**APPENDIX G. STYLE ELEMENTS**

The following pages provide a quick reference to frequently

encountered style issues and represent the most up-to-date and

commonly preferred usage. More detailed information may be

obtained from the references cited in Appendix I.

**Capitalization**

**Capitalize Do not capitalize**

Academic degree abbreviations Academic degree names

(e.g., M.B.A., Ph. D.) (e.g., master of

business administration,

doctor of philosophy)

Administration (when used as a administration (when used with the name

synonym for a current of an administration, i.e., Bush

administration) administration, Martinez administration)

Agency (when used as a synonym agency

for the name of an agency)

City (when part of the corporate city

or popular name, e.g., Kansas the city

City, Windy City, or New York city of New York

City)

Commonwealth

(when part of a state name, e.g.,

Commonwealth of Virginia)

Congress congressional

Congressman (when used with congressman (when used without a

a member\'s name) member\'s name)

Department (when used as a department

synonym for the proper name departmental

of an agency)

email

**Capitalize Do not capitalize**

Field Office (when part of the field

field office name, e.g. field office (e.g., each

Sacramento Field Office) HUD field office)

Fiscal Year (when used with the fiscal year (when

year, e.g., Fiscal Year 2003) not used with a year)

FY (e.g. FY2003 or FY03)

[Federal]{.underline} [Register]{.underline} federal

federally (e.g., federally funded)

federalization (e.g., federal

programs)

Government (only used with government (e.g., federal government,

U.S. Government or United States state government)

Government)

Headquarters (only used when headquarters

HUD Headquarters)

Internet

nation or national

a nation

French nation

References such as Chapter, chapter, exhibit, figure and table

Exhibit, Figure, and Table (when referenced in text)

(when it is a specific reference,

e.g., Chapter 1 or Figure 4-6)

seasons: spring, summer,

autumn/fall, winter

Secretary (when used as a secretarial

synonym for the Secretary\'s name)

state

state of Iowa

statewide

**Capitalize Do not capitalize**

time: a.m., p.m., noon, midnight

Time Zone Abbreviations, time zone names, e.g., eastern standard

e.g., EST, PST time, pacific standard time

web or website

ZIP Code

**Compound Words, Hyphenations, and Spelling**

To be sure of the spelling of compound words, check an up-to-date
dictionary.

\* In general, do not use a hyphen to set off a prefix at the

beginning of a word. Do not use a hyphen to set off a suffix at

the end of a word.

\* Hyphenate to avoid doubling a vowel or tripling a consonant.

In general, do not hyphenate the following short prefixes: co

de pre pro re

\* Preferred spelling of commonly used words and phrases in HUD

correspondence:

acknowledgment

anti-crime

anti-deficiency

anti-drug

biweekly

broad-based

canceled

cannot

catalog

cochair

commenter

community-based programs

co-owner

copayment

corporatewide

cost-benefit

cost-of-living increase

counseled

counseling

decisionmaker

decisionmaking

down payment

email

ex officio

faith-based

FHA-guaranteed

FHA-insured

first time homeowner

foreword (part of a publication)

formatted

formatting

forward (ahead)

hearing-impaired

hearing- and speech-impaired

higher-priced

highest-priced

home buyer

homeownership

HUD-assisted

Internet

judgment

labeled

labeling

labor-management

long-term payments

longer term payments

lower income group

low-income

low- and moderate-income

moderate-income

multi-cultural

nationwide

nonprofit

one-unit dwelling

one-year

open-ended

percent

PHAs

policymaker

preexisting

prequalified

proactive

public housing authorities (PHAs)

quasi-government

quasi-independent

recordkeeping

requester

self-sufficiency

semiannual

single-spaced

tax-exempt

time-consuming

time frame

time-sharing

toll-free

totaled

very low-income

website

Numerals

There are five basic rules to remember:

1\. Spell out numbers nine and under.

The house has four rooms.

2\. Use figures for numbers 10 and greater.

The house has 14 rooms.

3\. Never begin a sentence with a numeral.

Five new rooms were added to the house.

4\. When 2 or more numbers appear in a sentence and 1 of them is

10 or larger, figures are used for each number.

The class has 11 boys and 6 girls.

The class has two boys and three girls.

5\. Units of time, measurement, and money are expressed as

follows:

10 p.m. (not 10:00 p.m.)

1 calendar year

6 years, 2 months, 6 weeks, 3 days (but four centuries, three

decades)

10 feet

15 cubic yards

1 gallon

\$8 (not \$8.00)

\$5.75 million

\$1 billion

However, units of time, measurement, and money do not affect

the usage of other numbers in a sentence.

The four men finished the project in 8 weeks.

The 4 men finished the 10 projects in 8 weeks.

Examples of commonly used units of time:

The instructor gave the 5-minute warning to the class.

The instructor gave the warning that the class would end in 5

minutes.

They worked a 10-hour shift.

Their shift was for 10 hours.

He gave his 2-week notice.

He gave his notice 2 weeks before his departure.

The project experienced a 1-month delay.

The project was delayed for 1 month.

She obtained a 30-year mortgage.

Her mortgage was for 30 years.

The decade of the \'60s advanced many social reforms.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development was established

in the 1960s.

Punctuation

\* Use the possessive and objective phrases as follows:

Four years\' experience in computer operations was a

requirement.

Four years of experience in computer operations was a

requirement.

\* Use serial commas in all text. Place a comma after each item

in a series of three or more items.

He edited four books, three journals, two fact sheets, and one

meeting

summary.

\* Omit the comma between two nouns that identify one another.

She read the book Homeownership in the 21st Century and decided

to

recommend it to the group.

\* Use a comma after introductory prepositional clauses containing

four or more words:

In the beginning we were in favor of the plan.

After the committee voted on the plan, we adjourned for the

evening.

However, there are exceptions to the above rule. They include

the following:

In addition,

For example,

\* Use a comma for introductory prepositional clauses of three or

fewer words if the last word of the clause and the next word are

numerals.

In 1989, 150 students were in the graduating class.

\* Use a comma before and after explanatory matter and

identifiers.

On January 21, 1929, we greeted the world.

Iberia, South Carolina, is her birthplace.

Fred Jones, the manager, administered the project.

ABC, Inc., sponsored the program.

\* Always use a comma to set off the year in complete dates

(month, date, year) unless it is at the end of a sentence.

The report was completed on June 20, 2002, and sent to Congress.

\* Do not use commas in the following places:

Between month and year (May 1991)

Before parentheses

\* Place periods and commas inside closing quotation marks. Other

punctuation goes outside the quotation marks unless it is part of

the quoted material.

Is the title, \"How to Be a Homeowner\"?

The title is \"Do You Know How to Be a Homeowner?\" and it is

available

at bookstores.

You stated in your handbook, \"Place periods and commas inside

quotation marks.\"

\* Use an en dash in combinations of figures and capital letters.

301-251-5000

4-H Club

CBS-TV Network

NIJ-BJA Project

\* Use state code abbreviations in addresses and lists. Spell out

state names in text.