Copy Editing: AP Style Guidelines by Mandy Saffer

Everyone Knows the Difference Between... You’re, Your Their, There, They’re To, Too, Two

But How About the Difference Between... when to use Oregon; Ore.; or OR 1,000; a thousand 4-feet-long; 4 ft; 4 feet Democrat Barack Obama; Dem. Barack Obama; Barack Obama, D.

You can learn with the Associated Press Style Book!

You’ll learn all about and more basic... States Capitalization Numerals Political Party Affiliations Military Titles Abbreviations and more basic... Capitalization Punctuation Time Dates

From Basics like Dates... Always capitalize months Never abbreviate March, April, May, June, or July. Others: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sep., Oct., Nov., and Dec. When only a month and year are listed, do not separate with a comma. Example: September 1989. NOT: September, 1989.

... And Capitalization... Always capitalize proper nouns. Example: America, John, Boston, England, Jane. Capitalize common nouns when part of a full name. Example: Mississippi River, Democratic Party, West Virginia and Fleet Street. Lowercase common nouns when the stand alone. Example: the river, the party, the street.

..To the more complicated, like States... Spell out ALL 50 states when standing alone Eight states are NEVER abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah. Don’t use periods to abbreviate states with two names. Example: NJ, SC and RI. Use New York State and Washington State to distinguish between New York City and Washington D.C.

...And Military Titles. Capitalize a military rank when used as a formal title. Example: General Smith, Captain Smith, and Lieutenant General Smith. Abbreviations are VERY important. Example: General = Gen.; Captain = Capt.; Lieutenant General = Lt. Gen. Add “s” to the principal element in title when plural. Example: Gens. Smith and Jones, Capts. Smith and Jones, and Lt. Gens. Smith and Jones.