The individual list items following the complete sentence are usually lowercased if they arent complete sentences themselves. . Words that should not be capitalized include: Subscribe to the My Blog Editor blog for the latest TIPS on improving the QUALITY of your business content. A: In this instance, use a plural verb. I have a tendency to be very verbose when I write. Welcome to Ask the Editor, a forum on writing, style and phrasing issues that go beyond the pages of the AP Stylebook. Garner calls this "vertical lists punctuated as a sentence." - Use periods, not semicolons, at the end of each section. Beyond that, all three capitalize the first and last word of a title. This will automatically indent the list as well. The Associated Press Stylebook says when writing lists use periods, not semicolons, at the end of each section, whether it is a full sentence or a phrase.. Awesome sauce! A: AP lowercases wine varietals such as cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, and caps regional names such as Bordeaux, Sauternes and Chablis. Careful punctuation also reflects thought and care. (After reading this) .. Read this and other articles on English grammar, mechanics, and usage at Get It Write. Q: Would "crew chief" and "team owner" be capitalized before a name? Colon Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun orFile Size: KB. Important Note: The MLA Handbook from the Modern Language Association (MLA style) follows Chicago-style recommendations for ordered and unordered vertical lists. There's an old joke: So nice to hear the positive feedback! Punctuation If you want to change your title from uppercase to title case, you can select the Title Case button above. Q: Veteran's Benefits, Veterans Benefits or Veterans' Benefits? It makes it easier for your reader. A: AP uses dashes, not bullets, for lists in news stories that follow a colon. 48 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<8DCDC806A06A984EB23F9AC6F5FBCE2C><8DCDC806A06A984EB23F9AC6F5FBCE2C>]/Index[28 32]/Info 27 0 R/Length 99/Prev 782230/Root 29 0 R/Size 60/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream Bullets normally preface unordered list items.7. Mr. Heckle and Mr. Jeckle enjoy several feline activities: Like ordered lists, unordered lists that are part of an incomplete introductory sentence are lowercased and punctuated as if each item was inside the sentence.10, People who grew up in the 1980s watched a lot of television, including, The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) recommends prefacing unordered lists with dashes instead of bullets, although bullets are an acceptable choice for some publications.AP style also recommends punctuating complete and incomplete introductory sentences with a colon and capitalizing the first word in each list item as well as punctuating each list item with a period even if the item is an incomplete sentence.11. Clean windows with a newspaper and . Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: AP style, APA style, Chicago style, formatting, grammar, MLA style, punctuation. This will convert your text to uppercase. Does this help? AP style is actually not capitalized, though AP Stylebook is. That's . Q: What is AP's style on the military's don't ask, don't tell policy? Use no punctuation after bullets that are not sentences and do not complete the stem. Q: Which states are never abbreviated in datelines? When writing an argumentative essay, you would typically research a topic and adopt a certain How to Punctuate and Capitalize Bullet Points. In most cases, experts recommend that you start each bulleted item with acapital letter. Bullets Associated Press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. We could also write this list with commas instead of semicolons. By virtue of their formatting, numbered lists stand . Q: If we're speaking about regions of the state, should it be South Louisiana, North Louisiana and Central Louisiana? You can also use this tool to do it automatically. It also connects closely related thoughts. Q: Why is atheist not capitalized while Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, etc., are? Well, that was really helpful; thanks for the effort. If a sentence contains more than three items or ideas, we recommend breaking them up into a bulleted list. 7. A: In AP headline style, only the first word and proper nouns are capped. Infants often display positive emotions when following parents behavioral requests, such as not touching the stove. Punctuation (commas; quotation marks; colon; semi-colon; ellipsis ). Note however that it is not wrong to capitalize a sentence or clause after a colon. Get an email every time a new blog post is published. "The cat's toy" means one cat owns that toy. In business writing, yes, use a colon at the end of the introductory stem sentence. 9. No periods on the end of a list of bullets unless its more than one sentence. Punctuating every introduction with a colon and every list item with a period regardless of other structural issues (such as complete versus incomplete introductory sentences and list-item formatting) could potentially decrease flow and readability. Bulleted lists are covered in Section 6.52 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition. In general, the following capitalization rules apply across the four styles in title case: Important words in that last bullet generally refer to: Title case is the most common title capitalization for book titles, headlines, articles titles, etc. Again, these will depend on the specific style you choose (see Title Capitalization Rules by Style section). First, it is important to note that there are four main title capitalization styles: Chicago style, APA style, MLA style, and AP style. Do you need a colon to introduce a list? Creating a free account also gives you access to historical stylebooks, writing guidelines and handbooks produced by The Associated Press, dating back to June 1900. In business writing, capitalize the first letter of bullet lists. Government, including federal government and U.S. government. Anation could be oppressed by its leaders, Judy Vorfeld Repellent and Repulsive both speak to driving others away, but REPULSIVE Three horizontal centrifugal pumps with design temperature of 100 degrees F. Three electric motors, in accordance with Appendices. Capitalization, Case Internet The word internet is all lowercase (unless, of course, it starts a sentence or comes after a bullet) . Q: Should the names of decades be capitalized when written out? The Associated Press Stylebook (AP style) recommends prefacing unordered lists with dashes instead of bullets, although bullets are an acceptable choice for some publications.AP style also recommends punctuating complete and incomplete introductory sentences with a colon and capitalizing the first word in each list item as well as punctuating - Use periods, not semicolons, at the end of each section. A: The phrase suggests a contingency unlikely to come true, so use "were" for the subjunctive mood. Individual list items following a complete sentence are usually capitalized but appear without terminal punctuation (i.e., they dont end in a period, comma, colon, or semicolon) if they are incomplete sentences, phrases, or single words.3. Q: There seem to be differing opinions on whether or not to capitalize the names of grapes used to make wine. However, clear bullet list punctuation adds visual scan-ability to your business writing. Sixth and Seventh streets). Because AP recommends the colon and AP is the preferred business writing style guide, I recommend using it consistently in your business writing. The following rules apply to APA headline capitalization and title capitalization: Making sure you have the right capitalization for MLA headings is crucial for scholarly articles. Write it. Bulleted lists are appropriate when presenting a list of items in no particular order. Quickly convert your title or text to sentence case by simply clicking the Sentence case button in the tool above. Capitalize the important words in the title, Subordinating conjunctions (when fewer than 5 letters), Coordinating Conjunctions (and, but, for), Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs (including. in English from the University of Rhode Island, an M.A. Now we have bullets. Infants often display prosocial behaviorthat is, behavior intended to help otherswhen interacting with their parents, as demonstrated in the following examples (Hammond & Drummond, 2019): If bulleted items are words or phrases (but not complete sentences), begin each item with a lowercase letter (except words such as proper nouns). Again, style guides dont agree.]. Unfortunately, many brands forego style guides and choose to wing . Use periods, not semicolons, at the end of each section or a phrase. This is clear, but AP doesnt fully address when to omit a period at the end of each bullet. Q: Do music groups take singular verbs, as do collective nouns, or plural verbs, as with sports teams? Next, identify a newsworthy angle and set up your press release's header section. Style Bullets Capitalize the first letter after a bullet. A colon should be used to introduce the list, and the first letter of each point should be capitalised. Judy Vorfeld Oppress means to persecute/tyrannize/bully. Below are examples of vertical listswhich may be unnumbered, numbered, or bulletedand how to introduce, punctuate, and capitalize them. Capitalization (proper nouns: America; proper names: Democratic Party; popular names: Indy 500; compositions: books, movies, operas ). Are we nitpicking punctuation with these considerations of bullet lists? TITLES Learn how your comment data is processed. Local Phone: (623) 399-6676 | Entries (RSS). A The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style) recommends only using complete sentences for vertical numbered list items, not incomplete sentences as shown above.6, Unordered lists are united by commonality rather than rank or sequence. The first step in the process of how to write an AP style press release is to familiarize yourself with the guidelines. The capitalization rules are as follows: Wikipedia editors must follow certain capitalization rules for any posts to Wikipedia. In business writing, capitalize the first letter and keep bullet list punctuation clean. Instead, texts like The Canadian Style (2nd ed., 1997) offer guidelines for styling bulleted lists, some of which strike some writers (this one, for instance) as needlessly complicated. Q: Should diseases also known by acronyms such as PTSD be capitalized? See the "legislative titles" entry for rulings. All major words in titles (including small words, such as "Is" and "It"); for example, "Business and Economics". In this review, we'll further consider how the semicolon operates in forming lists that involve items in a series. Please try again. %PDF-1.4 % Then craft an attention-grabbing headline, write the body of your press release, add the boilerplate section, and distribute your press . finish the project by Friday, January 23; place everything youve turned in to date, plus this assignment, on afloppy disk;and. How a list is punctuated depends on the sort of information that is being presented. Below is a description of the ways you can use our case converter. Two new and potentially controversial suggestions when writing bulleted lists are to use dashes instead of bullets and to always use periods (rather than semicolons) at the end of each section, even if it is a phrase and not a sentence. Erin Wright, 20122023. See "diseases" entry for further guidance. Take a digital photo of a family member. Vacuum windowsills and corners with a vacuum hose. Lowercase indefinite and definite articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions. While the APs guidelines on this issue are straightforward and easy to remember, they are designed for news publications dealing with limited space and the technical limitations of news wire transmissions. Thanks for the comment, Anna. If the bulleted text is a whole sentence, uppercase the initial letter of the first word and use a period to conclude the paragraph (see "Lists, Part 5: Bulleted Lists" in the APA Style Blog . If bulleted items are complete sentences, begin each item with a capital letter and finish it with a period or other appropriate punctuation. These might seem like confusing rules with too many exceptions, but youre always welcome to homebrew your own style rules. . Q: Is clarity essentially the only rule determining when a serial comma should be included? The key thing is applying a clear and consistent punctuation style to all lists. STATES: Abbreviate state names when listed after a city. Any symbol may be used for the bullets, although small circles or squares are typical software defaults. Q: If you have a hyphen in a headline, is the word after the hyphen capitalized? The capitalization rules are as follows: AMA style capitalization is mainly used in the scientific community. I love traveling to Ireland because of its: I do not recommend this vertical lists punctuated as a sentence format with semicolons for business writing. This is another case where there are no hard rules! Capitalize the first and the last word of titles and subtitles. Capitalization and end punctuation depend on the type of list and the contents of the list. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Erin Wright with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. A: Veterans benefits, lowercase and not a possessive, is usually a descriptive term. Most often, the text that introduces such lists ends with a colon, as in "The value of . The Chicago Manual of Style. When multiple letters in a title need to be capitalized, use title case capitalization. For lists of fragments, short phrases, or words, capitalization is optional: My favorite fruits include: oranges apples bananas dragon fruit My favorite fruits include: Oranges Apples Bananas Dragon fruit As with the other optional punctuation above, though, make sure to use a consistent capitalization style throughout your writing. Numbered Lists and Bullet Lists: Why and How? Its hard for some people to wrap their heads around this rule, especially if each item on the list is not a full sentence. The buttons at the bottom let you choose specific case conversion options for the various styles. Today we'll look at numbered lists. Q. Capitalize major words, e.g. Use all sentences or all. Below you'll find information on numbers, time and dates, locations, phone numbers, punctuation, capitalization and titles, and the Internet. 'I hope this email finds you well:' Emailing During the Pandemic, Business Grammar: Pronoun Antecedent Errors, Use a period or other full stop after every bullet that is a sentence. Semicolons Use in Lists: Items with Internal Punctuation Try it with a list of shorter items like this. 1 ). Sorry to pile on here, but your discussion of verb endings is inadequate. While its not wrong and some style guides recommend this, its not the best business writing choice. Whether youre writing an essay, email, or cover letter, youll likely use parentheses. Example: You will not be accepted if you have been diagnosedwith: RECOMMENDATION: If youre creating along document full of bulleted items, you may choose to be consistent and end each item with aperiod. This means you must CHECK to find out the proper name!) This will uncapitalize your text. Numbered lists (as noted on p. 64 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) can be used to denote items in a series, such as conclusions or procedural steps. in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of New Hampshire. If nothing else, your writing will be consistent. Ordered vertical lists have, you guessed it, an order. Should the first letter of the bullet list be capitalized? Thanks! If you have questions, read our. When your writing is crisp, clear, and easy to understand, audiences will likely leave your site with a positive impression. After each dash, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each section. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites owner is strictly prohibited. Q: Is clarity essentially the only rule determining when a serial comma should be included? If the elements are complex, uses commas for all. This is the fourth in a six-part series. To keep bullets simple and consistent, I take a dual approach to styling them, based on whether the items in the list are complete sentences or partial sentences. It is intended as a guide to common PR Team style and . J%HfTH@zGI8a. Thanks for the catch! The Gregg Reference Manual(Sabin). Chicago Manual of Style does not. 1+ 803-479-5092 ntuten@getitwriteonline.com Bachelor of Arts is capitalized as an academic degree, as are B.A. Q: How do I deal with a vulgarity from a movie that is integral to the article I'm writing? Avoid a mix. Example: In this project, the equipment shall consistof: RULE: Use periods after short phrases that are essential to the grammatical completeness of the statement introducing the list. Don't use a bulleted list for only one item. There was an error submitting your subscription. Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions. A: Use Arabic figures to indicate decades of history: the 1920s, the '80s Figures, numerals, dimensions (7-year-old boy; three years ago; 1 percent; third grade; size 9; 6-by-8-foot rug; 5 ounces; 68,000-square-foot facility). Preferred style is without terminal punctuation, unless the list item is a complete sentence. Grammar (essential vs. nonessential clauses; pronouns; subject-verb agreement ), Q: I'm confused on the use of "that" and "who" when talking about groups. Added standalone cities to guidance on addresses and states. Do you capitalize the first word of a bullet point? Thanks for the tips. Problem solved. Q: My AP Stylebook always lists examples in italics, so it's difficult to see if italics are part of the style. If numbers arent essential, use bullets, especially in business documents. Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook, 9th Edition Capitalization Rules, Best Book Writing Software and Book Writing Apps, Cursive Text Generator , Buscador de palabras y descifrador de palabras, Select your title capitalization style above by clicking on a tab. . I like bananas. Content style guide Capitalization As part of our plain language style, we use sentence capitalization as the standard on VA.gov, with a few exceptions. Here is an example of bullet lists that need a period to complete the introductory stem sentence: Here is an example of bullets lists that do not need a period because they are fragments not connected to the introductory stem sentence: These are reasons I love traveling to Ireland: Here is an example of bullet lists that do not need a period because theyre one word or a short phrase that feels like an inventory or shopping list: This issue is straightforward. As with so many things in the English language, capitalization with colons can be complex, and many times, it's more of a style issue than one of correctness.