNESCO

UNICEF (note: all capitals)

vapour, but vaporous (see spelling rule 1)

versus (not abbreviated except in tables)

vigour, but vigorous (see spelling rule 1)

vitamin (not vitamine)

wastewater

waterwheel

well-being

well known

word process (n, vb)

work force

worldwide

World War II

X ray (n), X-ray (vb, adj)

GEOGRAPHIC NAMES

Sources

Smaller places
The Times Index-Gazetteer of the World (1965) may have to be consulted for smaller places. The IDRC Library also has a collection of special atlases that may be consulted.

Places in Canada
Correct spellings for both French and English names of places in Canada can be obtained from the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (992-3405 or 992-3892).

Names of countries
Names of countries and adjectives of nationality should follow those given in UN Terminology Bulletin 342, with all current corrigenda from the UN (available in the IDRC Library). See also the list of countries with currencies in Chapter 3 - these have been corrected to follow the UN Terminology Bulletin.

Miscellaneous points

USA versus US
IDRC style is to use USA for the country and US as the adjective. When referring to the country, however, it is better to use "United States": avoid "America" which refers to the continent.
 
 

Example

US currency is the legal tender of the United States (USA).

ORGANIZATION NAMES

Official names

Thereafter, use the acronym or abbreviation only. If, as for IDRC, there are official abbreviations in more than one language, use the one that is in the language of the book.

If no official name of the organization exists in the language of the book, an unofficial translation may be included in the parentheses with the abbreviation.

IDRC Regional Offices acronyms
Acronyms for IDRC's Regional Offices (for example, LACRO, ASRO) must not be used in publications; they are for internal use only.

Translating organization names

Rule 1
Use the official name of the organization in the language of the text you are editing, if an official name exists.

If it has an official abbreviation in its parent language but not in the language of the publication, use the official abbreviation.
 
 

Examples

International Potato Centre (CIP)

Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture (Unesco)

Example

Asociación Colombiana de Universidades (ACU, association of Colombian universities)

Rule 4
In translations of organization names, use all lower case letters except for proper names and adjectives in English and Spanish, and capitalize the first word in French.
 
 

Example

Asociación Colombiana de Universidades (ACU, association of Colombian universities) or (ACU, Association colombienne d'universitiés)

TECHNICAL WORDS

Accuracy

Sources

• IDRC's Library, for general information;
• Fisheries Canada's library (993-2950);
• Agriculture Canada's library (995-7829); and
• the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) (993-1600), particularly for science, technology, and medicine.

• Canadian Medical Association (731-9331); or
• Libraries of other Federal departments.

Biological names

The rules of botanical nomenclature are detailed in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (available on interlibrary loan from Agriculture Canada [580.4 R342]).

 Botanical and zoological classification is based on a stratified sequence. That for zoological classification is:

  Kingdom - Animalia    Phylum - Chordata      Subphylum - Vertebrata        Class - Aves          Order - Passeriformes            Family - Fringillidae              Subfamily - Carduelinae                Genus - Carduelis                  Species - hornemanni                    Subspecies - exilipes

Capitalize the scientific names of phylum, class, order, family, or genus and their subdivisions, but not of a specific or subspecific taxon. Use of initial capitals for specific names derived from proper names is becoming obsolete but is permitted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
 
 

Example

Leucaena leucocephala

Examples

Syringa vulgaris ‘Mont Blanc'

S. vulgaris cv. Mont Blanc.

Example

Leucaena leucocephala at first mention and L. leucocephala thereafter.

The specific name (for example, leucocephala) must be preceded by the generic name, or its abbreviation, except in diagnostic keys.

Common (vernacular) names are treated as follows:

• Set in Roman (the exception for IDRC publications is a foreign language common name: it is italicized);
• Generally not capitalized, although names derived from a proper noun may retain the initial capital; for example, English ivy (Hedera helix);
• Are not capitalized or italicized even when derived from the generic epithet; for example, Camellia but camellia (note use of capital).

Example

Cercosporidium henningsii induces cercosporidium brown leafspot in cassava.

CONFUSED PAIRS

among, between
Divide something between two people or among three or more. Often, however, between is the correct word to express the relation of one thing to several others.

Between governs a relationship severally and individually (a treaty between three or more countries; a choice between the three most promising candidates).

Among expresses the relationship collectively (can be replaced by "into a group of") and broadly (can be replaced by "one of").

Example

He fell among thieves; it is among my dearest possessions).

Example

He anticipated the drop in the stock market by selling his shares.

Example

I expect that we will arrive on time.

because - See Since.

between - See Among.

but - See While.

compare with, compare to
Compare with is used when the details of similarity or dissimilarity are stated or implied.

Example

She compared Mendel with Darwin [that is, pointed out or suggested details in which the two scientists were similar or dissimilar].

Example

She compared Mendel to Washington [that is, one is the father of genetics, the other the father of his country; thus they are in the same class].

Example

The Atlantic provinces comprise Newfoundland and the Maritime provinces. The Maritime provinces include New Brunswick.

due to
Correctly used with a preceding subject, due to means "attributable to."

Example

Her pneumonia is due to a virus [not Due to a virus, she contracted pneumonia].

even if, even though - See While.

expect - See Anticipate.

following
Use after when a temporal relationship is implied.

Examples

After university graduation, the student should find a well-paying job.

Following that train of thought, leads one to chaos.

Example

When I implied that I was interested, the salesperson inferred that she had a potential customer.

period of time
Period alone or time alone is generally sufficient.

presently - See At present.

prior to
Prior to is the opposite of posterior from - use before and after.

since, because
Since should be used to denote time, not as a substitute for because.

Examples

Because snow fell yesterday, the roads have been slippery. [This sentence is correct, unless you wish to indicate "time" and not "why."]

Since [the time that] snow began falling, the roads have been slippery.

Since [the time of] arriving in town, he has found a job.

various, varying
Various means of different kinds or aspects. Varying is synonymous with changing or causing to change.

Example

Various species of wild flowers were seen on the varying terrain.

Examples

A satellite that is inflated with gas is very vulnerable. [Eliminating the bold-faced words, a restrictive clause, would change the meaning of the sentence.]

Echo 1, which was inflated with gas, circled the earth every hour and a half. [The bold-faced words, a nonrestrictive clause, may be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence.]

Example

While attending university, he made many friends.

Example

While he arrived late, he did not miss the plane.

If "at the same time as" is substituted for while in this sentence, it then reads: At the same time as he arrived late, he did not miss the plane, which is not the correct meaning. The correct word to use in this instance is although - Although he arrived late, he did not miss the plane.

ACCENTS

Appropriate accents must be used on names of people and institutions. This applies to familiar accents, such as those found in French and Spanish, as well as to unfamiliar ones such as those found in transliterated languages.

For place names, follow the UN list (Names of Countries and Adjectives of Nationality) for countries and Times Atlas of the World for other geographic entities.

CAPITALIZATION

IDRC style

Sources
The following guide was adapted from the 5th edition of the CBE Style Manual. The subject is covered extensively in the Chicago Manual of Style, Hart's Rules (pages 8-11), and The Canadian Style (pages 64-82).

Use of initial capital letters

The common name of an insect is only capitalized when in accordance with the list approved by the Entomological Society of America.

Both of these lists give only North American species; however, the principles applied in them can be applied to species from elsewhere in the world.

Compass directions
Capitalize compass directions only when the term is used to denote a discrete geographic area or a political bloc.

Examples

I traveled south for 3 days.

New Zealand is considered to be a Northern country.

South Asia (that is, the Indian subcontinent), but southern Asia.

East Africa and Eastern Canada, but eastern Africa.

Southern Hemisphere.

Geographic names
A generic geographic name that is part of a proper name must be capitalized.

Example

Ottawa River.

Example

The Ottawa and Gatineau rivers.

Nationalities and languages
Adjectives of nationality and names of languages are always capitalized.

Example

English not english.

Private or government organization
Capitalize the official name of a private or government organization or institution.

Examples

Carleton University

City of Ottawa

Example

"Prime Minister Campbell said ..." but "The prime minister said ...."

Examples

petri dish, pasteurize, and italicize.

Trade names
Rephrase text to remove trade names (for example, petroleum jelly for Vaseline) but if a trade name must be used, ensure that capitalization is correct.

Example

We use WordPerfect (two capitals and no space).

Note
Where a word refers to a specific person, institution, program, and so forth, it retains its capital letter even in later references.

Example

The President of IDRC, Mr Bezanson, is traveling in Asia. The President will return to the Centre in early June.

PREFIXES

bi-, semi-, uni-
Solid with the base word (biennial, semiannual, unicellular) except when the base word begins with an "i" or a capital letter. Semi-arid is the exception.

co-
Solid with the base word (cooperative) except when the base word begins with a capital letter or in the following words: co-worker, co-op, co-opt, co-optate, co-optation, co-optative, co-optive.

cross-
Check dictionary for the specific word.

extra-
Generally solid with the base word; check dictionary for the specific word.

ex-
Solid with the base word except when used to mean "former" as in "the ex-president."

half-
Check the dictionary for the specific word.

hyper- See Anti-.

hypo- See Anti-.

inter- See Anti-.

intra-, ultra-
Solid with the base word except when the base word begins with an a (intracontinental, ultra-atomic)

macro- See Anti-.

micro- See Anti-.

mid-
Check dictionary for the specific word.

multi- See Anti-.

non- See Anti-.

over-, under-
Solid with the base word, except when the base word begins with a capital.

poly- See Anti-.

post-
Solid with the base word except when the base word begins with a t or a capital letter or is an adverb.

Examples

post-traumatic, post-Pleistocene, a postmortem (noun), a postmortem examination (adj), but an examination was given post-mortem; the results were studied post-harvest.

pseudo- See Anti-.

quasi-
Use two words when quasi is an adjective but hyphenate it when it is in a compound adjective.

Examples

quasi government

quasi-governmental agency.

• When the word formed (as re-creation) would otherwise be confused with another word (recreation);
• When the word (as re-recover) has a second element beginning with re-; or
• When the second element begins with a capital letter.

semi- See Bi-.

sub- See Anti-.

ultra- See Intra-.

un- See Anti-.

under- See Over-.

uni- See Bi-.

SUFFIXES

Example

Threefold and ninefold but 10-fold, 25-fold, and so on.

-like
Check the dictionary for the specific word.

-self
Solid with base word (itself, yourself).

COMPOUND WORDS

IDRC's style

• Suffixes and prefixes, see previous sections.
• Nouns, check the dictionary or "Words frequently misspelled."
• Adjectives formed from two nouns are generally written with hyphens whether the noun form is written as two separate words or with a hyphen.

  Example

  Car-dealer advertisements are generally misleading.

• Adjectives formed from an adjective and a noun are generally written with hyphens.

  Example

  Third-party mediation was used in the conflict.

• Adverbs in -ly are never hyphenated to an adjective.

  Example

  This is clearly written text.

Paired compounds

Example

The flowchart was displayed on a flipchart. [IDRC style is normally to use flip chart as two words but flowchart as one.]

Example

Super- and subscripts must be checked carefully.

Rules on compounds

For modifiers
Hyphenate modifiers that express a single thought when they precede a noun.

Example

Out-of-date calender.

State-of-the-art component.

Example

Our writing textbooks are hopelessly out of date.

Example

In the phrase "an intense blue-flame of a man," a hyphen is used. This shows the readers that the words are a single entity, not an adjective (blue) modifying a noun (flame).

Examples

Laptop computers, not lap top computers.

WRITING CONSTRUCTIONS TO AVOID

Example

"The suggestion was made that consideration be given to a style manual" (12 words) can be shortened to "Reg suggested that a style manual be considered" (8 words).

Approximately
"Approximately" gives the impression of "scientific exactness" while actually introducing inexactness. Roughly or about are better (also shorter).

Germanic expression
Try to rephrase Germanic expressions, that is, long lists on nouns and adjectives in which it is not clear what is modifying which.

Example

"Large African cattle populations" could be rewritten (wrongly) as "populations of large African cattle."

Royal/editorial "we"
Change to the royal we to "I" or rephrase the sentence when there is only one author.

There is/are
Constructions of the type "There is, there was," and so forth can be rephrased.

Example

"There are many things that can be said" can be shortened to "Many things can be said."

Note the following
"At a 0.01 level of probability" can generally be written as "(P < 0.01)."

"It is necessary to" can be better expressed as "must."

Example

"It is necessary to collect information" is better worded as "Information must be collected."

Utilize can be changed to "use" - an Anglo-Saxon word rather than a Romance.

Viable has to do with life, therefore, such things as an economic plan should not be referred to as viable but as feasible.