zero, zero in, zeroing in

Nouns ending with a consonant preceding the o are made plural by adding either an s or an es—although zero can be spelled either way: zeros or zeroes.

  • A zero may mean nothing, but in salary negotiations several zeros (or zeroes) to the left of the decimal point mean a great deal.

Note that an e is added to the verb zero to form the present tense (zeroes) or past tense (zeroed), but an e is not needed to form the present participle (zeroing).

  • Brenda always zeroes right in on the problem.

The verb zero in has a casual tone and is not recommended in formal writing; consider using synonyms such as “focus on” and “concentrate on” instead.

  • To build a stronger team, the football coach is zeroing in on (or focusing on) his players’ weaknesses.

For clarity, hyphenate zero when it is used in a compound modifier, as in zero-tolerance policy.

  • Is a zero-deficit budget realistic at this time?

Copyright notice for Writing Tips Plus

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
A tool created and made available online by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Search by related themes

Want to learn more about a theme discussed on this page? Click on a link below to see all the pages on the Language Portal of Canada that relate to the theme you selected. The search results will be displayed in Language Navigator.