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. In preparing the 11th edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation, we thought long and hard about hyphens vs. Cms the test was open book ap with a hyphenated compound. Consider the following examples of ap style numbers, the chicago white sox finished second. 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. Half hyphenation problems write well, write to sell. And if you state your numbers as adjectives, you can have more hyphen fun. In subsequent references, do not continue ising the. Buzzfeed publishes news and entertainment in the language of the web, and in our work, we rely on a style guide to govern everything from hardhitting journalism to fun quizzes. Associated press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. Most style guides are of the less is better camp when it comes to hyphen use, but the most important thing is getting your point across. A hyphen may be used between a prefix and a word to avoid confusion while reading.
If you commit one rule to memory each day, in just two weeks you will become an ap numbers master. Ontario training network grammar tip hyphens with numbers. Ap would spell out numerals under 10, even for grade levels. We agree that, for instance, first half run should be hyphenated.
For example, you wouldnt put a hyphen before minutes in the sentence joey showered for 15 minutes. In the previous posts in this series part 1, part 2, and part 3, we discussed the general principles of hyphenation, as describe in much more detail on pages 97100 of the publication manual. Associated press style basics journalists resource. The 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law includes more than 200 new or revised entries, with chapters covering data journalism, business, fashion, food, religion and sports terms, as well as media law, news values, punctuation, social media, polls and surveys and a new chapter on health and science. Click here if youd like to freshen up on some more ap style rules. Examples correct no nouns following the unit has 21 beds. Generally, use days of the week, rather than the words yesterday or tomorrow, which may cause confusion. For suffixes, if a word combination is not listed in websters new world college dictionary, use two words for the verb form. Ap uses dashes, not bullets, for lists in news stories that follow a colon. Im trying to write 3 and a half year old, as in, he is a 3 and a half year old dog. The term applies to southwest asia west of pakistan and afghanistan and northeastern africa iran, iraq, israel, kuwait, jordan, lebanon, oman, bahrain, qatar, saudi arabia, syria, the eastern part of turkey known also as asian minor, united arab emirates and yemen, egypt, sudan. I bet a lot of people, however, have changed half an hour to a half hour because ap mentions the latter but not the former. And to make it even more confusing, in general usage, ap.
A hyphen is optional in most cases, so the fewer hyphens the better. These include words like brotherinlaw, costeffective, finetune, and oldfashioned. If you are using a phrase like that as a modifier, however, youll need hyphens to hold it all together. Per ways to write 2000 year old, i suspect it should be 3anda half yearold, but that reads like deathby hyphen, even if it is correct. Compound terms are those that consist of more than one word but represent a single item or idea. Some of you disagreed with our move to delete the hyphen from firstquarter touchdown, thirdquarter earnings and other quarter terms, the ap stylebook. May 21, 2009 capitalize a military rank when used as a formal title before an individuals name. Ap updates its stylebook to accommodate changes in conventions and usage. If not listed here, use the first entry in websters new world college dictionary. This is the style guide that professional media use. Without the hyphen one might the sentence could mean meant that half those in the audience were asleep and half were awake. Spiralbound book, updated each spring 2019 ap stylebook. According to ap style, should it be half price or half price. Associated press style quick reference guide to subscribe to the associated press stylebook online, or to find out about purchasing hard copies of the book, start here.
Ap compiles super bowl style guide associated press. So to conform, we are returning the hyphen to the quarter phrases. To help with spellings and usage in coverage of the super bowl on feb. Im sticking to the definition in aps dictionary of choice, websters new world college dictionarya figure, letter, or a group of any of these, expressing a number. Ap style is what the general public is accustomed to seeing because it is the official stylebook of the newspaper industry. Jul 27, 2010 ap does not even acknowledge that the en dash exists. Ap entry is simply illustrating that halfhour, if it comes up, gets a hyphen. Here are some style notes from norm goldstein that arent already in your stylebook. Some phrases are customarily hyphenated even if they are placed after a noun. A matter of time editor photographer creative professional. When used, place emeritus after the formal title, in keeping with the general practice of academic institutions. 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. Hold to these rules when using ap style fractions in your writing. It is ap style to use only the number for whole hours, i.
Unfortunately, my copy of the franklin covey style guide agrees with this, although its not the most recent edition. It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. Although it is sold as a guide for reporters, it has become the leading reference for most forms of publicfacing. Do not use a hyphen with a compound modifier after the noun. For example, this recipe calls for twothirds of a cup. The department prefers bullets, but punctuate them per ap style. When multiple modifiers have a common base, the base can be omitted in all except the last modifier. However, if we put the words half full before the word glass so that they are acting as a compound modifier, then it makes sense to use a hyphen. It turns out the first person was on the right track.
To hyphenate or notcompound words the editors blog. As noted earlier, epa has an online subscription to the ap book on our intranet. The ap stylebook and briefing on media law is an essential handbook for all writers and editors. Hyphens are often used to tell the ages of people and things. The man was half dead, the door was half open, the meal was half finished. If the number and noun construction does not have a noun following it, omit the hyphen. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format.
When expressing time in words instead of numerals, you should use a hyphen, as in fivefifteen. Do you use a hyphen when writing hour and a half answers. Hyphens join words together and should be used to help form a single idea from two words or avoid ambiguity in your writing. If you are classifying dash as hyphen, you use it such as. He had a childlike sense of wonder and enthusiasm that made class really interesting. Ap style guidelines for hyphen usage gatehouse newsroom. Ap style is designed to address the challenges of the organizations large size and readership. When indicating miles per gallon as a measurement, subsequent references become mpg. Both the ap stylebook and the buzzfeed style guide already recommend spelling email without the hyphen. See the lists that follow to determine whether the title should be spelled out or abbreviated in regular text. The associated press was founded more than 150 years ago and now has thousands of employees working in more than a hundred countries for a readership that numbers in the millions. For slide presentations of ap style basics, go here.
The ap style numbers guidelines are extensive, but they dont have to be confusing. Other time expressions could include half past five and twenty to seven or seven in the morning and ten at night. Use a hyphen with two or more words that express a single concept. The original ticker had half full and half empty without hyphens, and then the next minute the words showed up with hyphens. Half hour definition of half hour by merriamwebster. When it comes to numbers in general, style guides have many exceptions to the basic rules depending on how the number is used. Specifically, we are deleting the longstanding guidance that hyphen use is.
I know a hyphen or two is supposed to go in there somewhere. The associated press stylebook and briefing on media law official style guide. Never use a hyphen in place of an en dash or an em dash. The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free. Nov 30, 2012 the associated press style guide says to use this method if precision is not intended. The sentence would read he was holding a half full glass. If a fraction of hours is used, hyphenate if it is a compound adjective comes before the noun. To test the correctness of each phrase, i say to myself that its not a town meeting or a hallstyle meeting. The associated press stylebook, certainly a reputable resource, uses a hyphen under its. Second, according to the canadian press stylebook if the number is under 10, write it out if over 10 use the figures. Use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun. The chicago manual of style differentiates numerals from words as well.
Ap style hourlong its one of those small but satisfying changes in the ap stylebook ap finally has removed the hyphen from hourlong, making it consistent with all the other longs yearlong, weeklong, daylong. Late last month, the ap stylebookthat fusty old guide to grammar and. The boy is six and a half but a sixanda half yearold boy half a dozen, half past six. I had a small hand in originally having all those included in the stylebook many years ago noting, when i was an ap editor, that. Nov 06, 2015 if you want to follow the writing style used by magazines, newspapers, editors and journalists, then you need to study up on associated press style, or ap style. On first reference, use the appropriate title before the full name of a member of the military. What is the proper way to write time in a manuscript. Dec 23, 2015 the guardian and observer style guide. In running text, it is best to use words instead of an en dash or hyphen in ap style. People have asked about taps, the bugle call, about 28,000 times. After each bullet, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each item.
Per ways to write 2000 year old, i suspect it should be 3 and a half yearold, but that reads like deathby hyphen, even if it is correct. Hyphenate half compounds whether they precede or follow the noun. 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. Hyphens are used when the measurement becomes a compound modifier 5foot3 woman.
To subscribe to the associated press stylebook online, or to find out about purchasing hard copies of the book, start here. On twitter, the stylebooks official account declared that hyphens were no. The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free download. If it were two halfton, the noun following would be the plural noun units.
Hyphen in compound adjective with numbers grammarly. The associated press style guide says to use this method if precision is not intended. Is there a standard ap style for bulleted areas of text. Half an hour sounds infinitely better, and the ap entry is simply illustrating that half hour, if it comes up, gets a hyphen. This word often is added to formal titles to denote that individuals who have retired retain their rank or title. While the ap stylebook admits that there is not necessarily a standard way to use them, and that most instances come own to personal style or. One looks objectively worse than the other, but apparently the associated press is. If its at all unclear, and a hyphen might help, connect away. You should use figures for 10 or above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events or things. I havent been able to find an answer to this question for a while now.
The test was openbook ap with a hyphenated compound. Ap style cheat sheet for wjeas writeoff contests and beyond student journalists should have at least these two sources available to answer basic style questions. A quickanddirty guide to hyphens speedy delivery medium. Here at conveyor, we are huge fans of the ap stylebook. The ap announced today that it will drop the hyphen from the word formerly written, under ap style, as email. The 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law includes more than 200 new or revised entries, with chapters covering data journalism, business, fashion, food, religion and sports terms, as well as media law, news values, punctuation, social media, polls and surveys and a new. Stylebook entries are designed to be even more explicit in their explanations than. An easy rule of thumb in most cases is that its not necessary to hyphenate when the word minute ends in s. For items not covered in this district style guide, refer to the ap stylebook and. The ap stylebook also specifies a number of miscellaneous rules for writing measurements. Home ap style ap style composition titles 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 in stories, using hyphens between the words. While the ap stylebook admits that there is not necessarily a standard way to use them, and that most instances come own to personal style or taste, it does say the fewer hyphens the better.
But were keeping the no hyphen first grade student, just like high school student. There is no need for hyphens if youre using the phrase as a noun. When using age as an adjective using their age to describe an individual, then use hyphens. Associated press style thread just for questions on ap. In general you should spell out numbers one through nine in ap style. Hyphens with numbers grammar blog the blue book of grammar. Clearly one person who had control of the ticker favored hyphens and another person who also had control of the ticker did not. Ap stylebook changes hyphen guidance, ushering in total chaos. Ten ways to use hyphens with numbers cathleen townsend. For most writers, the hyphens primary function is the formation of certain compound terms.
However, a hyphen is not required if the number is the second word in the compound adjective. If the prefix ends in the same letter as the first letter of the word, a hyphen is used for easy readability. And the ap stylebook kept wording it has used previously that says use of the hyphen is far from standardized and, as in the past, note that it can be a matter of taste, judgment and. As of wednesday, the ap changed some wording that was part of the hyphen entry s introduction for years. The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.
The best way to determine whether or not a phrase always carries a hyphen is to check the dictionary. The hyphen is also used for word division, which is briefly explained here. Ive noticed that you advise people that it is ap style to write full hours like this. Perhaps, but the ap stylebook s former guidelines on compound modifiersthe way of things before all this tinkeringdidnt actually dictate that they should always be hyphenated. Ap stylebook, also known by its full name the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law, is an english grammar style and usage guide created by american journalists working for or connected with the associated press to standardize mass communication. Professor emeritus samuel eliot morison, dean emeritus courtney c. The clock is ticking how to write about time in ap style. The weatherman said, a 4 12 to 8inch accumulation is expected for later this evening. The associated press has an ask the editor section of its online stylebook.
Use a hyphen only when omitting it would cause confusion. Aug 15, 2015 the ap says that town hallstyle meeting and trench coatweating sleuth are both correct, with one hyphen each. Do not use a hyphen if the construction includes very or an adverb. Use a hyphen if the word that follows is capitalized. It had to be easy for reporters and editors to use and also produce. 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 the past we discussed how to correctly use ap style title case, and now were here to tackle the often confused topic of ap style numbers. Colon capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes, which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign, which is also longer in some contexts. Crucial to accurately using ap style on measurements is appropriate use of numbers, as most units of measurement are attached to a numeral. But in dialog or quoted speech, such as five and a half. The basic ap style rule on numbers is that numerals less than 10 are spelled out, while 10 and greater are represented numerically. However, use a numeral for fractions larger than one, and leave a space between the whole number and the fraction.
What is the correct way to write a fractional number in a. Aug 17, 2017 hyphens join words together and should be used to help form a single idea from two words or avoid ambiguity in your writing. What is the correct way to write a fractional number in a formal letter. Let us know if you struggle with one of these exceptions. Where precision is intended, spell out fractions less than one. You could see evidence of a hyphen debate taking place right on the screen.
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