Sometimes you don't want to go to all the trouble to write out a word. Maybe you're texting, or creating a table in Excel, or referring to a word over and over in an article. In these cases, you'll want to abbreviate.
Abbreviations are condensed versions of words. For example, instead of writing out the word 'Sunday,' there are times when it is appropriate to write the abbreviated form 'Sun.' Style guides vary somewhat, so if your teacher states a preference, be sure to consult your style guide when determining whether or not to abbreviate. Let's look at some generic rules for abbreviating in formal writing.
Indefinite Articles
Indefinite articles are the words 'a' and 'an.' Before introducing a word, if the word begins with a vowel, 'an' is used. If the word begins with a consonant, 'a' is used. This applies to abbreviations too.
For example:
- Today feels like a Mon.
- The storm came on an Oct. night.
However, there is a big difference. When an indefinite article precedes an abbreviation with the vowel sound, 'an' is used. When the indefinite article precedes a consonant sound, 'a' is used. Therefore, sometimes, even though a consonant starts the abbreviation out, it actually has a vowel sound. This is more often true in acronyms, but say you want to abbreviate the word 'hour' to 'hr.' 'Hour' starts with a consonant but has the vowel sound 'O'. Therefore you would use the indefinite article 'an', as in 'miles an hr.'
Punctuation
An abbreviation that is comprised of the first and last letters of the word, such as 'Mr.' (mister) is abbreviated with a period at the end. If the abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, there is only one period that represents both the abbreviation and the end of the sentence. This can often be the case with the abbreviation 'Jr.' (junior).
For example:
Sandy named her son, Mr. Robert Lott, Jr.