decision-making. Hyphenate when used as an adjective or a noun. (This is a change from the previous edition.) defuse. To remove the fuse from a mine or bomb. To make less harmful, potent, or tense. Not to be confused with “diffuse.” Department. Capitalize when using as a shortened form of Department of “California Education.” Example: The California Department of Education intends to apply for additional funding. The Department is in the process of evaluating the application requirements. Department-wide. See listing above. different from, different than. from” is the correct phrase in most sentences. “Different However, when introduces a clause, is usually correct. “different” “than” Examples: My car is different from his. How different things appear in Washington than in Sacramento. diffuse. To extend, spread thinly, to break up and distribute. dimensions. Use numerals for depth, height, length, and width. Spell out words such as and so on. “inches,” “feet,” “yards,” Example: The car is 17 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet tall. Hyphenate adjective forms preceding nouns. Example: The 5-foot-6-inch woman. directions. Compass points that indicate direction—such as “north,” “northeast,” and lowercase. “south,” “southern”—are Example: He drove north. But compass points that designate regions or are part of a proper name are capitalized. Examples: The South will rise again. North America, Southern California, East Coast, West Africa. disinterested, uninterested. means unbiased or impartial. “Disinterested” means bored or indifferent. “Uninterested” districtwide. doctorate (e.g., in psychology). has the implicit meaning of so it “Doctorate” “degree,” would be redundant to say degree.” “doctoral
decision-making. Hyphenate when used as an adjective or a noun. (This is a change from the previous edition.) defuse. To remove the fuse from a mine or bomb. To make less harmful, potent, or tense. Not to be confused with “diffuse.” Department. Capitalize when using as a shortened form of “California Department of Education.” Example: The California Department of Education intends to apply for additional funding. The Department is in the process of evaluating the application requirements. Department-wide. See listing above. different from, different than. “Different from” is the correct phrase in most sentences. However, when “different” introduces a clause, “than” is usually correct. Examples: My car is different from his. How different things appear in Washington than in Sacramento. diffuse. To extend, spread thinly, to break up and distribute. dimensions. Use numerals for depth, height, length, and width. Spell out words such as “inches,” “feet,” “yards,” and so on. Example: The car is 17 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet tall. Hyphenate adjective forms preceding nouns. Example: The 5-foot-6-inch woman. directions. Compass points that indicate direction—such as “north,” “northeast,” “south,” and “southern”—are lowercase. Example: He drove north. But compass points that designate regions or are part of a proper name are capitalized. Examples: The South will rise again. North America, Southern California, East Coast, West Africa. disinterested, uninterested. “Disinterested” means unbiased or impartial. “Uninterested” means bored or indifferent. districtwide. doctorate (e.g., in psychology). “Doctorate” has the implicit meaning of “degree,” so it would be redundant to say “doctoral degree.”