GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION
n Wallace said, “She came back from Spain with an accent.” n “She came back from Spain with an accent,” said Wallace.
n Attend the next Sizzlin’ Summer Concert July 29 at Mike Ward Community Park — Woodbridge at 5 p.m.
Contractions
Hometowns and Ages
The City of Irvine discourages the use of contractions. Contractions reflect informal speech and writing.
Mary Richards, of Buffalo, New York
n
Correct Usage
Mary Richards, 48, of Buffalo, New York
n
Are not
It is
n
n
Use younger than and older than rather than under and over when referring to ages.
Do not
1971
n
n
Incorrect Usage
Correct Usage
Aren’t
It’s
n
n
n Children 12 and younger are welcome; children older than 12 are welcome. Incorrect Usage
Don’t
’71
n
n
Dashes
n Children under 12 are welcome; children 12 and under are welcome.
Use short dashes (–) for ranges or for the meaning to , and do not include spaces before or after. Use long dashes (—) to separate information or mark a break in a sentence, and include a space before and after. Use a hyphen (-) for compound words. See Hyphenation , Page 10; Time , Page 18.
Full Dates
February 14, 1987
n
See Dates , Page 15. For more information about com- mas, see the AP Stylebook.
Correct Usages for Long Dash
Dates, Time, and Location
Abrupt Change
Place commas both before and after dates and years when a date is written in month-day-year order, or when days are involved. Unless a comma is needed for clarity, avoid using it between short, closely related clauses, such as with the location and time, or when the date is listed on its own without a day of the week or year. n Attend the next Sizzlin’ Summer Concert Saturday, July 29, at Mike Ward Community Park — Wood- bridge at 5 p.m. n Attend the next Sizzlin’ Summer Concert 5 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at Mike Ward Community Park — Woodbridge.
We will fly to Paris — if I get a raise.
n
n Smith offered a plan — it was unprecedented — to raise revenues.
Series within a Phrase When a phrase that otherwise would be set off by commas contains a series of words that must be separated by commas, use long dashes to set off the full phrase. n He listed the qualities — intelligence, humor conservatism, independence — that he likes in an executive.
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