Writing Tips
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional Links
-
Translation Bureau
Language Portal of Canada
-
TERMIUM Plus®
-
- Favourite Articles
- HyperGrammar2
- Peck's English Pointers
- The Canadian Style
- Word Tailoring
- Writing Tips
- Chroniques de langue
- Clefs du français pratique
- ConjugArt
- Dictionnaire des cooccurrences
- Juridictionnaire
- Le Bellerive
- Le guide du rédacteur
- Le Rouleau des prépositions
- Les mots du droit
- Lexique analogique
- Caleidoscopio del español
-
Index D
- dangling modifiers
- Dano-
- Dari
- Dari Persian
- data
- date: order of elements (Linguistic recommendation from the Translation Bureau)
- daylight saving time
- daylight time
- de-
- De Beaujeu
- decided
- decidedly
- decimate
- decimation
- decision
- decision making
- decision-making
- decision taking
- decision-taking
- decisive
- decisively
- default on
- defective
- defence
- defend against
- defend from
- defense
- defensive
- deficient
- definite
- definite article with initialisms
- definitely
- definitive
- definitively
- de luxe
- deluxe
- delve into
- demi-
- demonstrative adjectives
- demonstrative pronouns
- demonyms in Canada
- depart
- depart for
- depart from
- dependant
- dependent
- deprecate
- depreciate
- deprive of
- Deputy Governor General
- derivation of
- derive from
- describe
- description
- desert
- designate as
- dessert
- di-
- dia-
- diagonally opposite
- dialyse
- dialyze
- didn’t use to
- different
- different from
- different than
- different to
- differ from
- differ in
- differ with
- dilemma
- directly
- direct object
- dis-
- disagree
- disagree about
- disagree on
- disagree over
- disagree with
- disassociate from
- disc
- discouraged about
- discouraged at
- discouraged by
- discouraged over
- discourage from
- discreet
- discrete
- disingenuous
- disinterested
- disk
- disorient
- dispense from
- dispense to
- dispense with
- dissatisfied
- dissociate from
- distinctive
- divest of
- divide in
- divide in half
- divide into
- divide in two
- Dominion Day
- doubt but that
- doubt that
- downward tumble
- Dr.
- due to
- during such time
- during the time that
- dyeing
- dying
Proactive Disclosure
Important notice
Good news! We have updated our writing tools. Writing Tips and The Canadian Style have been combined to create a new tool called Writing Tips Plus.
Don’t forget to update your bookmarks. Within a few weeks, Writing Tips will no longer be available.
Search and Functionalities Area
definite article with initialisms
When an initialism refers to an organization, the definite article generally precedes it. For example:
- The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is an international conservation body.
However, when the initialism refers to a substance, method or condition, the definite article is not required:
- DDT was banned in the United States in 1972. (substance)
- St. John Ambulance offers CPR training. (method)
- ADD/ADHD is often diagnosed when children begin school. (condition)
Since the initialisms HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and WNV (West Nile virus) both refer to medical conditions, the definite article is not needed:
- WNV was first detected in North America in 1999.
- HIV is not spread through casual contact.
- Three percent of the population tested HIV-positive.
But:
- The HIV-positive population is increasing yearly.
In the last example, the definite article is necessary because it refers to the noun population rather than the initialism.
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2022
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau
