Post on 03-Nov-2014
description
Prepared by:
Maricar Guarin & Rhod Carlo Duldulao
B.S.E.D. III
The Mechanics of Formal Writing
Manuel V. Gallego Foundation Colleges, Inc.
*The guides in formal writing
1. Each of the following expressions should be written as separate words, not as one word:
Any day In front of
Any more In spite of
Any time In order
All right (alright has not yet been accepted in good usage)
*The guides in formal writing
NOTE: the following expressions may be written as one word or as separate words:
Insofar as In so far as
Someway Some way
Percent Per cent
*The guides in formal writing
2. Each of the following expressions should be written as one word, not as separate words:
Hereabout Hereinbefore
Hereafter Hereinto
Hereat Hereof
Inasmuch (to be followed by as)Insomuch (to be followed by that or as)
*The guides in formal writing
3. When written in words, numbers 21 to 99 should be hyphenated, as hereunder shown:
Twenty-one Twenty-nine
Thirty-one Thirty-nine
Forty-one Forty-nine
4. When used in modifiers, compound words are hyphenated:
*The guides in formal writing
An up-to-date report
(Up-to-date modifies report)
Beginning-of-the-school-year-meetings
(Beginning-of-the-school-year modifies meetings)
Four-footed animals
(Four-footed modifies animals)
*The guides in formal writing
5. When used in modifiers, fractions written in words should be hyphenated, viz:
One-half size (one-half modifies size_
One-third portion (one-third mdifies portion)
Two-thirds novtes (two-thirds modifies votes)
*The guides in formal writing
6. When used as nouns, fractions written in words need not be hyphenated. They are just written as separate words, viz:
One half of the audience
(one half, a noun, is used as a subject)
I obtained one third of the votes
(one third, a noun, used s the direct object of the verb obtained)
Two thirds of the delegates
(two-thirds a noun, is used as a subject)
*The guides in formal writing
7. The prefix-rootword combination should be hyphenated:
Re-cover Please, recover the book.
Re-release I have to re-lease our house.
Re-tire To be safe, re-tire your car.
Recover He recovered from his illness.
Release An early release of her grades is requested.
Retire I retired last year from my profession*The guides in formal
writing
NOTE: if the combination without hyphen has a different meaning:
8. In the combination of a prefix ending with a vowel with a rootword the begins also with a vowel, should better be hyphenated:Re-arm There’s a need to
re-arm the school guards.
Re-ink To re-ink the contract today is impossible.
Re-insure We have to re-insure the safety of the students.
*The guides in formal writing
9. A hyphen should be used to set off a prefix placed before a proper noun, viz:
Anti-American Pro-American
Anti-Filipino Pro-Catholic
Non-Moslem Pre-Spanish
*The guides in formal writing
10. By reason of usage, it is better to hyphenate the following designations:
Ambassador-at-Large
Editor-in-Chief
Attorney-at-Law Vice-Chairman
Commander-in-Chief
Officer-in-Carge
*The guides in formal writing
Note: The following are may be with or without hyphen:
Chairman of the Board
Executive Director
Officer of the Day Officer of the Guard
Vicar General Judge Advocate General
*The guides in formal writing
11. If attached to an official designation, the prefix ex should be set off by a hyphen:
Ex-president Ex-mayor
Ex-senator Ex-vice mayor
Ex-congressman Ex-councilor
*The guides in formal writing
12. I attached to notable era, period or event, the prefix pre or post should be set off by a hyphen:
Pre-election period
Post-liberation period
Pre-war days Post-election campaign
Pre-Spanish times Post-war
*The guides in formal writing
13. Words cannot be made plural by adding s or es. To pluralize, make use of pharases indicative of their units of measurement:Baggage Pieces, bundles,
or bunches of baggage
Blood Bottles, cups, or drops of blood
Chalk pieces or boxes of chalk
*The guides in formal writing
14. If s or es is added to any of the following nouns, the meaning of each noun is changed:ClothClothes
-A fabric material-Garments; dresses
Fish
Fishes
-Any cold-blooded animal adapted for aquatic life-fish of different species
Glass
Glasses
A hard, brittle and transparent substance-eyeglasses; spectacles
*The guides in formal writing
15. Reflexive pronouns like, myself, yourself, herself, oneself, himself, and themselves are not hyphenated; however, self must be set off by a hyphen if used as combining form:self-made man self-serving
self-praises self-explanatory
Self-sacrifice Self-service
*The guides in formal writing
16. If used as an adverb in the sentence, each of the following terms should be written as one word:
Anyhow - By any means
Anywhere -at any place
Sometime at a time in the past or in the future
*The guides in formal writing
17. If any, every or some is used as (an adjective) a modifier of thing, body, one, day, or way, each pairing must be written separately:
Any thing of value
- Any modifies thing
Every body of matter
- Every modifies bidy
Some things are weightless
- Some modifies things
*The guides in formal writing
18. If any, every, some or no, is combined with either body, one, or thing to form a pronoun, each pair should be written as word:
Anybody The gift may be given to anybody
Anyone Can anyone identify the offender?
Anything Anything can be given as a symbol of recognition
*The guides in formal writing
19. Designations of relationship by affinity are usually set off by hepphens:
Father-in-law Mother-in-law
Brother-in-law Sister-in-law
Son-in-law Daughter-in-law
*The guides in formal writing
20. Designations of relationship by previous marriage of a parent or spouse, not by blood, are written as one word, not hyphenated:
Stepbrother Stepmother
Stepchild Stepparent
Stepson stepfather
*The guides in formal writing
21. The area of spelling also covers to a certain extent the requirements of proper capitalization and abbreviation.
*The guides in formal writing
What words then should be capitalized?
Proper Nouns:Referring to particular persons:
Common NounsReferring to persons in general:
Jose dela Cruz man, father or uncle
Maria or Ana daughter, girl or child
Jose Rizal hero, author or writer
*The guides in formal writing
Proper Nouns:Referring to particular places:
Common NounsReferring to common places:
San Fernando barangay
Calamba towns
Nueva Ecija province
*The guides in formal writing
Proper Nouns:Referring to particular things/events:
Common NounsReferring common things:
Folk Arts Theater building or theater
Independence Day event/holidays
October month
*The guides in formal writing
22. Always capitalize proper adjectives.
Filipino culture Chinese food
American influence Japanese ingenuity
Russian government
German invention
Spanish style British accent
Korean products European doctrine
*The guides in formal writing
23. If used before the name of the holder, designation, position, title should be capitalized:
Governor Oyie Umali
Secretary Jessie Robredo
Judge Lauro Esteban
Mayor Jay Vergara
Manager Jose Cruz Dean Manuel Guerroro
*The guides in formal writing
24. If not placed before the holder, it shoul not be capitalized:
governor of Nueva Ecija
secretary of KC Council
appointed judge mayor of the city
manager of the bank
President of PAFTE III
*The guides in formal writing
25. Formal writing prescribes that when used before the full names of the holders, designations are better abbreviated:
Gov. Oyie Umali Sec. Jessie Robredo
Atty. Lauro Esteban Dr. Jay Gomez
Engr. Jose Cruz Gen. Manuel Guerroro
*The guides in formal writing
26. When used before the holder’s family name only, the designation should be spelled out in full:
Governor Umali Secretary Robredo
Attorney Tolentino Doctor Bernardez
Engineer Cruz Architect Willford
*The guides in formal writing
27. The following should not be abbreviated:
Accountant Director
Ambassador Editor-in-Chief
Bishop Judge
*The guides in formal writing
28. If used after a pronoun in an address, street, avenue, boulevard, road and drive are better abbreviated:
Del Pilar St. Kennon Rd.
Burgos Ave. Bonifacio Dr.
Quezon Blvd. Rizal Ave.
*The guides in formal writing
29. If used before proper nouns, saint, santo, santa, fort and mount are better abbreviated:
St. Martin Ft. Magsaysay
Sto. Tomas Mt. Pinatubo
Sta. Maria St. Joseph
*The guides in formal writing
30. In whatever manner they may be used, the following names of months will conform better with formal communication if they are not abbreviated:
March May
June July
August September
*The guides in formal writing
31. In the abbreviation of offices, schools, organizations or countries, omit the period after each letter:
DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment )
DOH (Department of Health)
UP (University of the Philippines)
*The guides in formal writing
32. If placed immediately following the holder’s name, academic degrees are abbreviated and a dot or period is set after each letter-abbreviated:
A.B. (Bachelor of Arts)
B.E.E.D (Bachelor of Elementary Education)
D.M.D (Doctor of Dental Medicine)
*The guides in formal writing
33. Accepted abbreviations used in literary works or in some form of communication require that a dot or period is set after each letter :
a.C (ante cibum) before meals
A.D. (Anno Domini) in the year of the Lord
a.m/A.M. (ante meridian) before noon
*The guides in formal writing
34. Propriety in formal writing or communication requires that numbers should be spelled out in words whenever they are used in any o the following instances:
*The guides in formal writing
* When a number is used to begin a sentence
*When a number is used in reference to decades or centuries
*When a number is used to indicate ordinal numbers
Thank you!