AP Stylebook Exercises
3.3
4. life-like, outfielder, inter-racial, IOU’s (plural)
a) Life-like: do not precede “-like” with a hyphen unless the letter “l” would be tripled or if the main element of the word is a proper noun. “Life-like” should not have a hyphen.
b) Outfielder: spelled as an exception to Webster’s New World College Dictionary for baseball.
c) Inter-racial: interracial does not need a hyphen because there isn’t a preceding proper noun, and the “r” is not tripled.
d) IOU, IOUs (plural): no apostrophe for the plural form of IOU.
5. Pianoes, nation-wide, P.T.A., Viet-nam War
a) Pianoes: “pianos” does not have an “e” before the “s”
b) Nation-wide: Nationwide does not have a hyphen, even though it is also a private company.
c) P.T.A.: PTA has no periods separating the P, T, and A.
d) Viet-nam War: Vietnam is not hyphenated because it’s a country.
6. “The train will arrive at twelve noon on Tues.”
a) Do not put a 12 or twelve in front of noon
b) Tues. should be spelled out as Tuesday
c) Drop the word “on” before days or dates unless it is the first word of a sentence
7. “The US Census Bureau defines the south as a Seventeen-state region”
a) “The U.S. Census Bureau”
b) “the South”
c) “16-state region”
8. “The judge ruled that because of his oral skills he had entered into a verbal contract.”
a) “…because of his verbal skills…”
b) “…into an oral contract.”
9. “She had an afternoon snack of some Oreo cookies and Coke.”
a) “She had a snack of Oreos and Coke”
10. harrass, accomodate, weird, likeable
a) Harass: no double r
b) Accommodate: need two m’s
c) Weird: “e” goes be for the “i” only exception to the “i” before “e” rule.
d) Likable: no “e” before the “a”
11. Circle the correct form: (I will bold the right one)
a) Donut, Doughnut
b) Pants suit, pantsuit
c) Plow, Plough
d) U.S. Weather Bureau, National Weather Service
3.4
1. “The defense department is about to propose a new missele system.”
a. The Defense Department is about to propose a new missile system
2. FCC, hitchhiker, $3, 4,000,000
3. The three most important people in his life are his wife, son, and mother.
4. Part time, 10-year-old child, 5 pm, 5,300
5. The Cardinals won the last game of the World Series, 7 to 5.
6. Spring, Fall, south, South
7. Nov. 15, the last day of February, Mar. 16
8. 13 people traveled to Austin, Texas for the rally.
9. He had 10 cents left in his pocket.
10. Homemade, well-known, Italian American, questionnaire
3.5
1. The United States is sometimes not the best market for American products.
2.
a. Upwards
b. Labour Party
c. Riverside Avenue
d. Cupfuls
e. Eyeing
3. The Republican differed with the Democrat many times during the debate.
4. Dr. John Smith and Dr. Mary Wilson performed many operations.
5.
a. Goodwill
b. USS Eisenhower
c. Cigarette
d. Mid-America
6. He said he was neither a communist nor a member of the Communist Party.
7. After her surgery, she had to wear a pacemaker.
8. “What a hare-brained scheme!” she exclaimed.
9. Preempt, speed-up, 55 mph, hooky
10. The Mafia was responsible for the murder.
3.6
1. The annual rutabaga eating contest was canceled because of adverse weather
2. It’s not all right to drink an excess of beer before going to the football game.
3. As Einstein said, “All knowledge is relative.”
4. The state Capital of Louisiana is located at 3722 Dagwood Road.
5. The Mayor refused to go along with the City Council vote, “I dissent,” he stated.
6. Madonna certainly has a flair for fashion; she always wears expensive outfits.
7. The bomb destroyed Sen. Kitsmoot’s bird cage.
8. My bright-green-Chevrolet, which is in the garage, needs a new transmission.
9. Knopke’s joke elicited laughter from the Midville City Council.
10. Jones lay on the floor waiting for the job interview to begin.
11. Horowitz, an ethics major, vowed never to compromise his principles.
12. At the end of the book report, Haynes sited the World Book as a source.
3.7
1. The 25-year-old-man wept as he left Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
2. This Nov. 10 will mark our anniversary.
3. Don’t park the car on Rodeo Drive. Instead, park it at 12 Davies Street.
4. They spent $130 to buy a new set of nose rings.
5. Smoots moved to the North because the people there are so nice.
6. At 7 pm, the rodeo will begin in Town Square.
7. The terrorists blew up their home at 123 Melrose Street.
8. 22 seamstresses were needed to mend the prom dresses.
9. About 5% of the professors have lost their hair.
10. After 2 feet of snow fell at this home in Columbus, Ohio, Jones decided to lead.
11. Smith bet $50 that her brother weighed more than a 1964 Chevrolet.
12. John Smith, the governor of California, set his trailer on fire Sept. 1.
13. A fire began at 3325 McDonald Drive when an oven full of rutabagas exploded.
14. During the 1970s, everyone wore bell-bottom jeans to church.
