Activity:

Try to spot the errors in the following sentences:

1. She was born on Apr. 23 1978.
2. James Monroe was the President of the U.S. from
1758–1831.
3. Tiffany wants us to be happy, energetic and free.
4. The current Manager of the restaurant is Jaime Cruz,
Sr.
5. “I’m only trying to help you! Stop being so stubborn.”
What is a proposed style sheet?
• A style sheet is simply a statement and a reflection
of the style standards and practices of a publisher
of newspapers, books, or magazines.
http://theeditorsblog.net/
 Capitalization
• Capitalized titles preceding names
Ex: Prime Minister David Cameron
Lower case titles standing alone or following a name
Ex: David Cameron, prime minister
• Capitalize Incumbent President but not when referring to
his office
Ex: The President will be attending the charity ball.

Ex: The ex-president of Egypt was sentenced to death.

• Lower case occupational titles:
Ex: actress, Rebel Wilson
• Capitalize Republic and Government only when referring
to official titles
Ex: Republic of Congo
• Lowercase administration and embassy
Ex: Obama administration, Philippine embassy
• Lowercase ex, former and acting before titles
Ex: ex-Senator Manny Villar
• Capitalize Deity and He, His, and Him
Capitalize Bible, professions of faith and their adherents,
Mass or Holy Mass, and Church when referring to the faith
not the edifice.
Ex: “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come,
see the place where He was lying. -Matthew 28:6”
• Capitalize common nouns that are part of formal names
Ex: Solaire Hotel and Casino
• Some proper nouns have acquired independent common
meanings and are not capitalized
Ex: manila paper, india ink
• The words a, in, of, etc. are capitalized only at the start of
end of titles:
Ex: “A Cup of Tea”
• Capitalize degrees when abbreviated, lowercase when
spelled:
Ex: B.S, bachelor of science
• Sports events of recognized standing are capitalized:
Ex: World Cup
• When in doubt, don’t capitalize.
Abbreviations
• Spell out organizations, firms, agencies, groups, etc., when
first mentioned in the story.
• When used in addresses, abbreviate St., Blvd., Ave., Rd.,
Ext.
Ex: 27-F West Riverside St., San Francisco Del Monte,
Quezon City
• Lower-case abbreviations that take periods: a.m., p.m.,
k.p.h.,
Caps in heads have no periods: AM, PM
• Abbreviate versus as vs. (with period) in both heads and
stories.
• Abbreviate and capitalize titles: Mr., Mrs., Ms., etc.,
• Use Miss before the name of an unmarried woman
throughout.
• Do not abbreviate the plural form of titles: Generals
Francisco and Solis (not Gens.)
• Do not abbreviate the words government, department,
association, point, deputy, general manager, secretary-
general, and secretary.
• Do not abbreviate Christmas as X’mas.
• Abbreviate months when used in dates: Jan. 21, 2001. (Do
not abbreviate months with five letters or less)
• Do not abbreviate days of the week.
• Avoid using more than one abbreviation in a headline.
• Abbreviate million and billion in headlines: $80-B
but never in news story
Ex: 34 billion
Punctuations:
PERIOD
- Used instead of parentheses or dashes after a letter or a
number in a series.
- Used after a question intended as a suggestion (not
requiring an answer) or after any indirect question.
- Use three periods for ellipsis. If it is the end of the sentence
use FOUR periods.
Ex: He is not feeling well….
I was… badly injured.
COMMA
- Use comma after a series of coordinate, qualifying words.
Ex: Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle
- Use comma before and after attributions
Ex: He was alone, studying, and doing homeworks.
- Omit comma before roman numerals, Jr., Sr., the
ampersand, dash; and in street addresses, telephone
numbers, and serial numbers.
SEMI-COLON
- Used to separate phrases containing commas to avoid
confusion
Ex: The flowering plants are Roses; Chrysanthemum; and Tulips.
- In headlines, use semi-colon to separate two complete
thoughts.
Ex: Pilipinos unite; gives Pope Francis warm greetings
APOSTROPHE
- Plural forms like the following do not need apostrophe
Ex: 1980s, ifs, buts
- Use the official form of institutions, forms, or organizations:
Ex: Doctors Hospital, Parents Digest, Verma’s Printing
Service
- In headlines, use OK’d or OK’s
COLON
- Do not use colon after are, were, or as in enumerating
persons or articles.
Ex: The contestants of the pageant:
Lime, Kris, Taylor and Harry.
- Write 8 p.m., 9 a.m. (eliminating the two 0s after the
number).
EXCLAMATION POINT
- Use exclamation point to indicate surprise, appeal,
incredulity, or other strong emotion.
Ex: “I’m hungry!”
QUESTION MARK
- The question mark follows a direct question, and marks a
gap or uncertainty. In the latter use, enclose question
mark in parentheses.
Ex: Do you have tissues?
PARENTHESES
- Nicknames are placed within parentheses when used
between a person’s first and last names:
Ex: Christopher (Chris) Brown
- Use parentheses for names of wire agencies in datelines:
(PNS). (UPI), (AP).
QUOTATION MARKS
- Use quotation marks instead of parentheses if the
nickname, apart from the name is used.
Ex: Bernardino “Dino” Mamuad
- Place comma and final period inside quotation marks.
Place other punctuation marks inside quotation marks
only.
- Single quotation marks are used for interior quotes
- Always use single quotes in headlines.
DASH
- To mark a sudden or abrupt change in thought.
- Sometimes used instead of the parentheses.
Ex: They want her to join – the singing competition.
HYPHEN
- Use hyphen to form compound words; to divide words in
composition, in figures, in abbreviations, and to separate
double vowels in some cases: son-in-law
- The general rule for hyphens is that “like” characters take
the hyphen; “unlike” characters do not: 20-20 vision, B60
- Hyphenate two or more words strung together to form a
compound adjective unless one of them is an adverb
ending in “ly:” newly elected officers
- Use hyphen in a compound word that is so long or unusual
as to be confusing: ultra-fashionable, post-revolutionary
Numerals
• Spell out numbers one to ten but you can use numerals for
eleven and above.
• Use figures for ages, dimensions, prices, degrees, per
cents, dates, votes, time, ratings, scores, house numbers,
room numbers, and numbers above ten.
• Spell out numbers at the start of a sentence:
Ex: Three flight attendants were caught stealing yesterday.
• Use Roman numerals for personal sequences, wars, popes,
and royalty: Alexander III, World War I
Thank you and Mabuhay!
Reported by:
Jessica Rose S. Albaracin
Khaila Marie D. Ortiz