Writing Tips
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional Links
-
Translation Bureau
Language Portal of Canada
-
TERMIUM Plus®
-
Index P
- Pacific Daylight Time
- Pacific Standard Time
- paed-
- paedo-
- palaeo-
- paleo-
- pan-
- Panjabi
- para-
- parallel between
- parallelism in headings
- parallelism with correlative conjunctions
- parallelism with items in a series
- parallel to
- parallel with
- Paralympic Winter Games
- paralyse
- paralyze
- parentheses
- Parsi
- participle
- participle phrase
- particular to
- Pashto
- Pashtun
- passive voice
- past history
- past tradition
- patho-
- patri-
- patro-
- PDT
- PE
- peculiar to
- ped-
- pedal
- peddle
- pedi-
- pedo- (1)
- pedo- (2)
- P.E.I.
- penta-
- per
- per-
- per cent
- percent
- per-cent
- percentage
- perfectly legitimate
- peri-
- period
- period of time
- permanent resident
- perpendicular to
- perpendicular with
- Persian (1)
- Persian (2)
- persist in
- Perso-
- person
- personal
- personal pronouns
- personification
- personnel
- perspective (from the)
- petr-
- petri-
- phase
- PhD
- Ph.D.
- phenom
- phenomena
- phenomenon
- phleb-
- phosphorous
- phosphorus
- photo-
- photocopy
- physio-
- phyto-
- picto-
- Pilipino
- plan
- planning
- planning in advance
- plug
- plurals of compounds
- plurals of family names
- pluri-
- p.m.
- pneumo-
- poet
- poetess
- point at
- point out
- point to
- poisonous
- poly-
- Poppy Day
- possessive with gerunds
- post
- post-
- post on
- post to
- pound sign
- practicable
- practical
- practically
- practice
- practise
- pre
- pre-
- precedents
- preceding
- precise
- precision
- predicate
- predict
- predict in advance
- preface
- preferable
- preference for
- preference in
- prefer one to the other
- preoccupied about
- preoccupied by
- preoccupied with
- preplan
- preplanning
- prepositional phrase
- prepositions
- prerequisite
- presently
- present to
- present with
- preside at
- preside over
- presume
- pretence
- pretense
- preventable
- prevent from
- preventible
- prevent to
- previous
- previously listed
- previously listed above
- Prince Edward Island
- Prince Edward Islander
- principal
- principle
- prior
- prise
- prize
- pro-
- procedure
- proceed against
- proceed to
- proceed with
- process
- prohibit from
- pronoun agreement: collective nouns
- pronoun agreement: compound antecedents with and
- pronoun agreement: compound antecedents with or
- pronoun agreement: gender
- pronoun agreement: indefinite pronouns
- pronoun agreement: number
- pronoun agreement: person
- property owner
- prophecy
- prophesy
- proportional(y)
- proportionate(ly)
- provide a description
- provide against
- provide for
- provide with
- proximity
- pseudo-
- PST
- psycho-
- public service: capitalization rules (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- punctuation: spacing
- Punjabi
- pursuance (in)
- put in place
- put into place
- pyro-
Proactive Disclosure
Important notice
Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.
For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!
Search and Functionalities Area
practicable, practical
Practicable refers to what is possible. It never describes people.
- Your plan is not practicable; it cannot be carried out in the time available.
Practical refers to people, procedures or objects that are useful or realistic.
- A pocket knife is a practical item to take on a hike.
- Engineers are practical people who apply theory and technology to solve problems.
Thus, a practical solution is practicable (feasible), but a practicable (possible) solution is not always practical (realistic).
- It may be practicable to live in a tree, but it is not practical.
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau
