• Affect and effect: The first is a verb, the second is a noun.
Will being absent affect my grade?
What effect will being absent have on my grade?
• All right: It's always two words, and includes two l's.
All right is right. Alright is all wrong.
• Because / Since: Generally, use "because" when addressing cause and effect. "Since" is more appropriate (and precise) for expressions involving elapsed time.
Our business has served the community since 1988.
We are successful because we try very hard.
• Capital letters: Don't capitalize any word unless you have a specific reason to do so. Generally, there are three reasons to use capitals:
- At the beginning of a sentence.
In the beginning...
- For proper nouns such as the name of a city, nation, or person.
Argentina.
Mexico City.
Jimmy Carter.
- A title or job description that directly precedes someone's name.
Manchester Police Chief David Mara.
Adjunct Professor Boris Karloff.
Otherwise, keep your writing lower case.
• Compound adjectives: Separate words combined together to modify a noun. Generally hyphenate these. The test is: do these words mean something specific when put together like this? If so, hyphenate. If the words can stand alone, no need to hyphenate.
He is a brain-dead individual.
Get me a four-year-old child!
I want a new red car.
• Days of the week: Whenever possible, always include the DAY of the week (Thursday) along with any date.
This helps readers known immediately how something fits into their own lives. It allows them to keep reading without having to stop and think, "What day of the week is that?"
Effective: The performance is on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.
Less effective: The performance is on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.
• Ensure and insure: Use the first when you're reassuring someone. Use the second only when you're talking about something related to an insurance policy.
This loan will ensure the success of our business.
We need to insure the business, so call a broker.
Will being absent affect my grade?
What effect will being absent have on my grade?
• Numbers: Generally, for numbers with a single digit, spell out the word. For numbers with more than one digit, use numerals. For numbers with four digits or more, use commas for every three places.
Give me three bags of dog food.
I have 24 cats.
We counted 1,304 fireflies last night.
• Pronouns: Short little words used in place of something or someone. Nothing can lose a reader faster than careless pronoun use. Here are a coupla three tips to follow:
-Always mention the person or thing first before you use a pronoun.
Good: John fell asleep, but he didn't crash the car.
Not so good: He fell asleep, but John didn't crash the car.
-Don't introduce pronouns unless it's absolutely clear what you're referring to.
John likes Mike and Mike likes Larry, but he doesn't like the others.
Make sure nouns and pronouns agree. If the noun is plural, then the pronoun should be as well.
Good: The employees hoped they would get a raise.
Not so good: The employee hoped they would get a raise.
- Use 'they' for people and 'it' for a business.
Good: General Mills, Inc. treats its employees like family.
Not so good: General Mills, Inc. treats their employees like they were family.
• Time: For clarity and consistency, follow AP style in writing out time.
- Use a.m. and p.m., lower case and with periods.
The time is currently 8:35 a.m.
I usually fall asleep by 9:30 p.m.
Not so good: Dinner will be served at 6:30 PM.
- For hours with no minutes, leave out the ":00" after the number.
We each lunch every day at 11 a.m., and we finish at 11:30 a.m.
- Use "midnight" and "noon" instead of numbers.
Good: The vampire arrived at midnight.
Not so good: The vampire arrived at 12 a.m.
• Website: Our class style for this evolving term will be one word, no capitals.
Amazon.com is a very useful website.
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