3. First published in 1953 (62 pages)
Presentation of the printed word should be accurate, consistent, pleasing to the eye and should
conform to grammatical rules
In 1977, morphed into more of a reference work (400 pages)
2000 edition included a new section on “Internet Guidelines,” defining
terms such as byte, chat room
2011 (480 pages)
More than two million copies have been sold
4. Use only if the reader would quickly recognize.
If an abbreviation or acronym is common enough to be used publicly, the
abbreviation or acronym can be used on second reference. Do not put an
unfamiliar abbreviation or acronym in parentheses after the first reference. If
an abbreviation or acronym would not be clear on second reference without
this arrangement, do not use it.
Many specific abbreviations/acronyms are entries.
Abbreviations
Abbreviate titles when used before a full name
Abbreviate junior/senior after a name (no comma)
Abbreviate months if used with a specific date
Abbreviate degrees only if listing credentials after a name (use a comma)
Abbreviate states if used with a city (use stylebook abbreviations, not
Postal Service)
Abbreviate company, corporation, incorporated and limited when used
after the name of a corporate entity
5. Always use figures for an address number
Ave., Blvd., St.
Abbreviate only with a numbered address
Spell out and capitalize when part of a street name without a number
All similar words (alley, drive, road, terrace, etc.)
Always are spelled out.
Capitalize when part of a formal name without a number
Lowercase when used alone or with two or more names.
First through Ninth
Spell out and capitalize when used as street names
Use figures with two letters for 10th and above
Abbreviate compass points used to indicate directional ends of a street
Use periods in the abbreviation P.O. for P.O. Box numbers.
6. Omitted letters
It’s February
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Omitted figures
I graduated in ’98
7. Singular nouns
Add ‘s unless the next word begins with S (the witness’s answer, the witness’ story)
Plural nouns
Ending in S: Add only an apostrophe (the girls’ toys)
Not ending in S: Add ‘s (the boy’s snacks)
Joint possession
If possession is joint: Use a possessive form after only the last word (Ben and Dan’s house)
If objects are individually owned: Use a possessive form after both words (Ben’s and Dan’s books)
Singular proper names ending in S:
For those that end in S, use only an apostrophe (Kansas’ schools)
Nouns the same in singular and plural
Treat them as plurals (two deer’s tracks)
Compound words
Add an apostrophe or ‘s to the word closest to the object possessed (the attorney general’s request)
Special expressions
For appearance’ sake
For conscience’ sake
For goodness’ sake
Use ‘s otherwise (my conscience’s voice)
8. Made with two hyphens.
Put a space on both sides of a dash.
Uses
To denote an abrupt change in thought or a pause
To set off a series within a phrase
Before an author’s name at the end of a quotation
In datelines
To introduce individual sections of a list
The first word following the dash should be capitalized
Use periods at the end of each section
9. Days
Capitalize
Abbreviate only in tabular form
Months
Capitalize
When used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept.,
Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Spell out when using alone or with a year (no comma)
In tabular material, use three-letter forms without a period for all months
Years
Use figures, without commas
To indicate spans of decades or centuries, use “s” without an apostrophe
(ex: the 1990s, the 1900s)
Use a numeral even to start a sentence
10. Both provide information about a word/phrase in the sentence.
Essential clauses
Cannot be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence
Essential clauses are not set off by commas.
Ex: The man who saved my life is a retired teacher.
“That” is the preferred pronoun to introduce essential clauses (for
inanimate objects)
Nonessential clauses
Can be eliminated without altering the basic meaning of the
sentence
Nonessential clauses are set off by commas.
Ex: The tree, which was old, fell down during the storm.
“Which” is the appropriate pronoun (for inanimate objects)
Tip: If you can drop the clause and not lose the meaning of the sentence, use which; otherwise,
use that. A which clause is surrounded by commas; no commas are used with that clauses.
11. Join words.
Made with no space on either side.
The fewer the better.
Uses
Compound modifiers (before a noun)
Two-thought compounds
Compound proper nouns & adjectives
To avoid duplicated vowels
With numerals (odds, ratios, scores, fractions)
Suspensive hyphenation
12. Accept, except
Affect, effect
Among, between
Fewer, less
People, persons
Principal, principle
Good, well
In, into
Like, as
13. Generally spell out numbers below 10 and use numerals for 10 and above.
Spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence (years are an exception).
Ages
Always use numerals when referring to people
Hyphenate when used as an adjective or a noun
Money
Use numerals most of the time
Use the $ with dollars, but spell out cents with amounts less than $1
Spell out dollar or dollars in a casual reference
With amounts larger than $999,999, use a figure and the words million, billion,
trillion: $4.38 billion, $1 trillion.
Numbers between 1,000 and 999,999
Use commas
Numbers of a million or more
Most of the time, use only the first few digits (rarely more than two decimal
places) followed by million, billion or trillion
14. Mostly used for direct quotations.
Running quotations
If a quotation continues through a new paragraph, do not put close-quote marks at the
end of the first paragraph. Do, however, put open-quote marks at the start of the second
paragraph. Use close-quote marks only at the end of the quoted material.
Unfamiliar terms
Words being introduced may be placed in quotation marks on first reference only.
Quotes within quotes
Alternate between double quotation marks (“or”) and single quotation marks (‘or’).
Placement with other punctuation
The period and comma always go within quotation marks
The dash, semicolon, question mark and exclamation point go within the question marks
when they apply to the quoted matter only. Put outside when applied to the whole
sentence.
15. Check in (v.), check-in (n.)
E-book, e-reader, email
Friend, follow, like
Google, Googling, Googled
IM
Internet
Retweet
Smartphone
Text messaging/instant messaging
Unfollow, unfriend
Website, the Web
16. Times
Use figures except for noon and midnight
Use a colon to separate hours from minutes
Avoid redundancies (10 a.m. this morning)
Time of day
The exact time of day an event happened is generally not necessary
Time zones
Use the clock time in force where the event happened or will take place
Spell out in references not accompanied by a clock reading
Only include if the story is nationwide or involves travel or broadcast
programs
Abbreviations are acceptable on first reference within the continental
United States if linked to a clock reading
17. In general, confine capitalization to formal titles used
directly before an individual’s name.
Lowercase and spell out titles not used with an individual’s
name, and when titles are set off from a name by commas.
Formal titles vs. occupational titles:
Formal titles denote authority, academic degree
(capitalize before a name)
Other titles are occupational descriptions (do not
capitalize before a name)
If there is doubt about the status of a title, use a construction
that sets the name or the title off with commas.
18. Who:
Human beings
Animals with a name
The subject of a sentence—not object
The woman who rented the room…
Whom:
When someone is the object
The woman to whom the room was rented…
19. The first reference for spelling, style, usage and
foreign geographic names is Webster's New
World College Dictionary
www.yourdictionary.com