● Do not capitalize federal, state, department, division, board,
program, section, unit, etc., unless the word is part of a formal
name.
● Capitalize common nouns such as party, river and street when they
are part of a proper name.
● Capitalize the word room when used with the number of the room
or when part of the name of a specially designated room
● Lowercase directional indicators except when they refer to specific
geographic regions or popularized names for those regions.
● Capitalize formal titles that come directly before a name.
● Lowercase formal titles that appear on their own or follow a name.
● Never capitalize job descriptions regardless of whether they are
before or after a name
The Water Quality Control Division
Sarah contacted the division.
the Libertarian Party, the Ohio River.
Room 315, the Carson Room.
Go south on University Boulevard; the
Northeast; the Midwest.
Gov. John Hickenlooper; Public Health
Programs Director Joni Reynolds
The governor said to wear orange; Joni
Reynolds is the director of Public Health
Programs.
shortstop, police officer, attorney
● Always use Arabic figures, without st, nd, rd or th.
● When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate Jan., Feb.,
Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.
● When a phrase lists only a month and year, spell out the month
and do not separate the month and the year with commas.
● When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year
with commas.
● Use figures except for noon and midnight
● Use a.m. or p.m. (with periods)
Fall Open House will be held on Oct. 8 (not
Oct. 8th).
The new website will launch in December
2024.
Jan. 15, 2008, was the first day of the
semester.
The meeting is at 4 p.m. Jan. 15.
● Use a person’s first and last name the first time he or she is
mentioned. On second reference, use only last name with no title.
● Do not use courtesy titles such as Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms. unless
they are part of a direct quotation or are needed to differentiate
between people who have the same last name.
Water Quality Control Division Director Steve
Gunderson led the panel. Gunderson said
clean water is very important.
CDPHE | AP Style Qui ck Reference 2