Abbreviations (states, u.s. and streets, Television)
Spell out names of states in articles.
When using United States as a noun, spell it out.
When using it as an adjective, use U.S. The U.S. lawmakers reacted to the news.
Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd. St. in addresses.
When using United States as a noun, spell it out.
When using it as an adjective, use U.S. The U.S. lawmakers reacted to the news.
Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd. St. in addresses.
Capitalization (headlines, grade levels, internet, web, fall break, directionals)
Use sentence style capitalization for headlines. Flannel shirts and boys in skirts
Unless it is at the beginning of a sentence, a student’s grade level is never capitalized:
freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.
Do not capitalize internet or web.
Do not capitalize seasons or season breaks: fall break, winter break, spring break
Lowercase north, south, east, west when indicating compass direction, but capitalize when designating regions.
Compass: He drove west and the cold front is moving east. She flew north to see her mother.
Capitalized Region: A storm system that developed in the Mideast is spreading eastward.
She is a Southerner. He is a Northerner.
Unless it is at the beginning of a sentence, a student’s grade level is never capitalized:
freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.
Do not capitalize internet or web.
Do not capitalize seasons or season breaks: fall break, winter break, spring break
Lowercase north, south, east, west when indicating compass direction, but capitalize when designating regions.
Compass: He drove west and the cold front is moving east. She flew north to see her mother.
Capitalized Region: A storm system that developed in the Mideast is spreading eastward.
She is a Southerner. He is a Northerner.
Dates and time
Spell out the month unless it is used with a date.
When used with a date, abbreviate only the following months: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Do NOT abbreviate March, April, May, June or July
Do not use “on” in front of the date:
The meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 4, 2005.
Use specific dates. Do not use yesterday, tomorrow, next week.
List event information in the
format of time (3 p.m.), date (Friday,
October 12), and place (in the cafeteria).
Commas are not necessary if only a year and month are given, but commas should be used to set off a year if the date, month and year are given.
Capitalize Midnight and Noon
Use periods for a.m. and p.m. 4 p.m., 8-11 p.m., 2 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Use the letter s but not an apostrophe after the figures when expressing decades or centuries. Do, however, use an apostrophe before figures expressing a decade if numerals are left out. Examples: Classes begin Aug. 25. Purdue University was founded May 6, 1869. The semester begins in January. The 1800s. The ’90s.
When used with a date, abbreviate only the following months: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Do NOT abbreviate March, April, May, June or July
Do not use “on” in front of the date:
The meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 4, 2005.
Use specific dates. Do not use yesterday, tomorrow, next week.
List event information in the
format of time (3 p.m.), date (Friday,
October 12), and place (in the cafeteria).
Commas are not necessary if only a year and month are given, but commas should be used to set off a year if the date, month and year are given.
Capitalize Midnight and Noon
Use periods for a.m. and p.m. 4 p.m., 8-11 p.m., 2 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Use the letter s but not an apostrophe after the figures when expressing decades or centuries. Do, however, use an apostrophe before figures expressing a decade if numerals are left out. Examples: Classes begin Aug. 25. Purdue University was founded May 6, 1869. The semester begins in January. The 1800s. The ’90s.
Grammar/Punctuation
Do not use serial commas (no comma before and in a series) unless needed for clarity. On boy day, students come to school in khakis, polos and other iconic men’s clothing.
Use a single space after a period.
Use sentence style capitalization for headlines. Flannel shirts and boys in skirts
Do not indent paragraphs. Keep all text aligned with the left margin.
Spacing: Single space your work so it can be copied and pasted more easily. Double-space between paragraphs.
Commas and periods go within quotation marks. Example: “I did nothing wrong,” he said. She said, “Let’s go to the Purdue game.”
Use a single space after a period.
Use sentence style capitalization for headlines. Flannel shirts and boys in skirts
Do not indent paragraphs. Keep all text aligned with the left margin.
Spacing: Single space your work so it can be copied and pasted more easily. Double-space between paragraphs.
Commas and periods go within quotation marks. Example: “I did nothing wrong,” he said. She said, “Let’s go to the Purdue game.”
Names (of people)
AUse name (grade) for current students
Jane Doe (11) on the first use, use last name only for the rest of the mentions in the article.
Use name (‘graduation year) for alumnae Jane Doe (‘17) and last name only for the rest of the mentions in the article.
Use first and last names for the first mention. Every mention after the first should be last name only, unless there is confusion because of two people in the article with the same name.
For accurate names and titles of faculty and staff, go to https://www.stmarysschool.org/about-st-marys/fast
Jane Doe (11) on the first use, use last name only for the rest of the mentions in the article.
Use name (‘graduation year) for alumnae Jane Doe (‘17) and last name only for the rest of the mentions in the article.
Use first and last names for the first mention. Every mention after the first should be last name only, unless there is confusion because of two people in the article with the same name.
For accurate names and titles of faculty and staff, go to https://www.stmarysschool.org/about-st-marys/fast
Numbers
In general, spell out numbers one through nine, and use figures for numbers 10 and higher. There are many exceptions that always take figures.
Always use figures for ages. The girl is 15 years old; the law is 8 years old; the 101-year-old house. When the context does not require years or years old, the figure is presumed to be years.
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 boy, 7, has a sister, 10. The woman, 26, has a daughter 2 months old. The race is for 3-year-olds. The woman is in her 30s (no apostrophe).
When referring to money, use numerals. For cents or amounts of $1 million or more, spell the words cents, million, billion, trillion etc. Examples: $26.52, $100,200, $8 million, 6 cents.
Spell out grades: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth.
Never begin a sentence with a figure, except sentences that begin with a year.
For ordinal numbers, spell out first through ninth and use figures for 10th and above when describing order in time or location. Examples: second base, 10th in a row.
Some ordinal numbers, such as those indicating political or geographic order, should use figures in all cases. Examples: 3rd District Court, 9th ward.
Always use figures for ages. The girl is 15 years old; the law is 8 years old; the 101-year-old house. When the context does not require years or years old, the figure is presumed to be years.
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 boy, 7, has a sister, 10. The woman, 26, has a daughter 2 months old. The race is for 3-year-olds. The woman is in her 30s (no apostrophe).
When referring to money, use numerals. For cents or amounts of $1 million or more, spell the words cents, million, billion, trillion etc. Examples: $26.52, $100,200, $8 million, 6 cents.
Spell out grades: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth.
Never begin a sentence with a figure, except sentences that begin with a year.
For ordinal numbers, spell out first through ninth and use figures for 10th and above when describing order in time or location. Examples: second base, 10th in a row.
Some ordinal numbers, such as those indicating political or geographic order, should use figures in all cases. Examples: 3rd District Court, 9th ward.
headlines
AP style capitalizes the first word and proper names/proper nouns and lowercases everything else.
