"The Basics" Flashcards
Academic Degrees
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.
Academic Departments
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!
Addresses
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
Affect
Affect, as a verb means to influence
Ex: The game will affect the standings
Affect as a noun, is best avoided.
Effect
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.
Ages
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)
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
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.
California
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
Died
use died, not passed away
held
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.
it’s, its
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.
Months
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.)
Numerals
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.
Over
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.
Percent
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.
Quote Marks
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.
Seasons
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
Series of three or more
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.
Spacing
Use only one space between sentences.
Titles
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)
to
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.)
that, which (pronouns)
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.
Who
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?
