General Mechanics

5.6: General Mechanics

5.6.1: Common Spelling Errors

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It is important to be familiar with common spelling errors to avoid them in your own writing.

Learning Objective

Recognize common spelling errors

Key Points

  • It is important to be familiar with spelling errors that writers frequently make so you can avoid them in your own writing.
  • Knowing why these mistakes occur will help you write with better awareness.
  • Word-processing programs usually have a spell-checker, but you should still carefully check for correct changes in your words. This is because automatic spell-checkers may not always understand the context of a word.

Key Terms

phonetics

The study of the physical sounds of human speech (phones) and the processes of their physiological production, auditory reception, and neurophysiological perception, as well as their representation by written symbols.

typo

A spelling error.

homophone

A word which is pronounced the same as another word but differs in spelling or meaning or origin, for example: carat, caret, carrot, and karat.

The Importance of Spelling

Misspelling a word might seem like a minor mistake, but it can reflect very poorly on a writer. It
suggests one of two things: either the writer does not care enough about his
work to proofread it, or he does not know his topic well enough to properly spell words
related to it. Either way, spelling errors will make a reader less
likely to trust a writer’s authority.

The
best way to ensure that a paper has no spelling errors is to look for them
during the proofreading stage of the writing process. Being familiar with the
most common errors will help you find (and fix) them during the writing
and proofreading stage.

Sometimes,
a writer just doesn’t know how to spell the word she wants to use. This
may be because the word is technical jargon or comes from a language other than
her own. Other times, it may be a proper name that she has not
encountered before. Anytime you want to use a word but are unsure of how to
spell it, do not guess. Instead, check a dictionary or other reference work
to find its proper spelling.

Common Spelling Errors

Phonetic Errors

Phonetics is a field that studies the sounds of a language. However, English phonetics can be tricky: In English, the pronunciation of a word does not always relate to the way it is spelled. This can make spelling a challenge. Here are some common phonetic irregularities:

  • A word can sound
    like it could be spelled multiple ways. For example: “concede” and
    “conceed” are the same phonetically, but only “concede” is
    the proper spelling.

  • A word has silent
    letters that the writer may forget to include. You cannot hear the
    “a” in “realize,” but you need it to spell the word
    correctly.

  • A word has double
    letters that the writer may forget to include. “Accommodate,” for
    example, is frequently misspelled as “acommodate” or
    “accomodate.”

  • The writer may
    use double letters when they are not needed. The word “amend” has
    only one “m,” but it is commonly misspelled with two.

Sometimes,
words just aren’t spelled the way they sound. “Right,” for example,
does not resemble its phonetic spelling whatsoever. Try to become familiar with
words that have unusual or non-phonetic spellings so you can be on the lookout
for them in your writing. But again, the best way to avoid these misspellings
is to consult a dictionary whenever you’re unsure of the correct spelling.

Homophones

“Bread”
and “bred” sound the same, but they are spelled differently, and they mean
completely different things. Two words with different meanings but the same
pronunciation are homophones. If you don’t know which homophone is the right
one to use, look both up in the dictionary to see which meaning (and spelling)
you want. Common homophones include:

  • right, rite,
    wright, and write

  • read (most tenses
    of the verb) and reed

  • read (past, past
    participle) and red

  • rose (flower) and
    rose (past tense of rise)

  • carat, caret, and
    carrot

  • to, two, and too
  • there, their, and
    they’re
  • its and it’s

Typographical Errors

Some spelling errors are caused by the writer accidentally typing the wrong thing.
Common typos include:

  • Omitting letters
    from a word (typing “brthday” instead of “birthday,” for
    example)

  • Adding extra
    letters (typing “birthdayy”)

  • Transposing two
    letters in a word (typing “brithday”)

  • Spacing words
    improperly (such as “myb irthday” instead of “my birthday”)

Being aware of these
common mistakes when writing will help you avoid spelling errors. 

5.6.2: Capital Letters

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Capital letters are used to make certain words stand out.

Learning Objective

Identify words that must be capitalized

Key Points

  • Three situations in which a capital letter should always be used are at the start of sentences, proper nouns, and for the pronoun “I.”
  • Names and nicknames, languages, geographical names, religions, days of the week, months, holidays, and some organizations are considered proper nouns.
  • In titled works (such as books, articles, or artwork) the majority of the words are capitalized.

Key Terms

capitalization

Writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (upper-case letter) and the remaining letters in lower case.

proper noun

A word denoting a particular person, place, organization, ship, animal, event, idea, or other individual entity.

Capital letters identify
proper names, people and their languages, geographical names, and certain government
agencies. Different style manuals have different rules for capitalization, so it’s important to have a style guide on hand while you write in case you have a question about capitalization. There are manuals for MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, and other styles. 

However, there are general rules for capitalization which apply to all writing.

Starting a Sentence

Always capitalize the very first word of a sentence, no matter what it is.

  • Experienced cooks usually
    enjoy experimenting with food.

The Pronoun “I”

Always capitalize the first-person singular pronoun “I.”

  • Sometimes, I wish I could
    cook with them.

Quoting Others

Directly quoted speech is capitalized if it is a full sentence.

  • The head chef said to me, “Anyone
    can become a good cook if they are willing to learn.”

Proper Nouns

Names or nicknames,
people, languages, geographical names, religions, days of the
week, months, holidays, and some organizations are considered proper nouns.
Proper nouns should always be capitalized. 

Names and Nicknames

A name or nickname should
always be capitalized. This includes brand names.

  • John Paul II
  • Cindy Parker
  • Buffalo Bill
  • Pepsi
  • Nike
  • Scotch tape

People and Languages

Names referring to a
person’s culture should be capitalized. Languages are also capitalized.

  • African Americans
  • Caucasian
  • Eskimos
  • French
  • English
  • Japanese

Geographical Names

The names of cities,
states, countries, continents, and other specific geographic locations are capitalized.

  • Arctic Circle
  • China
  • New York
  • Europe

Organizations

Government agencies,
institutions, and companies capitalize their names.

  • Ford Motor Company
  • International Red Cross
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • University of South
    Carolina

Days, Months, and Holidays

Days of the week, months,
and holidays are always capitalized. However, seasons (fall, spring, summer,
and winter) are not capitalized. 

  • Tuesday
  • October
  • Independence Day

Religions

Religions and their
adherents, holy books, holy days, and words referencing religious figures are
capitalized.

  • Christianity and Christian
  • Hinduism and Hindu
  • Islam and Muslim
  • Judaism and Jew
  • Bible, Koran, Talmud, Book
    of Mormon

  • Easter, Ramadan, Yom
    Kippur

  • God, Allah, Buddha

Titled Work 

In titled works (such as
books, articles, or artwork) the majority of the words are capitalized. A few
exceptions are a, an, the, and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet. These words are
only capitalized if they come at the beginning of the title. This can vary
based on style, so be sure to check your manual for specifics. 

  • The Scarlet Letter

  • From Here to Eternity

  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

  • Girl with a Pearl Earring

5.6.3: Abbreviations and Acronyms

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An abbreviation is the shortened form of a word or phrase.

Learning Objective

Use abbreviations appropriately in an academic context

Key Points

  • There are rules that explain how a writer may shorten a long word or phrase into an abbreviation or acronym.
  • Following abbreviation and acronym rules ensures that the reader always understands what these abbreviations mean.
  • Phrases like “lol” or “brb” are considered inappropriate for formal papers.

Key Terms

acronym

Abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters (as in CEO) or parts of words (as in Benelux and Ameslan).

abbreviation

A shortened form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole. 

Abbreviations 

An abbreviation is the
shortened form of a word or phrase. Most abbreviations are formed from a letter
or group of letters taken from the original word. In an academic paper, abbreviations are rarely used to stand in for major concepts or terms. Instead, they are
usually shortened forms of commonly used but relatively minor words, such as
“km” for “kilometer” or “Dr.” for “doctor.”
Most are common enough that a writer does not need to provide the reader with
an expanded definition. If an abbreviation is not particularly well-known,
consider whether you should use it or use the longer (but easier to understand)
word.

Style Conventions for Abbreviations

Style guides may differ
somewhat on how to punctuate abbreviations. Listed below are the most common
guidelines, which cover most of the scenarios for using abbreviations. However,
this is not a completely comprehensive list. If told to use a specific style
manual, such as MLA or Turabian, be sure to check what it says about specific
usage rules. And whatever style you decide to use, remember to be consistent
with how you use and punctuate abbreviations.

Abbreviations should be
capitalized just like their expanded forms would be. If the original word or
phrase is capitalized, then you should capitalize the abbreviation. If the
original is lower case, then the abbreviation should be too. Abbreviations
usually end with a period, particularly if they were formed by dropping the end
of a word (the major exception being the use of acronyms). When a sentence ends
with an abbreviation, use only one period for both the abbreviation and the
sentence.

  • She lives in N.Y.
    (New York is abbreviated as “N.Y.” In this example, it comes at the end of the
    sentence but there is only one period.)

  • He got a ticket for going 70 mph when the speed limit was 55. (Miles
    per hour is abbreviated “mph.” Note that it is not capitalized.)

  • The CIA is depicted in many action movies as highly secretive. (CIA
    is always capitalized because Central Intelligence Agency is always
    capitalized.)

Acronyms

Acronyms are abbreviations
that form another word. Laser is so frequently used as a word that
few people know it is an acronym. Laser stands for “light amplification by stimulated
emission of radiation.” Scuba is also an acronym standing for “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.” Although
this was the foundation for acronyms, they do not always form another word.
More often than not, acronyms are formed from the initial components of a
series of words. These components are usually individual letters, but some may
use the first syllables of words. The main purpose of acronyms is to act as
shorthand for longer terms, particularly those a writer wants to reference
frequently. In the right circumstances, acronyms can make these terms more
manageable for the writer to use and for the reader to understand.

Using Acronyms in Academic Writing

While acronyms can be very
useful, only some of them are considered appropriate for use in scholarly
writing. In general, acronyms can be used to stand in for job titles (such as
CEO), statistical categories (such as RBI) or the names of companies and
organizations (such as FBI). Other instances may arise depending on the type of
paper you are writing—a scientific essay, for example, might have acronyms
for the names of chemical compounds or scientific terms. In most cases, you
will be able to judge whether or not an acronym is appropriate based on the
context of what you are writing. The only category of acronym that you should
never use is slang, especially terms derived from texting. Phrases like
“lol” and “brb” may be fine in casual conversation, but
would make a writer seem unprofessional in a serious paper. For all acronyms
you choose to use, making sure that the reader knows what they mean is
essential. The first time you use any acronym, make sure to use its expanded
form first. For example:

  • Johnathan
    recently joined the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

  • Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is known
    for fighting for the National Minimum Drinking Age Act.

  • The Family Research Council (FRC) was founded
    in 1981.  

Once the abbreviation has been identified, as
shown in these examples, you can use the abbreviated version in the rest of your
document.  

Style Conventions for Acronyms

Most acronyms are written
in all-uppercase with no punctuation between letters. This differs from
abbreviations, which are normally written with periods in order to note the
deleted parts of words. A small number of acronyms use slashes to show an ellipsis, as in “w/o” for “without.” Spaces are not used
between the different letters of acronyms. Apostrophes are generally not used
to pluralize abbreviations. They are, however, used to form possessives.

5.6.4: Numbers

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Sometimes it is appropriate to write numbers as numerals; other times they should be spelled out.

Learning Objective

List the rules for using numbers in different kinds of writing

Key Points

  • In academic writing, numbers that can be expressed in one or two words should be spelled out.
  • Numbers that are more than two words long should be written as numerals.
  • The proper usage of numbers in technical writing varies considerably.

Key Term

numeral

A symbol that is not a word and represents a number, such as the Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3 and the Roman numerals I, V, X, L.

Style rules for inserting numbers into text vary considerably. Whether numbers should be written out (e.g. two, two hundred) or written as numerals (e.g. 2, 200) depends on what kind of writing is being done.

Numbers as Words

In strictly academic writing, numbers of one or two words should be spelled out with letters. For example: 

  • Anthony was able to bike five miles in less than an hour. 

Notice that 5 is written out as “five” because it is one word. 

  • Maria bought five bananas, two bunches of grapes, and six oranges for her fruit salad. She needed twenty-one servings for the luncheon.

Notice that each number is written out, including 21, because all of them are one or two words.

Numbers as Numerals

Numbers that are more than two words long should be written as numerals. For example: “Our vacation to North Carolina ended up being 728 miles, as a round trip.” Or, in the case of years: “Tony was born in the fall of 1966.”

Also, the following numbers are written as numerals:

  • Dates: December 7, 1941, 32 BC, AD 1066
  • Addresses: 119 Lakewood Lane, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
  • Percentages: 45 percent or 45%
  • Fractions and decimals: 1/3 and 0.25
  • Scores: 20 to 13 or 15–18
  • Statistics: average age 25
  • Surveys: 2 out of 5
  • Exact amounts of money: $861.34 or $0.67
  • Divisions of books: volume 6 or chapter 5
  • Divisions of plays: act 2, scene 4
  • Time of day: 12:00 AM or 4:35 PM

Technical Writing

In technical writing (i.e., research writing or other writing that includes measurements or statistics), the proper usage of numbers varies substantially. Typical rules to follow in technical writing include:

  • Technical quantities of any amount are expressed in numerals (3 feet, 12 grams, et cetera).
  • Nontechnical quantities of fewer than 10 are expressed in words (three people, six whales).
  • Nontechnical quantities of 10 or more are expressed in numerals (300 people, 12 whales).
  • Approximations are written out as letters (approximately ten thousand people).
  • Decimals are expressed in numerals (3.14).
  • Decimals of less than one are usually preceded by zero (0.146); however, this may vary depending on the style you are asked to write in.
  • Fractions are written out, unless they are linked to technical units (two-thirds of the members, 3 1/2 hp).
  • Page numbers and the titles of figures and tables are expressed in numerals.
  • Back-to-back numbers are written using both words and numerals (six 3-inch screws).

Special Cases

There are many special cases for writing numbers. A number at the beginning of a sentence should be spelled out as words. Within a sentence, the same unit of measurement should be expressed consistently in either numerals or words. In general, months should not be expressed in terms of numbers.

Numbers in the news

Numbers in the news

When numbers are used in text, many basic formatting rules apply.

5.6.5: Italics

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Writers use italics to emphasise certain words such as titles, scientific words, and foreign words. 

Learning Objective

Identify situations in which italics should be used

Key Points

  • Italics are a typeface feature designed to make words stand out. There are general rules to using italics properly. 
  • Titles of textbooks, fiction or nonfiction books, newspapers, magazines, academic journals, films, epic poems, plays, operas, musical albums, television shows, movies, works of art, and the names of legal cases should all be italicized.
  • Italics can also be used to emphasize certain words.
  • Italics should always be used with scientific terms, algebraic equations, and foreign-language words. 

Key Term

italics

A typeface style that is used to add emphasis to words. 

Italics are letters that slant slightly to the right. When using a word processor (like Microsoft Word) italicized words generally look like this: 

This sentence is in italics. 

Italics should be used consistently in your writing. In general, italics are used to identify the title of a major publication (such as a book, newspaper, or magazine), for emphasis, for scientific or technical words, and for foreign words. 

Titles

The titles of major literary works should be italicized. This includes textbooks, fiction or nonfiction books, newspapers, magazines, academic journals, films, epic poems, plays, operas, musical albums, television shows, movies, works of art, and the names of legal cases. 

  • My favorite book is July’s People by Nadine Gordimer. 
  • I read The New York Times to keep up with the political debates. 
  • I have every Taylor Swift album except Today Was a Fairytale
  • The 1976 version of the movie Carrie was much scarier than the newer version. 
  • Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey are my two favorite epic poems. 
  • The Scream by Edvard Munch is a well-known painting.

Keep in mind that smaller published works, such as an individual article from a newspaper/magazine/journal, or a single poem, should be set in quotation marks. For example: 

  • The magazine Southern Living published an interesting article on traveling in the U.S. called “The South’s Best Roadside Attractions” in the November, 2015 edition. 

Emphasis

When you need to emphasize
a word you can use italics to make it stand out. Sometimes, emphasizing certain words gives the sentence a sarcastic tone. It
can also emphasize a fact as true. Let’s review some examples. 

  • She
    only wants to make 100% on every test. 
  • If
    they are offended, then that’s their
    problem.

  • These
    are the files we need. 

Scientific or Technical Terms

Italics are often used in
scientific and mathematical writing. Algebraic equations are usually
italicized. The scientific (Latin) names of species are also italicized. Here are
some examples. 

  • Slope
    is found by calculating y=mx+b.

  • Several
    more Homo sapiens fossils were discovered
    recently.

  • The
    scientific name for the house sparrow is Passer
    domesticus

Foreign Languages

Words in foreign languages should also be italicized. Here are a couple of
examples. 

  • In an interview, Julia Alvarez once said, “What I can’t push
    as successfully out of sight are my own immigrant childhood fears of having a
    gringa stepmother with foreign tastes in our house.”
  • I was at the coffee shop when a man approached me and said, “Como
    esta
    ?” like he knew me, but I don’t speak Spanish. 

The only exceptions are words that have been integrated into English
like cliché, patio, and karate. Otherwise, foreign words
should be italicized. 

Bubo scandiacus

Bubo scandiacus

The species name is italicized because species names are in Latin. 

Attributions