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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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apostrophe: contractions
In informal writing, use apostrophes to replace omitted letters in contractions. The most common contractions in English involve verbs.
The contraction ‘d is short for the verb had or would:
- You’d (You had) better pay that bill today.
- He’d (he had) already left before the others arrived.
- We’d (we would) like to invite you to our wedding.
The contraction ‘ll is short for the verb will or shall:
- We’ll (We will/shall) see you at the next meeting.
- They’ll (They will) drive Karen home.
The contraction ‘m is short for the verb am and is used only with the subject I:
- I’m late!
- I’m doing my best.
The contraction n’t is short for the adverb not; it is attached to a helping verb:
- They won’t (will not) be here until after 7 p.m.
- You can’t (cannot) do that.
- We didn’t (did not) find the keys.
The contraction ‘re is short for the verb are:
- You’re (You are) parked in my spot.
- We’re (We are) wondering whether to enter the dance contest.
The contraction ‘s is short for the verb is or has, or for the pronoun us in Let’s:
- It’s (It is) the best of its kind.
- John’s (John is) flying to Toronto this morning.
- Miriam’s (Miriam has) already left.
- Let’s (Let us) plan a trip to Banff this winter.
The contraction ‘ve is short for the verb have:
- They’ve (They have) sent us a letter.
- You should’ve (should have) invited your cousin.
- Josie couldn’t’ve (could not have) done all that work already!
Note the differences in spelling between these contractions and their homonyms:
- it’s (it is) vs. its (belonging to it)
- you’re (you are) vs. your (belonging to you)
- they’re (they are) vs. their (belonging to them) or there (in that place)
- who’s (who is) vs. whose (belonging to whom)
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