Basic Rule: Cardinal Numbers Correct: Eight girls attended the party. Incorrect: 8 girls attended the party.
Clock Times: When giving a clock reading, use the time in the datelined community. If it's undated, use the clock time where the event happened. Exception: a nationwide story or tabular listing that involves television or radio. Correct: The ransom drop-off is set at a 10 a.m. (4 a.m. EDT) deadline. Incorrect:The ransom drop-off is set at 10:00 a.m.
Numerals that start a sequence: Spell out a numeral beginning a sentence, or re-word the sentence. Exception: a calendar year Correct: Yesterday, over 500 customers bought chicken fried steak. Incorrect: 500 customers bought chicken fried steak yesterday.
Speeds: Use figures. Correct: Oklahoma saw winds of 5 to 10 mph. InCorrect: Oklahoma saw winds of five to ten miles per hour.
Sentence Punctuation: Incorrect: His car battery died, his tire was flat. Correct: His car battery died and he had a flat tire. His car battery died; his tire was flat.
Sentence Punctuation: Incorrect: The shoes were ugly, they did not fit. Correct: The shoes were ugly; they did not fit. The shoes were ugly, and they did not fit. The shoes were ugly. They did not fit.
Media: Is considered to be plural.
Correct: The media is present today. Incorrect: The medias is present today.
Centuries: Lowercase, spelling out numbers less than 10. For proper names follow the organization's practice.
Correct: The fifth century was full of history. Incorrect: The eleventh century was full of history.
Fractions: Spell out amounts less than 1 in stories, using hyphens between the words. Use figures for precise amounts larger than 1, converting to decimals whenever practical.
Correct: I have three-fifths of a pie. Incorrect: She has 3/5's of a peach cobbler.
1) She experienced her second episode of postpartum depression at age 8. 2) Celibate, religious-leader celebrates losing his virginity at age forty. 3) Freudian psychology explains why the body builder ran ten miles. 4) The proposed mosque is only 12,672 inches from ground zero. 5) Three M stated that their environmental record was just a big misunderstanding. 6) The 18th Street Gang cites 401k package as reason for continued growth during economic recession. 7) 650-pound man claims that it is all muscle, while licking the cheese off a McDonald's cheeseburger wrapper. 8) Sarah Palin's brain is estimated to weigh four ounces, half of that is suspected to be a tumor.
The Great Depression occurred in the 1930's (Incorrect) The Great Depression occurred in the 1930s (Correct)
Lauren is happy, she won American Idol. (Incorrect) Lauren is happy. She won American Idol. (Correct) Lauren is happy; she won American Idol. (Correct) Lauren is happy because she won American Idol. (Correct)
Commas in series:
The wife bought apples green beans and celery at the supermarket. (Incorrect) The wife bought apples, green beans and celery at the supermarket. (Correct)
Basic Rule: Cardinal Numbers
ReplyDeleteCorrect: Eight girls attended the party.
Incorrect: 8 girls attended the party.
Clock Times: When giving a clock reading, use the time in the datelined community. If it's undated, use the clock time where the event happened. Exception: a nationwide story or tabular listing that involves television or radio.
Correct: The ransom drop-off is set at a 10 a.m. (4 a.m. EDT) deadline.
Incorrect:The ransom drop-off is set at 10:00 a.m.
Numerals that start a sequence:
Spell out a numeral beginning a sentence, or re-word the sentence.
Exception: a calendar year
Correct: Yesterday, over 500 customers bought chicken fried steak.
Incorrect: 500 customers bought chicken fried steak yesterday.
Speeds: Use figures.
Correct: Oklahoma saw winds of 5 to 10 mph.
InCorrect: Oklahoma saw winds of five to ten miles per hour.
Sentence Punctuation:
ReplyDeleteIncorrect: His car battery died, his tire was flat.
Correct: His car battery died and he had a flat tire.
His car battery died; his tire was flat.
Sentence Punctuation:
ReplyDeleteIncorrect: The shoes were ugly, they did not fit.
Correct: The shoes were ugly; they did not fit.
The shoes were ugly, and they did not fit.
The shoes were ugly. They did not fit.
Media: Is considered to be plural.
Correct: The media is present today.
Incorrect: The medias is present today.
Centuries: Lowercase, spelling out numbers less than 10. For proper names follow the organization's practice.
Correct: The fifth century was full of history.
Incorrect: The eleventh century was full of history.
Fractions: Spell out amounts less than 1 in stories, using hyphens between the words. Use figures for precise amounts larger than 1, converting to decimals whenever practical.
Correct: I have three-fifths of a pie.
Incorrect: She has 3/5's of a peach cobbler.
I was unable to find priorities in my style book.
1) She experienced her second episode of postpartum depression at age 8.
ReplyDelete2) Celibate, religious-leader celebrates losing his virginity at age forty.
3) Freudian psychology explains why the body builder ran ten miles.
4) The proposed mosque is only 12,672 inches from ground zero.
5) Three M stated that their environmental record was just a big misunderstanding.
6) The 18th Street Gang cites 401k package as reason for continued growth during economic recession.
7) 650-pound man claims that it is all muscle, while licking the cheese off a McDonald's cheeseburger wrapper.
8) Sarah Palin's brain is estimated to weigh four ounces, half of that is suspected to be a tumor.
Its time to go to class. (I)
ReplyDeleteIt's time to go to class. (C)
Dimensions
The salmon was 6 feet 7 inches long. (C)
The six-foot-three-inches man is quite bad at basketball. (I)
Percentages
Ten percent of the profit went straight to charity. (C)
60% is not a passing grade. (I)
Couldn't find casual expressions, but I have a dated version so that could be the reason.
Years:
ReplyDeleteThe Great Depression occurred in the 1930's (Incorrect)
The Great Depression occurred in the 1930s (Correct)
Lauren is happy, she won American Idol. (Incorrect)
Lauren is happy. She won American Idol. (Correct)
Lauren is happy; she won American Idol. (Correct)
Lauren is happy because she won American Idol. (Correct)
Commas in series:
The wife bought apples green beans and celery at the supermarket. (Incorrect)
The wife bought apples, green beans and celery at the supermarket. (Correct)