Nine Common AP Style Blunders

If you work in public relations, marketing or communications, there is a good chance the AP Stylebook has settled an office debate or two.

Is it toward or towards? Do you capitalize someone’s job title? Does the Oxford comma belong there? And why, exactly, are we putting periods in a.m. and p.m.?

At TRIO, we spend a lot of time working with words. Press releases, websites, social media posts, newsletters, speeches, advertisements — you name it, we’ve probably edited it. And while none of us is immune to the occasional typo, AP style gives our team a consistent set of standards to follow.

That’s especially important when we’re writing for the media. Journalists work in AP style every day, so sending clean, properly formatted copy makes their jobs easier and helps your organization communicate more professionally.

The tricky part? AP style changes.

So, whether you’re a seasoned communicator or simply someone who wants your writing to look a little sharper, here are nine AP style mistakes we see all the time.

1. Putting two spaces after a period

We’re going way back for this one — all the way to the typewriter.

Two spaces after a period made sense when typewriters used monospaced type, meaning each character occupied the same amount of space. Modern fonts don’t work that way.

Today, use one space after a period.

That’s it.

Your typing teacher may disagree (if you even had one), but we’re sticking with one.

2. Getting times wrong

AP style has some very specific preferences when it comes to time.

Use lowercase letters and periods with a.m. and p.m.

Right: 7 a.m.
Wrong: 7 AM
Wrong: 7am

And if something begins exactly on the hour, don’t add unnecessary zeros.

Right: 7 p.m.
Wrong: 7:00 p.m.

For times with minutes, use a colon:

Right: 7:30 p.m.

AP also prefers noon and midnight rather than 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.

One correction from an earlier version of this blog: There is no blanket rule requiring the time to appear before the date.

The event will be Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.

Perfectly acceptable.

The goal is clear, natural writing.

3. Holding on to unnecessary zeros

Zeros don’t get special treatment just because we’re talking about money.

If something costs exactly $20, write $20, not $20.00.

The same applies to time. A meeting starts at 2 p.m., not 2:00 p.m.

Yeah, we mentioned this in the last tip, but important info is worth repeating!

Of course, there are plenty of circumstances where decimal places matter. Your accountant may care deeply about those two zeros. Your event invitation probably doesn’t.

4. Capitalizing every job title in sight

This may be one of our biggest marketing pet peeves.

A job title does not become more important simply because you capitalize it.

Generally, capitalize a formal title when it appears immediately before a person’s name.

Right: Mayor Jane Smith addressed the crowd.

Lowercase it when the title follows the person’s name or is used on its own.

Right: Jane Smith, mayor of the city, addressed the crowd.
Right: The mayor addressed the crowd.

The same principle applies to many titles such as president, executive director, vice president and chair.

Your CEO will still be the CEO even if the title is lowercase in a sentence. We promise.

5. Writing “towards”

This one is delightfully simple.

In AP-style copy, use toward, not towards.

Right: We are working toward our goal.
Wrong: We are working towards our goal.

One caveat: Don’t change someone’s spoken words simply to make a direct quote conform to AP style. Quotes are quotes.

Also, it’s backward and forward, not backwards and forwards.

6. Letting apostrophes wander where they don’t belong

The apostrophe may be one of the most frequently abused punctuation marks in marketing.

Its jobs include showing possession and forming contractions.

Possession: Katie’s book
Contraction: It’s going to rain.

But an apostrophe generally does not make something plural.

Right: homes starting in the 200s
Wrong: homes starting in the 200’s

The same is true for decades:

Right: the 1990s
Wrong: the 1990’s

If you shorten the decade, the apostrophe represents the missing numbers:

Right: the ’90s
Wrong: the 90’s

And while we’re here:

It’s means it is or it has.
Its shows possession.

One tiny punctuation mark. So much opportunity for trouble.

7. Formatting months and dates incorrectly

When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate:

Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.

Spell out March, April, May, June and July.

For example:

Jan. 5
Sept. 17
March 8

When a month appears by itself or with only a year, spell it out:

January 2026

Don’t put a comma between the month and year.

When you include the month, date and year, set off the year with commas when the sentence continues:

Jan. 5, 2026, was the first meeting of the year.

One more tip: Don’t memorize page numbers in your printed Stylebook. AP updates its guidance regularly, and AP Stylebook Online is continually updated.

8. Styling titles of books, movies and publications incorrectly

Composition titles can get confusing because different style guides use different rules.

Under AP style, use quotation marks around titles of books, movies, television programs, speeches and many other works.

“The Great Gatsby”
“The Wizard of Oz”

Newspaper and magazine names do not get quotation marks:

The New York Times
Time

And here’s another distinction worth remembering:

A book is titled something.

Someone who deserves something is entitled to it.

You may be entitled to a second piece of cake, but the fabulous dessert you’re eating may be titled “Death by Chocolate.”

9. Fighting over the Oxford comma

Few punctuation marks inspire stronger opinions.

The Oxford comma — also called the serial comma — is the comma immediately before and or or in a series.

With the Oxford comma:
The flag is red, white, and blue.

AP style generally omits the final comma in a simple series:

AP style:
The flag is red, white and blue.

But here’s where people often get AP style wrong:

AP does not ban the Oxford comma.

If leaving it out could make the meaning unclear, use it.

That’s really the larger lesson behind AP style. Rules matter, but clarity matters more.

AP Style Changes, and So Should We

One reason we periodically come back and update this blog is simple: Language evolves, and AP style evolves with it.

Some rules that many longtime writers learned are no longer the preferred style.

A few examples:

• African American is not hyphenated.
• Black is capitalized when referring to race, ethnicity or culture.
• Nonprofit is one word.
• Startup is one word.
• Gray is preferred over grey in American English.
• Internet and web are lowercase unless they begin a sentence.
• State names are generally spelled out in body copy: Charleston, South Carolina, rather than Charleston, S.C.
• Over can be used when referring to numerical amounts. You don’t always have to use more than.
• And as of 2026, AP style says healthcare is one word.

Yes, you read that last one correctly.

Healthcare.

One word.

Somewhere, longtime AP devotees are still processing it.

The Rule We Still Have Trouble Letting Go

Speaking of changing rules, there is one that some of the word nerds at TRIO still struggle to accept.

For years, writers were taught to distinguish between over and more than.

Over was used primarily for spatial relationships:

The plane flew over the city.

More than was used for numerical values:

More than 5,000 students attend the university.

AP eventually decided over was also perfectly acceptable with numbers:

Over 5,000 students attend the university.

Technically, it’s correct.

Will some of us continue to change it to more than anyway?

Probably.

Old editing habits die hard.

The Most Important AP Style Rule: Check

You don’t have to memorize the entire AP Stylebook to be a strong writer.

You need to know the basics. But you also need to know when to look something up.

AP style changes. Words evolve. Usage changes. What you confidently learned 10 years ago may not be the preferred style today. The AP Stylebook itself notes that older guidance can be overtaken as style and usage evolve.

So when you’re unsure, check.

And if you’re the kind of person who notices an unnecessary apostrophe on a billboard while driving 55 mph, welcome.

You’re among friends.

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