Miscellaneous Style
alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae
- Use alumnus (alumni in the plural) when referring to a man who has attended a school. Use alumna (alumnae in the plural) in similar references to a woman. Use alumni when referring to both men and women.
compose/comprise/constitute
- Compose means to create or put together.
- Comprise means to be made up of. “Comprised of” is redundant.
- Constitute means to be the elements of and may work best when neither compose nor comprise seem to fit.
- The United States comprises 50 states. The United States is composed of 50 states. Fifty states constitute the United States of America.
doctoral/doctorate
- Doctoral is an adjective; doctorate is a noun.
emeritus/emerita
- Follows professor (professor emeritus, not emeritus professor).
- Use emeritus for a man, emerita for a woman and emeriti for the plural.
said/says
- Use said not says when quoting someone.
that/which
- These are not interchangeable.
- That defines and restricts; which does not. Which is preceded with a comma.
- The Jumpstart story that was printed on the Student Affairs Website is also on USC News.- The Jumpstart story, which appears on the front page of the Student Affairs Website, is the top story on USC News.
United States
- Spell out when used as a noun. Use U.S. (no space) only as an adjective; for example, U.S. Court of Appeals.