Ap style presentation

AP Style

Highlights of the most important style rules

When to capitalize titles

Capitalize formal titles before the name, lowercase after the name.

I voted for President George W. Bush. Mayor Larry Brown favored the idea. Remember: only formal titles, not

descriptions or job positions.

Abbreviate SOME titles

Gov., Sen., Rev., Dr. - abbreviated when they come BEFORE the name.

Few other titles are abbreviated. Don't abbreviate detective, prosecuting attorney, president, professor.

Use "the Rev." before ministers on first reference.

After a name, don’t capitalize a title and spell it out Larry Brown, the mayor, cut the ribbon. The bill was vetoed by Frank Keating,

the governor. When the title stands alone, spell out

the title and DO NOT capitalize it. Example: The pope will visit next week.

Abbreviate in addresses only with an exact, numbered address 901 Ninth St. BUT: The gym is on Ninth Street. On exact addresses, also abbreviate

the direction: 555 N. Garth Ave. 333 W. Broadway

Abbreviate BAS in addresses

CAPITALIZE the name of the street but only ABBREVIATE the following in EXACT addresses: Blvd. Ave. St.

This can be remembered as BAS, which is part of a word…..that I will let you figure out.

999 Stadium Blvd. 767 Milestone Ave. 545 Hitt St. All the rest are spelled out and capitalized

Dates

When SPECIFIC DATES are used, abbreviate the month.

Joe Anders died Monday, Jan. 6, 1997. With NO SPECIFIC DATE, spell out the

month Joe Anders died in January.

Don’t abbreviate the ‘short’ months The "shorter" five months of spring and

summer are not abbreviated: March, April, May, June, July.

Memory tip: 5 months and 5 letters or fewer.

Capitalization

Capitalize official names , including City Commission, Commerce Committee, Congress, Senate, House, General Assembly, Republican Party, and Democratic Party.

The City Commission approved the ordinance.

BUT if incomplete, it is lower case: The commission passed the measure

Abbreviating states

SPELL OUT the names of all of the states when they stand ALONE.

She went on a ski trip in Colorado. Abbreviate the state names when they

are used with a city – except the short states.

She went to Ladysmith, Wis.

How to remember which states to abbreviate There are eight states that are not

abbreviated: The two that are disconnected - Alaska and Hawaii - and the six with five letters or fewer: Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.

Do not use postal abbreviations. (It’s Wis., not WI.)

Numbers

In general, spell out one through nine, use figures for 10 above.

Example: He invited 12 guests to the party but only nine showed up.

Use figures for these exceptions:

Ages: John, 7, ran away. John is 7 years old. Dimensions: The 7-foot-2 center weighed 230

pounds. Percentages: 4 percent (note that percent is

ONE word.) Time: 6 p.m. (not 6:00 p.m.; p.m. has periods

and is and lowercased.) Street numbers: 9 Quinton Court Day of the month: Jan. 9, 1997, (not 9th) Do not start a sentence with a figure.

Money

Use the dollar sign: $10, $1,000, $90,000 (NOT $90 thousand or 90 thousand dollars)

Repeat the word with ranges:

WRONG: $8 to $10 million

RIGHT: $8 million to $10 million

Except on tests…

When in doubt, look it up.

What's wrong here?

Buffalo State College is at 1300 Elmwood Avenue.

What's wrong here?

The Gov. did not pardon the Dr.

What's wrong here?

The project is slated to cost $4 to $6 million.

What's wrong here?

The play will be held November 30th.

What's wrong here?

Performances begin at 9 in the evening.

What's wrong here?

He took the test 2 times before he passed it.

What's wrong here?

Florida Governor Charlie Crist is running for the Senate.

What's wrong here?

My ten-year-old car is now worth about ten dollars.

What's wrong here?

Florida Atlantic University's downtown tower is located at 111 East Las Olas

Boulevard, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

What's wrong here?

At the conference, I met the Author Dave Barry and Carlos Alvarez, Mayor of

Miami.

What's wrong here?

This exhibition opens August 23, 2010, and ends in Jan. 2011

What's wrong here?

The only places I really want to go are Ladysmith, Wis., and Round Lake, Oh.

What's wrong here?

The two-year-old boy couldn't lift the four-pound pumpkin, so his ten-year-old sister

helped him.