AP Style: The Basics Flashcards
Academic Degree
If mention of a degree is necessary to establish someone’s credentials, the preferred form is to avoid an abbreviation and use instead a phrase such as: John Jones, who has a doctorate in psychology.
When used after a name, an academic abbreviation is set off by commas: Daniel Moynihan, Ph.D., spoke.
Wrong: Dr. Pam Jones, Ph.D. Right: Dr. Pam Jones, a chemist.
academic departments
Use lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives: the department of history, the history department, the department of English, the English department, or when department is part of the official and formal name: University of Connecticut Department of Medicine. Do not abbreviate department.
addresses
use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd. and St. only with a numbered address:
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Spell them out and capitalize when part of a formal street
name without a number: Pennsylvania Avenue. Lowercase and spell out when used
alone or with more than one street name: Massachusetts and Pennsylvania avenues.
Always use figures for an address number: 9 Morningside Circle.
Spell out and capitalize First through Ninth when used as street names; use
figures with two letters for 10th and above; 7 Fifth Ave., 100 21st St.
Abbreviate compass points used to indicate directional ends of a street or
quadrants of a city in a numbered address.
affect, effect
Affect, as a verb, means to influence: The game will affect the
standings. Affect, as a noun, is best avoided.
Effect, as a verb, means to cause: He will effect many changes in the company.
Effect, as a noun, means result: The effect was overwhelming. He miscalculated the
effect of his actions.
ages
Always use figures for people and animals (but not for inanimates): The girl is
15 years old; the law is eight years old. Use hyphens for ages expressed as
adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun. Examples: A 5-year-old boy,
but the boy is 5 years old. The woman is in her 30s (no apostrophe).
a.m., p.m
Lowercase, with periods. Avoid the redundant 10 a.m. this morning.
Noon and midnight stand alone. Don’t use 12 noon or 12 a.m.
apostrophe
In general, use to show possession: the alumni’s contributions,
women’s rights, Northridge’s reputation. If the word ends with an S put the
apostrophe after the S: the campus’ appearance, the reporters’ deadlines. Do not use
an apostrophe if it’s simply a plural and NOT a possessive.
Wrong: She gave the CD’s to me.
Right: He has too many CDs to count.
California
Spell out the names of all states. (For large cities like Los Angeles, don’t
include the state.)
Wrong: Northridge, CA
Wrong: Northridge, Calif.
Right: Northridge, California
died
Use died, not passed away
held, hold
Use held only in the literal sense: He held the pencil. She wants to hold
the baby. Do not use held when referring to events, concerts, conventions, etc.
Wrong: The club held its meeting on Thursday.
Right: The club had its meeting on Thursday.
Wrong: The convention will be held at a hotel in Los Angeles Hotel.
Right: The convention will take place at a hotel in Los Angeles Hotel.
it’s, its
It’s is a contraction for it is or it has: It’s up to you. It’s been a long time.
Its is the possessive form of the neuter pronoun: The dog chased its tail.
months
Capitalize the names in all uses. When a month is used with a specific date,
abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Spell out the months with
five letters or less: March, April, May, June and July. Spell out all months when
using alone or with a year alone: The class ended in December. He was born in
August 1980.
numerals
Spell out one through nine; 10 and higher use numerals. Since graduating
high school three years ago, Susan has had 12 jobs. Use numerals for sports scores
(a 4-3 win), percentages (a 3 percent pay increase), court decisions (a 5-4 decision),
ratios (a 2-to-1 ratio), weights (The baby weighed 9 pounds, 7 ounces.) and with
million or billion (The nation has 1 million citizens. Rupert Murdoch is worth more
than $5 billion.) Avoid starting a sentence with a numeral since it will need to be
spelled out. If possible, rewrite the sentence.
Wrong: 993 freshmen entered the college last year.
Right: Last year 993 freshmen entered the college.
over
It generally refers to spatial relationships (The plane flew over the city) but is
now acceptable when referring to a quantity.
Both sentences are acceptable: Their salaries increased over $20 a week.
Their salaries increased more than $20 a week.
percent
One word. It takes a singular verb when standing alone or when a singular
word follows an of construction: The teacher said 60 percent was a failing grade. He
said 50 percent of the membership was there.
It takes a plural verb when a plural word follows an of construction: He said
50 percent of the members were there.
Use figures: 1 percent, 2.5 percent (use decimals, not fractions), 10 percent.
For amounts less than 1 percent, precede the decimal with a zero: The cost of
living rose .06 percent.
Repeat percent with each individual figure: He said 10 percent to 30 percent
of the electorate may not vote.
