Spelling
GENERAL RULES
For general matters of spelling,
use Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary or Webster’s
Third International Unabridged Dictionary. Also use the dictionary
to check irregular plurals, use of diacritical marks with foreign
words, and words for which alternative spellings are common. If two
or more spellings are given, use the first spelling.
PLURALS
- Form the plurals of proper nouns by adding s; if the name
ends in s, add es.
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He drank four Cokes a day. |
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The Kellys went to see the Collinses.
|
- Form the plurals of numbers,
multiple letters used as words, and words used as words by adding s alone
(without an apostrophe).
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sevens and eights |
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during the 1940s |
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the ABCs |
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ifs, ands, or buts |
- Form the plural with an apostrophe
and an s if adding s alone would be confusing, as
in abbreviations with periods, lowercase letters used as words,
and some uses of capital letters.
|
M.D.’s and D.D.S.’s were awarded. |
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Mind your p’s and q’s. |
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There were many N’s and W’s on his transcript. |
- Form the
plural of a compound term by adding s to the significant
word.
|
cupsful |
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fathers-in-law |
|
trade unions |
- Form the plural on the noun in a compound when it is hyphenated
with an adverb or a preposition.
|
runners-up |
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sitters-by |
|
hangers-on |
- Form the plural on the last word of a compound in which there
is no noun.
|
stand-ins |
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put-ons |
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also-rans |
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POSSESSIVES
- Form the possessive of a singular noun by adding an apostrophe
and an s. Follow this rule no matter what the final letter.
|
the child’s ball |
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the boss’s memo |
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master’s degrees |
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Charles’s thesis |
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Joan Baez’s concert |
- Form the possessive of a plural noun ending in s by adding
only an apostrophe. For plurals that do not end in s, add
an apostrophe and an s.
|
the students’ tests |
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the children’s school |
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the Joneses’ cat |
- In a series, indicate joint possession
by forming the possessive on the last element; indicate individual
possession by using the possessive for each element.
|
her mother and father’s house |
|
Shakespeare’s and Browning’s sonnets |
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the city’s or the county’s responsibility |
- Use
the accepted form (with or without apostrophe) for proper names
that include possessives and for terms that include proper names
used in the possessive.
|
Shoppers Charge |
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Bloomingdale’s |
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Pikes Peak |
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Davy Jones’s locker |
- Do not use an apostrophe with words that are descriptive or attributive
rather than possessive. A noun may serve an attributive function
rather than a possessive function if it modifies the noun following
it. This may be true of plural as well as singular nouns.
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teachers manual |
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veterans benefits |
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proofreaders marks |
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city streets |
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University department |
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student fees |
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faculty union |
Be careful, however, of ambiguous use. |
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parent organization vs. parents’ organization |
- Some idiomatic phrases require an
apostrophe even though no possession is involved.
|
a baker’s dozen |
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at arm’s length |
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a stone’s throw |
- For the sake of euphony, add only an apostrophe to nouns ending
in s or ce followed by a word beginning with s.
|
for old times’ sake |
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for conscience’ sake |
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for Professor Evans’ service |
- Although
use of an apostrophe with expressions of time or money is generally
accepted, it is often better to rewrite the expression.
|
a year’s sabbatical; a one-year sabbatical |
|
50 cents’ worth; worth 50 cents (or rewrite the
sentence) |
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA RULE
The Office of the Board of Regents has adopted a style without
the apostrophe. A similar style may be used for other instances
in which the unit name serves an attributive rather than a
possessive function.
|
regents meeting
|
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Regents Professor of History |
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College of Liberal Arts faculty |
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history faculty |
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Top
INDEFINITE ARTICLES
- Use the indefinite article a before consonant sounds.
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a historical event |
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a unicorn |
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such a one |
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a CLA graduate |
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a 4-H club |
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a DFL committee |
- Use the indefinite article an before vowel sounds.
|
an honest man |
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an EEO form |
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an M.B.A. degree |
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an 11-year-old |
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WORD
DIVISION
- When it is necessary to divide words, always break them between
syllables. Remember, however, that not all syllable breaks are
acceptable end-of-line breaks. In general, divide words according
to pronunciation; consult the most recent edition of Merriam-Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary when in doubt.
- Do not divide words in which the only vowel in the last “syllable” is
a silent e. Such words are monosyllabic (they cannot be
divided).
- Do not divide endings that are pronounced as monosyllables.
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ad-van-ta-geous |
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re-li-gious |
- Do not carry over to the next line a final syllable in which
the l is the only audible vowel sound.
|
bristle (not bris-tle) |
|
diri-gible (not dirigi-ble) |
- Divide words after a vowel unless mispronunciation can result.
When a vowel forms a syllable in the middle of a word, keep it
with the first line.
|
criti-cal (not crit-ical) |
|
equiva-lent (not equiv-alent) |
- Separate consonants standing between vowels if the pronunciation
warrants.
- Do not divide words that will have a misleading appearance if
broken.
|
carton (not car-ton) |
|
flower (not flow-er) |
- Do not use one-letter divisions.
|
emote (not e-mote) |
|
acous-tic (not a-coustic) |
- Use two-letter divisions at the end of a line if necessary, but
avoid them at the beginning of a line.
|
She was most em-
phatic about it. |
|
not |
|
She was most emphat-
ic about it. |
- Break hyphenated
compounds only at the hyphen (and don’t break them at all
when preparing copy for typesetting). Break words that once were
hyphenated only at the natural break, and break words with prefixes
only at the prefix.
|
president-elect (not presi-dent-elect) |
|
photo-copy (not pho-tocopy) |
|
non-credit (not noncred-it) |
- Most words ending in ing are formed from verbs, and most
may be divided before this ending. When a consonant preceding the ing has
been doubled, however, carry over one of the consonants with the ing;
when the original verb ends in le, carry over the l and,
in most cases, a preceding consonant.
|
know-ing |
|
see-ing |
|
remov-ing |
|
grab-bing |
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remit-ting |
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drop-ping |
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cud-dling |
|
gar-gling |
|
kin-dling (but cack-ling) |
- Do not divide proper names except where absolutely necessary.
If initials are given in place of a first name, never divide between
the initials.
|
T. S./Eliot (not T./S. Eliot) |
- Avoid
dividing numbers. If necessary, divide them after a comma, and
use a hyphen at the end of the first line to indicate the division.
- Do not divide numbers and abbreviations or symbols used with
them.
- Do not divide an enumerating
mark in a list, such as (1) or (a), and what follows
it; carry it over to the next line if it falls at the end of the
line.
|
The amounts used to finance plant assets are accounted
for as (1) expenditures in the case of normal additions,
(2) mandatory transfers… |
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E-MAIL AND WEB SITE ADDRESSES
Follow these guidelines for line breaks and style for e-mail
and Web addresses.
- If an address won’t fit on one line, break it before
the punctuation mark and put the punctuation on the next
line. Break the address after the double slash (//). Break
before a period, single slash, hyphen, underscore, or other
punctuation marks. Never insert a hyphen within a URL to
break a line. Do not break a line after a hyphen (-) or after
any other punctuation mark.
|
For budget information, please e-mail the department
at l-budget
@tc.umn.edu.
|
|
The Web site address for the University of
Minnesota-Twin
Cities is http://
www.umn.edu/twincities.
|
|
For information on the Images
Library, see the Web site at http://
images.umn.edu/. |
- You may want to set off the e-mail or Web address with
italics or parentheses so readers don’t think punctuation
that follows is part of the address.
- You must use a period at the end of a sentence even if
it ends with an e-mail or Web address.
For more information, see the “Cyberstyle” chapter.
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