AP Style Update: Style and Grammar Basics
By Nicole Schuman for PRNEWS
Here, we explore grammar basics of AP style that writers use on a daily basis.
occupational titles:
Only capitalize formal titles used before an individual’s name. Titles that serve as occupations should be lowercase. Also lowercase titles when they are not used with an individual’s name.
Examples:
Pope Francis, the current pope, left the Vatican for a world tour.
The baseball team went to visit President Joe Biden at the White House.
The dentist, Joe Smith, spoke to the council of doctors.
composition titles:
These guidelines apply to titles of books, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, operas, radio and television programs, lectures, speeches, and works of art:
- Capitalize all words in a title except articles (a, an, the); prepositions of three or fewer letters (for, of, on, up, etc.); and conjunctions of three or fewer letters (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet, etc.)
- Put quotation marks around titles (“The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Star Wars,” “Game of Thrones,” “To Kill a Mockingbird”) except the Bible, the Quran and other holy books, and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material (almanacs, encyclopedias, etc.)
- Do not use quotation marks around software titles (WordPerfect, Windows), apps, video games or board games (Super Mario Brothers, Uber, Monopoly)
Examples:
I’ve never seen “Star Wars,” but I’m excited to watch it.
My friends host a Guitar Hero competition every year.
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