Grammatical Guidelines
Abbreviations
Degrees: Generally, it is preferred to spell out degrees (She has a Bachelor of Arts in…). If you do need to abbreviate, do not use periods in the abbreviation.
Acronyms: When using an acronym, spell out the full name or title the first time it is used in the text, immediately followed by the acronym in parentheses.
Addresses: Abbreviations such as Ave., Blvd., St., and Dr. should not be used in running text, but can be used in lists and tables.
Geographical Locations
- The names of states should be spelled out when used by themselves in text. When mentioning a city or town along with the state, it is preferred that you spell out the state name, except in lists, tables, and mailing addresses.
- Use standard postal abbreviations for mailing addresses, lists, and tables.
- Spell out "United States" when used as a noun; use the abbreviation "U.S." when used as an adjective.
Capitalization
Generally, we favor the “down style” of capitalization –the fewer capitals, the better.
Addresses: Formal street names should be capitalized. Use lower case when not part of the formal name.
Board of Regents: The Board of Regents should be capitalized when referring to WSU’s board. The words board and regents by themselves are not capitalized.
Buildings: All proper names of buildings should be capitalized.
When referring to buildings in general terms, words like center,
hall, and building are lowercased.
Centers and Institutes: Formal names of centers and institutes should be capitalized. When used by themselves, the words center and institute should be lowercased.
Classes and Courses: Use lower case when referring to classes and courses in general terms. Capitalize only the formal title of the class or course.
Commencement: Use lower case for commencement
in text.
Committees: Capitalize the formal names of committees. Lowercase the word committee when it stands alone.
Degrees: Use the lower case and an apostrophe s (‘s) when referring to degrees in general. Capitalize when referring to a specific degree.
Departments and Offices:
Capitalize the formal names of
departments or offices. Lowercase the words department
and office
when used alone.
E-mail: When used in running text, e-mail is lowercased. Note that a hyphen should be used.
Honors: Use lower case, unless it is part of a proper name.
Internet: Internet is capitalized.
Majors and Programs: Use lower case for majors, programs, concentrations, and tracks, with the exception of specific languages, which should always be capitalized.
Rooms: Capitalize only when used as a proper name.
Regions: Region names are capitalized when they stand alone and are widely understood to designate a specific area. Please note that Washington State is the correct capitalization when writing about the state of Washington.
Seasons: Capitalize only when part of a formal name.
Student Status: Do not capitalize freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate student, and other designations of student status unless they are used as a class designation or formal title.
Titles: Capitalize a person's title only when it is used before the name. Titles that follow a person's name or that are used alone should be lowercase.
University: Capitalize university only as part of an official name. When used by itself, university should be lowercased.
Numerals
Dates and Years
- In running text, it is preferred to spell out the names of the months.
- When using a month and year only, do not use commas to set them off. When a date in running text includes a month, day, and year, commas must be used to set of the year.
- Do not write dates as ordinals, even if they are pronounced that way.
- When indicating spans of decades or centuries, use an "s" without an apostrophe after the year. For possessives, an apostrophe before the "s" is needed.
Money
- Use the dollar sign and two numbers.
- For dollar amounts in the thousands, remember to include a comma.
- For dollar amounts beyond thousands, use the dollar sign, number, and appropriate word.
Numbers
- Generally, you should spell out numbers one through nine and use numerals for numbers 10 and above.
- When amounts are mixed, use numerals.
- Avoid starting a sentence with a number. If you must, spell the number out.
Percentages: Always use numerals with percentages (including the numbers 1 through 9). In running text, the word percent should be spelled out. In tables or figures, the % sign may be used.
Time
- Use lower case with periods for a.m. and p.m. Do not use 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. Use noon and midnight (without the 12) instead.
- If you use a time that breaks down to minutes, all times should break down to minutes.
Plurals and Possessives
Names
- Form the plurals of family names that end in s by adding es.
- Plurals and possessives of proper names that end with s, x, and z are formed by adding 's.
Plurals
- In most cases, plurals of single or multiple letters and numbers used as nouns are formed by adding an s to the end of the word.
- Only use an apostrophe in cases where confusion might result.
Collective nouns: Collective nouns like faculty, staff, data, and media are considered plural and should be used with a plural verb.
Punctuation
Ampersand: The ampersand (&) should only be used in titles. A possible exception is when space is tight in right sidebars. This is for reasons of both grammatical correctness and HTML formatting.
Comma
- Parenthetical clauses (clauses that can be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence) should be enclosed by commas.
- Note that states (when mentioned to clarify the location of a town or city) and years (when mentioned with a specific date) are considered parenthetical clauses.
- In a listing of three or more items, always use a comma after the second to last item.
Semicolon
- Use a semicolon between the two parts of a compound sentence when they are not connected by a conjunction.
- In addition, a semicolon precedes words like then, however, thus, and when they are used transitionally between clauses of a compound sentence.
Colon: Use a colon to introduce a list or series. Do not use a colon to introduce a list that is the complement or object of an element in the introductory statement.
Hyphenation: Use a hyphen with compound words used as adjectives. Do not use a hyphen with compound words used as nouns or adverbs.
En dash and Em dash
- The en dash is used to connect continuing or inclusive numbers, such as dates and times. It is also used instead of the word “to” to indicate a connection between things, such as geographic references and routes.
- The em dash is used to indicate a sudden break in thought, a parenthetical statement, or instead of a colon or semicolon to link clauses.
Exclamation mark: Use sparingly. Never use more than one exclamation mark at the end of a sentence.
Titles
Academic Papers: Titles of dissertations, theses, or other unpublished works should be capitalized and put inside quotation marks.
Articles and Parts of Books: Titles of articles in periodicals or newspapers and parts of books (e.g., chapter titles and titles of short stories or essays) are set in roman type and enclosed in quotation marks.
Books: Titles of books should be capitalized and set in italics.
Courses: Formal titles of courses should be capitalized. Italics or quotation marks are not needed.
Newspapers and Periodicals: Magazine and newspaper names should be capitalized and set in italics. If the name of the magazine or newspaper starts with the, it should be set in roman type and, unless it starts a sentence, lowercased. Do not capitalize magazine unless it is part of the publication's title.
Movies, TV, and Radio: The titles of movies and television series are italicized. The titles of individual television and radio shows should be set in roman type and enclosed in quotation marks.
Music: Descriptive titles for orchestral works should be capitalized. If a work has a formal title, it should be italicized.