|
Use numbers for decades, with no apostrophe separating the zero and the “s.” |
1350s, 1770s, 1990s |
| Write out centuries. | twelfth century, nineteenth century |
| Hyphenate the century if it functions as a compound adjective, but not if it functions as a noun. | eighteenth-century carnivals, carnivals in the eighteenth century |
|
Place commas and periods inside the ending quotation mark. |
Greta acknowledged that there were “conspicuous lacunae,” typos, and statistical errors in her “very preliminary paper.” |
|
Place question marks outside the ending quotation mark... |
Was there a way to win the debate without resorting to “strong-arm tactics”? |
| ...unless the quoted material itself is a question. | As the car approached Durham, Graham asked the driver, “Should we roll our windows up?” |
| Than is used in comparative statements. | The development of radio was more revolutionary THAN the development of television. |
| Then is used with a sequence of events. | The merchants first tried a political solution and THEN turned to a religious solution. |
| Affect is a VERB meaning "have an influence on." | The donation from the industrialist will affect the Senator's vote. |
| Effect is a NOUN meaning "result." | What effect will the industrialist's donation have on the Senator's vote? |
| Do not split infinitives (verbs in the form "to _verb_")
with adverbs. As Evan Jenkins of the Columbia Journalism Review writes, "Splitting an infinitive is not a mortal sin, but it's nice to avoid because it makes some grammarians and other thoughtful readers grind their teeth." |
NO: To better understand the miners’
mood, he went to live among them. YES: To understand the miners’ mood better, he went to live among them. |
| NO: Valery wanted to quietly walk
on the ramparts. YES: Valery wanted to walk quietly on the ramparts. |
| It's (with an apostrophe) is the contraction of "it is." | It's a shame about Ray. |
Its (without an apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun (such as "his" or "her") requiring no apostrophe to show possession. |
The committee published its report. |
| Apostrophes indicate a contraction or possession. Do not use apostrophes to pluralize! | YES: The three opponents eyed each
other warily. |
| For plural possessives, place the apostrophe after the final s. | YES: The three opponents' eyes were blue. NO: The three opponent's eyes were blue. |
|
Book |
Pamela Scully, Liberating the Family? Gender and British Slave Emancipation in the Rural Western Cape, South Africa, 1823-1853 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1997), 210-3. |
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Chapter in a book (if the chapter’s author is the book’s author) |
John Bossy, “Kith and Kin,” chap. in Christianity in the West, 1400-1700 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), 23. |
|
Chapter in a book (if the chapter’s author is not the book’s editor) |
Tony Bennett, “The Exhibitionary Complex,” in Culture / Power / History: A Reader in Contemporary Social Theory, ed. Nicholas B. Dirks, Geoff Eley, and Sherry B. Ortner (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), 124. |
|
Journal article |
Michael Santos, “Between Hegemony and Autonomy: Skilled Iron Workers’ Search for Identity, 1900-1930,” Labor History 35 (Summer 1994): 403-4. |
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Newspaper article |
Omaha Telegraph, 18 July 1902. Justice (London), 5 September 1811. |
|
Letter |
Willa Cather to James Trenton, 3 December 1895, Jaret Collection, Carroll Library, Denison University Library, Granville, Ohio. |
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Archival source |
Carnegie Steel Company, “General Plan of Works Showing Course for Visitors to Follow through the Mill, 1907,” in William Gaughan collection, Archives of Industrial Society, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. |