AP Style
Punctuation & hyphenate
Word choice
Numbers
Misc
100

The months that are shortened in AP style

What is Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept. Oct., Nov., Dec. 

100

The CDC research is ______. 

A. cutting edge 

B. cutting-edge

What is B. cutting-edge? 

It's a two-word predicate adjective after a "to be" verb, so it needs that hyphen.

100

Do you research the "effects" or the "affects"?

What is: the effects. 

100

Correct.


He was an eight year old. 

What is: He was an 8 year old. 

100
The correct way to refer to the District of Columbia in AP Style

D.C. 

200

The proper way to write: She lived at 200 North Connecticut Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland. 

What is: She lived at 200 N. Connecticut Ave, Bethesda, Md. 

200

The _________ campaign is _________. 

A. fundraising; ongoing 

B. fund-raising; on-going 

C. fundraising; on-going 

D. fund-raising; ongoing

What is A. fundraising; ongoing. 

Fundraising and fundraiser should be one word in all cases. Ongoing should be written as one word.

200

The four women are ________ of American University.

A. alumnus 

B. alumna 

C. alumni 

D. alumnae

What is D. 

200

The correct way to write this time: It was two o'clock in the afternoon. 

What is: It was 2 p.m. 

200

A sentence that includes two or more complete sentences without connecting punctuation or clauses. 

What is a run-on.

300

The correct way to write Sylvia Burwell's title in these sentences:

A. [Title] Sylvia Burwell adopted a cat.

B. Sylvia Burwell [Title] adopted a cat.

What is:

A. American University President Sylvia Burwell adopted a cat.

B. Sylvia Burwell, American University president, adopted a cat.

300
The correct way to fix this sentence:


Their names were Sara, Cara, and Lara. 

What is: Their names were Sara, Cara and Lara (no last comma)
300

The proper sentence:

A. The team, that won the the championship last year, begins their 2012 season next month. 

B. The team, which won the championship last year, begins their 2012 season next month.

What is B. 

300

Our Facebook page views increased by _____. 

A. Two percent 

B. 2 percent 

C. 2%

What is C. 


The % sign is now acceptable in AP style while paired with a numeral.

300

Should journalists ever use "I" or "me" in a story?

What is: No, except in special circumstances (like certain magazine features and personal essays)

400

A. It was October 8th.

B. It was Oct. 8. 

What is B. 

400

A. "I have no intention of staying." He said. 

B. "I have no intention of staying," He said. 

C. "I have no intention of staying" he said. 

D. "I have no intention of staying," he said.

What is D.

400

Edit your work carefully to __________ accuracy. 

A. ensure 

B. insure

What is B. 

ENSURE is to guarantee: A good writer takes every possible measure to ensure accuracy. INSURE is used in references to insurance.

400

Jim donated ________ to the Humane Society of the United States this year. 

A. six thousand 

B. $6 thousand 

C. $6,000

What is C. $6,000? 

Always lowercase. Use figures and the $ sign in all except casual references or amounts without a figure: The book cost $4. Dad, please give me a dollar.

400

Shorten this word: Utilize

What is: use

500

The correct way to write the below sentence:

A. The 4 defendants were ordered to pay 4,000,000 dollars to the 23 victims.

B. The four defendants were ordered to pay $4 million to the 23 victims. 

What is B.

500

The correct way to write this sentence:

The two deer's tracks.

What is: It's correct. 

500

They went to the game, _________ they had been given the tickets. 

A. because 

B. since

What is B. since? 

Use because to denote a specific cause-effect relationship. Since is acceptable in a casual sense when the first event in a sequence led logically to the second but was not its direct cause.

500

The Ohio office is located at _______. 

A. 2740 Airport Drive 

B. 2740 Airport Dr.

What is B. 

Use the abbreviation Ave., Blvd. and St. only with a numbered address. Spell them out and capitalize when part of a format street name without a number. All similar words (alley, drive, road, terrace, etc.) always are spelled out. See the AP Stylebook for more specific information.

500
The proper way to write these phrases:

A. american university

b. a danish bakery

What is:

A. American University

B. a Danish bakery