MY AP STYLE Flashcards
What are the four general rules about using hyphens and prefixes?
- CONSONANT. generally don’t hyphenate when using a prefix with a word that starts with a consonant.
- SAME VOWEL. Except for “cooperate” and “coordinate,” use a hyphen if the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel.
- CAPITALIZATION. Use a hyphen if the word that follows is capitalized.
4 DOUBLE PREFIXES. Use a hyphen to join doubled prefixes: “sub-subparagraph.”
What about hyphens and compound modifiers?
We updated our hyphen guidance this year 2010 to say no hyphen is needed in a compound modifier if the modifier is commonly recognized as one phrase, and if the meaning is clear and unambiguous without the hyphen.
One example is first quarter touchdown.
That versus who
Use “that” for a thing.
Use “who” for a personal pronoun
Although that is appropriate for a personal pronoun when it introduces an essential clause.
That versus which
Use that to introduce an essential clause
What are the two AP rules on bullet points?
Put a period at the end of bullet points even if they are not complete sentences
Dont use a bullet. Use a dash
When you lose your job, are you laid off or layed off?
Laid off
What is a compound modifier?
A compound modifier is a compound of two or more attributive words: that is, two or more words that collectively modify a noun. Compound modifiers are grammatically equivalent to single-word modifiers, and can be used in combination with other modifiers.
Nonprofit
or
Non-profit
Oe
Not-for-profit
Nonprofit
Or
Not-for-profit
Toward or towards
Toward.
No S
How do you designate a range of dates, times or numerals?
Hyphens or “to”?
Use “to” between two dates, times or numerals:
The museum, which has a mummy display from June to August, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Do not use a hyphen to separate dates, times or numerals.
If money was no object
Or
If money were no object
The phrase suggests a contingency unlikely to come true, so use “were” for the subjunctive mood. Hi
South Central Idaho
Or
southcentral Idaho
Or
south-central Idaho
Or
Southcentral Idaho
south-central Idaho
2 p.m., Friday
2 p.m. Friday
2 p.m. on Friday
2 p.m. Friday
Is it 6–feet, 2-inches tall
Or
6 feet 2 inches tall
Or
6 feet, 2 inches tall
6 feet 2 inches tall
Is it the 5–foot, 6 inch tall girl
Or
5 foot, 6 inch-tall girl
Or
5-foot-6-inch tall-girl.
Take out tall!
Three hyphens
5-foot-6-inch-girl.
How do you reference a time on a particular day?
No comma between the time and day.
Correct:
He was last seen at 5:35 p.m. Tuesday.
When do you NOT use commas between two items?
Two cases
-between time and date
“At 5:25 p.m. Tuesday.”
-between feet and inches
“He is 6 feet 2 inches tall.”
Neonazi
Or
Neo-nazi
Or
Neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazi
How do you write “junior”
Jr.
No comma
Is it 9 a.m.
Or 9:00 a.m.?
9 a.m.
No zeroes
Do you set off a quote with a comma?
???
Three-mile
3-mile
3-mile
Use figures for miles in all references
Cybercrime
or
Cyber-crime
Cybercrime
Cyber rarely requires a hyphen
Multi-state
Or
Multistate
Multistate
As a prefix, “multi” generally has no hyphen
Commonsense
Or
Common-sense
Commonsense
Email
Or
E-mail
Other e- terms are hyphenated: e-book, e-commerce
Attempting to extort
Or
Attempted extortion of
Attempted extortion
Small town residents
Or
Small-town residents
Small-town residents
Everyone knows
- the neighbors
- their neighbors
The neighbors
“Everyone” takes the singular, so the pronoun “their” is incorrect
Re-investigate
Or
Reinvestigate
Reinvestgate
Generally only hyphenate to avoid confusion. Re-sign, resign
Countercoup
Counter-coup
Counter coup
Countercoup
Words formed with “counter” prefix generally have no prefix.
Explain the differences:
Onetime
One-time
One time
Onetime - former
One-time - Once
One time - he did it one time
ebook
Or
e-book
E-book.
AP hyphenates e-terms with one exception: email
Q4
Hard-line Islamist
Or
Hardline
Hard-line as an adjective
Nouns are hard line and hard-liner. None is spelled as a compound.
Court martialed on charges
Or
Court-martialed
Court-martial as a verb
Q4
Extramarital affair
Or
Extra-marital
Extramarital
Q4
Reenactment
Or
Re-enactment
Reenactment
Q5-wrong
How do you use “e.g.”
: e.g.,
?
Q5
Six-month-old boy
Or
6-month-old boy
6-month-old boy
Ages are expressed in figures
Q5
7-year-old girl from California or
Calif.
?
California
Spell out if state differs from dateline
Q5
Standalone
Or
Stand-alone
Q5
Stand-alone
Hyphenate the adjective
Abbreviation
Acronym
Initialism
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations
Acronyms use the initial or non-initial letters or syllables of the words in a phrase to create a word: radar, sonar, Interpol
Initialism: first letters combine to create a shorter term. They are unpronouncable and read by the letter: e.g., IRS, PST
NOT FROM AP QUIZ
What is the difference between a policy and a standard operating procedure?
A policy is like a mini-mission statement
An SOP spells out the procedures to fulfill the policy
NOT in AP quizq
What is the Met?
UK
Metropolitan Police Service
Territorial police force for Greater London and specialized matters throughout the UK. Also known as “Old Bill” and Scotland Yard.
NOT an AP QUIZ
Multi-million dollar lawsuit Or Multi-million-dollar Or Multimillion-dollar
Multimillion-dollar lawsuit
There is generall no hyphen with the “multi-“ prefix. There
Is, however, a hyphen before dollar because the term is a compound modifier
Q6
Herculean performance
Or
herculean
Lowercase a word derived from a proper noun that no longer depends on it for meaning
Q6
The two companies, (who; which manage) the project…
Which manage
Use which for inanimate object and non-essential information.
Q6
38 Studios filed for bankruptcy
Or
Thirty Eight Studios…
38 Studios
Generally follow the spelling and capitalization used by the business. But best to rephrase the sentence
Q7
Nonlife-threatening injuries Or Non-life threatening Or Non-life-threatening
Nonlife-threatening
Or rephrase: injuries that were not life-threatening
Q7
Two people died and
another two
or
two others
two others
“Another” is not a synonym for additional
Q7
Reopen
Or
Re-open
Reopen
Affect versus effect
Effect, when used as a noun, means result. As a verb, it means to cause. Affect, when used as a verb, means to influence.
Coproduction
or
Co-production
coproduction
Most “co-“ combinations are not hyphenated
but retain the hyphen when forming nouns, adjectives or verbs that indicate occupation or status.
Cowriter
or
Co-writer
Co-writer. The Stylebook’s “co-“ entry says retain the hyphen when forming nouns, adjectives or verbs that indicate occupation or status.
The 18-year-old
- boy
- youth
- man
man.
The Stylebook’s “boy” and “youth” entries say the terms are applicable until the 18th birthday; thereafter “man” or “young man” are correct.
a. The boy’s soccer team and the womens tennis team won matches Saturday.
b. The boys’ soccer team and the womens’ tennis team won matches Saturday.
c. The boys soccer team and the women’s tennis team won matches Saturday.
The boys soccer team and the women’s tennis team won matches Saturday. The Stylebook’s “possessives” entry regards such team references as descriptive rather than possessive. Based on the DESCRIPTIVE PHRASES section, use apostrophe s when forming the plural of a descriptive word that doesn’t end in s (women’s is the plural of woman). The plural descriptives of boy and girl are formed by adding s without apostrophe: boys and girls.
business-like
or
businesslike
businesslike. The Stylebook’s “-like” entry says do not precede this suffix with a hyphen unless the letter l would be tripled or the main element is a proper noun.
q10
The largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines says police commandos endangered a (yearslong cease-fire; years-long ceasefire) by raiding a guerrilla stronghold.
yearslong cease-fire. The AP Stylebook entry is “yearlong, yearslong”; the hyphenated “cease-fire” is correct for the noun and adjective. The verb “cease fire” is also two words.
q11
“It was a draw,” she said. “They both get As.”
or
“It was a draw,” she said. “They both get A’s.”
“It was a draw,” she said. “They both get A’s.” The Stylebook’s “plural” entry says SINGLE LETTERS get apostrophe s for the plural.
a. Geophysicist Don Blakeman said the temblor struck in a “seismically active” area near the San Andreas Fault.
b. Geophysicist Don Blakeman said the temblor struck in a seismically active area near the San Andreas Fault.
b. Geophysicist Don Blakeman said the temblor struck in a seismically active area near the San Andreas Fault. The AP Stylebook says avoid fragmentary quotes, especially for jargon. Reserve quote marks for sensitive or controversial passages that must be identified as coming from the speaker.
healthcare
or
health care
health care. The AP Stylebook entry is two words.
nongovernmental
or
non-governmental
nongovernmental organizations. The Stylebook’s “NGO” entry specifies nongovernmental organization.
Also, the “non-” entry says the prefix is seldom hyphenated.
Q14
The governor urged the presidential candidate to get out from behind (the podium; the lectern) and connect directly with voters.
the lectern. A speaker stands behind a lectern, on a podium, according to the AP Stylebook’s “lectern, podium …” entry.
Q14
a. A local group is bidding to bring a 19th Century battleship to the state as an historic attraction.
b. A local group is bidding to bring a 19th-century battleship to the state as a historic attraction
b. 19th-century; a historic. In the AP Stylebook entry, century is lowercase with the ordinal number. Hyphenate as a compound modifier. The “a, an” entry says use the article “a” before consonant sounds: a historic event.
Q14
Even after the 2010 elections, when her party lost 63 seats, Pelosi was (reelected, re-elected) Democratic leader by her caucus.
reelected. The Stylebook in 2019 removed the hyphen in double-e combinations (reelection, preempt), reflecting usage
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was founded in 1885 and actually (predates; pre-dates) the Labor Department.
predates. The Stylebook says generally no hyphen for the prefix “pre” unless the word that follows begin with the same vowel: pre-election, pre-exist. Otherwise, one word: predate and prejudge, as listed in Webster’s.
After police arrived, the boy talked almost (non-stop; nonstop) and moved constantly in the backseat of the squad car.
non-stop
nonstop
nonstop. The Stylebook says for the prefix “non,” generally no hyphen when forming a compound that does not have special meaning. It’s nonstop in Webster’s dictionary, as are many other “non” formations. Exception: hyphenate before a proper noun – non-U.S. – or awkward combinations – non-nuclear.
q15
The deal depends on the city council granting permission for the (multi-million pound; multimillion-pound; multi-million-pound) conversion of the building.
multimillion-pound. The Stylebook says in general there’s no hyphen with the prefix multi: multicolored, multimillionaire. But hyphenate multimillion-pound as a compound modifier preceding conversion.
q15
After police arrived, the boy talked almost (non-stop; nonstop) and moved constantly in the backseat of the squad car.
nonstop. The Stylebook says for the prefix “non,” generally no hyphen when forming a compound that does not have special meaning. It’s nonstop in Webster’s dictionary, as are many other “non” formations. Exception: hyphenate before a proper noun – non-U.S. – or awkward combinations – non-nuclear.
q15
In general, are prefixes used with these prefixes?
re
pre
non
multi
bi
In AP style, you generally do not hyphenate prefixes that are followed by a word that begins with a consonant, with ‘double-e’ combination.
re- -use a hyphen only if there would be confusion with another word, like resign/re-sign, recover/re-cover, repress/re-press. Also, as of 2019, not ‘double e’ combinations are not hyphenated
pre - generally no hyphen including with double ‘e’
post - generally no hyphen
non- generally no hyphen
multi- generally no hyphen
bi- generally no hyphen.
Two exceptions for using a hyphen when the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel.
- cooperate, coordinate,
- double-e combinations such as preestablish, preeminent, preeclampsia, preempt.
Investigators said more than 60 guns were seized, from handguns to military-style (semiautomatic rifles; semi-automatic rifles), and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
semi-automatic rifles. The hyphenated spelling is in the AP Stylebook’s “weapons” entry. It’s one of a few compounds formed with the prefix “semi” that take a hyphen. Others like semifinal and semiofficial are not hyphenated.
q16
They attended diplomatic receptions at the U.S. and French (embassys; embassies; Embassies) in London.
embassies. AP Stylebook’s “plurals” entry says for words ending in “y” preceded by a consonant, use “ies” for the plural. The “capitalization” entry says lowercase the common noun elements of names in plural uses: the Democratic and Republican parties.
q17
Which sentence is correct?
a. “Don’t forget to dot the Is and cross the Ts,” the teacher said.
b. “Don’t forget to dot the i’s and cross the t’s,” the teacher said.
b. “Don’t forget to dot the i’s and cross the t’s,” the teacher said. The Stylebook’s “plurals” entry uses apostrophe s for expressions with single letters in lowercase or single letters capitalized: Mind your p’s and q’s. He learned the three R’s. However, the plurals of multiple-letter abbreviations add only s: IOUs, ABCs
q17
