"The Basics"

Question 1

Academic Degrees

Answer 1

If mentioned, it is necessary to establish someone’s credentials.
Avoid abbreviations and use a phrase instead.
Ex: John Jones, who has a doctorate in psychology.

Use apostrophe in bachelor’s degree, master’s etc.

+ Ex: Associate in Science, Associate in Arts, and associate degree.

Abbrev. (A.A., Ph.D etc) only to identify many individuals by degree & use them only after a full name.

++ Ex: Daniel Maynihan, Ph.D spoke.

Do not precede a name w a courtesy title for an academic degree!
Ex: Wrong: Dr. Pam Jones, Ph.D
Right: Dr. Pam Jones, a chemist.

Question 2

Academic Departments

Answer 2

Use lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives.
Ex: the department of history, the history department, the English department.

Ex official and formal name: University of Connecticut Department of Medicine.

Do not abbreviate department!

Question 3

Addresses

Answer 3

Use abbrev. (Ave., Blvd. & St.) only w a numbered address.
Ex: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Spell them out & capitalize when part of a formal street name w/o number.
Ex: Pennsylvania Avenue

Lowercase & spell out when used alone or w more than one street name:
Ex: Massachusetts and Pennsylvania avenues.
(+ alley, drive, road, terrace, etc.)

Always use figures for an address #
Ex: 9 Morningside Circle

Spell out & capitalize First through Nine (street names) 10th^ use figures.

++ Ex: 222 E. 42nd Street, East 42nd & P.O Box

Question 4

Affect

Answer 4

Affect, as a verb means to influence
Ex: The game will affect the standings

Affect as a noun, is best avoided.

Question 5

Effect

Answer 5

Effect, as a verb, means to cause
Ex: He will effect many changes in the company.

Effect, as a noun, means result
Ex: The effect was overwhelming. He miscalculated the effect of his actions.

Question 6

Ages

Answer 6

Always use figures for people and animals (but not for animates)
Ex: The girl is 15 years old; the law is eight years old.

Use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or as a substitute for a noun.
Ex: A 5-year-old boy, but the boy is 5 years old.
+: The woman is in her 30s (no apostrophe)

Question 7

a.m., p.m.

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Apostrophe (‘)

Answer 8

In general, use to show possession
Ex: the alumni’s contributions, women’s rights, Northridge’s reputation.
If the word ends with an S put the apostrophe after the S
Ex: the campus’ appearance, the reporters’ deadlines.
Do not use an apostrophe if it’s simply a plural and not a possessive.
Ex: Wrong: She gave the CD’S to me.
Right: He has too many CDs to count.

Question 9

California

Answer 9

Spell out the name of all states.
(For large cities like Los Angeles, don’t include the state.)

Ex: Wrong: Northridge, CA
Wrong: Northridge, Calif.
Right: Northridge, California

Question 10

Died

Answer 10

use died, not passed away

Question 11

held

Answer 11

Use held only in the literal sense
Ex: He held the pencil. She ants to hold the baby.
Do not use held when referring to events, concerts, conventions, etc.
In most cases, the word held can simply be removed with no impact.
For rare occasions, the words hosted or sponsored suffices.

Ex: 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.

Question 12

it’s, its

Answer 12

It’s is a contraction for it is or it has
Ex: It’s up to you. It’s been a long time.

Its is the possessive form of the neuter pronoun
Ex: The dog chased its tail.

Question 13

Months

Answer 13

Capitalize the names in all uses.
When a month is used with a specific date, abbrev. only
Ex: Jan., Feb. etc.
Spell out the months with five letters or less
Ex: March, April, May, June & July.
Spell out all months when using alone or with a year alone.
Ex: The class ended in December. He was born in August 1980.
(No comma btw the month and year if a specific date isn’t used.)

Question 14

Numerals

Answer 14

Spell out one trough nine; 10 and higher use numerals.
Ex: Since graduating high school three years ago, Susan has had 12 jobs.
Use numerals for sports scores, percentages, court decisions, ratios, weights & million or billion.
Ex: (A 4-3 win) (a 3 percent pay) etc.
Avoid starting a sentence with a numeral since it will need to be spelled out. If it is possible rewrite the sentence.
Ex: Last year 993 freshman entered the college.

Question 15

Over

Answer 15

It generally refers to spatial relationships
Ex: The plane flew over the city

It is also acceptable when referring to quantity
Ex: Their salaries increased over $20 a week. Their salaries increased more than $20 a week.

Question 16

Percent

Answer 16

One word.
It takes a singular verb when standing alone or when a singular word follows an of construction.
Ex: The teacher said 60 percent was a failing grade. He said 50 percent of the membership was there.
+ ex: 1 percent, 2.5 percent (decimals no fractions,) 10 percent.
For amounts less than 1 percent, precede the decimal with a zero
Ex: .06 percent
Repeat percent with each individual figure
Ex: He said 10 percent to 30 percent of the electorate may not vote.

Question 17

Quote Marks

Answer 17

Use quote marks for exact, word-for-word comments.
Put a comma inside the ending quote marks.
Ex: “CSUN is a great place to learn,” said Stephanie Bluestein, journalism professor.

Question 18

Seasons

Answer 18

Lowercase
Ex: spring, summer, fall, winter, springtime, summertime etc.
Unless part of a formal name
Ex: Dartmouth Winter Carnival, Winter Olympics etc.
Capitalize seasons when the exact year is included.
Ex: Fall 2014 semester

Question 19

Series of three or more

Answer 19

Do not use a comma before the word “and” when listing a series of three or more things
Ex: The flag was red, white and blue. She has lived in many communities, including Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Canoga Park and Reseda.

Question 20

Spacing

Answer 20

Use only one space between sentences.

Question 21

Titles

Answer 21

Capitalize formal titles used directly before a person’s name.
Ex: use courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss) only in direct quotations

Otherwise, simply use the person’s first and last name on first reference. On second reference, use only their last name.
Ex: Wrong: Mrs. Sally Smith is a Beatles fan. (on first reference)
Right: Sally Smith is a Beatles fan. (on first reference)
Wrong: Mrs. Smith has loved the group for a long time (on second reference)
Right: Smith has loved the group for a long time. (on second reference)

Question 22

to

Answer 22

Use to between two dates, time or numerals
Ex: 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 hyphen to separate dates, times or numerals.)

Question 23

that, which (pronouns)

Answer 23

Use that and which in referring to inanimate objects and to animals w/o a name.
Use that for essential clauses, important to the meaning of the sentence and w/o commas
Ex: I remember the day that we met.
Use which for nonessential clauses, where pronoun is less necessary and use commas.
Ex: The dog, which had strong legs, was a natural jumper.

Question 24

Who

Answer 24

Who is the pronoun used for references to human beings and to animals with a name. It is grammatically the subject and never the object of a sentence, clause or phrase
Ex: The woman who rented the apartment moved out w/o notifying the owner. Who is there?

Question 25

Whom

Answer 25

Whom is used when someone is the object of the verb or preposition.
Ex: The woman to whom the apartment was rented moved out without notifying the owner. Whom do you wish to see?