P

page numbers

• Do not capitalize the words page and pages in running text.
• Avoid abbreviations: p. for page, pp. for pages except in tables.
• Use figures for references to pages of a book, tables, illustrations and figures: page 2.
• When referring to a publication’s volume number, use volume lowercase.

paintings

• Put titles of paintings and exhibitions in quotation marks. See composition titles.

Pan-Arab

• Used as an adjective and is hyphenated. Capitalize both Pan and Arab, not just Arab. Having Pan-Arab satellite channels is a step forward. The Pan-Arab committee works to foster regional relations.

parentheses

• See Punctuation.

part time (n.), part-time (adj.)

• She works part time at the news agency. He is a part-time professor.

pass/fail

• Do not capitalize. Separate with a slash, not a hyphen.
• Do not use fail/pass.

passive voice

• Always try to use an active, not a passive, voice. The passive voice weakens the sentence and hides the subject.
• Passive: The decision was made as to who will be the keynote speaker.
• Active: The committee made the decision as to who will be the keynote speaker.

payroll

PC

• Stands for personal computer.

PDF

• Abbreviation for Portable Document Format. Abbreviation is acceptable in all references.

peninsula

• Capitalize when part of a formal name: Arabian Peninsula, Florida Peninsula.

people

• Use people, not persons, unless writing a direct quotation.

people, peoples, persons

• Use people as the plural of person. Avoid persons, which is largely confined to formal or legal contexts. Peoples refers to a body of people sharing a common religion, culture or language: the peoples of Asia.  

percent

• See numbers, percentages.

periodicals

• Capitalize titles of periodicals and put them in quotation marks: "Egypt Today," "The Cairo Review of Global Affairs."
• Write issues of periodicals in the following way: Spring 2012 issue of "AUCToday."
• If the word the is not part of the formal title of the periodical, do not capitalize it or put it in quotation marks: the "Financial Times," but "The Washington Post."
• In first reference, include the name of the city of publication of a newspaper, even if it is not part of the official title: New York "Daily News."
• See capitalization.

period

• Always place periods inside quotation marks.
• See Punctuation.

PhD, PhDs

• Use without periods. Doctorate is preferred. See doctorate.

philosophies

• Capitalize philosophical movements of specific historical periods: Enlightenment, Renaissance, Marxist, Communist.

photocopy

• Do not use Xerox unless referring to the brand name.

physical education

• Avoid the abbreviation PE.

plurals

• Generally, an s is added at the end of words to form plurals.
• Add an apostrophe in single letters: A’s, C’s and acronyms that end in s: SOS’s.
• Otherwise, acronyms: POWs, abbreviations: MBAs, hyphenated words: hi-fis, follow-ups and numbers used as nouns: sixes and sevens take an s alone to form the plural.
• Apostrophes are never used to form the plural of proper nouns.
  • Incorrect: The Michelle’s will take part.
  • Correct: The Michelles will take part.
• No apostrophe is used to form the plural of years: 1980s.
• See decades.

plus

• Use only in adding units. Do not use plus as a substitute for besides, and, also or in addition.

pm

• Do not capitalize and do not use periods: 7 pm.
• Avoid redundancy: 8 pm this evening.

P.O. Box

• Use periods in the abbreviation P.O. for P.O. Box numbers.
• See addresses.

policymaking, policymaker

political parties

• Names of political parties, movements and alliances are capitalized, but the words party and movement are not unless they are part of the official name: Freedom and Justice party, Egyptian Social Democratic Party.
• Do not italicize names of political parties or movements.
• Adjectives for political parties are lowercased: the leftist Tagamu’ party.

politics

• Politics is always singular, not plural: Politics is an ever-changing field.

possessives

• For singular and plural nouns that do not end in s, form the possessive by adding an s: Smith’s computer, women’s celebration.
• For singular proper nouns that end with an s, the possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe only: Jones’ house.
• The apostrophe is omitted with official names that have plural nouns ending in an s: Visitors Center, Founders Day, Graduate Students Association.
• For singular common nouns ending in s, add an s unless the next word begins with an s: the hostess’s invitation but the hostess’ seat, witness’ stand but witness’s chair.

postgraduate

• Means doctoral, not master’s, studies. Use graduate for master’s.
• No hyphen. Used as an adjective only.
  • Incorrect: She is a postgraduate in engineering.
  • Correct: She is a postgraduate student in engineering.

prefixes (co, multi, mini, pre, post, un, under, non)

• Generally, do not hyphenate when using a prefix with a word.
• Exceptions are:
  • When the prefix precedes a proper noun: anti-Islamic.
  • When the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel: pre-emptive. Exceptions to that rule are cooperate and coordinate.
  • When joining doubled prefixes: sub-subparagraph.
  • Words that contain ex- (meaning former) and self- as prefixes: self-evaluation, ex-husband.
• With the prefix quasi-, hyphenate when used as an adjective: quasi-judicial. Do not hyphenate when used as a noun compound: quasi corporation.
• In general, consult The American Heritage Dictionary. If the word is not listed, hyphenate.

premier, premiere

• Premier is the title of an individual who is the first minister in a national government that has a council of ministers. It is also an adjective meaning chief or foremost.
• Premiere means a first performance.

presenter

• Not presentor.

presidency

• Lowercase.

president

• Uppercase only before the name: President Lisa Anderson.
• Lowercase when used without a name: The president announced a new policy at the University Forum.

prices

• For tickets or admissions, list the price to the general public first, followed by that for students or staff: Public: EGP 10; AUC community: EGP 5.
• See currency.

principal, principle

• Principal can be used as a noun or adjective. As a noun, it means someone first in rank or authority: school principal. As an adjective, it means important or major. She was the principal force behind the movement. Politics is the principal problem.
• Principle is a noun that means a basic truth, law or moral value: She fought for her principles. Their main aim was upholding the principle of equality.

printshop

• One word.

professional diploma

• Capitalize the official name of the diploma. Lowercase in generic use: She acquired the International Advertising Association diploma. He has a diploma in management.

professor, doctor, titles

• Use professor, not doctor. Professor is an academic title. A doctor (in academia) is a holder of a doctorate. Not all professors have doctorates, nor are all those who have a PhD professors.
• Professor of, not professor in.
• Use the faculty member's exact title: assistant professor, associate professor, professor, professor of practice, associate professor of practice, instructor, lecturer.

professorship

• Use professorship, not chair, when referring to endowed positions: the Abdulhadi H. Taher Professorship in Comparative Religion.
• See endowed professorships.

programs, academic

• See names, programs.

pronouns

• Avoid the use of awkward or unpronounceable pronoun combinations:
  • his or her (not his/her).
  • him or her (not him/her).
  • he or she (not he/she).
• However, always try to use the plural form to avoid such constructions.
  • Not preferred: Every person will choose what to study according to his or her preferences.
  • Preferred: Students will choose what to study according to their preferences.
• Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, ourselves, yourselves, himself, herself, itself) refer to people or things already mentioned or implied in the same sentence: I wrote the book myself. Hand in the paper to the professor yourself.

prospectus

• Prospectus is singular; prospectuses is plural.

provide

• Add with when provide is used with an object: We will provide you with the needed information tomorrow.

publications, presentations, reports

• See composition titles.

Pulitzer Prize winner

• But Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

pull up (v.), pullup (n.)

Pyramids

• Capitalize Great Pyramids and Sphinx when referring to the monument by its official name; lowercase other references: pyramids of Giza, Giza pyramids.