Prof. Stephanie Hanlon-NugentAbridged version part 1

Grammar and Style

Misused words, punctuation, grammar and AP Style

Source: “The Elements of News Writing” by James Kershner

Punctuation — Commas

❖ Commas separate items in a series.

❖ The flag is red, white and blue.

Punctuation — Commas

❖ Don’t use a comma with the last item in a series.

❖ Wrong: Newspaper ink comes in magenta, cyan, yellow, and black.

❖ Right: Newspaper ink comes in magenta, cyan, yellow and black.

Punctuation — Commas

❖ Commas set off phrases that could be removed from a sentence.

❖ Mary Smith, who missed five classes, failed the course.

❖ Don’t use commas to set off essential words and phrases.

❖ Students who miss too many classes fail their courses.

Punctuation — Commas

❖ Commas separate independent clauses.

❖ The reporter was getting stonewalled, but she doggedly pursued the information.

❖ Omit the comma if the clause is short.

❖ The reporter was getting stonewalled and she quit.

Punctuation — Commas

❖ Commas separate direct quotations from attribution.

❖ “Always put commas inside quotation marks,” the textbook says.

Punctuation — Commas

❖ Commas set off words that address someone, when that name can be removed.

❖ “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Punctuation — Commas

❖ Commas are used to separate thousands, every third number from the right.

❖ 1,000

❖ $50,000

❖ 300,000

❖ Except in street addresses, room numbers, serial numbers, telephone numbers and years.

Punctuation — Commas❖ Commas separate introductory clauses.

❖ Under the circumstances, I think I should leave.

❖ To improve her grades, she studied every day.

❖ In New York, people are always on the go.

❖ Note: In news writing try to write in a more active voice — try reversing the order of these phrases.

Punctuation — Commas

❖ Commas are used to set off years in dates, cities and states in addresses.

❖ On April 1, 1981, I moved to 39 Walnut Bottom Road, Laurel, Md., for a year.

❖ I lived in Norfolk, Va., and Palo Alto, Calif., before moving to Dennis, Mass.

Punctuation — Apostrophes

❖ Apostrophes are used to indicate possession or missing letters in contractions.

❖ John’s pen

❖ It’s

❖ They’re

Punctuation — Quotations

❖ Punctuation should go inside quotations.

❖ The dean said, “You must get approval from me before changing courses.”

❖ “You must get approval from me before changing courses,” the dean said.

❖ “You must get approval from me before changing courses,” the dean said. “I won’t make any exceptions.”

Punctuation — Quotations❖ Capitalize the first word in a quotation that is a

complete sentence, but not when it is an incomplete phrase.

❖ He said, “You should always submit your assignments on time.”

❖ He said you should always submit your assignments “on time.”

❖ Note: Place attribution at the end of the quote whenever possible.

❖ “You should always submit your assignments on time,” he said.

Punctuation — Quotations❖ Use the verb said instead of other words like

claimed and exclaimed, and always place said after the subject.

❖ Wrong: “I’m not a crook,” claimed the president.

❖ Right: “I’m not a crook,” the president said.

❖ Wrong: “I’m an honest man,” said the president.

❖ Right: I’m an honest man,” the president said.

Punctuation — Quotations

❖ Only use quotation marks when you are quoting someone.

❖ Wrong: The new medical school is going to be “high tech.”

❖ Right: The new medical school is going to include the latest technology, according to the president.

❖ Right: The new medical school is going to be “high tech,” the president said.

Punctuation — Quotations

❖ When possible, make each quotation a new paragraph.

❖ Use single quotes in headlines.

❖ Use double quotes in the story.

Active/ Passive Voice❖ Active voice is preferred in news writing

because it is generally more direct and requires less words.

❖ An active sentence begins with the subject followed by the verb.

❖ A passive sentence begins with the object.

❖ Active: The reporter asked hard questions.

❖ Passive: Hard questions were asked by the reporter.

AP Style — Titles

❖ A title is capitalized when it appears before a person’s name, but lowercase when it appears after their name.

❖ UVI President David Hall

❖ David Hall, president of UVI

❖ Note: Don’t capitalize job descriptions, like teacher and attorney

AP Style — Acronyms

❖ Spell out acronyms and abbreviations on first reference.

❖ First reference: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

❖ Second reference: NOAA

AP Style — Numbers

❖ Spell out numbers zero to nine, use the numerals for 10 and above.

❖ Zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, etc.

❖ Note: Exceptions for ages, percentages, times

❖ 9-year-old girl

❖ 1 percent

AP Style — Dates

❖ Spell out months when they appear alone or with just the year.

❖ Abbreviate months longer than four letters when they appear in a full date.

❖ September

❖ September 2001

❖ Sept. 11, 2001

AP Style — Time

❖ Don’t be repetitive or redundant when providing times.

❖ Use lowercase and periods in a.m. and p.m.

❖ Wrong: 9:00 pm at night

❖ Right: 9 p.m.

❖ Wrong: 12 a.m. midnight

❖ Right: midnight

AP Style — Books, Songs, Movies

❖ Generally, the titles of books, songs, movies and TV shows are placed in quotations.

❖ “The Elements of Style” is one of the best grammar books.

❖ “Amazing Grace” is a beautiful and historic song.

❖ “News War” is a great documentary about journalism.

❖ Note: Exceptions for publications such as The Bible.

For more information

❖ See the “Punctuation Guide” in the “The Associated Press Stylebook.”

❖ Read “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk and E.B. White.