AP quiz 4

Newspaper Names

newspaper names Capitalize the in a newspaper's name if that is the way the publication prefers to be known. Do not place name in quotes. Lowercase the before newspaper names if a story mentions several papers, some of which use the as part of the name and some of which do not. Where location is needed but is not part of the official name, use parentheses: The Huntsville (Alabama) Times.

Noon

noon Do not put a 12 in front of it. See midnight and times.

Numerals

numerals In general, spell out one through nine: The Yankees finished second. He had nine months to go. Use figures for 10 or above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events or things. Also in all tabular matter, and in statistical and sequential forms. Use figures for: ACADEMIC COURSE NUMBERS: History 6, Philosophy 209. ADDRESSES: 210 Main St. Spell out numbered streets nine and under: 5 Sixth Ave.; 3012 50th St.; No. 10 Downing St. Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd. and St. only with a numbered address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Spell them out and capitalize without a number: Pennsylvania Avenue. See addresses. AGES: a 6-year-old girl; an 8-year-old law; the 7-year-old house. Use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun. A 5-year-old boy, but the boy is 5 years old. The boy, 5, has a sister, 10. The race is for 3-year-olds. The woman is in her 30s. 30-something, but Thirty-something to start a sentence. See ages. PLANES, SHIPS AND SPACECRAFT DESIGNATIONS: B-2 bomber, Queen Elizabeth 2, QE2, Apollo 9, Viking 2 An exception: Air Force One, the president's plane. Use Roman numerals if they are part of the official designation: Titan I, Titan II. See aircraft names; boats, ships; spacecraft designations. CENTURIES: Use figures for numbers 10 or higher: 21st century. Spell out for numbers nine and lower: fifth century. (Note lowercase.) For proper names, follow the organization's usage: 20th Century Fox, Twentieth Century Fund. COURT DECISIONS: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4, a 5-4 decision. The word to is not needed, except in quotations: "The court ruled 5 to 4." - Court districts: 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. DATES, YEARS AND DECADES: Feb. 8, 2007, Class of '66, the 1950s. For the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 9/11 is acceptable in all references. (Note comma to set off the year when the phrase refers to a month, date and year.) DECIMALS, PERCENTAGES AND FRACTIONS WITH NUMBERS LARGER THAN 1: 7.2 magnitude quake, 3 1/2 laps, 3.7 percent interest, 4 percentage points. Decimalization should not exceed two places in most text material. Exceptions: blood alcohol content, expressed in three decimals: as in 0.056, and batting averages in baseball, as in .324. For amounts less than 1, precede the decimal with a zero: The cost of living rose 0.03 percent. Spell out fractions less than 1, using hyphens between the words: two-thirds, four-fifths. In quotations, use figures for fractions: "He was 2 1/2 laps behind with four to go." See decimal units; fractions; percent. DIMENSIONS, TO INDICATE DEPTH, HEIGHT, LENGTH AND WIDTH: He is 5 feet 6 inches tall, the 5-foot-6 man ("inch" is understood), the 5-foot man, the basketball team signed a 7-footer. The car is 17 feet long, 6 feet wide and 5 feet high. The rug is 9 feet by 12 feet, the 9-by-12 rug. A 9-inch snowfall. Exception: two-by-four. Spell out the noun, which refers to any length of untrimmed lumber approximately 2 inches thick by 4 inches wide. See dimensions. DISTANCES: He walked 4 miles. He missed a 3-foot putt. GOLF CLUBS: 3-wood, 7-iron, 3-hybrid (note hyphen). HIGHWAY DESIGNATIONS: Interstate 5, U.S. Highway 1, state Route 1A. (Do not abbreviate Route. No hyphen between highway designation and number.) See highway designations. MATHEMATICAL USAGE: Multiply by 4, divide by 6. He added 2 and 2 but got 5. MILITARY RANKS, USED AS TITLES WITH NAMES, MILITARY TERMS AND WEAPONS: Petty Officer 2nd Class Alan Markow, Spc. Alice Moreno, 1st Sgt. David Triplett, M16 rifle, 9 mm (note space) pistol, 6th Fleet. In military ranks, spell out the figure when it is used after the name or without a name: Smith was a second lieutenant. The goal is to make first sergeant. See military units. MILLIONS, BILLIONS, TRILLIONS: Use a figure-word combination. 1 million people; $2 billion, NOT one million/two billion. (Also note no hyphen linking numerals and the word million, billion or trillion.) See millions, billions, trillions; dollars. MONETARY UNITS: 5 cents, $5 bill, 8 euros, 4 pounds. See cents. ODDS, PROPORTIONS AND RATIOS: 9-1 long shot; 3 parts cement to 1 part water; a 1-4 chance, but one chance in three. See betting odds; proportions; ratios. RANK: He was my No. 1 choice. (Note abbreviation for "Number"). Kentucky was ranked No. 3. The band had five Top 40 hits. SCHOOL GRADES: Use figures for grades 10 and above: 10th grade. Spell out for first through ninth grades: fourth grade, fifth-grader (note hyphen). SEQUENTIAL DESIGNATIONS: Page 1, Page 20A. They were out of sizes 4 and 5; magnitude 6 earthquake; Rooms 3 and 4; Chapter 2; line 1 but first line; Act 3, Scene 4, but third act, fourth scene; Game 1, but best of seven. See act numbers; chapters; earthquakes; line numbers; page numbers; scene numbers. POLITICAL DISTRICTS: Ward 9, 9th Precinct, 3rd Congressional District. See congressional districts; political divisions. - Recipes: 2 tablespoons of sugar to 1 cup of milk. See recipes. SPEEDS: 7 mph, winds of 5 to 10 mph, winds of 7 to 9 knots. SPORTS SCORES, STANDINGS AND STANDARDS: The Dodgers defeated the Phillies 10-3 (No comma between the team and the score); in golf, 3 up, but a 3-up lead; led 3-2; a 6-1-2 record (six wins, one loss, two ties); par 3; 5 handicap, 5-under-par 67 but he was 5 under par (or 5 under, with "par" understood). In narrative, spell out nine and under except for yard lines in football and individual and team statistical performances: The ball was on the 5-yard line. Seventh hole. In basketball, 3-point play and 3-point shot. In statistical performances, hyphenate as a modifier: He completed 8 of 12 passes. He made 5 of 6 (shots is understood). He was 5-for-12 passing. He had a 3-for-5 day. He was 3-for-5. He went 3-for-5 (batting, shooting, etc., is understood). TEMPERATURES: Use figures, except zero. It was 8 degrees below zero or minus 8. The temperature dropped from 38 to 8 in two hours. See temperatures. TIMES: Use figures for time of day except for noon and midnight: 1 p.m., 10:30 a.m., 5 o'clock, 8 hours, 30 minutes, 20 seconds, a winning time of 2:17:3 (2 hours, 17 minutes, 3 seconds). Spell out numbers less than 10 standing alone and in modifiers: I'll be there in five minutes. He scored with two seconds left. An eight-hour day. The two-minute warning. See times; time sequences. VOTES: The bill was defeated by a vote of 6 to 4, but by a two-vote margin. Spell out: AT THE START OF A SENTENCE: Forty years was a long time to wait. Fifteen to 20 cars were involved in the accident. The only exception is years: 1992 was a very good year. See years. IN INDEFINITE AND CASUAL USES: Thanks a million. He walked a quarter of a mile. One at a time; a thousand clowns; one day we will know; an eleventh-hour decision; dollar store; a hundred dollars. IN FANCIFUL USAGE OR PROPER NAMES: Chicago Seven, Fab Four, Big Three automakers, Final Four, the Four Tops. IN FORMAL LANGUAGE, RHETORICAL QUOTATIONS AND FIGURES OF SPEECH: "Fourscore and seven years ago ..." Twelve Apostles, Ten Commandments, high-five, Day One. IN FRACTIONS LESS THAN ONE THAT ARE NOT USED AS MODIFIERS: reduced by one-third, he made three-fourths of his shots. ROMAN NUMERALS They may be used for wars and to establish personal sequence for people and animals: World War I, Native Dancer II, King George V. Also for certain legislative acts (Title IX). Otherwise, use sparingly. Except in formal reference, pro football Super Bowls should be identified by the year, rather than the Roman numerals: 1969 Super Bowl, not Super Bowl III. ORDINALS Numbers used to indicate order (first, second, 10th, 25th, etc.) are called ordinal numbers. Spell out first through ninth: fourth grade, first base, the First Amendment, he was first in line. Use figures starting with 10th. CARDINAL NUMBERS Numbers used in counting or showing how many (2, 40, 627, etc.) are called cardinal numbers. The following separate entries provide additional guidance for cardinal numbers: amendments to the Constitution channel court names decades election returns fleet formula latitude and longitude mile parallels proportions serial numbers telephone numbers weights SOME OTHER PUNCTUATION AND USAGE EXAMPLES: - 3 ounces - 4-foot-long - 4-foot fence - "The president's speech lasted 28 1/2 minutes," she said. - DC-10 but 747B - the 1980s, the '80s - the House voted 230-205 (fewer than 1,000 votes) - Jimmy Carter outpolled Gerald Ford 40,827,292 to 39,146,157 (more than 1,000 votes) - Carter outpolled Ford 10 votes to 2 votes in Little Junction (to avoid confusion with ratio) - No. 3 choice, but Public School 3 - a pay increase of 12-15 percent. Or: a pay increase of between 12 and 15 percent But: from $12 million to $14 million - a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-1 ratio - 1 in 4 voters - seven houses 7 miles apart - He walked 4 miles. - minus 10, zero, 60 degrees (spell out minus) OTHER USES: For uses not covered by these listings, spell out whole numbers below 10, and use figures for 10 and above: They had three sons and two daughters. They had a fleet of 10 station wagons and two buses. IN A SERIES: Apply the standard guidelines: They had 10 dogs, six cats and 97 hamsters. They had four four-room houses, 10 three-room houses and 12 10-room houses.

Off of

off of The of is unnecessary: He fell off the bed. Not: He fell off of the bed.

On

on Do not use on before a date or day of the week when its absence would not lead to confusion, except at the beginning of a sentence: The meeting will be held Monday. He will be inaugurated Jan. 20. On Sept. 3, the committee will meet to discuss the issue. Use on to avoid an awkward juxtaposition of a date and a proper name: John met Mary on Monday. He told Reagan on Thursday that the bill was doomed. Use on also to avoid any suggestion that a date is the object of a transitive verb: The House killed on Tuesday a bid to raise taxes. The Senate postponed on Wednesday its consideration of a bill to reduce import duties.

Over

over Acceptable in all uses to indicate greater numerical value. The crop was valued at over $5 billion. See more than, over.

Page Numbers

page numbers Use figures and capitalize page when used with a figure. When a letter is appended to the figure, capitalize it but do not use a hyphen: Page 1, Page 10, Page 20A. See numerals.

Percent

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 for percent and percentages: 1 percent, 2.5 percent (use decimals, not fractions), 10 percent, 4 percentage points. For a range, 12 to 15 percent, or between 12 and 15 percent. For amounts less than 1 percent, precede the decimal with a zero: The cost of living rose 0.6 percent. See numerals.

Possessives

possessives Follow these guidelines: PLURAL NOUNS NOT ENDING IN S: Add 's: the alumni's contributions, women's rights. PLURAL NOUNS ENDING IN S: Add only an apostrophe: the churches' needs, the girls' toys, the horses' food, the ships' wake, states' rights, the VIPs' entrance. NOUNS PLURAL IN FORM, SINGULAR IN MEANING: Add only an apostrophe: mathematics' rules, measles' effects. (But see INANIMATE OBJECTS below.) Apply the same principle when a plural word occurs in the formal name of a singular entity: General Motors' profits, the United States' wealth. NOUNS THE SAME IN SINGULAR AND PLURAL: Treat them the same as plurals, even if the meaning is singular: one corps' location, the two deer's tracks, the lone moose's antlers. SINGULAR NOUNS NOT ENDING IN S: Add 's: the church's needs, the girl's toys, the horse's food, the ship's route, the VIP's seat. Some style guides say that singular nouns ending in s sounds such as ce, x, and z may take either the apostrophe alone or 's. See SPECIAL EXPRESSIONS, but otherwise, for consistency and ease in remembering a rule, always use 's if the word does not end in the letter s: Butz's policies, the fox's den, the justice's verdict, Marx's theories, the prince's life, Xerox's profits. SINGULAR COMMON NOUNS ENDING IN S: Add 's unless the next word begins with s: the hostess's invitation, the hostess' seat; the witness's answer, the witness' story. SINGULAR PROPER NAMES ENDING IN S: Use only an apostrophe: Achilles' heel, Agnes' book, Ceres' rites, Descartes' theories, Dickens' novels, Euripides' dramas, Hercules' labors, Jesus' life, Jules' seat, Kansas' schools, Moses' law, Socrates' life, Tennessee Williams' plays, Xerxes' armies. SPECIAL EXPRESSIONS: The following exceptions to the general rule for words not ending in s apply to words that end in an s sound and are followed by a word that begins with s: for appearance' sake, for conscience' sake, for goodness' sake. Use 's otherwise: the appearance's cost, my conscience's voice. PRONOUNS: Personal interrogative and relative pronouns have separate forms for the possessive. None involve an apostrophe: mine, ours, your, yours, his, hers, its, theirs, whose. Caution: If you are using an apostrophe with a pronoun, always double-check to be sure that the meaning calls for a contraction: you're, it's, there's, who's. Follow the rules listed above in forming the possessives of other pronouns: another's idea, others' plans, someone's guess. COMPOUND WORDS: Applying the rules above, add an apostrophe or 's to the word closest to the object possessed: the major general's decision, the major generals' decisions, the attorney general's request, the attorneys general's request. See the plurals entry for guidelines on forming the plurals of these words. Also: anyone else's attitude, John Adams Jr.'s father, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania's motion. Whenever practical, however, recast the phrase to avoid ambiguity: the motion by Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. JOINT POSSESSION, INDIVIDUAL POSSESSION: Use a possessive form after only the last word if ownership is joint: Fred and Sylvia's apartment, Fred and Sylvia's stocks. Use a possessive form after both words if the objects are individually owned: Fred's and Sylvia's books. DESCRIPTIVE PHRASES: Do not add an apostrophe to a word ending in s when it is used primarily in a descriptive sense: citizens band radio, a Cincinnati Reds infielder, a teachers college, a Teamsters request, a writers guide. Memory aid: The apostrophe usually is not used if for or by rather than of would be appropriate in the longer form: a radio band for citizens, a college for teachers, a guide for writers, a request by the Teamsters. An 's is required, however, when a term involves a plural word that does not end in s: a children's hospital, a people's republic, the Young Men's Christian Association. DESCRIPTIVE NAMES: Some governmental, corporate and institutional organizations with a descriptive word in their names use an apostrophe; some do not. Follow the user's practice: Actors' Equity, Diners Club, Ladies' Home Journal, the National Governors Association. QUASI POSSESSIVES: Follow the rules above in composing the possessive form of words that occur in such phrases as a day's pay, two weeks' vacation, three days' work, your money's worth. Frequently, however, a hyphenated form is clearer: a two-week vacation, a three-day job. DOUBLE POSSESSIVE: Two conditions must apply for a double possessive - a phrase such as a friend of John's - to occur: 1. The word after of must refer to an animate object, and 2. The word before of must involve only a portion of the animate object's possessions. Otherwise, do not use the possessive form of the word after of: The friends of John Adams mourned his death. (All the friends were involved.) He is a friend of the college. (Not college's, because college is inanimate.) Memory aid: This construction occurs most often, and quite naturally, with the possessive forms of personal pronouns: He is a friend of mine. INANIMATE OBJECTS: There is no blanket rule against creating a possessive form for an inanimate object, particularly if the object is treated in a personified sense. See some of the earlier examples, and note these: death's call, the wind's murmur. In general, however, avoid excessive personalization of inanimate objects, and give preference to an of construction when it fits the makeup of the sentence. For example, the earlier references to mathematics' rules and measles' effects would better be phrased: the rules of mathematics, the effects of measles.

Ranges

ranges The form: $12 million to $14 million. Not: $12 to $14 million. Also: A pay increase of 12-15 percent. Or: A pay increase of between 12 and 15 percent. For full calendar years, hyphenated 2015-16 is acceptable.

Ratios

ratios Use figures and hyphens: the ratio was 2-to-1, a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-1 ratio, 1 in 4 voters. As illustrated, the word to should be omitted when the numbers precede the word ratio. Always use the word ratio or a phrase such as a 2-1 majority to avoid confusion with actual figures. See numerals.

Room Numbers

room numbers Use figures and capitalize room when used with a figure: Room 2, Room 211.

No.

No. Use as the abbreviation for number in conjunction with a figure to indicate position or rank: No. 1 man, No. 3 choice. Do not use in street addresses, with this exception: No. 10 Downing St., the residence of Britain's prime minister. Do not use in the names of schools: Public School 19. See numerals.

Millions, billions

millions, billions, trillions Use figures with million, billion or trillion in all except casual uses: I'd like to make a billion dollars. But: The nation has 1 million citizens. I need $7 billion. The government ran a deficit of more than $1 trillion. Do not go beyond two decimal places. 7.51 million people, $256 billion, 7,542,500 people, $2,565,750,000. Decimals are preferred where practical: 1.5 million. Not: 1 1/2 million. Do not mix millions and billions in the same figure: 2.6 billion. Not: 2 billion 600 million. Do not drop the word million or billion in the first figure of a range: He is worth from $2 million to $4 million. Not: $2 to $4 million, unless you really mean $2. Note that a hyphen is not used to join the figures and the word million or billion, even in this type of phrase: The president submitted a $300 billion budget. In headlines, abbreviate only millions, billions: $5M lawsuit, $17.4B trade deficit

Minus sign

minus sign Use a hyphen, not a dash, but use the word minus if there is any danger of confusion. Use a word, not a minus sign, to indicate temperatures below zero: minus 10 or 5 below zero.

Months

months Capitalize the names of months in all uses. When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Spell out when using alone, or with a year alone. When a phrase lists only a month and a year, do not separate the year with commas. When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with commas. EXAMPLES: January 1972 was a cold month. Jan. 2 was the coldest day of the month. His birthday is May 8. Feb. 14, 1987, was the target date. She testified that it was Friday, Dec. 3, when the accident occurred. In tabular material, use these three-letter forms without a period: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.

Names

names In general, use only last names on second reference, unless an individual requests otherwise for a legitimate reason. For example, a public name rather than a real name may be used for a political dissident, or a nom de guerre for a rebel leader, if the person's safety is an issue. See Arabic names, Chinese names, Korean names, Russian names and Spanish names. When it is necessary to distinguish between two people who use the same last name, as in married couples or brothers and sisters, generally use the first and last name. See courtesy titles.