Need To Know 12 AP Style Rules Flashcards
(15 cards)
Commas and Periods Grammar Rule?
Commas and periods are always enclosed within quotation marks, even with partial quotes or even single words in “quotes.”
Numbers Grammar Rule?
Spell out numbers one through nine; use figures for 10 and up. Exceptions: Spell out any numeral at the beginning of a sentence; always use figures for addresses, measurements, and ages; spell out rough estimates
Grammar rule for “Its”?
It’s, the contraction of it is, takes an apostrophe. Its, the possessive, does not. Spell check may miss this; autocorrect often incorrectly inserts the apostrophe.
And, but, and or Grammar rule?
With and, but and or, if what follows is a complete sentence (subject + verb), use a comma; if what follows is not a complete sentence, do not use a comma.
Punctuation rule for name titles?
Capitalize titles before names but not when they’re used as common nouns after names.
Pronouns/nouns grammar rule?
Do not use plural pronouns to refer to singular nouns, for example, “The newspaper published their entertainment section on Fridays” is incorrect. FIX: “The newspaper
published its entertainment section on Fridays.”
Oxford comma rule?
AP Style does not use the serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma): Red,
white and blue (no comma before the “and”).
Percent symbol rule?
Use the % sign when paired with a number, with no space (in most cases): Use percentage rather can percent when not paired with a number.
Judgment spelling rule?
Judgment, not judgement. Eradicate the extra “e” and start judging the media
that gets this wrong.
Hyphens grammar rule?
Hyphens link words that have a combined meaning (“six-pack,” “hair-raiser,” or “get-up-and-go”) and clarify compound modifiers when being used as adjectives (“able-bodied man” or “snow-covered mountain”). One test: Is the order of the adjectives interchangeable? “Covered snow mountain” makes no sense, but “tall, rocky mountain” and “rocky, tall mountain” are equal in meaning. No hyphen needed.
Colon grammar rule?
Use a colon (:) to indicate that something related follows, such as a quotation, example or a list. Capitalize the first letter of the first word following a colon if it begins a complete sentence (subject + verb). Do not capitalize if the phrase or list following is not a complete sentence.
Semicolons grammar rule?
Semicolons have two functions: They can link two full sentences (subject + verb; subject + verb) without the use of conjunctions (as noted in this sentence); they can also separate items in a list too complicated for just commas. e.g.: “We had students from Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; and Caracas, Venezuela.
Dashes grammar rule?
Dashes–indicated like this in manuscript form with two hyphens –separate a parenthetical clause or an “aside” in logic. Use them vary sparingly in your prose. AP uses em dash (longer one) en dash (shorter one)
“That” and “Which” grammar rule?
Do not use “that” and “which” interchangeably. “That” indicates a restrictive clause—info that is imperative to the meaning of the sentence. “Which” is a non-restrictive clause, or info that is incidental to the intent of the sentence. “I wore the hat that my mother bought for her wedding” indicates a specific hat. The point of the sentence is to explain the exact hat worn. “I wore the hat, which my mother bought for her wedding, to the event” is an incidental aside; the point of the sentence is that she wore the hat, not that her mother purchased it. Offset “which” phrases with commas.
Parentheses grammar rule?
When using parentheses at the end of a sentence, the end punctuation depends on whether the parenthetical statement is a complete sentence. If not, the period goes outside the parentheses. e.g.: They wore fancy holiday hats (with more frills than most). If the parenthetical is a complete sentence, then use end punctuation both before the
parentheses and also within the parentheses. e.g.: He wore a fancy holiday hat. (He was the only person to do so.)
