AP Style Basics

Question 1

Academic Degrees

Answer 1

• Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s and master’s
• Abbreviations: A.A,, A.S., B.A.. M.A., LL.D, and Ph.D.
• Wrong: Dr. Pam Jones, Ph.D.
• Right: Dr. Pam Jones, a chemist.

Question 2

Academic Departments

Answer 2

• Lowercase except for pronouns or when department is official and formal name.
• Do not abbreviate ‘department.’

Question 3

Addresses

Answer 3

• Ave. Blvd. St. only with numbered addresses
• Spell out/capitalize when part of formal street w/o number.
• Always use #’s for address numbers, spell out First-Ninth in street names. Use 10th+ for numbers higher.
• Abbreviate compass points, do not abbreviate if # is ommitted.

Question 4

Affect/Effect

Answer 4

Affect: (verb): to influence
Effect: (verb): to cause
Effect: (noun): a result

Question 5

Ages

Answer 5

-Use #’s for people/animals but not inanimates.
-Use hyphens when ages is expressed as adjectives before a noun or as a substitutes for a noun.
Ex: The 5-year-old boy but the boy is 5 years old.

Question 6

a.m./p.m.

Answer 6

• Lowercase with periods
• Avoid 10 a.m. in the morning
• Noon and midnight stand alone, avoid 12 noon or 12 a.m.

Question 7

Apostrophe

Answer 7

• Used to show possesion
• If it ends with S put apostrophe after
• Wrong: She gave the CD’s to me
• Right: He has too many CDs to count.

Question 8

California

Answer 8

• Always spell out.

- Northridge, California

Question 9

Died

Answer 9

Use “died” not “passed away”

Question 10

Held, Hold

Answer 10

-Use ‘held’ only in the literal sense
Ex: She held the pencil.
-Do not use for events.
Wrong: The club held its meeting on Tuesday.
Right: The club had its meeting on Tuesday.

Question 11

It’s, Its

Answer 11

• It’s: a contraction of “it is”

- Its is the possessive form of the neuter pronoun.

Question 12

Months

Answer 12

• Capitalize in all uses
• If used with a specific date, abbreviate only some months with 5 letters or less. Spell out all months when used with a year alone or just alone.

Question 13

Numerals

Answer 13

• Spell out one-nine
• 10+ use numerals
• Use in scores, percentages, weight, ratios, court decisions, with million/billion.
• Avoid starting a sentence with a numeral

Question 14

Over

Answer 14

Refers to spatial relationships and can be used for quantity as well.

Question 15

More than

Answer 15

However, both “over”, and more than are interchangeable.

Question 16

Percent

Answer 16

One word. Takes a singular verb when standing alone or when a singular word follows an of construction. It takes a plural verb when a plural word follows an of construction.

Question 17

Quote Marks

Answer 17

Word-for-word comments and comma goes inside ending quotes.

Question 18

Seasons

Answer 18

Lowercase, except when used for formal names. When the year is given, capitalize.

Question 19

Series of three or more

Answer 19

Do not put a comma before the “and” in a list of three things or more.

Question 20

Spacing

Answer 20

Only 1 space between each sentence.

Question 21

Titles

Answer 21

Capitalize formal titles and courtesy titles only in direct quotations. Otherwise, use the person’s first and last name.

Question 22

To

Answer 22

Use “to” between two dates, numerals, or times.

Question 23

That, Which

Answer 23

Use “that” and “which” for inanimate objects and objects without a name.

• “That” is for essential clauses, important to meaning w/o commas.
• “Which” is for nonessential clauses, when pronoun is less necessary and use with commas.

Question 24

Who, Whom

Answer 24

• Who references human beings or animals with a name. Grammatically the subject never the object.
• Whom is used when someone is the object of the verb or preposition: The woman to whom the apartment was rented moved out without notifying the owner. Whom do you wish to see?