Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Italicize words mentioned as words, letters mentioned as letters, and numbers mentioned as numbers
Italics
Mechanics

Tomás assured us that the chemicals could probably be safely mixed, but his probably stuck in our minds.

Some toddlers have trouble pronouncing the letters f and s.

A big 3 was painted on the stage door.

NOTE: Quotation marks may be used instead of italics to set off words mentioned as words. (See 38d.) In particular, APA style recommends using quotation marks to set off words mentioned as words and letters mentioned as letters. An exception is that italics are used for key terms that are being defined.

Social scientists use the term androgyny to describe a blending of traditionally masculine and feminine traits.

EXERCISE 43-1

Edit the following sentences to correct errors in the use of italics. If a sentence is correct, write “correct” after it. Answers appear in the back of the book.

a. André De Shields, who starred in Broadway musicals like The Wiz and Hadestown, won his first Tony Award in 2019.

b. The old man screamed his anger, shouting to all of us, “I will not leave my money to you worthless layabouts!”

c. I learned the Latin term ad infinitum from an old nursery rhyme about fleas: “Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite ’em, / And little fleas have lesser fleas and so ad infinitum.”

d. Cinema audiences once gasped at hearing the word damn in Gone with the Wind.

e. Neve Campbell’s lifelong interest in ballet inspired her involvement in the film “The Company,” which portrays a season with the Joffrey Ballet.