Ex: He S an 8-Year-Old Genius. This Law Is 1 Year Old

Spell out grade levels. Longer titles should be placed behind names for easier AP STYLE! Use figures for ages, scores, readability. degrees, percents, time ratings, and hours of the day. Avoid referring to an organization by abbreviations when they are For even amounts of money or not commonly known. Spell it out 2009-2010 times, eliminate extra zeros. or call it something else to make it easier to understand. Ex: $10, 7 p.m.

Spell out fractions. NUMBERS CAPITALIZATION Use numerals in ratios Spell one through nine, and use Always capitalize proper nouns. figures for 10 and up. This goes Ex: He won the election by a for listing things in a sequence, 5-to-1ratio. Capitalize common nouns if also. they’re part of the full name of a Use the words noon and person, place or thing. Throw out or rewrite a sentence if midnight instead of 12 a.m. and it begins with a number. The 12 p.m. Ex: Democratic Party, Canal only exception is years. Street. When writing out a date span, Ex: 2008 was an election year. use a hyphen instead of the word Words that are derived from a to. proper noun should be Years are always written in capitalized. figures, and ages are always in Ex: July 4-16. numerals. Ex: Marxist, English, Christian. NAMES / TITLES Ex: He’s an 8-year-old genius. Capitalize the first word of a This law is 1 year old. When first mentioning a person, sentence, even if it is a proper use first and last name with noun that is normally not. If they Use figures for measurements, appropriate identification. look odd, rewrite the sentence to but spell out units. avoid them. After the initial mention, refer to Ex: 5 feet 2 inches people using last names. If they Titles and the principal words in a are an adult, use courtesy titles book title are capitalized, Percent is not % or per cent. such as Mr. , Dr. , Mrs. , or Ms. including prepositions of four or more letters. Dollars and cents are written When identification follows a lowercase. Use a $ & numerals name, it’s normally set off by Ex: “Gone With the Wind” for an exact figure. commas and not capitalized. Capitalize names of athletic Ex: The total amount was Ex: John Smith, junior. teams and college degrees when $50.07. abbreviated after a name. Capitalize titles only when used For amounts less than a dollar, before a name, but if a title is Do not capitalize names of grade use numerals and the word descriptive of an occupation, do levels. It’s senior, junior, cents. not capitalize it. sophomore, and freshman.

Ex: The candy cost 99 cents. Ex: President Barack Obama or Do not capitalize the word astronaut Neil Armstrong varsity, district or state unless Use a $ and numbers to two referring to a specific meet in its decimal points for amounts of Royal titles are also only complete title, a.m. / p.m., any one million and up. Spell out capitalized if used before a other words that are not proper casual uses. name. nouns. Ex: The building costs $1.82 Qualifying words such as former million. or acting are not capitalized.

Casual: He looks like a million ABBREVIATIONS bucks. Abbreviate these titles before Spell out first through ninth if Possessive personal nouns such names , except in quotations: they’re street names, but go to as its and yours do not need an Dr., Gov., Lt. Gov., Mr., Mrs., figures after. apostrophe. Rep., the Rev. and Sen. When used before a full name in a If you have a complete address, Ex: It’s is not possessive; it’s quote, spell out all except Dr., abbreviate any cardinal direction. means it is. Its is possessive. Mr., Mrs. and Ms. If the noun is plural, not ending in After a name, abbreviate junior or s, add ‘s: women’s shoes. If they senior as Jr. or Sr. After the PARENTHESES end in s, add an apostrophe only: name of a business, abbreviate dogs’ yard. co., corp., inc., and ltd. When a phrase is inside of a sentence, put the closing For singular common nouns Always abbreviate a.m., p.m., parentheses before the period. ending in s, add ‘s unless the A.D. and B.C. next word starts with an s: the Ex: They gave everything they waitress’s apron, the waitress’ When a month is used with a had (but they still lost). sugar. specific date, abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and If it’s a separate thought, the For singular proper nouns ending Dec. Other months cannot be closing parenthesis goes outside in s, use only an apostrophe. abbreviated. Spell out months of the period. when used alone or with a year Ex: Jones’ music, Phyllis’ car Ex: They gave everything they only. had. (Unfortunately, they still Ex: September 2001 lost.) COMMAS Spell out names of all states When inserting a state name of when they stand alone. Alaska, other similar information within a In a series, don’t use them before Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, proper name, use parentheses. “and.” Ohio, Texas and Utah are always Ex: He’s a reporter at the spelled out. Other states are Use one after a conjunction in a Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call. abbreviated when used with the sentence only if the part of the name of a city, town, etc. sentence following the comma Don’t use parentheses to set off would be a complete sentence political designation. Use Abbreviate names of colleges with its own subject. commas instead. that have been previously mentioned in your story. Ex: Joan Jefferies, D-Fla., said Thursday that she plans on Abbreviate United States only EXCLAMATION POINTS running for re-election next year. when used as an adjective. Don’t use them at all. Use a Ex: U.S. foreign policy period instead.

Abbreviate versus as vs. APOSTROPHES

Do not abbreviate days of the Use an apostrophe to show left PERIODS week. out letters or numbers. Instead of building a complicated Ex: ’09-10 school year sentence, consider a period.

ADDRESSES Don’t use an apostrophe behind a year unless you’re showing Abbreviate street, avenue and possession. SEMICOLONS boulevard when they’re used with Ex: 60s a specific address, and always Use semicolons to separate use figures for the address phrases containing commas, number. statements of contrast and statements too closely related, POSSESSIVES Ex: 601 Avalon Ave. but don’t use them if a period would work just as well. INTERNET Place the attribution at the end of Smithsonian Institution, not short quotes or in the middle of Smithsonian Institute. Capitalize Internet, Web and two or more sentences. World Wide Web, but do not further: an extension of time or capitalize intranet, a private Place the attribution is subject degree. network within an organization. verb order: He said, she said, etc. Ex: We need to take this idea Dot-com, not dot.com further.

dpi is written without periods Farther is used to show physical QUOTES distance. e-mail is hyphenated, but online is not. Avoid partial quotes, but don’t be Ex: I live farther from school than afraid to paraphrase. Sometimes you do. Chat room, screen saver, search you can say something clearer engine and home page are all and better. You imply something by what you two words, but login, logoff, say or write. shareware and logon are all one Use quotes for reactions rather word. than to state facts. People infer something by reading your words. server is not capitalized

PREFIXES SPORTS

Use a hyphen if the prefix ends in Use a hyphen for scores. a vowel and the word after it starts with the same vowel: re- Ex: 21-25 entry, anti-inflammatory. (Cooperate and coordinate are For sports, jersey numbers are exceptions.) written like this: No. 4, No. 12.

Use a hyphen if the word that follows is capitalized: The song was written by ex-Beetle Ringo Starr. MISCELLANEOUS For pre-, exceptions include Don’t end with a summary, pre-empt, pre-exist, and pre- conclusion or editorial statement. election. Avoid passive voice and “to be” For co-, use a hyphen with verbs. nouns, adjectives and verbs that show partnership, use a hyphen: Days of the week are co-editor, co-worker, co-pilot. unnecessary unless they’re important to the story. For sub-, no hyphen is generally needed: subtotal, subcommittee.

RANDOM SPELLING ATTRIBUTIONS It’s adviser, not advisor.

Always use the word said, unless amid, not amidst. being truly descriptive. minuscule, not miniscule. Ex: The coach screamed, the teen whispered, etc. doughnut, not donut.

amok, not amuck.