An apostrophe indicates either a contraction (isn’t for is not) or a possessive (the department’s stylebook for writing online).
In news reports, avoid contractions except in quotes. In features, there may be good reason (ie creating a chatty voice) to use doesn’t, they’ll and so on.
Never use apostrophes for plurals that aren’t possessive:
ie ‘the 1990s’ (but in the ‘90s), ‘several MPs’, ‘GMOs are highly controversial’.The possessive form of it is its:
ie Its future was uncertain.It's is the contraction of it is:
ie It’s going to rain.Proper names ending in s should usually, in the possessive form, end with s’s:
ie Mr Williams’s hat.In the plural, proper names ending in s behave like other plurals:
ie The Williamses’ house.The exceptions are Jesus (Jesus’ teachings) and names where the s isn’t pronounced: ie Degas’ paintings.
In news reports, avoid contractions except in quotes. In features, there may be good reason (ie creating a chatty voice) to use doesn’t, they’ll and so on.
A serial (or Oxford/Harvard) comma is placed before the final “and” in a list.
It's not required in simple lists:
ie For breakfast, I had eggs, sausages, toast, mushrooms and baked beans.
But sometimes, it makes copy easier to read:
ie Today's menu has steak, fish and chips, and cottage pie.
And other times it's essential. Note the difference between these two sentences:
ie My role models in life were my parents, Elton John and Margaret Thatcher.
ie My role models in life were my parents, Elton John, and Margaret Thatcher.
We use single quote marks in headlines, headings, for quotes within quotes and inside quote boxes (pullquotes):
ie UK ‘will leave EU regardless’
ie Tom Bone said: “They say ‘The Labour Party is finished’ before every election”.
In headlines where the attribution is clear, do not include unnecessary quote marks:
ie Britain won’t hold second referendum, says PMUse double quote marks outside the categories listed above - in regular text, standfirsts and picture captions. Also, at first use of phrases such as “mad cow disease” or “road rage”. But quotation marks will be single if the phrase comes inside a direct quotation:
ie Scientists have warned that if no action is taken, "mad cow disease" will become a cause of concernNo quotation marks or italics are required for film, TV, book, song or other titles. Use initial caps to indicate that it is a title:
ie Madonna's early chart-toppers include Into The Groove and La Isla BonitaDrop definite (the) and indefinite (a, an) articles wherever possible in headlines. Never end a headline or heading with a full stop. Always use full names in long headlines, you can drop the first name if struggling in short headlines. Use single quote marks. Use contractions only under duress for length.
ie Foreign Office advises against ‘all but essential’ travel to 11 northern Italian towns (long headline)Use normal sentence grammar. Include definite and indefinite articles, commas, full-stops etc. Use double quote marks.
ie Travellers returning from the ten towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto are also urged to consult on actions to take.Hyphens are often essential, if the text is to make immediate sense. Not the differences in the following examples:
ie Mother-to-be assaulted in Hackney parkThere are no universal rules on hyphens, but in general do not overuse. They are required for compound adjectives:
ie If I come with you in first class, will you buy me a first-class ticket?But they are not used when part of the adjective is an adverb ending in -ly:
ie badly researched report, severely wounded man, newly cleaned carWe would say Jim Smith is a father of two but it's father-of-two Jim Smith.
Likewise, Jim Smith is 25 years old but 25-year-old Jim Smith.
In most occasions, you should be using singular.
Treat collective nouns, such as companies, councils, governments and other bodies, as singular.
There are some exceptions:
Family, couple or pair, where using the singular can sound odd
Sports teams - although they are singular in their role as business concerns
Rock/pop groups
Use plural for police when used as a generic term, but individual forces are singular:
ie Police said they are looking for three men.Press and public should be treated as singular, but rewording may be advisable:
ie replacing The press arrived soon afterwards. It had lots of questionsPolitical parties – The Conservative Party is, the Conservatives are. The Labour Party is, Labour are.
The Liberal Democrats are. The Green Party is, the Greens are.
Use an before a silent h, use a before a pronounced h:
ie an heir, an hour, an honest personWith abbreviations, be guided by pronunciation:
ie an LGBTQ+ spokesman, a BBC presenter.In most instances, we do not use accents
ie Beyonce, not Beyoncé.However, with words that might be confusing, we should use – expose/exposé, lame/lamé, for example.
We do not write bad swear words in full. Where we write it because it may be a quote from a court case, we would use the first letter and asterisks. F*** for example. Be careful with *** that can mean a number of words – b******, for example. In those cases, add the last letter – so b*****d, or b***h.
We do not use this convention for the most offensive racist and antisemitic slurs.
Use N-word, P-word, Y-word in text copy when required, ie in court reports or racially motivated attacks.
Avoid using in headlines, use racist slur instead.
Avoid the use of & for and except in corporate names or recognised abbreviations such as “R&B” or “M&S”.
We should spell company names as they do themselves, but always use an initial cap. There are occasional exceptions, such as eBay and iPhone. Also, a name using all caps should be rendered in upper and lower case.
ie EasyJet, PricewaterhouseCoopers, NatWest.One general exception is that we use a lower case "e" at the start of a name, where it stands for "electronic".
ie eBay