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[The same content is available in French in the article WEB (RECOMMANDATION LINGUISTIQUE DU BUREAU DE LA TRADUCTION).]
To standardize usage in the federal public service, the Translation Bureau makes the following recommendation.
Capitalize Web when it stands alone as a noun meaning the World Wide Web:
Note: As a noun, Web is preceded by the.
Do not capitalize web when it is part of a compound, whether the compound is written as two words or one, with or without a hyphen:
Note: While our recommendation is consistent with recent Canadian and international usage, older spellings (e.g. Web page, Web-based) remain widespread (especially in the United States) and are not incorrect.
Capitalize Web when it stands alone, as a noun. When used as a noun, Web is preceded by the article le or du and by the preposition dans or sur:
Capitalize Web when it is placed after a noun as a modifier. It is always invariable—it does not agree in gender or number with the noun it modifies:
Note: We recommend capitalizing Web in the above situations, although lower case is often seen:
The word web may also be used as the first element in a closed compound. The compound word is written in lower case, without a hyphen, and is variable—compound nouns change their form in the plural; compounds used as adjectives agree with the noun they modify:
See INTERNET, NET.
See EXTRANET, INTRANET.
© Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2021
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
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