Mechanics English 122 The Little, Brown Compact Handbook pp

The Hyphen Notice the when two or more words serve together as a single modifier BEFORE a noun, a hyphen should be used. Examples: money-hungry corporation, child- like cry, large-screen television, fun-loving adults

The Hyphen A hyphen should not be used when the modifiers come after the noun: The television has a big screen. The corporation is money hungry. The adults are fun loving. Hyphens join the numerator and denominator of fractions (one-third) and the parts of the whole numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine. Generally, hyphens are not used for prefixes and suffixes (see page 344 for exceptions).

Complete the Hyphen Revision: Exercise 45.9 Hyphen Activities

Exercise 45.9 The African elephant is well known for its size. A male elephant weighs five and one half to six tons, and a female weighs up to four tons. Even with the difference in weight, both male and female elephants can grow to a ten-foot height. A newborn elephant calf weighs two to three hundred pounds and stands about thirty three inches high. A two hundred pound, thirty three inch baby is quite a big baby! African elephants reach maturity at the age of fourteen or fifteen and often live for sixty five or seventy years.

Capital Letters Capitalize the first word of every sentence. Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives. Capitalize common nouns used as essential parts of proper nouns (Broadkill River, Lake Tahoe) Capitalize titles that come before a person’s name (President Lonnie George, Doctor Holsten) Capitalize most words in titles and subtitles

Capital Letters Only capitalize points of the compass when they indicate a region (We plan to visit the South during our road trip. To get to the college, travel south on Route 95.) Do NOT capitalize general job titles (She works as a registered nurse. He is studying to be an electrical engineer. The radiology technician scanned the pictures.)

Complete the capitalization activity; Exercise 46.1 Capitalization Activities

Activity 46.1 San Antonio, texas, is a thriving city in the southwest that has always offered much to tourists interested in the roots of spanish settlement in the new world. Most visitors stop at the Alamo, one of five Catholic Missions built by Priests to convert native americans and to maintain spain’s claims in the area. The Alamo is famous for being the site of an 1836 battle that helped to create the republic of Texas. San Antonio has grown tremendously in recent years. The Hemisfair plaza and the San Antonio river link tourist and convention facilities. Restaurants, Hotels, and shops line the River. the haunting melodies of “Una paloma blanca” and “malagueňa” lure passing tourists into Casa rio and other mexican restaurants. The university of Texas at San Antonio has expanded, and a Medical Center lies in the Northwest part of the city.

Underlining or Italics Depending on the format and style of your report or memo, you may use underlining OR italics (for instance, APA style prefers italics, MLA generally calls for underlining). Since we use APA style, my preference is for you to use italics for book titles, television/radio programs, plays, long poems, computer software, periodicals, web sites, published speeches, movies, DVDs and videos, pamphlets, long musical works, and works of visual art. Pay special attention to pages of The LBCH for your edit test.

Complete the Italics Activity: Exercise 47.1 Italics Activity

Abbreviations Use standard abbreviations for titles immediately before and after proper names, but follow personal preference when it is known. The best rule for you to follow with abbreviations is that you should write out the full term for the first reference, include the abbreviation in parenthesis after it, and thereafter in the report you may use the abbreviation. See page for common and acceptable abbreviations and for words that should generally be spelled out in full.

Complete the Abbreviation Activity: Exercise 48.1 Abbreviations Activity

Numbers The basic rule that I want you to follow with numbers is that you should generally use words for the numbers one through ten and figures for all other numbers. Exceptions include when the numbers are part of measurements, dates, addresses, scores and statistics, decimals, percentages and fractions, time, and exact amounts of money.

Numbers Always spell out a number that begins a sentence (or rewrite the sentence so that the number is not the first word). Again, as with many things in this chapter, it is important that you remain consistent in your work (Do not say “two percent” in one place of your report and “2 percent” (or “2%”) in another.

Complete the Numbers activity: Exercise 49.1 Numbers Activity