Grammar and Spelling
Details, details
Preferred spellings
 Adviser
 Afterward (not




 Damage (for
afterwards)
All right (never alright) 

Ax
Baby-sit, baby-sitting, 

baby sitter

Backward (not
backwards)
destruction); damages
(for court awards)
Employee
Forward (not forwards)
Goodbye
Gray (not grey)
Kidnap, kidnapped,
kidnapper, kidnapping
 Likable (not likeable)
 Percent (one word,
spelled out)
 Teen, teenager, teenage
(do not use teenaged)
 Vice president (no
hyphen)
 Whiskey, whiskeys
Preferred spellings for
broadcast copy
 Babysitter (one word)
 Teen, teen-ager, teen-age
Punctuation
Comma/ages
 Use commas to separate a person’s age
from his or her name.
 Artie Shaw, 94, died Wednesday.
Comma/state names
 Use commas to separate the name of a
state from the name of a city. Use commas
before and after the state name unless it
ends the sentence.
 The bus traveled from Cairo, Ill., to Knoxville,
Tenn.
Comma/hometowns
 Use commas to set off a person’s
hometown when it is placed in apposition
to the name.
 Mary Richards, of Minneapolis, and Maude
Findlay, of Tuckahoe, N.Y., attended the
ceremony.
Comma/quotations
 Use a comma after the attribution to
introduce a one-sentence quotation.
 She said, “The city has overspent its
budget.”
 When the attribution follows the
quotation, replace the period at the end
of the quotation with a comma.
 “The city has overspent its budget,” she
said.
 Use commas before and after
attribution that is in the middle of a
quotation.
 “Before the start of the war,” the senator
said, “the United States should have
planned to fight insurgents.”
 Always place commas and periods
inside quotation marks.
 Use commas to set off attribution at the
end or in the middle of an indirect
quotation.
 The war plans were inadequate, he said.
 The time has come, the president said, to
engage in direct negotiations.
 Do not use a comma with indirect or
partial quotations that start with the
attribution.
 Tucker said the plane was low on fuel.
Comma/series
 Use commas to separate elements in a
series. Do not put a comma before the
conjunction in a simple series.
 The players’ jerseys are purple, yellow and
white.
Comma/appositives
 An appositive is a word or expression
placed beside another in order to explain
or elaborate on the other word or
expression.
 Appositives should have commas before
and after them, unless they come at the
end of a sentence.
 Bill Smith, the leadoff batter, struck out.
 The letter came from Jane Mitchell, the state
treasurer.
Colon/lists
 The most frequent use of the colon is at
the end of a sentence to introduce a list,
tabulation or text.
 There were three considerations: expense,
time and feasibility.
Colon/quotations
 Use a colon after the attribution to
introduce a quotation of more than one
sentence.
 The prosecutor said: “The gunman
showed no mercy. He shot both victims
as they begged for their lives.”
Possessives
 For common or proper nouns, singular
or plural, that do not end in s, add an
apostrophe and an s. (John’s house)
 For singular common nouns that end in
s, add an apostrophe and an s, unless
the next word begins with an s. (boss’s
house) (boss’ swing)
 Singular common or proper nouns that
end in ce, z or x, add an apostrophe
and an s. (Rance’s house, Chaz’s car
and Boudreaux’s restaurant.
 For singular proper nouns that end in s,
add only an apostrophe. (Tess’ comb)
 For plural common or proper nouns ending
in s, add only an apostrophe. (Jones’ car)
 See Appendix C of “Reporting for the
Media” for more rules and examples.
Semicolon
 Use semicolons to separate elements in
a series where one or more of the
elements has internal punctuation.
 He leaves three daughters, Jane Smith of
Wichita, Kan., Mary Smith of Denver and
Susan Kingsbury of Boston; a son, John
Smith of Chicago; and a sister, Martha
Warren of Omaha, Neb.
 Note that a semicolon is used before
the final element in the series.
Punctuation for
broadcast copy
In general
 Punctuation should help a newscaster
understand and read a story.
 Most of the rules for punctuating print copy
apply to broadcast copy
Comma/ages and hometowns
 Do not use commas to set off ages and
hometowns from names. Instead, put ages
and hometowns in separate sentences.
 The governor has appointed James Burns to
lead the Economic Development Department.
He is a 48-year-old banker from Pleasanton.
Commas/quotations
 Avoid direct quotations in stories. Use
paraphrases or tape instead.
 Where a direct quotation is central to a
story, punctuate it as for print, but use a
phrase that would make clear to listeners
the words are those of the source, not of
the reporter.
 In the president’s words, “He can run, but
he can’t hide.”
Capitalization
 The Mathematics Department voted for
the curriculum change, but the English
Department opposed it.
 The mathematics department voted for the
curriculum change, but the English
department opposed it.
 The medal of honor was awarded to 1,522
servicemen from the civil war, but only 464
received the award during world war two.
 The Medal of Honor was awarded to 1,522
servicemen from the Civil War, but only
464 received the award during World War
II.
 Many American holidays, like memorial
day and labor day, are on Mondays.
 Many American holidays, like Memorial
Day and Labor Day, are on Mondays.
 Although the Constitution allows
references to god in such things as the
pledge of allegiance, it does not allow
public schools to require students to read
the bible.
 Although the Constitution allows
references to God in such things as the
Pledge of Allegiance, it does not allow
public schools to require students to read
the Bible.
 He saw two cans of coke in the cup
holders of the pontiac, but there was only
a box of kleenex on the seat of the Truck.
 He saw two cans of Coke in the cup
holders of the Pontiac, but there was only
a box of Kleenex on the seat of the truck.
 Although it is not as tall as other Buildings,
many people admire the Art Deco style of
the Chrysler building.
 Although it is not as tall as other buildings,
many people admire the Art Deco style of
the Chrysler Building.
 If you want to rent the grand ballroom,
speak to the reservations clerk in room
310.
 If you want to rent the Grand Ballroom,
speak to the reservations clerk in Room
310.
 Thousands of tourists visit the capitol
every year to see where congress holds
its sessions. Many also visit the capitol in
Richmond to see where the Virginia
general assembly sits.
 Thousands of tourists visit the Capitol
every year to see where Congress holds
its sessions. Many also visit the Capitol in
Richmond to see where the Virginia
General Assembly sits.
 According to the congressional record,
335 members of the house voted for the
resolution, but only 42 members of the
senate supported it.
 According to the Congressional Record,
335 members of the House voted for the
resolution, but only 42 members of the
Senate supported it.
 The first amendment to the constitution
guarantees Freedom of the Press, but
courts have held libel suits against the
media are Constitutional.
 The First Amendment to the Constitution
guarantees freedom of the press, but
courts have held libel suits against the
media are constitutional.
 From southern California, they traveled
Northeast until they reached the great
plains and then headed South for the gulf
coast.
 From Southern California, they traveled
northeast until they reached the Great
Plains and then headed south for the Gulf
Coast.
 A Presidential order set an Administration
policy of increasing traffic on the
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
 A presidential order set an administration
policy of increasing traffic on the
Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
 Construction crews moved thousands of
tons of Earth to construct the bunkers from
which spectators could watch the
spacecraft begin its journey from earth to
Mars.
 Construction crews moved thousands of
tons of earth to construct the bunkers from
which spectators could watch the
spacecraft begin its journey from Earth to
Mars.
 The state patrol agreed to send
investigators to help the Lewistown city
police solve the double homicide.
 The State Patrol agreed to send
investigators to help the Lewistown City
Police solve the double homicide.
 The two cars collided at the intersection of
United States highway 40 and state route
seven, five miles South of I-44.
 The two cars collided at the intersection of
U.S. 40 and state Route 7, just five miles
south of Interstate 44.
 The joint amphibious assault exercise will
involve troops from the British Army, the
French Army and the United States army
and marines, with the US navy providing
transportation.
 The joint amphibious assault exercise will
involve troops from the British army, the
French army and the U.S. Army and
Marines, with the U.S. Navy providing
transportation.
 “We’re an equal opportunity bank. It
makes no difference to us whether a
customer is Black, White, arab or
chinese,” said Harriet Smith, the black vice
president of the bank.
 “We’re an equal opportunity bank. It
makes no difference to us whether a
customer is black, white, Arab or Chinese,”
said Harriet Smith, the vice president of
the bank.
 In the 1920’s, it was enough for most
students to learn their ABC’s and to mind
their ps and qs, but by the 50’s students
needed more skills.
 In the 1920s, it was enough for most
students to learn their ABCs and to mind
their p’s and q’s, but by the ‘50s students
needed more skills.
 The candidate is not a member of the
Republican party or of the Democratic
party. She says she belongs to the
libertarian party, but her ideas are more
Socialistic.
 The candidate is not a member of the
Republican Party or of the Democratic
Party. She says she belongs to the
Libertarian Party, but her ideas are more
socialistic.
 Sen. Susan Collins, r-Me., and Rep. Mike
Ross, d-Arkansas, have agreed to
cosponsor the bill.
 Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rep.
Mike Ross, D-Ark., have agreed to
cosponsor the bill.
 The rockies and the appalachians are the
two major Mountain Ranges in North
America, but neither has peaks as high as
those in the Himalayan mountains in asia.
 The Rockies and the Appalachians are the
two major mountain ranges in North
America, but neither has peaks as high as
those in the Himalayan Mountains in Asia.
 “The people of some countries may call
the United States the ‘great satan,’ but it is
the international terrorists who are truly
Satanic,” the ambassador said.
 “The people of some countries may call
the United States the ‘great Satan,’ but it is
the international terrorists who are truly
satanic,” the ambassador said.
 The introduction of Astronaut Tom Leffler
was made by mayor Anne Swenson and
Herbert Williamson, the Governor.
 The introduction of astronaut Tom Leffler
was made by Mayor Anne Swenson and
Herbert Williamson, the governor.
Capitalization in
Broadcast Copy
 The U.S. Department of Defense and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture are
cooperating on a program to protect crops
and livestock from terrorist attacks.
 The U-S Defense and Agriculture
departments are cooperating on a
program to protect crops and livestock
from terrorist attacks.
Capitalization
In general
 Do not capitalize words unnecessarily.
 Use capital letters only as required by the
rules summarized here or in the AP
Stylebook.
Academic departments
 Use lowercase except for proper nouns
that are part of a department’s name.




the history department
the department of history
the English department
the department of English
Awards/events/holidays/wars
 Capitalize awards.
 Medal of Honor
 Capitalize historic events and periods.
 the San Francisco Earthquake; the Great
Depression
 Capitalize holidays.
 Thanksgiving Day
 Capitalize wars
 The Civil War; World War II
Bible/God
 Capitalize Bible, without quotation marks,
to refer to the Old and New Testaments.
 Quran is the preferred spelling for the
Muslim holy book, and it, too, should be
capitalized.
 Capitalize God or Allah to refer to
monotheistic deities; lowercase pronouns
referring to the deity.
Brand names
 Capitalize brand names.
 Pontiac
 Coke
 Kleenex
 Lowercase generic terms.
 sedan
 cola
 facial tissue
Buildings/Rooms
 Capitalize the proper names of
buildings, including the word building if
that is part of the name.
 Empire State Building
 Capitalize the names of specifically
designated rooms and the word room
when it’s used with a number.
 the Blue Room
 Room 345
Capitol
 Capitalize U.S. Capitol and the Capitol
when referring to the building where
Congress meets.
 Capitalize Capitol when referring to the
building where a specific state legislature
meets.
 the Indiana State Capitol
Congress
 Capitalize U.S. Congress and Congress
when referring to the U.S. Senate and
House of Representatives.
 Lower case congressional, unless it is part
of a proper noun, such as the Congressional
Record.
 Capitalize legislature and similar terms when
referring to specific state legislative bodies.
 the Kansas Legislature
Constitution
 Capitalize references to the U.S.
Constitution, with or without the U.S.
modifier.
 Capitalize Bill of Rights and First
Amendment (and all other
amendments).
 Lowercase the adjective constitutional.
Directions/Regions
 Lowercase north, south, southwest, etc.,
when they indicate a compass direction.
 Des Moines is north of Kansas City.
 Capitalize such words when they indicate
a region.
 The storm hit Northeast states hardest.
 Capitalize names of well known regions.
 the Deep South; the East Side of Manhattan;
Southern California.
Do not capitalize








administration
first lady
first family
government
presidential
presidency
priest
seasons (fall, winter,
etc.)
 years in school
(sophomore, junior,
etc.)
 Also, lowercase the
common-noun
elements of proper
names in plural
uses.
 Elm and Main streets
 the Missouri and
Mississippi rivers
Earth
 Generally, lowercase earth.
 She is a down-to-earth person.
 Capitalize when it’s used as the proper
name of the planet.
 Mars is farther from the Sun than Earth.
Government
 Capitalize city, county, state and federal
when part of a proper name.
 Crawford County Commission
 Capitalize city council, city hall, police
department, legislature and assembly
when part of a proper name.
 Boston City Council; Chicago Police
Department; Florida Legislature
 Retain capitalization when the context
makes clear the reference is to a specific
body.
 the City Council; the Police Department; the
Legislature
Highways
 Use these forms for highways identified by
number.
 U.S. Highway 1; U.S. Route 1; U.S. 1; Illinois
34, Illinois Route 34; state Route 34;
Interstate 495; Interstate Highway 495.
 On second reference, use I-495.
 When a letter is appended to a highway
number, capitalize it.
 Route 1A
Military
 Capitalize the names of U.S. armed
forces.
 U.S. Army
 the Navy
 Marine regulations
 Lower case the forces of other nations.
 the French army
Nationalities/Race
 Capitalize proper names of nationalities,
races and tribes.
 French; Arab; Caucasian; Eskimo
 Lowercase words such as black, white
and mulatto.
 Do not use colored; in the United States,
the word is considered derogatory.
 Do not identify people by race unless it is
necessary to the story.
Plurals
 To form the plurals of a number, add s
with no apostrophe.
 1920s
 To form plurals of a single letter, add ’s.
To form plurals of multiple letters, add
only s.
 Mind your p’s and q’s.
 She knows her ABCs.
Political parties
 Capitalize both the name of the party
and the word party.
 the Republican Party
 Also capitalize Communist, Socialist,
Libertarian when they refer to a
specific party or party member.
 Lowercase references to a political
philosophy
 The Libertarian candidate received 348
votes.
 The foundation advocates libertarian
policies.
 Use a D or an R and the abbreviation for
the state to identify members of
Congress.
 Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., …
 Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., …
 Use a D or an R and home town or
district to identify members of state
legislatures, city councils or other
legislative bodies elected on a partisan
basis.
 State Sen. Joe Adams, R-Walnut, …
 Councilwoman Alice Goode, D-3rd
District,…
Proper nouns
 Capitalize proper nouns, which uniquely
identify persons, places or things.
 Mary
 Boston
 the Columbia River
 Lowercase common nouns when they
stand alone.
 the city
 the river
Satan
 Capitalize Satan, but lowercase devil and
satanic.
Titles
 Capitalize formal titles used immediately
before a name.
 Mayor Donna Rodgers
 Lowercase titles used after the name or
alone.
 Donna Rogers, mayor of Walnut,….
 Lowercase words that are job
descriptions rather than titles.
 movie star Tom Hanks
 Do not capitalize professor when used
before a name.
 He thanked professor Betty Falk for her
advice.
Capitalization for
broadcast copy
In general
 Capitalization rules for broadcast copy are
nearly identical to those for print copy.
 See the AP Stylebook and the AP
Broadcast News Handbook for more
specifics.
Government
 Always refer to governmental bodies by
the name that is most familiar to the
audience.
 Capitalize full proper names, and
hyphenate U-S when that’s part of the
name.
 U-S Defense Department
Grammar Basics:
Common Errors
Subject-verb agreement
 Singular subjects take singular verbs.
 A sharp knife cuts cleanly.
 The basketball needs more air.
 Plural subjects take plural verbs.
 Most automobiles run on gasoline.
 The magazines lie on the coffee table.
Noun-pronoun agreement
 Nouns have one of four genders:




masculine (man, father, uncle)
feminine (woman, mother, aunt)
neuter (tree, streetlight)
common (author, gymnast, lawyer, doctor)
 Pronouns have one of three genders:
 masculine (he, him, his)
 feminine (she, her, hers)
 neuter (it, its)
 Pronouns must agree with their
antecedents in number and gender.
 Doris said she would bring the pie.
 She keeps her shoes in their boxes.
 Problems often arise when writers try to
find a gender-neutral pronoun for a
common noun.
 Every firefighter wore their hat.
 Try to recast the sentence as a plural:
 All firefighters wore their hats.
Collective nouns
 Agreement problems also arise with
collective nouns – team, jury, company
– and proper names for collectives –
Dodgers, General Motors.
 Collective nouns may be singular or
plural, but not both in the same
sentence.
Singular verb-plural pronoun
 Sloppy writers sometimes use a singular
verb and a plural pronoun – in the same
sentence.
 WRONG: The company demands too much
from their employees.
 RIGHT: The company demands too much
from its employees.
 RIGHT: The company’s managers demand
too much from their employees.
 The tendency in American English is to
treat collective nouns as singular.
 The board sets the salaries for the
executives it hires.
 An exception is made when the
members of the collective are acting as
individuals, not as a group.
 The board disagree on whether the
company should pay their travel expenses.
Adjective-Adverb Confusion
 Adjectives modify nouns.
 Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and
other adverbs.
 Sometimes writers use adjectives when
they should use adverbs.
 WRONG: She caught on quick to the
scam.
 RIGHT: She caught on quickly to the scam.
“Good” and “well”
 “Good” is an adjective; “well” is an
adverb.
 What is the difference in the meaning
between these two sentences?
 She does good.
 She does well.
 Which of these is correct?
 The engine runs good.
 The engine runs well.
Relative pronouns
 Use “that” and “which” to refer to
inanimate objects, abstractions and
animals that don’t have names.
 Use “who” and “whom” for people and
animals with names.
“That” and “which”
 Would these two sentences lead you to
the same house? Why or why not?
 Go to the third house, which has green
drapes.
 Go to the third house that has green drapes.
 Use “which” to introduce nonessential
phrases and clauses; use “that” to
introduce essential phrases and clauses.
“Who” and “whom”
 Use “who” when it is the subject of the
phrase or clause in which it stands.
 Use “whom” when it is the object of a verb
or preposition.
 SUBJECT: I know who will win the Super
Bowl.
 OBJECT OF VERB: He is one whom I trust.
 OBJECT OF PREPOSITION: To whom did you
send the letter?
Passive voice
 Active voice sentences use the subjectverb-object pattern.
 The batter hit the ball.
 Passive voice turns the order around and
makes the direct object the subject.
 The ball was hit by the batter.
Problems with passives
 Passive sentences use more words
than active ones, making them harder to
understand.
 Passive sentences also obscure
responsibility.
 Mistakes were made.
 Laws were violated.
 People were hurt.
Compound modifiers
 Hyphenate before a noun
 …small-town resident ….
 … man-eating shark ….
 … full-time worker ….
 Hyphen shows the two words work
together, not independently, to modify the
noun.
 Absence of a hyphen can lead to
ambiguity, some times humorous, as in
this headline:
 Squad helps dog bite victim
 Whom is the squad helping, the dog or the
victim?
 …small town resident ….
 Is the town small or the resident?
 … man eating shark….
 Is the man eating the shark or the shark eating
the man?
Hyphenate predicate
adjectives
 Hyphenate compound modifiers used
as predicate adjectives (adjectives that
follow a linking verb such as “to be”).
 Her outlook is small-town.
 The shark is a man-eater.
Don’t hyphenate in other
contexts
 She lives in a small town.
 He is a victim of a dog bite.
 She works full time.
The language of news
Be precise
 Words are the journalists’ tools. Just as a
surgeon must know how to use a scalpel
or a carpenter must know how to use a
plane, the journalist must know how to
use words.
 Some words, like “collide” and
“epicenter,” are widely misused. Others
are misused because of confusion, like
“cite” and “site.”
Use strong verbs
 Verbs convey action. A strong, active verb
can replace a weak verb and several
adjectives.
 WEAK: The car hit the roadside barrier hard
and fell far into the ravine.
 STRONGER: The car smashed the roadside
barrier and plunged into the ravine.
Slang, jargon and euphemisms
 Slang words are linguistic fads that may or
may not endure.
 Jargon, or technical language, has
meaning only to those in a particular job.
 Euphemisms hide unpleasant realities.
 All obscure understanding, but the
journalists’ job is to increase
understanding.
Other issues
 Avoid platitudes, which state the obvious.
 The mayor was please by the warm reception.
 Avoid the negative.
 NEGATIVE: Students did not come to class
often.
 POSITIVE: Students often skipped class.
 Avoid gush or enthusiastic
exaggeration.
 The fair will offer bigger and better
attractions than ever before.
 Avoid vague time references. In print
copy, use day of the week or date
instead of “yesterday” or “tomorrow.”
Eliminate redundancies like “10 a.m. in
the morning” or “this Tuesday.”