Capitalization & Compound Words
Capitalization
Excessive capitalization slows down the reader and can affect their comprehension of the material. The following words and phrases should be capitalized:
- titles and headings
- proper nouns
- the first word of a sentence (including a direct quote if it is a complete sentence)
- months and days (seasons are not capitalized - "fall of 2020")
- geographical terms (except for directional words that are not part of proper nouns (east, west, north, south) and recognized regions (Southern Maryland, the West)
- historical periods and events
- brand names
Terms and phrases below should not be capitalized unless they are part of a proper noun (even if they will be referred to as an acronym):
- working group
- transit-oriented development (TOD)
- level of service (LOS)
- public participation process (PPP)
- building restriction line (BRL)
- critical lane volume (CLV)
Compound Words
Compound words formed from the prefixed below are to be used as single words without hyphens:
| ante | counter | macro | multi | pre | socio | ultra |
| anti | extra | meta | neo | pro | sub | un |
| bi | infra | micro | non | proto | super | under |
| bio | inter | mid | over | pseudo | supra | |
| co | intra | mini | post | semi |
| Exceptions | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| base word begins with the same letter that ends the prefix | use a hyphen | anti-inflammatory, semi-independent |
| prefix ends with "e" or "o" and the base word begins with the same letter | hyphen is generally omitted | coordinate, reexamine, preexisting |
| hyphen is needed to eliminate confusion between words | use a hyphen | co-op, re-create, re-cover |
| base word is normally capitalized | use a hyphen | mid-August, pseudo-Victorian, trans-Atlantic |