Ten ways to use hyphens with numbers cathleen townsend. Abovereferenced is a phrasal adjective also called a compound modifier that describes the noun matter. Ap style guidelines for hyphen usage gatehouse newsroom. For example, hes a highprofile actor but he maintains a high profile. Rule 4 of our hyphens section says, generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea. Use a hyphen to divide words at the end of a line if necessary, and make the break only between syllables. That is, when the adjectival phrase 12yearold comes before the noun it modifies child, it is hyphenated, and it is unhyphenated when it comes after the noun it modifies. Ap style dictates specific comma placement in a series and with dialogue, dates, numbers. This is the standard practice for phrasal adjectives of all kinds, not just those relating to age. Ap style is simply a standardized way of writing everything from dates to street addresses to job titles. First, its important to note that, in the first example, threeyearold should not be thought of as an adjective, as implied by the. The 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law includes more than 200 new or revised entries, with chapters covering data journalism, business, fashion, food, religion and sports terms, as well as media law, news values, punctuation, social media, polls and surveys and a new chapter on health. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. How to format numbers in associated press style pen and.
The basics of associated press style knowing ap style is an important part of newswriting and copyediting. The guidelines help writers present clear and concise information with consistent structure to keep readers focused. This is called a compound adjective or compound modifier. This is a complex topic, with many exceptions, and there is no consistency we can rely on among blogs, books, newspapers, and magazines. Jul, 2019 one of the first things a student in a beginning journalism course learns about is associated press style or ap style for short. Where the description follows the noun, you wont need the hyphens.
On the other hand, ap stylebook says for ages, always use figures. Todays style change puts things back the way they were before the illadvised change a couple of years ago that had us spelling out one to nine for inanimates and using figures in all other uses. The software is capable of checking over 250 spelling and grammar errors. Book design basics use hyphens for justified type the worlds greatest book posted on august 2, 2014 by dave bricker august 3, 2014 h yphens are an important contributor to elegant, easytoread typography, especially when text is fully justified as is the convention in book typography. Aug 01, 2018 the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law official style guide of the associated press, a notforprofit news agency thats been around since 1846.
How to use commas in associated press style pen and the pad. The ap stylebook traces its roots to 1953, when we published what we. Here is a sampling of frequently asked questions, with examples of ap style used in. Notice that dates take cardinal numbers, not ordinal numbers dont use 4th. Writing numbers grammar blog the blue book of grammar. Hyphens join words together and should be used to help form a single idea from two words or avoid ambiguity in your writing. Answers to questions about hyphens in references to age. Hyphenation at the ends of lines gives print formatting a polished, professional look, and it can reduce page count, both positives for selfpublishing writers. Threeyearold, fortyyearold woman, and eightyoneyearold man are all hyphenated, according to chicago manual of style.
If a word has the same spelling but different meanings, it might be prudent to use a hyphen after the prefix to differentiate them. The ap stylebook says to make reference of age when it is deemed relevant to the. In most cases, the apa style dictates that there is no hyphen after the prefix. The more you use the book, the more youll start to memorize certain points of ap style. Use hyphens when the measurement becomes a compound modifier. In those instances where years or years old are not required, the figure is presumed. Rules for writing numbers the blue book of grammar and. Instead, ap style uses the en dash for this use, and puts one space before and after it. Associated press style basics journalists resource. Chicago style is to use the word for ages 100 and lower, and ap style is to.
The associated press stylebook at uams the university of arkansas for medical sciences uams has adopted the associated press ap guidelines for grammar, punctuation and writing style. When following ap style, numbers zero through nine are typically written in word form, while numbers 10 and above are written as cardinal numbers. Aug 17, 2017 hyphens join words together and should be used to help form a single idea from two words or avoid ambiguity in your writing. When the age is used as an adjective followed by a noun, hyphenate. Sep 18, 2016 pick up almost any traditionally published book, however, and youll find hyphenated words at the ends of lines, meaning that more text has been added to each line, reducing the extra spacing. The man was 6 feet tall and the dog weighed 17 pounds. As an adjective, applied to writer, it would mean that the writer is in good health. The aps standard reference for spelling is websters new. Thus building 17, room 415, lassiter 122 dorm room, route 66, and channel 12.
Dear ap style, how can i possibly take anything you say seriously when you don t. Were calling this workout part 1 because hyphens are a vast topic, destined to confound us in many ways and certainly worth a series of workouts. For example, about 80 percent of ap stylebook users actually know this rule. These questions are designed to test knowledge of the chicago manual of style, which prefers merriamwebsters collegiate dictionary, 11th edition. Hyphens are often used to tell the ages of people and things. A compound adjective comprises two or more adjectives strung together to modify a noun, such as lightblue sky or hardhearted person. If the system thinks the writer plagiarized something in their work, grammarly gives citations that could be used for the words it thinks were plagiarized. Aug 02, 2014 book design basics use hyphens for justified type the worlds greatest book posted on august 2, 2014 by dave bricker august 3, 2014 h yphens are an important contributor to elegant, easytoread typography, especially when text is fully justified as is the convention in book typography.
Apa style capitalization in titles and headings, capitalize all words with four or more letters. Note the space a fiftyyear project after the first number in the last a. While the ap stylebook admits that there is not necessarily a standard way to use them, and that most instances come own to personal style or taste, it does say the fewer hyphens the better. Ap style holds that when referencing ages you should always use figures. Jun 18, 2012 capitalization of words in titles and headings. Em dashes use an em dash to signal a sudden break in sentence structure like this. Associated press style cheat sheet compiled with assistance from online resources, including scribd, purdue university and towson university abbreviations and acronyms as a general rule, use only commonly recognized abbreviations. If the writer of your example sentence is following ap style, then 10 years later would be correct. For example, the phrasal adjective is hyphenated in the clause he has a largerthan. If someone is quoted as saying, im too old to go back to school, the age is relevant. Rules from the ap stylebook i recently conducted a workshop for employees in the development office at my university, and since they use associated press ap style, i was asked to include a unit on avoiding common ap errors. Numbers used for identificationfor rooms, floors, buildings, tv channels, dorms, interstatesroutes, districts, versions, episodes, sessions, seasons, and the likeare normally written as numerals. Ap style says numerals should always be used with ages. Notice that ap style does not include a period and two zeroes when referring to an even dollar figure.
Sometimes its difficult to remember which rules are ap and which rules are remnants from years of college courses. Jun 04, 20 for a long time, the ap stylebook said to never use the little symbol for percent and always spell it out. Nov 06, 2015 if you want to follow the writing style used by magazines, newspapers, editors and journalists, then you need to study up on associated press style, or ap style. The associated press was founded more than 150 years ago and now has thousands of employees working in more than a hundred countries for a readership that numbers in the millions. Do not use ages for sources commenting or providing information in an official capacity.
And the ap stylebook kept wording it has used previously that says use of the hyphen is far from standardized and, as in the past, note that it can be a matter of taste, judgment and. Use hyphens for ages that are expressed as adjectives before a noun or as. In the previous posts in this series part 1, part 2, and part 3, we discussed the general principles of hyphenation, as describe in much more detail on pages 97100 of the publication manual. The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free download. For line breaks, divide alreadyhyphenated words only at the hyphen. Ap style is designed to address the challenges of the organizations large size and readership.
Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea. An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun, such as a tall tree or blue sky. A very interesting thing is that grammarly checks for plagiarism. A grammar expert explains when to use hyphens with ages and when to. If the age is used as an adjective or as a substitute for a noun, then it should be hyphenated. How do i write dates, times, numbers, and measurements. Do not hyphenate when simple stating the age of something or someone. A general guideline is to hyphenate two or more modifiers before a noun so an adjectival phrase, especially if to leave as two words could cause confusion. What this means is that if youre formatting a book for print, you need to address endofline hyphenation. The associated press stylebook provides a uniform presentation of the printed word to make copy written anywhere understandable everywhere. A handy rule, whether writing about years, months, or any other period of time, is to use hyphens unless the period of time years, months, weeks, days is written in plural form.
By strict interpretation of the rules, we would write this as hondacertified used car. Ap does not even acknowledge that the en dash exists. In the past we discussed how to correctly use ap style title case, and now were here to tackle the often confused topic of ap style numbers. Adobes indesign apparently has even more options for hyphenation to give your selfpublished book the look of a traditionally published book, but word may be sufficient for your needs. This months workout, hyphens, part 1, centers on cmos 16, paragraph 7. However, if the child is three years old note plural, no hyphens are needed. Hyphens join words that work together as a unit to describe something that follows them in the sentence, eg an easytoread report.
Jun, 2019 ages are like every other compound modifier that way. In chicago style, as opposed to ap style, we would write four hundred, eight thousand, and twenty million with no numeralsbut like ap, chicago style would require numerals for 401. The 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law includes more than 200 new or revised entries, with chapters covering data journalism, business, fashion, food, religion and sports terms, as well as media law, news values, punctuation, social media, polls and surveys and a new chapter on health and science. You could also make a style choice to spell out almost all numbers, even if that conflicts with this and other rules. Do not use a hyphen if the construction includes very or an adverb. This is an example of where mcgeorge style departs from ap style. Instead, writers who follow the ap stylebook put quotation marks around the titles of books, movies, plays, and the like. Hyphenate when expressing ages as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun. To subscribe to the associated press stylebook online, or to find out about purchasing hard copies of the book, start here. It had to be easy for reporters and editors to use and also produce. Ill need to update the article to add this information.
Other style guides may follow a different dictionary. Similarly, a woman can be forty years of age and not need a single hyphen. All you need to know about titles in ap style gatehouse. Aug 17, 2010 we believe you are correct in interpreting the meaning of the phrase. Advertising often takes liberties with proper grammar and punctuation.
Grammarly grammarly was invented by max lytvyn and alex shevchenko. Associated press ap style is most often used by news and journalism writers to present consistent and clear writing to the consumer. What is not wellknown to the ap in new york is intimately known far from there. Ap style dictates specific comma placement in a series and with dialogue, dates, numbers and titles like jr. But ap produced guides for its journalists well before that, including rules, regulations and general orders in 1909. Oct 30, 2015 remember back in college when you had to keep track of all the different ap rules for your student newspaper on top of the chicago manual of style for your academic classes. Spacing after periods use a single space after a period at the end of a sentence not two spaces. In preparing the 11th edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation, we thought long and hard about hyphens vs. The rules about references to age, and the proper use of hyphens in such references, are simple yet easily. Chicago style and ap style differ when it comes to ages. And other more exotic things such as inland empire for southern california on the other side of the pacific coast mountain range. Ages are like every other compound modifier that way. In your example, it appears to be an adverbial phrase, in which case, i believe hyphens are not warranted.
Appropriate background, such as mother of two young children or a world war ii veteran, may suffice instead of the actual age. Capitalize proper nouns and adjectives used as proper nouns. Its often used by news organizations, magazines, and web publications, but brands often use it to form the basis of their own style guides, too. The most complex example is when you have an age range.
Is the age of an inanimate object expressed in numerals or spelled out. Spiralbound book, updated each spring 2019 ap stylebook. After a colon, capitalize the first word beginning a complete sentence. The program is installed within microsoft and will update on its own when the ap stylebook changes so users dont have to find new versions. Capitalize chapter when used with a numeral in reference to a section of a book or legal code.
If you know which 20 percent to focus on, then learning a new style is not so daunting. Begin the new yearyour best one yetwith positive, fresh energy. The most common, such as nasa, fbi and cia, can be used on all references. Use arabic numberals for weight and dimensions and spell out the unit of measurement. For example, northern new mexico in santa fe, western kansas in kansas city. Using hyphens in apa style in academic writing enago academy. How to format numbers in associated press style pen and the pad. The associated press stylebook and briefing on media law official style guide. The ap stylebook says to make reference of age when it is deemed relevant to the situation. For example, recreation and recreation have different. It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. These adjectival forms are usually hyphenated as well.
Ap style was developed and is maintained by the associated press, the worlds oldest news service. I dont know if this will help, but for chapter style, ap says. Jul 27, 2010 ap does not even acknowledge that the en dash exists. The associated press has a stylebook with rules and standards used primarily in journalistic and news writing. For line breaks in words ending in ing, if a single final consonant in the root word is doubled before the suffix, hyphenate between the consonants. In a march stylebook update, froke said, the ap noted the difference between. When talking about length of time in ap style, use a numeral for 10 and above. Chicago style is to use the word for ages 100 and lower, and ap style is to always use the numeral for ages.
This can be particularly tricky with the titles of major works, so heres a few rules to brush up on. So to conform, we are returning the hyphen to the quarter phrases. Italicized words are still iffy for wire transmission ap stories, so book titles are enclosed in quote marks. May 07, 2009 the associated press was founded more than 150 years ago and now has thousands of employees working in more than a hundred countries for a readership that numbers in the millions. As for getting acclimated to chicago style, or any style, i tell people to apply paretos principle aka the 8020 rule, where 80 percent of the style you use comes from 20 percent of the guide.
The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free. Also, you always want to use figures when discussing age. The answer depends on whether the phrase will precede or follow the noun that it describes or whether it is used as a noun or not. Ap style change ages common sense reigns hallelujah common sense returns to the ap stylebook when it comes to ages. Generally, you should use ages in for profiles, obituaries, significant career milestones, and achievements unusual for the age.