League Brand Guidelines

Grammar, Punctuation, Capitalization, etc.

That vs. Which — That is used at the start of a restrictive clause and a comma does not precede it. Ex: I chose the cat that purred the loudest. The clause “that purred the loudest” is necessary to understand which of many possible cats the subject, I, chose. Which is used at the start of a non-restrictive clause and requires a comma before it. Ex: I spit out my neighbor’s potato salad, which I never liked. The clause “which I never liked” adds further information but is not necessary to the meaning of the sentence. That vs. Who —These are relative pronouns. Who is used when referring to a person. That is used when referring to an inanimate object or company/organization. Time— For clock time, or time of day, do not use :00 when something begins on the hour. Use lowercase a.m. and p.m. with periods. If something occurs only in the morning, use a.m. after the second numeral; if only in the afternoon, use p.m. after the second numeral. See en-dash for proper dash or word usage with time. Ex: The day’s agenda will run 8 a.m.–4 p.m., with the first morning session 8–9:30 a.m. and the first afternoon session 1:15–2 p.m. If a sentence ends with an a.m. or p.m. do not add an additional period to the end of the sentence. Titles —Capitalize titles when before the name, such as Saginaw Mayor Brenda F. Moore and Sterling Heights Councilmember and League Board President Barbara Ziarko. But do not capitalize when the title is after the name, such as, “said Barbara Ziarko, Sterling Heights councilmember and president of the League Board.” Quotations —Quotes from dialogue or text are introduced with a comma. Ex: President Barb Ziarko said, “I have enjoyed my time serving on the League’s Board of Trustees.” If a quotation is introduced by that , whether , or a similar conjunction, no comma is needed. Ex: It was George who said that “if this boat sinks, no one will claim to be captain.” Periods and commas should go inside quotation marks.

MAY 2024

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