G
GED 鈥� A trademark abbreviation for General Educational Development tests, a battery of five exams designed by the American Council on Education to measure high school equivalency. GED should be used as an adjective, not as a noun. Those passing the tests earn a GED diploma or certificate, not a GED.
Regan Blake earned his GED certificate last year.
grade, grader 鈥� No hyphen in most cases: a fourth grade student, first grader, she is in the fifth grade. Do hyphenate if needed to avoid confusion, such as when combined with another ordinal number.
grade point average 鈥� GPA is acceptable in all references.
She earned a 4.0 GPA.
grades 鈥� Single-letter grades get apostrophes: an A, two B's and three C's. Use text, not symbols for plus or minus.
Valerio received a B-plus on the test.
Graduate(v.) 鈥� Graduate is correctly used in the active voice: She graduated from high school. It is correct, but unnecessary, to use the passive voice: He was graduated from high school. Do not, however, drop the word from.
grassroots (n., adj.) 鈥� One word for uses such as: The candidate launched a grassroots campaign; she hopes to appeal to the grassroots.
gray 鈥� Not grey
GRE 鈥� trademark Graduate Record Examination; may be described as the GRE graduate school entry exam.
Greater Houston Area 鈥� Capitalize when defining a community and its surrounding region.
Gulf Coast 鈥� Regions in the United States and the world are capitalized.