GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION
Attribution Use a long dash before an author’s or composer’s name at the end of a quotation.
in condensing quotes, text, and documents. Be especially careful to avoid deletions that would distort the meaning. n “Good evening … In all the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best for the nation …” Incomplete Thought Use an ellipsis to indicate a thought that the speaker or writer does not complete.
n “Who steals my purse steals trash.” —Shakespeare
Lists Long dashes may be used similar to bullet points. Use periods, not semicolons, at the end of each section, whether it is a full sentence or a phrase.
Correct Usage
I no longer have the political base …
n
She liked the following: —Flowers on Valentine’s Day. —Chocolates on her birthday.
n
For more information, see the AP Stylebook .
Note: The City does not follow the AP Stylebook’s specific ellipses punctuation guidelines
Incorrect Usage
She liked the following: —Flowers on Valentine’s Day; —Chocolates on her birthday; —Cake on her anniversary
n
Exclamation Points
The City discourages the use of exclamation points in professional documents such as staff memos or letters to constituents. Rare exceptions may be made for marketing materials, social media, and in publication headlines.
Correct Usages for Short Dash
Time Spans
For more information, see the AP Stylebook .
10–11 a.m.
n
Hyphenation
Monday–Thursday
n
Hyphens are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity or to form a single idea from two or more words. Only use hyphens if not using them would cause confusion.
Helpful Tip
In a Word document, create a short dash by typing a word, hit the space bar, type two hyphens (--), hit the space bar, type a word, and then hit the space bar. Create a long dash by typing a word, two hyphens (--), a word, and then hit the space bar.
Avoid Ambiguity
n Small business owner vs. Small-business owner
Ellipses ( … )
n He recovered his health. vs. He re-covered the leaky roof. Compound Modifiers When a compound modifier — two or more words that express a single concept — precedes a noun, use hyphens to link all the words in the compound except
Treat an ellipsis as a three-letter word, constructed with three periods and two spaces.
Indicate Deletions Use to indicate the deletion of one or more words
10
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator