Punctuation Rules

Below are the basic AP Stylebook punctuation rules.

AMPERSAND (&)

Use the ampersand when it is part of a company's formal name or composition title: House & Garden, Procter & Gamble, Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.

The ampersand should not otherwise be used in place of and, except for some accepted abbreviations: B&B, R&B.


Note: Most Hofstra building names, departments, and centers follow this rule. Exception: Science & Innovation Center

APOSTROPHE

•   Plural noun ending in s: Add only an apostrophe: the girls’ toys

•   Singular noun not ending in s: Add ’s: fox’s den, prince’s life

•   Singular common noun ending in s: Add ’s even if the next word begins with s: the hostess’s invitation, the hostess’s seat, the witness’s answer

•   Singular proper noun ending in s: Use only an apostrophe: Socrates’ life

•   Multiple letters: Add “s” with no apostrophe: VIPs

•   Single letters: Add an apostrophe and “s” to avoid confusion: A’s and B’s

 

Note: Personal pronouns (ours, yours, hers, theirs, its, etc.) DO NOT use an apostrophe. They are already possessive.

COLON

Capitalize the first word after the colon ONLY if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence:

He promised this: The company will never neglect the needs of its employees.

There were three considerations: expense, time, and feasibility.

COMMA

•   Use a comma to separate adjectives equal in rank: a dark, dangerous street.

•   Do not use a comma when the last adjective is an integral element of a noun phrase: an expensive fur coat.

•   Use a comma after yes and no: Yes, I will go.

•   When a conjunction joins the last two elements in a series of three or more, a comma – known as the serial comma or the Oxford comma – should appear before the conjunction. If the last element consists of a pair joined by and, the pair should still be preceded by a serial comma and the first and. This style prevents ambiguity. (Note that this is an exception to AP Stylebook.)

She took a photograph of her parents, the president, and the vice president.

The lunch options included hamburgers, hot dogs, and peanut butter and jelly.

 

Note: The phrase as well as is not equivalent to and.

The lunch options included hamburgers, hot dogs, and peanut butter and jelly, as well as turkey sandwiches.

 

Note: Always place commas inside quotation marks.

DASH

•   Abrupt change: Through her long reign, the queen and her family have adapted – usually skillfully – to the changing taste of the time.

•   Series within a phrase: He listed the qualities – intelligence, humor, conservatism, independence – that he liked in an executive.


Note: Put a space on both sides of a dash.

HYPHEN

In general, a compound modifier – two or more words that express a single concept – does not need a hyphen if the modifier is commonly recognized as one phrase, and if the meaning is clear and unambiguous without the hyphen. Examples include: third grade teacher, chocolate chip cookie, early morning traffic, first quarter touchdown, real estate transaction.

 

Do use a hyphen if it’s needed to make the meaning clear and avoid unintended meanings:

small-business owner, better-qualified candidate, free-thinking philosophy, loose-knit group.

 

No hyphen is needed to link a two-word phrase that includes the adverb very and all adverbs ending in -ly: a very good time, an easily remembered rule.


NOTE: Please see below for additional guidance in the PREFIXES and SUFFIXES entries.


PREFIXES 

Hofstra and AP preferences on whether to use a hyphen following a prefix are based largely on Merriam-Webster. Generally, no hyphen. But there are exceptions.

Three rules are constant:

In general, no hyphen with prefixes except as noted in the above three rules and below:

anti- Generally, no hyphen. Exceptions include: anti-abortion, anti-aggression, anti-apartheid, anti-collision, anti-corruption, anti-cruelty, anti-labor, anti-racist, anti-racketeering, anti-secrecy, anti-terrorism, anti-war.

after- Generally, no hyphen after this prefix when it is used to form a noun: aftertaste, afterlife, aftermarket. Exception: after-party. Follow after- with a hyphen when it is used to form compound modifiers: after-tax results, after-work celebration.

ex- No hyphen for words that use ex- in the sense of out of, such as excommunicate. Hyphenate when using ex- in the sense of former, such as ex-president. Do not capitalize ex- when attached to a formal title before a name: ex-President Barack Obama. The prefix modifies the entire term: ex-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo; not New York ex-Gov. Usually former is better.

extra- No hyphen when extra means outside of: extralegal, extraterrestrial, extramarital. Follow extra- with a hyphen when it is part of a compound modifier describing a condition beyond the usual size, extent, or degree: extra-base hit, extra-large book.

in- In general, no hyphen when it means not (inaccurate, insufferable). Other uses without a hyphen: inbound, infighting, indoor, inpatient, infield. A few combinations take a hyphen, however, including in-depth, in-house, in-group, in-law.

mid- In addition to the general rules for prefixes, use a hyphen when a figure follows: mid-30s.

re- For some words, the sense is the governing factor: recover (regain); re-cover (cover again); recreate (relax); re-create (create again); resign (quit); re-sign (sign again).

Generally, use a hyphen with these prefixes unless listed without a hyphen in Merriam-Webster or noted below:

all-

full-

half- Hyphenated combinations include half-baked, half-life, half-truth, half-moon, half-cocked, half-hearted. Two-word combinations without a hyphen include half dozen, half brother, half off.

Also: halftime as a noun, in keeping with widespread practice in sports copy. But half-time as an adjective outside sports contexts.

like- Follow with a hyphen when used as a prefix meaning similar to: like-minded, like-natured. No hyphen in words that have meanings of their own: likelihood, likewise, likeness.

pan- Most combinations with pan- are proper nouns. Use a hyphen with those, and capitalize both pan- and the proper name it is combined with: Pan-African, Pan-American.

part-

pro-

self- Always hyphenate: self-assured, self-government, self-defense.

wide- Follow Merriam-Webster. Usually hyphenated. Some examples: wide-angle, wide-eyed, wide-awake, wide-open. Exception: widespread.

An exception to Merriam-Webster:

co- Use a hyphen for nouns, adjectives, and verbs that indicate occupation or status: co-author, co-chair, co-defendant, co-host, co-pilot, co-star, co-worker.

As part of a formal title before a name: co-President Alexa Manola, co-Executive Director Alfredo Hudson. Use no hyphen in other combinations: coeducation, coexist, cooperative (but co-op), copay.

Cooperate, coordinate, and related words are exceptions to the rule that a hyphen is used if a prefix ends in a vowel and the word that follows begins with the same vowel. Co-op retains the hyphen to avoid confusion with a chicken’s home.


SEMICOLON

•   To clarify a series: He is traveling to the wedding with his son, John, of Chicago; two daughters, Jane and Susan, of Boston; and sister, Martha, of Omaha, Nebraska.

•   To link independent clauses: The package was due last week; it arrived today. 


Note: Always place semicolons outside quotation marks.

SUFFIXES 

Hofstra and AP preferences on whether to use a hyphen before a suffix are based largely on Merriam-Webster. Generally, no hyphen. But there are exceptions.

Here is the style for some commonly used suffixes for nouns and adjectives. Consult Merriam-Webster for words not listed here. Use two words for verb forms.

-down Generally, no hyphen. Examples: breakdown, countdown, meltdown, showdown, slowdown, shutdown. Exceptions include sit-down, drop-down.

-fold No hyphen for twofold, fourfold, tenfold, hundredfold, thousandfold, and similar. Rephrasing may be better.

-free Generally hyphenated. Examples: duty-free, fat-free, hands-free, interest-free, germ-free, scot-free, sugar-free, tax-free. But: carefree.

-goer No hyphen in commonly used words such as concertgoer, filmgoer, moviegoer, theatergoer.

-holder No hyphen in commonly used words such as bondholder, cardholder, jobholder, officeholder, placeholder, shareholder, stakeholder, titleholder. Exceptions include cup holder, pass holder, record holder, ticket holder. Also: credit card holder.

-in Generally hyphenated. Examples: break-in, cave-in, log-in, sit-in, walk-in-, write-in. An exception: login.

-less Generally, no hyphen. Examples include waterless, weightless, wireless.

-like Generally, no hyphen unless the letter l would be tripled or the main element is a proper noun. Examples: businesslike, catlike, childlike, doglike, lifelike. But: Norwalk-like, shell-like. An exception: flu-like.

-long No hyphen in daylong/dayslong, hourlong/hourslong, monthlong/monthslong, yearlong/yearslong, weeklong/weekslong.

-maker, -making No hyphen in commonly used words such as automaker, automaking; dealmaker, dealmaking; drugmaker (but drug-making); filmmaker, filmmaking; moneymaker, moneymaking; policymaker, policymaking; speechmaker, speechmaking. An exception: decision-maker, decision-making. Also: coffee maker. Avoid contrived combinations such as difference-maker and magic-maker. But if using less common terms such as those, include the hyphen. No hyphen with proper nouns, such as iPhone maker.

-off Generally, no hyphen. Examples: cutoff, knockoff, layoff, liftoff, playoff, standoff, takeoff, tipoff. Exceptions include charge-off, send-off, show-off.

-out Generally, no hyphen. Examples: dropout, fallout, hideout, pullout, walkout, wipeout. Exceptions include cop-out, fade-out.

-over Generally, no hyphen. Examples: carryover, holdover, makeover, stopover, takeover, walkover. Exceptions include do-over.

-time No hyphen in Christmastime, daytime, nighttime, peacetime, springtime, wartime, wintertime, and similar. But: She works full time; she has a full-time job. He works part time; he has a part-time job. They work half time; they have a half-time job. Halftime for the period in the middle of a sports match.

-up Many of these combinations are hyphenated. Examples: call-up, flare-up, follow-up, frame-up, grown-up, hang-up, mix-up, mock-up, runner-up, shake-up, tie-up, walk-up. Those with no hyphen include breakup, checkup, cleanup, holdup, letup, lineup, pileup, roundup, setup, startup. Use a hyphen for any not listed here or in Merriam-Webster.

-ward Generally, no hyphen and no s. Examples: afterward, backward, downward, forward, homeward, inward, onward, outward, southward, skyward, toward, upward.

-wear One word, no hyphen for activewear, daywear, eveningwear, eyewear, headwear, menswear, outerwear, sportswear, swimwear, womenswear.

-wide No hyphen for commonly recognized terms such as citywide, countywide, statewide, storewide, worldwide. But use a hyphen — or don’t use the construction at all — when combining with a proper noun and/or when the unhyphenated form would be awkward or hard to read, such as hospitalwide, NASAwide, Europewide. Often, it’s better to rephrase.

-wise Generally, no hyphen when it means in the direction of or with regard to. Examples: clockwise, lengthwise, otherwise. Avoid contrived combinations such as moneywise, religionwise. Use a hyphen in terms such as penny-wise and street-wise because they are compound adjectives in which wise means smart, not an application of the suffix -wise. The hyphenated street-wise is an exception to Merriam-Webster.