Test your basic knowledge |

AP Style Vocab

Instructions:

Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.

1. Accept
State of reclining lie - lay - lain - lying
A firearm that fires continuously as long as the trigger is depressed. Examples include machine guns and submachine guns
Take off - takeoff
To receive

2. Tabasco
A trademark for a brand of hot pepper sauce
Their = possessive pronoun - there= adverb indicating direction - they're= contraction for they are
Use days of the week not today or tonight in print avoid saying next Monday or last Monday
A compact - relatively inexpensive handgun

3. fully automatic
A firearm that reloads automatically after each shot. Note there are differences between fully automatic and semi-automatic firearms. Be specific in usage. The form: a .22-caliber automatic
Acceptable on first reference for The Russian government's news agency that is officially ITAR-Tass. ITAR is an acronym for Information Telegraph Agency of Russia. Copy from other parts of the former Soviet Union should carry the logo of the local ag
One who leaves a country emigrates from it
A firearm that fires continuously as long as the trigger is depressed. Examples include machine guns and submachine guns

4. alumna
Proper name of some trains and buses
Plural alumnae woman
Spell out when standing alone; when with a city - town - village or military base abbreviate unless Alaska - Hawaii - Idaho -Iowa - Maine - Ohio - Texas and Utah.
IED is acceptable on second reference. Roadside bomb is preferable

5. Capitalize
Lowercase the common noun elements in plural uses
Take-home pay
Use illegal only to mean a violation of the law. Be especially careful in labor management disputes - where one side often calls an action by the other side illegal. Usually it is a charge that a contract or rule - not a law - has been violated
A prefix denoting 1000 units of a measure. Move a decimal point three places to the right - adding zeros if necessary to convert to the basic unit: 10.5 kilograms equals 10 -500 grams

6. tablespoon - tablespoonfuls
Equal to three teaspoons or one-half a fluid ounce. The metric equivalent is approximately 15 milliliters
Teammate
Santa Claus
A fully automatic gun that fires as long as the trigger is depressed. The form: a .50 caliber Browning machine gun.

7. American West
Headquarters of this airline is in Tempe - Ariz.
Untrue statement - lie -lied -lying
?
To stand still

8. Iberia
Abbreviate Kan. in datelines or stories. Postal code: KS
A trademark for a type of nonstick coating
Headquarters of this airline is in Madrid - Spain
Add apostrophe s:p's and q's

9. Figures - Multiple letters and Words as plural
Named for Samuel Colt - it designates a make of weapon or ammunition developed for Colt handguns. The forms: a Colt .45-caliber revolver - .45 Colt ammunition
Lowercase - because it denotes not a single period but any series of cold periods marked by glaciation alternating with periods of relative warmth. Capitalize the proper nouns in the names of individual ice ages - such as the Wisconsin ice age. The m
Add s NO APOSTROPHES:1930s - ifs - buts - ands - low 20s - ABCs - Four VIPs
A unit of measurement for digital data storage. In the metric system - a kilobyte is 1000 bytes; in computer binary terms - it is 1 -024 bytes. Thus - 64KB means 64 times 1 -024 bytes - or 65 -536 bytes (not 64000). Abbrev.: KB. (similarly - MB for m

10. illegal immigrant
Lowercase use figures and $ sign
Used to describe those who have entered the country illegally - it is the preferred term - rather than illegal alien or undocumented worker. Do not use the shortened term illegals
Trademark for an electronic control device or stun gun. (Acronym for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle)
Preferred with numerals

11. Except
To exclude
Do NOT use teenaged
The constitutional process accusing an elected official of a crime in an attempt to remove the official from office. Do not use as a synonym for convicted or removed from office
Bad should not be used as an adverb only exceptation is I feel bad.

12. demolish - destroy
Uses periods in most two letter words; CIA - FBI - GOP; Never use organizations full name then an acronym;
It's = it is; its possessive form of neuter pronoun
Something cannot be partially demolished or destroyed
Precede with a hyphen: break-in - cave-in - walk-in - write-in

13. flyer
Sacrilegious
Precede with a hyphen: break-in - cave-in - walk-in - write-in
Proper name of some trains and buses
Named for Samuel Colt - it designates a make of weapon or ammunition developed for Colt handguns. The forms: a Colt .45-caliber revolver - .45 Colt ammunition

14. century
Only used in a direct quote or part of a title
The '90s - 1920s
Lowercase spell out numbers less than 10
The abbreviation Ste. instead St. because the full name is Sault Sainte Marie

15. emigrate
One who leaves a country emigrates from it
Spatial relationships
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)
Insurance

16. Saturday night special
A compact - relatively inexpensive handgun
Anemia - anemic
Tablecloth
The following are some generally used technical terms dealing with satellite communications. -uplink: The transmission from the ground to the satellite -downlink: The transmission from the satellite to the ground. -footprint: The area on the ground i

17. over
A heavy - large-caliber shoulder firearm fired by means of a matchlock - a wheel lock - a flintlock or a percussion lock. Its ammunition is a musket ball
Spatial relationships
Follow the guidelines in composition titles. Put quotation marks around show only if it is part of the formal name. The word show may be dropped when it would be cumbersome - such as in a set of listings. In text or listing - treat programs named aft
Spell out and capitalize first through ninth use figures for others Ave. Blvd. St. only ones allowed to be abbreviated when numbered address is present. Do Not abbreviate compass points if number is omitted

18. imam
Spatial relationships
Lowercase when describing the leader of a prayer in a Muslim mosque. Capitalize before a name when used as the formal title for a Muslim leader or ruler
Extension of time or degree
The verbs: sandbagged - sandbagging. And: sandbagger

19. farther
The name for the worldwide association of the 22 national Anglican churches. Each national church is independent. A special position of honor is accorded to the archbishop of Canterbury - as the pre-eminent officer in the original Anglican body - the
Physical distance
Never alright; sometimes all-right as a compound modifier
A short - lightweight rifle - usually having a barrel length of less than 20 inches. The form: an M-3 carbine

20. Salt Lake City
The city in Utah stands alone in datelines
Always use figures. Use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or substitute as a noun
A lightweight fully automatic gun firing handgun ammunition
A device used to store multiple rounds of ammunition together as a unit - ready for insertion into the magazine of a repeating firearm

21. homicide
To stand still
Legal term for slaying or killing
No e
Handgun

22. principal
A fundamental truth - law - doctrine or motivating force
Someone or something first in rank - authority - importance or degree ex. school principal
No hyphen when it means not: inaccurate - insufferable Other uses without a hyphen: inbound - indoor - infield - infighting - inpatient A few combinations take a hyphen - however: in-depth - in-group - in-house - in-law Follow Webster's New World Col
ASCAP is acceptable on second reference. Headquarters is in New York

23. decades

24. ice age
A firearm typically used to fire small spherical pellets called shot. Shotguns usually have a smooth bore barrel - but some contain a rifled barrel - Which is used to fire a single projectile. Size is measured according to gauge - except for the .410
Acronym for improvised explosive device. IED is acceptable on second reference. Roadside bomb is preferable
Lowercase - because it denotes not a single period but any series of cold periods marked by glaciation alternating with periods of relative warmth. Capitalize the proper nouns in the names of individual ice ages - such as the Wisconsin ice age. The m
Lowercase spell out cents 5 cents or $2.50

25. stationary
LEARN SPELLING
To receive
Capitalize ZIP lowercase code only five number no comma 70791
To stand still

26. pistol
Always use figures. Use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or substitute as a noun
Preferred spelling for the capital of Nepal
A handgun that can be a single shot or a semi-automatic. It is measured in calibers. The form: a .45-caliber revolver
Take out (v.) take out (n. and adj)

27. take-home pay
Take-home pay
Contraction for Who is NOT POSSESSIVE
DO NOT PLACE IN QUOTES
The verbs: sandbagged - sandbagging. And: sandbagger

28. ampersand (&)

29. Target Corp.
It has become a generic term - no longer a trademark - for a type of television cuing device
Headquarters is in Minneapolis
Inasmuch as
Their = possessive pronoun - there= adverb indicating direction - they're= contraction for they are

30. Satan
A unit used to measure the power of nuclear explosions. One kiloton has the explosive force of 1000 tons of TNT. The atomic bomb dropped Aug. 6 - 1945 - on Hiroshima - Japan - in the first use of the bomb as a weapon had an explosive force of 20 kilo
When employed to indicate that something is in vogue - use quotation marks only if followed by a noun: It was the 'in' thing to do. Raccoon coats are in again.
But lowercase devil and satanic
The amount of electrical energy consumed when 1000 watts are used for one hour. The abbreviation kwh is acceptable on second reference.

31. comprise
Lowercase with periods avoid the redundant 10 a.m. this morning
Contain - include all - or embrace
Acceptable on first reference for intercontinental ballistic missile(s) - but the term should be defines in the body of a story. Avoid the redundant ICBM missiles
Anemia - anemic

32. savings and loan association
Is pronoun that is always a subject
Once limited to accepting deposits and making home mortgage loans - they are not banks. Since enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery Act in 1989
Teammate
Capitalize them

33. criterion
Singular criteria is the plural
Ketchup
The metric term for 1000 grams. A kilogram is equal to approximately 2.2 pounds or 35 ounces. To convert to pounds - multiply by 2.2 (9 kilograms x 2.2 equals 19.8 pounds)
Connotation of wrongdoing use acknowledge or said instead of admitted

34. Kelvin scale
A scale of temperature based on - but different from - the Celsius scale. It is used primarily in science to record very high and very low temperatures. The Kelvin scale starts at zero and indicates the total absence of heat (absolute zero). Zero on
Introduces more than two; must be objective ex. among us
No e
Tape recording (n.) tape-record (v.)

35. kilowatt-hour
Homicide without malice or premeditation
Use it to mean one or the other - not both
The amount of electrical energy consumed when 1000 watts are used for one hour. The abbreviation kwh is acceptable on second reference.
It means without preparation of advance thought

36. illegal
A unit of measurement for digital data storage. In the metric system - a kilobyte is 1000 bytes; in computer binary terms - it is 1 -024 bytes. Thus - 64KB means 64 times 1 -024 bytes - or 65 -536 bytes (not 64000). Abbrev.: KB. (similarly - MB for m
No hyphen when it means not: inaccurate - insufferable Other uses without a hyphen: inbound - indoor - infield - infighting - inpatient A few combinations take a hyphen - however: in-depth - in-group - in-house - in-law Follow Webster's New World Col
The ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a firearm. It may be fixed to the firearm or detachable
Use illegal only to mean a violation of the law. Be especially careful in labor management disputes - where one side often calls an action by the other side illegal. Usually it is a charge that a contract or rule - not a law - has been violated

37. more than
The city in Texas stands alone in datelines
Preferred with numerals
See Newspaper Association of America
AM is acceptable in all references

38. Technicolor
Sacagawea
Use instead of Italy in datelines on stories from communities on this island
A trademark for a process of making color motion pictures
Only used in a direct quote or part of a title

39. shell
Sandwich
Always spell out and use figures and decimals NOT fractions
The word applies to military or naval ammunition and to shotgun ammunition
See pardon - parole - probation

40. Afterward/Forward/Toward
Individual items;fewer than 10 applicants called. I had fewer than 50 $1 bills in my pocket
No e
No s
Impostor

41. kids

42. Manslaughter
Inasmuch as
Acceptable on first reference for The Russian government's news agency that is officially ITAR-Tass. ITAR is an acronym for Information Telegraph Agency of Russia. Copy from other parts of the former Soviet Union should carry the logo of the local ag
Use days of the week not today or tonight in print avoid saying next Monday or last Monday
Homicide without malice or premeditation

43. IM

44. San Francisco
The city in California stands alone in datelines
No e
Most significant word is made plural: daughters-in-law - assistant attorneys general - major generals
A heavy - large-caliber shoulder firearm fired by means of a matchlock - a wheel lock - a flintlock or a percussion lock. Its ammunition is a musket ball

45. Americorps
Handgun
Writing paper
Americorps
Plural alumni man who attended a school

46. buckshot
DON'T USE IN PRINT
Sacagawea
Not amuck
See shot

47. Sault Ste. Marie - Mich. - Sault Ste. Marie. - Ontario
Acceptable in all forms
The abbreviation Ste. instead St. because the full name is Sault Sainte Marie
Use figures except for noon and midnight
Sanitarium - sanitariums

48. mortar
Plural alumnae woman
State of reclining lie - lay - lain - lying
Use alone in datelines on stories from the Republic of San Marino
Device used to launch a mortar shell; it is the shell - not the mortar - that is fired

49. among
Most significant word is made plural: daughters-in-law - assistant attorneys general - major generals
Introduces more than two; must be objective ex. among us
Tablecloth
NOT teaspoonsful

50. magazine
The ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a firearm. It may be fixed to the firearm or detachable
Writers or speakers imply in the words they use. A listener or reader infers something from the words
Extension of time or degree
Once limited to accepting deposits and making home mortgage loans - they are not banks. Since enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery Act in 1989