One of the best sources for information about writing — word usage, punctuation, etc. — is the AP Stylebook. It’s available as a printed book or as an online guide. The Web site also has quite a few FAQs, including these:
| How do you reference hours in this situation: “It was going to be 2-4 hours” or “It was going to be two to four hours”? – from Portland, OR on Mon, May 01, 2006
AP spells out numbers under 10 (unless referring to clock time). |
| Hi, What is the proper way to refer to .coms, as in this quote: “There are a lot of shaky .coms out there.” Thanks – from KC, MO on Fri, Apr 28, 2006C. Butler:
AP would spell it out: dot-coms (hyphenated). |
| Hello.I am in a news editing class at SUNY Cortland and a couple of questions arose that we could not find in the AP Stylebook. The word “Guided-Missile Cruiser”. Is there supposed to be a hyphen between the words “guided” and “missile”. and also in the sentance “He signed his name every 2 seconds” is the number 2 supposed to be spelled out even in this instance? Thank you and I look forward to hearing back from you. – on Wed, Sep 12, 2007Nick Martinson:
Thanks for your interest in AP style. We would not use a hyphen in “guided missile cruiser.” And we would spell out “two seconds” in the sentence you cite. Norm Goldstein/AP Stylebook editor |
| When two words are hyphenated and the first word is capitalized, is the second word capitalized also. For example, should it be: Long-awaited or Long-Awaited Thanks – on Fri, Mar 31, 2006Carole Gillham:
Thanks for your interest in AP style. No, generally the second part of the hyphenated compound is lowercase. Norm Goldstein/AP Stylebook editor |
| Hello, Joe Carberry here with Paddler magazine. We couldn’t find website. Is website Web Site, Web site, Website or website….thanks – on Tue, Jun 27, 2006Joe: Thanks for your interest in AP style. AP uses Web site (two words). |
