Q. I edit documents used in the healthcare informatics domain, where e-health, eHealth, e-community, e-practice, and other ever-growing
variations on the “e-” are present. If the “e-”
or the “e” plus a word begins a sentence, I am capitalizing that darn “e.”
Otherwise, it looks very strange. Am I correct?
A. For hyphenated e-constructions, we agree:
So far, it has proved impossible to read an e-book without some form of electricity.
E-books are ubiquitous enough that in several years people may simply call them “books.”
For a proper name, however, we leave things alone: eBay is always eBay, even at the beginning of a sentence.
Q. Which is currently accepted: Web site, web site, website, or Website?
Q. Is there a proper format for creating an email?
A. Not usually. But if you’re writing formal correspondence and want some guidance, try The Gregg Reference Manual, a good resource for business usage.
Q. What is the plural of email when it’s used as a noun?
A. Use email (not emails) or email messages for the plural form of the noun (“she gets a lot of email”); except informally, emails is better reserved for use as a verb (“he emails reminders to himself”). And whereas Merriam-Webster lists both e-mail (hyphen) and email (no hyphen), Chicago now prefers the latter.