Professional Documents
Culture Documents
abbreviations / acronyms
academic degrees
Addresses
admit (admit v. acknowledge)
Ages
Allege
alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae
a.m., p.m. / times / time element
amendments to the Constitution
bad, badly
capital, Capitol
Capitalization
children vs. kids
citizen, resident, subject, national, native
Claim
composition / magazine, newspaper titles
courtesy titles
days of the week / dates / months / years / seasons
decades
demolish, destroy
directions and regions
dimensions / weights
dollars / cents
abbreviations / acronyms
Use full name of organization on first reference, abbreviation afterward. Ex: Johnson is
president of the states National Rifle Association. He said the NRA will petition the mayor at
Tuesdays council meeting.
Use abbreviations on first reference for well-known terms only: CIA, FBI, NASA, CBS
Use periods for abbreviations of two letters: U.K., U.S., U.N., B.C.
No periods for abbreviations of three or more letters: CIA, FBI, NASA, GOP
Do not follow an organizations full name with an abbreviation in parenthesis.
If an abbreviation/acronym is not clear on the second reference, do not use it.
academic degrees
When you have a choice, pick the most reader-friendly way to state academic degrees.
Lowercase majors and fields of study: Ex: Sanderson is a mass communication major with a
minor in political science.
Preferred: Johnson, who has a masters in education, is keynote speaker.
The terms masters degree and bachelors degree are possessive and lowercased.
No possessive in official degree names Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science or in the title
associate degree.
Use academic degrees (Ph.D., B.A., M.A.) only when necessary.
Use the title Dr. on the first reference only when referring to a medical doctor.
addresses
Always use figures for a specific address: She lives at 7 Mockingbird Lane.
Abbreviate street (St.), avenue (Ave.) and boulevard (Blvd.) only with a specific address: 114 Oak
St.
Spell out as part of a formal street name without the specific address: Oak Street
Lowercase with two or more streets: Viewers can watch the parade at Oak, Elm and Maple
streets.
Spell out First-Ninth for street names; use figures for 10th and above: 135 First St.; 802 10th Ave.
Abbreviate compass points with specific address: 222 E. 42nd St.; 600 K St. NW
Do not abbreviate compass points if the specific address is omitted:
East 42nd Street; K Street Northwest.
No periods in quadrant abbreviations NW, SE unless customary locally.
Use periods in abbreviations for P.O. Box numbers: P.O. Box 432.
admit (admit v. acknowledge)
Admit, admitted may erroneously suggest wrongdoing. A person who acknowledges that he is a
recovering alcoholic is not admitting to a crime. Preferred: The senator acknowledged he is a
recovering alcoholic.
Said is usually sufficient.
ages
Always use figures: The boy is 7 years old. The tour features the 101-year-old house.
When the context is clear, omit years or years old: He is 7.
Use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives: The 12-year-old boy found the lost key.
Hyphenate ages when they stand alone as nouns: The race is open to 10-year-olds.
AP Style _Fall 2016
Use an apostrophe to indicate numerals that are left out: He was born in the 80s.
demolish, destroy
Both mean to do away with something completely, so something cannot be partially demolished
or destroyed.
It is redundant to say totally demolished or totally destroyed.
directions and regions
Lowercase north, south, east, west, northeast, etc., when they indicate compass direction.
Birds fly south for the winter.
Capitalize when they designate regions:
A storm developed in the Midwest. She has a Southern accent. He is a Northerner. Asian
nations are opening doors to Western businessmen. Showers were forecast for the Texas
Panhandle.
With states and cities, lowercase directional or area descriptions:
Brooks is from south Louisiana.
Lowercase regions in the names of nations unless they are part of a proper name:
They traveled throughout northern France. BUT: The student was born in South Korea.
Note: Consult the entry for regions to see more specific examples.
dimensions / weights
Always use figures.
Always spell out units: inches, feet, yards, miles, meters, millimeters, pounds, ounces, etc.: 5
inches, 13 feet, 9 yards, 105 miles, 4 millimeters. The baby weighed 9 pounds, 7 ounces.
Hyphenate compound adjectives before nouns: She had a 9-pound, 7-ounce boy.
Examples: the 5-foot-6-inch man. He is 5 feet 6 inches tall. The rug is 9 feet by 12 feet, the 9-by12 rug. The storm left 5 inches of rain. The building has 6,000 square feet of space.
See the separate entries for dimensions and weights for more examples.
dollars / cents
Use figures and the $ sign:
The book cost $4. I paid $57 for my new shoes. The gourmet doughnut costs $6.50.
Use words in casual references:
Give me a dollar. Dollars are flowing overseas.
Use commas to separate zeros: 1,000 100,000
Use words to designate million, billion, trillion: $75 million, $13 billion, $3 trillion.
For amounts more than $1 million, use up to two decimal places: She is worth $4.25 million.
For specified amounts, the word takes a singular verb:
He said $500,000 is the highest bid.
Spell out the word cents; use figures for amounts less than a dollar:
5 cents, 12 cents but $1.01.
Note: The $ is the ONLY symbol used in AP Style.
eitheror, neithernor
The nouns that follow these words are not compound subjects. They are separate and require a
verb that agrees with the subject closest to it. (The subject closest to the verb picks the verb.)
Neither they nor Sam is going.
Either Sam or his brothers are going.
each other, one another
Use each other for two people: Batman and Superman stared at each other.
Use one another for three or more people: Jon, Sam and Ben sang songs for one another.
fireman vs. firefighter (gender neutral titles)
Firefighter is the preferred term for a person who fights fires.
Whenever possible, chose gender-neutral titles. For example, say police officer, not policeman.
Note: The Stylebook does not have a separate entry for gender-neutral titles.
See individual entries for clarity regarding specific titles and job descriptions. Some are not
gender neutral, such as spokesman/spokeswoman and assemblyman/assemblywoman.
AP Style _Fall 2016
holidays
Capitalize and know how to spell them: New Years Eve, New Years Day, Martin Luther King Jr.
Day, Groundhog Day, Easter, July Fourth/Fourth of July, Hanukkah, Veterans Day,
Thanksgiving, Christmas
homicide, murder, manslaughter
Dont describe a homicide as a murder unless a person has been convicted of that charge.
Unless authorities say premeditation was obvious, do not say a victim was murdered until
someone has been convicted in court.
Instead, say that a victim was killed or slain.
See entry for examples of terms.
millions, billions
Use figures with the words millions and billions in all but casual references: 1 million, 500
billion. BUT: He looks like a million dollars.
Dont go beyond two decimal places: 7.51 million people.
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: He is worth from $2 to $4 million.
names
Refer to men and women by the first and last names on the first reference.
Use last names only in subsequent references. Sandra Stark will serve as president. Stark was
unanimously elected.
When its necessary to distinguish between two people who use the same last name (married
couple or brother and sister), use the first and last name on first and subsequent references.
In cases where two subjects, such as a husband and wife, have the same last name, using
pronouns (he/she) will help with clarity.
nationalities and races / race
Capitalize the proper names of nationalities, peoples, races, tribes. (See entry for examples.)
Identification by race is pertinent in biographical stories that involve a feat or appointment not
routinely associated with members of a particular race or when it provides the reader with a
substantial insight into conflicting emotions in an event.
Race is pertinent in stories about crime suspects who have been sought by the police or missing
person cases, so long as police or other credible, detailed descriptions are used. When the
suspect is found or apprehended, the racial reference should be removed.
Do not use racially derogatory terms unless they are part of a quotation that is essential to the
story.
nicknames
Use a nickname in place of a given name when it is the way the individual prefers to be known:
Magic Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods.
In other cases, use quotation marks to insert a nickname:
U.S. Sen. Estes Left Eye Kefauver was allegedly poisoned by a CIA assassin.
No. / numerals
(Some exceptions to this general numerals rule include ages, dimensions, weights, time,
temperatures, percent, dollars/cents and millions/billions.)
Use No. as the abbreviation for number with a figure to show rank: No. 1 man, No. 3 choice.
Use words for zero-nine and figures for 10 and above:
Frank has six dogs, four cats and 11 hamsters.
Use words for first-ninth and figures for 10th-above: Mia was first. Sydney won 11th place.
Spell out a numeral when it starts a sentence:
Nine percent of students admit to cheating.
BUT: Avoid starting a sentence with a large number that must be spelled out. Example: Three
hundred and ninety-three students enrolled the first day. Instead, rewrite the sentence: Nearly
400 students enrolled the first day.
This rule has one exception: Use numeral that identifies a calendar year to start a sentence:
1976 marked the U.S. bicentennial celebration.
Important: See the numerals entry for more specific examples.
AP Style _Fall 2016
people, persons
Use person when referring to an individual: One person waited for the bus.
People is preferred for all plural uses:
Thousands of people waited for the football game to start.
People is a collective noun but it takes a plural verb when referring to a single race or nation:
The American people are united.
percent
One word. Use figures for percent/percentages: 1 percent, 2.5 percent, 4 percentage points.
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 club was there.
But percent takes a plural verb when a plural verb follows an of construction:
He said 50 percent of the members were in favor of the new rule.
plurals (This information is about unusual plural rules. See the Stylebook for other
examples.)
Some words are plural in form but take singular verbs: measles, mumps, news.
For compound words that are written as one word, add an s to the end: cupfuls, handfuls.
For those involving separate words or words linked by a hyphen, make the most significant word
plural: attorneys general, brothers-in-law, deputy chiefs of staff, postmasters general.
political parties / party affiliation
Capitalize both the name of the party and the word party if it is part of the organizations name:
the Democratic Party, the Republican Party.
Capitalize Communist, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Republican, Socialist, etc., when they
refer to a specific party or its members. Lowercase when they refer to a political philosophy:
The liberal Republican senator and his Conservative Party colleague said they believe
democracy and communism are incompatible.
General forms: Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.,
said Sen. Jim DeMint also spoke. The South Carolina Republican said
Set off short forms such as R-S.C. from the name in commas (as in example above).
Note: The state abbreviation is not a ZIP code abbreviation but follows the APs guidelines. See
the AP Stylebooks State Names entry for state abbreviation examples.
Use R- for Republicans, D- for Democrats and I- for Independents.
Let relevance be the guide in determining whether to include a political figures party affiliation.
See Stylebook examples for state legislators and other information.
possessives
This entry is lengthy. See guidelines for forming and using possessives.
For plural nouns ending in s, add only the apostrophe: the churches needs, the girls toys.
For singular nouns not ending in s, add s: the churchs needs, the girls toys, the ships route.
For singular common nouns ending in s, add s unless the next word begins with the letter s: the
hostesss invitation BUT the hostess seat, the witnesss answer BUT the witness story.
Singular proper nouns ending in the letter s: Use only an apostrophe:
Agnes book, Kansas schools, James friend
Joint possession: Use the possessive form after only the last word if ownership is joint.
Fred and Wilmas apartment.
rebut, refute
Rebut means to argue to the contrary. Avoid refute because it suggests success in an argument
and almost always implies an editorial judgment. Do not use except in a direct quote.
Instead of refute, use deny, dispute, rebut or respond to.
the Rev. / religious titles
When Rev. is used before a name, precede it with the word the because the abbreviation
Rev. (unlike Mr. or Mrs.) does not stand for a noun.
On second reference to members of the clergy, use only the last name: the Rev. Billy Graham on
first reference but Graham on second reference; Pope Benedict XVI on first reference but
Benedict, the pope or the pontiff on second.
For details on specific titles (priest, cardinal, rabbis, nuns, etc.), see the entries for major
AP Style _Fall 2016
denominations.
social media / email / web / internet / website / webpage
See the Stylebook on how to spell social networks names
Use email, but e-book, e-reader.
Use the web, website, webcam, webmaster, webpage, etc.
Capitalize Internet, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, YouTube, Wikipedia, Tumblr.
state names and Washington, D.C.
Spell out the state name in a body of a story, whether the state name stands alone or appears
with the city name. The president toured Louisiana. The president will visit Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, and Jackson, Mississippi, prior to his re-election bid.
Note the punctuation of the city/state combination. Surround the state name (and D.C.) in
commas: Our vacation included Washington, D.C., and Williamsburg, Virginia.
AP Style state abbreviations will be used in political affiliation, datelines and photo captions. See
the stylebook for state abbreviations. Eight states are not abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho,
Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. (Hint: Spell out the names of the two states that are not
part of the contiguous U.S. and of the continental states that are five letters or fewer.)
temperatures
Use figures for all except zero.
Use a word, not a minus sign, for temperatures below zero: The days low was minus 10.
Temperatures get higher or lower, but they dont get warmer or colder:
Temperatures in Baton Rouge are expected to rise Friday.
titles
This entry is lengthy. See guidelines for punctuation, capitalization and abbreviation of titles.
Capitalize formal titles before a name. The book featured a speech by President Ronald Reagan.
These titles only are capitalized and abbreviated before a name:
Dr., Gov., Lt. Gov., Rep. and Sen.
Lowercase and spell out titles when they are not used with a name:
The governor toured the school.
Lowercase and spell out titles, and surround titles in commas, when they appear after a name:
Joe Biden, vice president, decided not to run for president in the 2016 election.
Job descriptions are not capitalized: The museum is dedicated to actor John Wayne. Our report
explained the career of astronaut John Glenn.
verbs (agreement / split forms)
In general, avoid awkward constructions that split infinitive forms of a verb (to leave, to help,
etc.) or compound forms (had left, are found out, etc.) See Stylebook entry for examples.
Awkward: She was ordered to immediately leave on an assignment.
Preferred: She was ordered to leave immediately on an assignment.
Occasionally, a split is not awkward and is necessary to convey the meaning:
The budget was tentatively approved.
women vs. girls
Use women when appropriate:
The Tulane University womens basketball team.
BUT: The Briarwood Elementary School girls basketball team.
yesterday / today / tomorrow (dont use in print)