SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION

ENG 118 Technical Writing

MODULE 4
The Elements of Styles
and Mechanics

Module Overview: This module is designed for Education students to discuss to discuss the small and big
detail of the written language.

Module Outcomes:
At the end of the module the students should have;
 defined what mechanics is in relation to grammar
 identified the style conventions of the English language
 discussed the importance of mechanics in writing, and apply the rules in Capitalization,
abbreviation, and Spelling in writing activities.

Module Content:
PUNCTUATIONS
CAPITALIZATION
ABBREVIATION
NUMBER

Course Content
Activity Description Time
Overview
1 Interactive Discussion/Power point presentation through 30 minutes
Messenger
2 Video Clip Presentation 10 minutes
3 Discussion 20 minutes
DISCUSSIONS
Writing Style and Mechanics in Grammar
A writer may face certain difficulties in the process of writing if he doesn't know what to write and how
to say it correctly in writing. In most instances, he may also encounter difficulties in putting words together
correctly in conformity with the rules of grammar and conventions. Because of this, the writer may be in a
dilemma over how to fully come up with correct and impressive written outputs. Often times with these
problems, the writer needs to work on with his writing style. Style is defined as the way a writer puts together
sentences to come up with a more coherent, unified, and correct paragraphs.

Mechanics in relation to grammar refers to all the details of the written language. The ability of a person to
learn correct grammar rules and mechanics is an important factor in the process of writing. When a person has
good writing skills, this enables him to convey his intended message to his audience clearly and effectively.
Thus, it is important for any technical writer to know and master grammar rules for correct application in any
writing situations.
For anybody to master the craft of writing, he needs to develop the style conventions of the language, and these
conventions are: punctuations, capitalizations, 'abbreviation, numbers, and spellings. Below are the elaborated
explanations of the rules these conventions with their corresponding examples:

A. PUNCTUATIONS
Punctuation marks are the “traffic signals” of a language. When correctly used, they guide the reader
through the text and makes comprehension easier. However, when incorrectly placed, they can also change the
meaning of a sentence. Consider the following example:
Original text: A woman without her man is nothing.
Punctuated text 1: A woman, without her man, is nothing.
Punctuated text 2: A woman: without her, man is nothing.

 Apostrophe '-An apostrophe is used to form most possessives, contractions, as well as the plurals and
inflections of words.
Examples:
Julio’s and Emma’s test scores.
The Murphys’ and the Ramirezes’ houses.
 Colon: Colon is used to mark an introduction, indicating that what follows it generally is a clause, a
phrase, or a list.
Examples:
The judge has trial experience on three judicial levels: county,
The issue comes down to this: will death penalty be legalized
We are required to pass the following: initial, progress, and final reports of the case,
 Comma, -Comma is used to separate items in a series, and to set off or distinguish grammatical
elements within sentences.
Examples:
The kinds of fiction in which justice prevails include these: fairy tales, Westerns, and detective stories.
Listen to a recording of one of the following concert vocalists: Justino Diaz, Martina or Jessye Norman.
 Hyphen — hyphen is used to join the element of compound nouns and modifiers.
Examples:
Father – in- law
T-shirt
 Parenthesis ( ) - a pair of parenthesis is used to enclose material that is inserted into a main
statement, but is not intended to be an essential part of it.
Examples:
Mary Jane Canary (Calamity Jane) knew Wild Bill Hickok.
The ASL (Amateur Storytellers League) entertains listeners at their monthly meetings.
 Period. Period serves to mark the end of a sentence or an abbreviation.
Examples:
Please play me a song on your banjo.
 Quotation Marks " " -Quotation marks are used to enclose quoted statements in a regular text.
Examples:
“Weave us a garment of brightness,” says a Native American song.
Toni Morrison said, “I write the kind of books I want to read.”

B. CAPITALIZATION

To indicate that words have a special significance in a particular context they are capitalized. Below are
the basic rules of capitalization;

1. The first word of a sentence or sentence fragment is capitalized.

 Examples:
There are criminals. (fragment)
Mar belongs to the upper echelon of the police bureaucracy.
He will pass the samples for accurate testing’s in the laboratory.
2. Abbreviated forms of proper nouns and adjectives are capitalized.
Examples:
PRC (Professional Regulation Commission)
CHED (Commission on Higher Education)
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)
3. Names of academic degrees are capitalized when they follow a person's name.
Examples:
Ma. Sheila V. Alberto, MSC
Janice Jennifer P. Palmares, MPA
4. Full names of legislative, deliberative, executive, and administrative bodies are
capitalized.
Examples:
the House of Representatives
the Philippine Congress
the Senatorial candidates
the Philippine National Police
5. The names of some historical and cultural periods and movement are capitalized.
Examples:
Prohibition
Fifth Republic
The Renaissance
Third Reich
6. Capitalize months, holidays, and days of the week.
Examples:
The bodies will be due for cremation on Monday.
The bombing exactly happened during the Independence Day celebration.
Their investigation will commence in the month of May.
7. All major words are titles and subtitles of books and articles should be capitalized.
Examples:
The Icarus Agenda is a detective novel written by Robert Ludlum, A Time to Kill is also a detective novel
but it is written by John Grisham.
Copies of The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology are now available in our library.
Are you aware that Police and Security News is a publication about information source for law enforcement
and homeland security?

C. ABBREVIATION
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase; the abbreviated word is pronounced exactly
the same as the full word. It is used to save space and time in order to avoid repetition of long words and
phrases, and simply to conform to the rules on conventional usage.
Examples:
TVET- Technical Vocational Education and Training
DOLE -Department of Labor and Employment
DSWD -Department of Social Welfare and Development
DTI -Department of Trade and Industry

Below are the basis rules in abbreviation:

1. Use abbreviations for titles like Mister, Miss, Madame, and Doctor.
Examples:
Mr. and Mrs. Mercedes will testify in court.
Dr. Cruz will write an autopsy report on the corpses.
Atty. Ma. Lee Aranzado will notarize the documents.
 2. Abbreviate academic degrees after names and separate it with a comma.
Examples:
Marcus Lucas, M.D.
Ronalyn Dano, MSC
Jasmine Aballe, Ph. D.

3. Do not abbreviate titles if it is not used with a proper name.

Examples:
My friend Dan, who is a police inspector, specializes in ballistics.
The lawyers are reviewing the drug-related cases of the city.
Paulino Pioquinto, a registered criminologist, is our guest of honor and speaker today.

4. Abbreviate common foreign terms.

Examples:
eg exemplia gratia (for example)
et.al- et alii (and others)
etc et cetera (and so forth)
N.B. or n.b.- nota bene (note well)
viz videlicet (namely)
vs. or v.- versus (against)

5. Use abbreviations for words that are only understandable within a specific field of
specialization.
Examples:

All SWAT Team members are required to undergo rigorous trainings.

The CIDG and PDEA will team up in the investigation.
The SOCO Team is expected to arrive soon.

ABBREVIATIONS OF COMMON TITLES

Dr. Doctor Rev. Reverend Atty. Attorney Fr. Father Prof. Professor
Sr. Sister Hon. Honorable Br. Brother
Pres. President Cpl. Corporal Supt. Superintendent Sgt. Sergeant
Rep. Representative Lt. Lieutenant Sen. Senator Capt. Captain ]
Gov. Governor Maj. Major Col. Colonel Brig. Gen. Brigadier-General
Cmdr. Commander Vice Adm. Vice Admiral

ABBREVIATIONS OF ACADEMIC DEGREES

B.A. (or A.B.) Bachelor of Arts Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy

B.S. (or S.B.) Bachelor of Science D.D, Doctor of Divinity

M.A. (or A.M.) Master of Arts R.N. Registered Nurse

M.S. (or S.M.) Master of Science M.D. Doctor of Medicine

M.BA. Master of Business Administration D.D.S. Doctor of Dental Surgery

M.F. A Master of Fine Arts Esq. Esquire (lawyer)

Ed. D Doctor of Education LL.D.( Doctor of Laws

D. NUMBERS
 The writer's knowledge on the rules and usage governing numbers is significant in the writing process.
Below are these basic rules:

Below are the basis rules in writing numbers:

1. For numbers one through nine it should be spelled out and figures is used for exact
numbers greater than nine.
Ex: She said she repeated her testimony a hundred times.
He spoke for an hour, convincing his audience of 20,000 law enforcers from all over Asia.

2. Numbers that begin a sentence are written out.

Ex: Thirty five convicts were brought to the New Bilibid Prison last year.
Twenty new police cars are given by the governor.

3. Ordinal Numbers are written as figures together with its suffix combination.
Ex: He wrote the 3rd and the 4th sections of the Bill.

4. House numbers should be written in figures except for the word 'one'.
Ex: The suspect is living at #11 Ouano Street.
The suspect is living at #eleven Oano Street.

5. Dimension, percentages, decimals, weighs, measurement, page numbers should be

written in figures.
Ex: The size of the bladed weapon is 3 by 5% by 5 inches.
The liquid matter found in the crime scene contained 0.9 percent blood.
The rock that was used to pound his head weighed 2 pounds.
Please refer to page 20 of the Revised Penal Code for your reference.

6. If two numbers occur together, write the smaller number in words, and the larger
number in figures.
Ex: We are required to submit a 100 thirty- page investigation report.

7. Numbers with o'clock should be written in words.

Ex: The investigation team will meet at one o'clock this afternoon.
The exhumation of the body will be will be done at ten o'clock in the morning.

8. Numbers with P.M. or A.M. should be written in figures.

Ex: The investigation team will meet at 11:15 A.M.
The investigation will resume at 1:00 P.M.
The dead body was found at 10:00 A.M
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ACTIVITY

Directions: Rewrite each sentence, correcting errors in the use of abbreviations.

1. Henry VII was crowned Holy Roman emperor in 1312 AD.

2. The train went to Philadelphia, PA, and Washington Dc.
3. What advice do you think the patients of John H Salt, MD, get from him?
 4. Two N.F.L. teams play in the Super Bowl every year.
5. Jeffrey earned a BA, an MFA, and a PhD, and then he went to work for the US Army.
6. Augustus became the first emperor of Rome in 27 bc. (acc to EB—my comment))
7. I'm writing a paper on TS Eliot for my 8:00 am class.
8. Are there two qts or four in a gal?
9. My father is Paul Connor jr, and folks call him Junior.
10. My sister is five ft., three in. tall.

ASSESSMENT

Exercise on Capitalization, Abbreviation, and Number

Direction: Read the sentence below and follow the instructions inside the parenthesis. Write your answer in
your activity notebook.

1. Approximately 1, 000 policemen attended the inauguration of the newly elected President of the Phil.
last June thirty. (Write the number that should be written in figures)
2. Write the abbreviation hat should be spelled out in sentence 1
3. The Dean said that the students must first master english to explain coherently the basic concepts of
Intro. to Criminology. (Write the word that should be capitalized)
4. Write the word that should be spelled out in sentence 3
5. At 2:45 a.m. on monday., the desk officer received a call from a certain Doctor wang. (Write the word
that should be capitalized
6. Write the word that should be spelled out in sentence 5
7. The investigator said, "after a week we are going to nail down the Culprit". (Write the word that should
be capitalized)
8. Write the word that should not be capitalized in sentence 7
9. The speaker, john Raymond, a retired general talked about the significance of police visibility in the
Community. (Write the word that should not be capitalized)
10. Write the word that should be capitalized in sentence 9
11. In the last 3 months, the policeman caught 113 robbers, 86 smugglers and fifty one rapists. (Write the
number that should not be spelled out
12. A week ago, the suspect carried a .45 cal. pist, and shot an old mad. (Write the abbreviation that should
be spelled out
13. At 10:45 a.m. Congrsmn. Canete left the courtroom escorted by a police officer and four N.B.I. Agents.
(Write the word that is incorrectly abbreviated)

References:

Coronel, B. et al., (2013) Basic English

Fernandez, E.et al., (2015) Getting High on English

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