Overview of AP Style, Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation and Editing

These flashcards cover key concepts, definitions, and specific rules associated with AP style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and editing, useful for studying for exams.

AP Style

A set of guidelines for writing used by journalists and publications.

Headlines

Capitalization rules state only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.

Datelines

Indicates where and when a story was written, with the city name in all caps.

Capitalization

Avoid gratuitous capitalization except for proper nouns and first words of sentences.

Addresses

Abbreviate Ave., Blvd., and St. only when complete addresses are given.

Courtesy Titles

Use Miss, Mr., Mrs., or Ms. for initial references, but often drop them thereafter.

Formal Titles

Use titles like Dr. before names but not on second references.

Days of the Week

Do not abbreviate except in tables.

Months of the Year

Abbreviate certain months only when paired with a specific date.

Initials and Acronyms

Use periods with initials; do not repeat acronyms after first use.

Plurals

Make the most significant word plural in compound phrases.

Time

Use figures for times except for noon and midnight.

States

Spell out full state names in text; abbreviate only in datelines.

Titles

Capitalize titles when they precede names, lowercase when they follow.

Numbers

Spell out numbers one through nine; use figures for 10 and above.

Money

Use figures and the $ sign, except for casual references without figures.

Email

No capitalization, no hyphen.

Internet

No capitalization; this changed in 2016.

Quotations

Surround the exact words of a speaker or writer with quotation marks.

Semicolon

Indicates a greater separation of thought than a comma but less than a period.

Subject-Verb Agreement

A singular subject needs a singular verb, and a plural subject needs a plural verb.

Apostrophes

Used to denote ownership.

Commas

Used for clarity and to separate elements in a series.

Ellipsis

Indicates that words have been removed from the text.

Exclamation Point

Use sparingly and place outside quotation marks unless part of the quoted material.

Parentheses

Used for supplemental information, punctuation rules vary depending on context.

Punctuation

Includes marks such as commas, periods, colons, etc., to clarify meaning.

Composition Titles

Capitalize principal words; no italics are used in AP style.

Figures

Add 's for plural of numbers and make sure to punctuate correctly.

Parallelism

A writing technique to create rhythm by aligning similar phrases.

Gratuitous Capitalization

Unnecessary capitalization of words that do not require it in AP style.

Tense Usage

A past tense verb is required for direct quotes unless in feature stories.

Commonly Misused Words

Words like farther/further or affect/effect are often confused.

Misused Titles

Public relations is not capitalized and bachelor's degree includes an apostrophe.