GED — 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 — 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 — GPA is acceptable in all references.

She earned a 4.0 GPA.

grades — 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.) — 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.) — One word for uses such as: The candidate launched a grassroots campaign; she hopes to appeal to the grassroots.

gray — Not grey

GRE — trademark Graduate Record Examination; may be described as the GRE graduate school entry exam.

Greater Houston Area — Capitalize when defining a community and its surrounding region.

Gulf Coast — Regions in the United States and the world are capitalized.