COMMONLY MISUSED WORDS & TERMS
H (Continued)
irregardless Do not use irregardless . It is a double negative. Regardless is correct. its, it’s Its is a possessive, singular pronoun. Their should be used for possessive, plural pronouns.
highways, freeways, toll roads Interstate highways should be referred to as such. (I-405, I-5); never the 5 or the 405 . State routes are referred to as freeways ( the 55 freeway ). Toll roads should be referred to as such ( the 73 Toll Road, the 261 Toll Road)
Every dog will have its day.
n
home page Home page is always two words.
It’s is a contraction of it and is. The City discourages the use of contractions. See Contractions , Page 9.
I
It’s time to go home.
n
i.e., e.g. i.e. is an abbreviation for: that is to say or in other words.
L
lay, lie Lay is an action word and takes a direct object. It means to place something or someone down. Lie indicates a state of reclining along a horizontal plane and does not take an object. It means to rest or recline. The tenses of these two verbs can be confusing, especially because the simple past form of the verb lie , which is lay, is the same word as the simple present lay .
n The service charge is included in all prices, i.e., you don’t have to leave a tip.
e.g. is an abbreviation for the expression for example.
n He recently experienced several big life events (e.g., the birth of his daughter, a new job and a move out of state).
in-person in-person and should always be hyphenated.
The tenses are as follows:
Internet, intranet Internet refers to external/public websites and should always be capitalized.
n Lay (simple present), laid (simple past), laid (past participle), and laying (present participle).
I will lay the book on the table. I laid the book on the table. I am laying the book on the table.
n
Correct Usage: Internet
n
n
Intranet refers to private websites within a company or organization and should not be capitalized.
n Lie (simple present), lay (simple past), lain (past participle), lying (present participle).
Correct Usage: intranet
I had to lie down.
n
He lay face down on the grass. He lain on the beach all day. She is not taking this lying down.
information Do not abbreviate as “info.”
n
n
n
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