Table Of ContentA Quick Guide to Key Topics By Paragraph Number
Marks
Time Zone Maps
Mark Draft Mark Draft
Abbreviations, 501–551 Possessives, 627–653
Academic formats, 1411, 1513, 1549 Prefixes and suffixes, 833–846
Addresses, 1310–1312, 1316–1336, 1368–1369 Prepositions, 1077–1080
Adjectives and adverbs, 1065–1073 Pronouns, 1049–1064
Agendas, 1703 Pronunciation problems, Appendix B
Ages, 433–435 Proofreaders’ marks, 1206
Bibliographies, 1545–1549 Proofreading techniques, 1201, 1203–1206
Book titles, 242–243, 289, 360–362, 1022, Punctuation
1513–1521, 1538 Apostrophe, 245–246, 298, 412, 432, 505, 543,
Business organizations, 320–324, 520–521, 1020, 622–625, 627–653
1326, Online Appendix C: Rules 6–11 Asterisk, 292–293
Capitalization, 196–199, 272–273, 301–366, 514 Brackets, 296–297
Charts and graphs, 1642 Colon, 187–199
Compound adjectives, 813–832 Comma, 122–175
Compound nouns, 801–810 Dash, 201–217, 1548
Compound verbs, 811–812 Ellipsis marks, 275–281, 291
Computer terms, 365, 544, 847, Online Appendix D Exclamation point, 119–121
Dangling constructions, 1082–1085 Hyphen, 217, 427, 459–460, 465, 801–847,
Dates, 407–412 901–923
Editing techniques, 1201, 1202, 1204–1206 Italics, 285–290
E-mail, 1375–1389, 1533 Parentheses, 218–226
Employment documents, 1708–1717 Period, 101–109
Endnotes, 1501–1502, 1505–1506 Question mark, 110–118
Envelopes, 1367–1370 Quotation marks, 227–284
Fax cover sheets, 1706 Semicolon, 176–186
Filing rules, Online Appendix C Slash, 294–295
M
Footnotes, 1501–1504, 1513–1544, 1634–1636 Underlining, 285–290
D
Foreign expressions, 241, 287, 546, 614, 1018 Reports, 1401–1431 D
Forms of address, 1320–1324, 1801–1812 Résumés, 1708–1713 A
L
Grammar, 1001–1088, Appendix A Salutations, 1320–1322, 1338–1341 I
M
Hyphenated words, 801–847 Sentence structure, 1081–1088 #
Infinitives, 1044–1046 Sexism, 809, 840, 1050–1053, 1340 10
4
Itineraries, 1705 Signature blocks, 1347–1354, 1374, 1384 9
7
Letters, 1301–1366 Social-business correspondence, 1371–1372 5
3
Manuscripts, 1432–1437 Spacing with punctuation marks, 102, 299 0
1
Measurements, 429–432, 535–538 Spelling, 701–720, 801–848 /1
9
Memos, 1373–1374, 1410, 1413 State abbreviations, 527, 1334, inside back cover /1
0
Metric measurements, 537–538 Subjects and verbs, 1001–1029 B
Minutes of meetings, 1704 Tables, 1601–1642 L
K
Misplaced modifiers, 1086 Telephone numbers, 454 B
Money, 413–420 Text messages, 1390 A
C
Negatives, 1074–1076 Textnotes, 1507 K
News releases, 1707 Time, 436–442, 533–534 _
U
Notes, 1501–1544 URL addresses, 1508, 1510–1511, 1513, P
Numbers, 401–470 1522–1523, 1525–1526, 1533–1535
Online citations, 1508–1512, 1513, 1522–1523, Usage, Section 11
1525–1526, 1533–1535 Verbs, 1030–1048
Outlines, 1718–1723 Word division, 901–923
Parallel structure, 1081 Words that sound alike or look alike, 719
Percentages, 447–449 Words frequently misspelled, 720
Plurals, 601–626
sab97105_fm_i-xlii.qxd 2/1/10 5:59 PM Page i
The
Gregg
Reference
Manual
A MANUAL OF STYLE, GRAMMAR,
USAGE, AND FORMATTING
11
tribute edition
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To my wife Marie:
“For all that has been, thanks.
For all that is yet to come, yes!”
–Dag Hammarskjöld
sab97105_fm_i-xlii.qxd 2/1/10 5:59 PM Page iii
The
Gregg
Reference
Manual
A MANUAL OF STYLE, GRAMMAR,
USAGE, AND FORMATTING
11
William A. Sabin
tribute edition
TM
sab97105_fm_i-xlii.qxd 2/1/10 5:59 PM Page iv
TM
THE GREGG REFERENCE MANUAL: A MANUAL OF STYLE, GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND FORMATTING:
TRIBUTE EDITION, ELEVENTH EDITION
Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the
Americas, New York, NY, 10020. Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Previous editions © 1951, 1956, 1961, 1970, 1977, 1985, 1992, 1996, 2001, and 2005. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or
retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not
limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.
Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the
United States.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 DOC/DOC 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
ISBN 978-0-07-339710-8
MHID 0-07-339710-5
Vice President/Editor in Chief: Elizabeth Haefele
Vice President/Director of Marketing: John E. Biernat
Publisher: Kenneth S. Kasee Jr.
Sponsoring editor: Natalie J. Ruffatto
Director of Development: Sarah Wood
Senior developmental editor: Michelle L. Flomenhoft
Editorial coordinator: Parissa DJangi
Marketing manager: Kelly Curran
Lead digital product manager: Damian Moshak
Digital developmental editor: Kevin White
Director, Editing/Design/Production: Jess Ann Kosic
Lead project manager: Rick Hecker
Senior production supervisor: Janean A. Utley
Senior designer: Srdjan Savanovic
Senior photo research coordinator: Lori Kramer
Media project manager: Cathy L. Tepper
Cover design: Srdjan Savanovic
Interior design: Karen LaFond
Typeface: 10/12 Cushing Book
Compositor: MPS Limited, A Macmillan Company
Printer: R. R. Donnelley
Cover credit: Jody Series #7, 2008, courtesy of Nancy Freeman
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sabin, William A.
The Gregg reference manual : a manual of style, grammar, usage, and formatting / William
A. Sabin.—Tribute ed., 11th ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-339710-8 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-07-339710-5 (alk. paper)
1. English language—Business English—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. English language—
Grammar—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. English language—Transcription—Handbooks,
manuals, etc. 4. Business writing—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
PE1479.B87S23 2011
808'.042—dc22
2009052625
sab97105_fm_i-xlii.qxd 2/1/10 5:59 PM Page v
About the Author v
About the Author
William A. Sabin was publisher of business
books in the Professional Book Group, a division
of McGraw-Hill. The author of many articles
about style, usage, and grammar, he was also a
frequent and popular speaker at professional
and academic conferences in the United States
and Canada. He supported the plain language
movement. A master of the rules, Bill Sabin was
also a strong proponent of flexibility, known for
urging good writers to trust their instincts. In
1997 he became a year-round resident of Bristol,
Maine, and by any standard a confirmed Maniac.
For more on Bill Sabin and the history of The
Gregg Reference Manual, see “About the Book
and the Author,” on page viii.
About the Name Gregg
John Robert Gregg was the inventor of Gregg
shorthand, which was considered a major im-
provement over other speedwriting systems then in use. He was born in Ireland in 1867, and
his ideas on this subject first appeared in 1888 in a short pamphlet published in Liverpool
when he was 21. In 1893 he came to Chicago and founded the Gregg Publishing Company. The
first edition of Gregg Shorthand was released that same year. Because Gregg shorthand was
relatively easy to learn, it soon was taught in schools around the world, and in an age when
there were no electronic recording devices, it became an essential skill for reporters, scholars,
authors, and even political figures. Mr. Gregg died in 1948 at the age of 81.
When McGraw-Hill acquired the Gregg Publishing Company in 1948, the Gregg name had come
to stand for the highest-quality materials designed for academic programs in business educa-
tion. It is for that reason that The Gregg Reference Manual continues to bear the Gregg name,
even though the manual is no longer aimed exclusively at an academic audience. Indeed, The
Gregg Reference Manualnow serves as the primary reference for professionals in all fields who
are looking for authoritative guidance on matters of style, grammar, usage, and formatting.
About the Artist and the Art
Nancy Freeman is a painter and printmaker who lives in Damariscotta, Maine. The collage that
appears on the cover of GRM—and is used in part throughout the manual—is one in her
memorial series called the Jody series; it is reproduced here with the artist’s permission.
Evocative of a musical instrument, the collage seemed to be a particularly fitting choice for an
edition designed to pay tribute to an author known for his acute sensitivity to the sound of
words, to the art and music of well-crafted language. Then, too, the visual interplay between
the flowing colors and the strong black lines that run vertically down the page bring to mind
the heart of Bill Sabin’s philosophy, that good writing emerges from achieving a delicate bal-
ance between rules and instincts, structure and creativity.
sab97105_fm_i-xlii.qxd 2/1/10 5:59 PM Page vi
vi Contents
About the Book and the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
A Personal Tribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Professional Tributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii
How to Look Things Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Essays on the Nature of Style. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiv
1
PART
Grammar, Usage, and Style
1.
SECTION Punctuation: Major Marks . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.
SECTION Punctuation: Other Marks . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.
SECTION Capitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.
SECTION Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.
SECTION Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
6.
SECTION Plurals and Possessives . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
7.
SECTION Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
8.
SECTION Compound Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
9.
SECTION Word Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
10.
SECTION Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
11.
SECTION Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
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Contents vii
2
PART
Techniques and Formats
12.
SECTION Editing and Proofreading . . . . . . . . . . . 408
13.
SECTION Letters, Memos, E-Mail, and
Text Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
14.
SECTION Reports and Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . 512
15.
SECTION Notes and Bibliographies . . . . . . . . . . . 546
16.
SECTION Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
17.
SECTION Other Business Documents. . . . . . . . . . 617
18.
SECTION Forms of Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
3
PART
References
A.
APPENDIX Glossary of Grammatical Terms . . . . . . 666
B.
APPENDIX Pronunciation Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 677
Available online at www.gregg.com
C.
APPENDIX Rules for Alphabetic Filing. . . . . . . . . . C–1
D.
APPENDIX Glossary of Computer Terms. . . . . . . . . D–1
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693
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viii About the Book and the Author
In 1964 Bill Sabin became the revising coauthor, together with Ruth E. Gavin, of the fourth
edition of McGraw-Hill’s Reference Manual for Stenographers and Typists. At the time Bill was a
young editor working in the Gregg Publishing Division, and the book was a modest paperback
of 188 pages, including 13 pages of exercises. By the time the fourth edition was published in
1970, it had evolved into a hardcover book of 277 pages. Ruth Gavin died shortly before the
publication of that edition, so Bill became the sole author, and with each succeeding edition,
the book grew in heft and substance. The fifth
edition, in 1977, was published in three for-
mats; in addition to the regular hardcover copy,
there were pocket-size and spiral editions. The
book also sported for the first time Bill’s inim-
itable essays on usage: “Mastering Number
Style: One (or 1?) Approach”; “A Fresh Look at
Capitalization”; “The Comma Trauma”; “The
Plight of the Compound Adjective—Or, Where
Have All the Hyphens Gone?”; “The Semicolon;
and Other Myths”; and “Re: Abbrevs.” With the
fifth edition, the book was also given its
present title and GRM was born.
By the time of the sixth edition in 1985, the
book had added “new guidelines dealing with
all aspects of business and academic reports,”
an enlarged section on tables, a section on
n
ki preparing manuscripts for publication, and a
s
u
R word processing glossary. When the seventh
e
oto: Jo eindcitliuodne da ptpheea refodr mina t1ti9n9g4 , oift se xneecwu timvea tearniadl
h
P financial documents, three ways of presenting
a résumé, an expanded glossary of computer
terms, and new guidelines on the effect of electronic equipment on format, style, and tech-
nique. Two years later the book jacket of the eighth edition states simply, “The manual spans
the stylistic demands of business and academic writing.” The ninth edition, published in 2001,
was supplemented by worksheets on grammar, usage, and style, an instructor’s manual, and
other materials for classroom instruction. In 2005, the tenth edition added a Web site, includ-
ing an expanded, electronic version of the print index and the special “Ask the Author”
feature, which allowed readers to e-mail the author their most pressing questions on grammar
and style—both routine and “once-in-a-lifetime” questions.
Bill’s career blossomed with GRM. After receiving an M.A. from Yale in 1956, he had gone to
work as an editor for Pitman Publishing in New York. The company was known at the time
fordeveloping the stenographic system of Pitman shorthand, and so when Bill transferred to
McGraw-Hill in 1961, he was naturally associated with Gregg shorthand and with business
books. (He probably did not tell McGraw-Hill that, in fact, at Pitman he had been working on
textbooks in Russian—a language he learned in the process of editing the textbooks.) In the
1970 Reference Manual for Stenographers and Typists, he is described as Editor in Chief of the
