While we often use ap style its sort of the standard and most people are familiar with it, its not the only style guide out there. For slide presentations of ap style basics, go here. A hyphen is optional in most cases, so the fewer hyphens the better. For years, the associated press stylebook advised followers. Now in its sixth edition, the stylebook is the standard style. Late last month, the ap stylebookthat fusty old guide to grammar and. It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. Indeed, spiral staircasestyle, but the hyphen should be an en dash not an em dash. The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free download. Other changes include guidelines on the terms race and racism and more, which you can read about here. The term is acceptable on first reference, but should be explained later in the story. A hyphen is usually used in apa style when two or more words modify a common noun and that noun comes after the modifiers, for example, 7point scale or clientcentered counseling. In ap style, magazines names and titles are governed. E books currently make up two percent of my book sales.
The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free. The associated press stylebook, first published in 1977, clarified the news organizations rules on grammar, spelling, punctuation and usage. From the new york times manual of style and usage 1999. Abbreviations abbreviate junior or senior after a name, but dont use a comma.
One of the most wellknown style guides, the associated press stylebook, has guidance on when to use the punctuation mark. When multiple modifiers have a common base, the base can be omitted in all except the last modifier, but the hyphens should be retained. Use a hyphen if the word that follows is capitalized. Again, if you keep in mind that ap style embraces brevity, this will be easy to remember.
Sep 18, 2019 the ap stylebook twitter handle led a 30minute chat on july 31 dedicated entirely to hyphens. The ap style as its known in the trade is quite different from the new york times style or chicago manual of style. This guide to commonly used rules from the associated press stylebook and. For example, from the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law 2002. Here is a sampling of frequently asked questions, with examples of ap style used in. Except for cooperate and coordinate, use a hyphen if the prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel. If youre not sure whether a compound word has a hyphen or not, check your preferred dictionary. Colon capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. There are three constant rules for ap style hyphenation, although they yield some exceptions to firstlisted spellings in websters new world college dictionary. Hyphenation rules break down into different categories. Jun 19, 2019 the 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook was released this month. The ap stylebook twitter handle led a 30minute chat on july 31 dedicated entirely to hyphens.
The ap stylebook, the buzzfeed style guide, the economist style guide, and the chicago manual of style all recommend hyphenating ebook, as well as most other e words such as ereader and ecommerce its conceivable that over time, ebook may lose its hyphen. 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. These are a few of the announcements that stood out. According to the ap stylebook hyphen entry, use of the hyphen is far from standardized. 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. Use a hyphen in a compound modifier when the modifier comes before the word its modifying. If youre familiar with doing things a certain way based on chicago or mla, set those practices aside when youre writing for cbsi. Though many of the most commonly used prefixes and suffixes have their own ap stylebook entries, but a few general rules hold true when it comes to hyphenation. The following guidelines are rules set out in the ap stylebook for ap style book titles, computer game titles, ap style movie titles, opera titles, play titles, poem titles, album titles, ap style song titles, radio and television titles, and the titles of lectures, speeches, and work of art. Spell out amounts less than 1, using hyphens between the words. Ap stylebook changes hyphen guidance, ushering in total chaos.
Examples include the ap stylebook aka ap style, the chicago manual of style aka cmos or chicago, the mla handbook mla or apa style. Mar 29, 2019 the 2019 ap stylebook has more than 200 new and modified entries, according to the ap. The modification of the rules on hyphens, as froke told the editors. On second reference, the automobile as sociation or the association is ac ceptable. Writing center quick reference associate press style guide. If the parenthetical is a complete, independent sentence, place the period inside the parentheses.
Never use a hyphen in place of an en dash or an em dash. Its not interchangeable with other types of dashes. A hyphen is a punctuation mark thats used to join words or parts of words. Mar, 2015 its conceivable that over time, ebook may lose its hyphen. On twitter, the stylebooks official account declared that hyphens were. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons. Titles of books, movies, recordings, television shows and similar. And for amounts less than 1 percent, the style dictated a zero precede the decimal, as in 0. The associated press stylebook provides a uniform presentation of the printed word. Chicago style and ap style differ when it comes to ages. The ap therefore strives to keep its writing style easy to read, concise and free of bias. Top 5 tips to edit and write in chicago or ap style proedit.
The department prefers bullets, but punctuate them per ap style. These were a few ap style reminders that stuck out. In your example, it appears to be an adverbial phrase, in which case, i believe hyphens are not warranted. The hyphen is also used for word division, which is briefly explained here. Associated press ap style has a more general approach than the chicago manual of style chicago style. 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. The associated press stylebook provides an az guide to issues such as capitalization, abbreviation, punctuation, spelling, numerals and many other questions of language usage. The ap stylebook has a few simple rules for using quotation marks in ap style stories. Then, as in the past, we proceed to give many examples of when hyphens are indeed necessary. When a compound modifiertwo or more words that express a single conceptprecedes a noun, use hyphens to link all the words in the compound except the adverb very and all adverbs that end in ly. For most writers, the hyphens primary function is the formation of certain compound terms. For even more rule clarifications, check out past editions of our ap stylebook. Ap style also aims to avoid stereotypes and unintentionally offensive language. The 2019 ap stylebook has more than 200 new and modified entries, according to the ap.
Use a hyphen to form a single idea from two or more words only to avoid ambiguity. The associated press is reversing some of its march 2019 guidance on how. The rules of hyphenation can be complex and controversial. What follows are summaries of some of the most common style rules.
The 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook was released this month. Reference books bible, websters dictionary, ap stylebook. It just recently made a change on what it has to say about them. However, the rule about hyphens and ly adverbs is easy enough to master. Keep in mind that the use of hyphens may differ depending on style or taste. Authors were treated badly in the recent ebook dispute. Regarding the hyphen, obscure words like subepic may be hyphenated or not as the writer sees fit. The associated press style is the goto style for journalism and news writing. As work progressed, we became convinced that while style would remain the chief purpose, there were many factual references we should include to make things a bit easier for busy editors. Ap style suggests avoiding parentheses when possible, and instead rewriting text or using dashes or commas to set off the information. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format.
When writing the term with a hyphen in a headline, the chicago manual of styles rule 8. Use a hyphen only when omitting it would cause confusion. In the past, ap has always been what its stylebooks lead editor described as hyphenaverse. The em dash is the longer version of a dash that is used instead of a shorter hyphen. Style books shed use of hyphens, commas weve gotten used to. 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. Instead, writers who follow the ap stylebook put quotation marks around the titles of books, movies, plays, and the like. They can be used to indicate a range or to form a single idea from two or more words. When a story mentions a specific web site or web service, include the internet address within the text. All states are spelled out in the body of the text.
The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. Chicago style is to use the word for ages 100 and lower, and ap style is to always use the numeral for ages. Capitalize, but dont put quote marks around or italicize books. 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. Associated press style basics journalists resource. Lexington writing firm to chicago style, no space is required between the word and the em dash. Hyphens are often used to tell the ages of people and things.
Hyphen use a hyphen for compound adjectives before the noun. Abbreviate months with six or more letters if they are used with a specific date. Jun 04, 20 the associated press doesnt use italics. Shorthand for the formal title of the health care overhaul that former president barack obama signed into law in 2010. 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.
Both the ap stylebook and the buzzfeed style guide already recommend spelling email without the hyphen. Compound terms are those that consist of more than one word but represent a single item or idea. Associated press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. Newspaper style guides and others that follow ap style however, are whats the difference between an em dash, en dash, and hyphen. The ellipsis consists of three periods with spaces before and after each one. Our site uses a modified version of ap style, which is why the example reads 8yearold instead of. When using the em dash, ap style says you should use a space before and after, although, most editors prefer the nospace approach. A style guide for the 2020 elections, based on the ap stylebook and common usage in ap stories.
In addition, see individual entries in this book and in websters new world. For composition titles such as books, video games, films, tv shows, works of art, speeches, etc. The ellipsis has a space before and after the three period marks. Rowling, catch22 by joseph heller, the curious incident of the dog in the ni. Combined with the aces 2019 conference in march, there have been several important ap style rule changes and reminders in recent weeks. In running text, it is best to use words instead of an en dash or hyphen in ap style. Jan 06, 2015 there should be no space on either side of it. Hyphens with common prefixes grammar and punctuation. She smiled, youll want to read this gatehouse newsroom post about how to properly use quotation marks in ap style stories then. After each bullet, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each item. In some cases, you or your client may decide to make your own rule or create an inhouse style guide that picks and chooses which ap rules to follow. Ap style guidelines for hyphen usage gatehouse newsroom. Ap sparks linguistic pandemonium with hyphen guidance update. While ap style generally specifies that numbers below 10 should be spelled out as words and numbers 10 and above should be written as actual numerals, percentages always involved numerals and the word.
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