Clara Mingrino
Abbreviations
An abbreviation is a short way of writing a word or a phrase that could also be written out in full.
So, for example, you might write Dr Kinsey instead of Doctor Kinsey. Here Dr is an abbreviation for the word Doctor. Likewise, the phrase for example can sometimes be abbreviated to e.g.
Abbreviations must be clearly distinguished from contractions. The key difference is that an abbreviation does not normally have a distinctive pronunciation of its own. So, for example, the abbreviation Dr is pronounced just like Doctor and the abbreviation e.g. is pronounced just like for example.
A contraction, in contrast, does have its own distinctive pronunciation: for example, the contraction can't is pronounced differently from cannot, and the contraction she's is pronounced differently from she is or she has.
Abbreviations are very rarely used in formal writing. Almost the only ones which are frequently used are the abbreviations for certain common titles, when these are used with someone's name: Mr Willis, Dr Livingstone, Mrs Thatcher, Ms Harmon, St Joan. (Note that the two items Mrs and Ms are conventionally treated as abbreviations, even though they can be written in no other way.)
When writing about a French or Spanish person, you may use the abbreviations for the French and Spanish equivalents of the English titles: M. Mitterrand, Sr. González. (These are the usual French and Spanish abbreviations for Monsieur and Señor, equivalent to English Mister.) Observe that each of these abbreviations begins with a capital letter.
Other titles are sometimes abbreviated in the same way: Prof. Chomsky, Sgt. Yorke, Mgr. Lindemann. However, it is usually much better to write these titles out in full when you are using them in a sentence: Professor Chomsky, Sergeant Yorke, Monsignor Lindemann. The abbreviated forms are best confined to places like footnotes and captions of pictures.
Note carefully the use of full stops in these abbreviations. British usage favours omitting the full stop in abbreviations which include the first and last letters of a single word, such as Mr, Mrs, Ms, and Dr; American usage prefers Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr., with full stops. Most other abbreviated titles, however, require a full stop, as shown above.
A person's initials are a kind of abbreviation, and these are usually followed by full stops: John D. Rockefeller, C. Aubrey Smith, O. J. Simpson. Increasingly, however, there is a tendency to write such initials without full stops: John D Rockefeller, C Aubrey Smith, O J Simpson. And note the rare special case illustrated by Harry S Truman: the S in this name never takes a full stop, because it's not an abbreviation for anything; President Truman's parents actually gave him the middle name S.
Two other common abbreviations are a.m. ('before noon') and p.m. ('after noon'): 10.00 a.m., six p.m. These are always acceptable. Note that these are not capitalized in British usage (though American usage prefers 10.00 AM and six PM, with small capitals (I can't write here!) and no full stops).
Also usual are the abbreviations b.c. and a.d., usually written in small capitals (I can't write here!) for marking dates as before or after the birth of Christ:
According to tradition, Rome was founded in 753 B.C. The emperor Vespasian died in A.D. 79. or
The emperor Vespasian died in 79 A.D.
It is traditional, and recommended, to write A.D. before the date, but nowadays it is often written after.
Non-Christians who do not use the Christian calendar may prefer to use B.C.E. (‘before the common era') and C.E. (‘of the common era') instead (again in small capitals!) This is always acceptable: According to tradition, Rome was founded in 753 B.C.E. The emperor Vespasian died in 79 C.E.
All four of these abbreviations are commonly written in small capitals, and you should follow this practice if you can; if you can't produce small capitals, use full-sized capitals instead. All four of them are also now very frequently written without full stops: 753 BC, AD 79, 753 BCE, 79 CE. This reflects the increasing tendency to omit the full stops in abbreviations.
Note also that, when an abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, only one full stop is written. You should never write two full stops in a row.
Many large and well-known organizations and companies have very long names which are commonly abbreviated to a set of initials written in capital letters, usually with no full stops. Here are a couple of familiar examples: BBC
British Broadcasting Corporation FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A few other abbreviations are so well known that you can use them safely in your writing. Every reader will understand what you mean by GCSE examinations (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education), or by DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), or by IQ (intelligence quotient), or by FM radio (FM = frequency modulation). Indeed, in some of these cases, the abbreviated form of the name is far more familiar than the full name.
There is one exception to this policy. In scientific writing, the names of units are always abbreviated and always written without full stops or a plural s. If you are doing scientific writing, then, you should conform by writing 5 kg (not 5 kilogrammes, and certainly not 5 kg. or 5 kgs.) and 800 Hz (not 800 Hertz).
There are a number of Latin abbreviations which are sometimes used in English texts. Here are the commonest ones with their English equivalents: e.g. = for example cf. = compare i.e. = in other words viz. = namely etc. = and so forth sc. = which means et al. = and other people ca. = approximately
The rule about using these Latin abbreviations is very simple: don't use them. Their use is only appropriate in special circumstances in which brevity is at a premium, such as in footnotes. It is very poor style to spatter your page with these things, and it could be disastrous to use them without being quite sure what they mean. If you do use one, make sure you punctuate it correctly.
Here is an example. The recommended form is this:
Several British universities were founded in the Victorian era; for example, the University of Manchester was established in 1851.
The following version is not wrong, but it is poor style:
Several British universities were founded in the Victorian era; e.g., the University of Manchester was established in 1851.
But this next version is disastrously wrong, because the punctuation has been omitted: Several British universities were founded in the Victorian era e.g. the University of Manchester was established in 1851.
The abbreviation ca. 'approximately' is properly used only in citing a date which is not known exactly, and then usually only if the date is given in parentheses. Outside of parentheses, you should usually avoid the use of ca. and prefer an English word like about or approximately.
The abbreviation etc. calls for special comment. It should never be used in careful writing: it is vague and sloppy and, when applied to people, rather offensive. If you do find yourself using etc., for heaven's sake spell it and punctuate it correctly. This is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase et cetera `and other things', and it is pronounced ET SETRA, and not EK SETRA. Again, if you avoid Latin abbreviations, you won't fall into such traps.
Summary of abbreviations: 1) Do not use an abbreviation that can easily be avoided. 2) In an abbreviation, use full stops and capital letters in the conventional way. 3) Do not forget to punctuate the rest of the sentence normally.
Thanks!
Copyright © 2021 The Crazy Teacher.
All Rights Reserved.
ABBREVIATIONS
Clara Mingrino
Created on May 7, 2021
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Transcript
Clara Mingrino
Abbreviations
An abbreviation is a short way of writing a word or a phrase that could also be written out in full.
So, for example, you might write Dr Kinsey instead of Doctor Kinsey. Here Dr is an abbreviation for the word Doctor. Likewise, the phrase for example can sometimes be abbreviated to e.g.
Abbreviations must be clearly distinguished from contractions. The key difference is that an abbreviation does not normally have a distinctive pronunciation of its own. So, for example, the abbreviation Dr is pronounced just like Doctor and the abbreviation e.g. is pronounced just like for example.
A contraction, in contrast, does have its own distinctive pronunciation: for example, the contraction can't is pronounced differently from cannot, and the contraction she's is pronounced differently from she is or she has.
Abbreviations are very rarely used in formal writing. Almost the only ones which are frequently used are the abbreviations for certain common titles, when these are used with someone's name: Mr Willis, Dr Livingstone, Mrs Thatcher, Ms Harmon, St Joan. (Note that the two items Mrs and Ms are conventionally treated as abbreviations, even though they can be written in no other way.)
When writing about a French or Spanish person, you may use the abbreviations for the French and Spanish equivalents of the English titles: M. Mitterrand, Sr. González. (These are the usual French and Spanish abbreviations for Monsieur and Señor, equivalent to English Mister.) Observe that each of these abbreviations begins with a capital letter.
Other titles are sometimes abbreviated in the same way: Prof. Chomsky, Sgt. Yorke, Mgr. Lindemann. However, it is usually much better to write these titles out in full when you are using them in a sentence: Professor Chomsky, Sergeant Yorke, Monsignor Lindemann. The abbreviated forms are best confined to places like footnotes and captions of pictures.
Note carefully the use of full stops in these abbreviations. British usage favours omitting the full stop in abbreviations which include the first and last letters of a single word, such as Mr, Mrs, Ms, and Dr; American usage prefers Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr., with full stops. Most other abbreviated titles, however, require a full stop, as shown above.
A person's initials are a kind of abbreviation, and these are usually followed by full stops: John D. Rockefeller, C. Aubrey Smith, O. J. Simpson. Increasingly, however, there is a tendency to write such initials without full stops: John D Rockefeller, C Aubrey Smith, O J Simpson. And note the rare special case illustrated by Harry S Truman: the S in this name never takes a full stop, because it's not an abbreviation for anything; President Truman's parents actually gave him the middle name S.
Two other common abbreviations are a.m. ('before noon') and p.m. ('after noon'): 10.00 a.m., six p.m. These are always acceptable. Note that these are not capitalized in British usage (though American usage prefers 10.00 AM and six PM, with small capitals (I can't write here!) and no full stops).
Also usual are the abbreviations b.c. and a.d., usually written in small capitals (I can't write here!) for marking dates as before or after the birth of Christ: According to tradition, Rome was founded in 753 B.C. The emperor Vespasian died in A.D. 79. or The emperor Vespasian died in 79 A.D. It is traditional, and recommended, to write A.D. before the date, but nowadays it is often written after.
Non-Christians who do not use the Christian calendar may prefer to use B.C.E. (‘before the common era') and C.E. (‘of the common era') instead (again in small capitals!) This is always acceptable: According to tradition, Rome was founded in 753 B.C.E. The emperor Vespasian died in 79 C.E.
All four of these abbreviations are commonly written in small capitals, and you should follow this practice if you can; if you can't produce small capitals, use full-sized capitals instead. All four of them are also now very frequently written without full stops: 753 BC, AD 79, 753 BCE, 79 CE. This reflects the increasing tendency to omit the full stops in abbreviations.
Note also that, when an abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, only one full stop is written. You should never write two full stops in a row.
Many large and well-known organizations and companies have very long names which are commonly abbreviated to a set of initials written in capital letters, usually with no full stops. Here are a couple of familiar examples: BBC British Broadcasting Corporation FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A few other abbreviations are so well known that you can use them safely in your writing. Every reader will understand what you mean by GCSE examinations (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education), or by DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), or by IQ (intelligence quotient), or by FM radio (FM = frequency modulation). Indeed, in some of these cases, the abbreviated form of the name is far more familiar than the full name.
There is one exception to this policy. In scientific writing, the names of units are always abbreviated and always written without full stops or a plural s. If you are doing scientific writing, then, you should conform by writing 5 kg (not 5 kilogrammes, and certainly not 5 kg. or 5 kgs.) and 800 Hz (not 800 Hertz).
There are a number of Latin abbreviations which are sometimes used in English texts. Here are the commonest ones with their English equivalents: e.g. = for example cf. = compare i.e. = in other words viz. = namely etc. = and so forth sc. = which means et al. = and other people ca. = approximately
The rule about using these Latin abbreviations is very simple: don't use them. Their use is only appropriate in special circumstances in which brevity is at a premium, such as in footnotes. It is very poor style to spatter your page with these things, and it could be disastrous to use them without being quite sure what they mean. If you do use one, make sure you punctuate it correctly.
Here is an example. The recommended form is this: Several British universities were founded in the Victorian era; for example, the University of Manchester was established in 1851. The following version is not wrong, but it is poor style: Several British universities were founded in the Victorian era; e.g., the University of Manchester was established in 1851. But this next version is disastrously wrong, because the punctuation has been omitted: Several British universities were founded in the Victorian era e.g. the University of Manchester was established in 1851.
The abbreviation ca. 'approximately' is properly used only in citing a date which is not known exactly, and then usually only if the date is given in parentheses. Outside of parentheses, you should usually avoid the use of ca. and prefer an English word like about or approximately.
The abbreviation etc. calls for special comment. It should never be used in careful writing: it is vague and sloppy and, when applied to people, rather offensive. If you do find yourself using etc., for heaven's sake spell it and punctuate it correctly. This is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase et cetera `and other things', and it is pronounced ET SETRA, and not EK SETRA. Again, if you avoid Latin abbreviations, you won't fall into such traps.
Summary of abbreviations: 1) Do not use an abbreviation that can easily be avoided. 2) In an abbreviation, use full stops and capital letters in the conventional way. 3) Do not forget to punctuate the rest of the sentence normally.
Thanks!
Copyright © 2021 The Crazy Teacher. All Rights Reserved.