UA EDITORIAL STYLE MANUAL

Appendix F: Time Terminology

Write time of day as follows: 3:00 p.m., 2:15 a.m., 4:05 p.m. Don't use the 24-hour method: 13:20, 23:01, etc. Avoid o'clock, except in quoted matter and some formal copy, such as invitations.

Give a.m. and p.m. when the surrounding copy doesn't clarify that point, but avoid redundant constructions such as 12:00 noon, 1:15 a.m. in the morning, an afternoon nap at 3:15 p.m. In a construction such as from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m., it is not necessary to use p.m. twice.

Express duration with a from . . . to construction or an en dash: 2:30–4:15 p.m. If you use from, you must use to—don't combine the two forms.

Incorrect: from 1941–42
Correct: from 1941 to 1942

If you'll be listing more than one time, give the minutes for all of them if you must give them for any: 1:15, 2:00, 3:20 not 1:15, 2, 3:20. For clarity's sake, it is usually best to include :00 for all on-the-hour times.

When writing a statement such as he earned 5 hours' credit, always include the 's or s' with hour, or use of:

You need 36 hours' credit to graduate.
For my senior thesis, I earned 6 hours' credit.
For the independent study, he earned 1 hour's credit.
She earned 15 hours of credit for her work at RISE.

For more about time terminology, see the entries below.

AD

Abbreviation for "anno Domini" (meaning time period falls within Christian Era). Uppercase (preferably small caps).

a.m.

Abbreviation for "ante meridiem" or "before mid-day." Lowercase and use the periods.

BC

Abbreviation for "before Christ." Uppercase (preferably small caps).

BCE

Abbreviation for "before the Christian Era" or "before the Common Era." Uppercase (preferably small caps).

CE

Abbreviation for the "Christian Era" or the "Common Era." Uppercase (preferably small caps).

centuries/decades

Follow UA style for use of numerals. Consult a current dictionary for difficult cases. Note that compound adjectives with century are hyphenated.

first century, second century, 10th century
first-century art, second-century religion, 10th-century life
11th century, 13th century, 20th century
the '20s, '60s, '80s
the 1700s, the 1980s
14th-century literature, 21st-century technology
'80s-style capitalism, '60s-influenced music

dates

Use the sequence month-day-year. In a sentence, the year is set off by commas:

On September 15, 1995, she bought her first car.
On the day of her birth, Wednesday, June 12, 1974, it rained in Montgomery.

If the date is not given, no commas are needed:

She bought her first car in September 1995.

In invitations, fliers, and similar announcements, always give the day of the week before the date. The year is not necessary in many such publications, particularly if the name of the event includes it.

Avoid constructions such as May 5th, even though we pronounce dates as ordinals.

days of the week

Don't abbreviate in running text. Where space is limited, as in tables or cutlines, abbreviate as follows:

Sun.
Mon.
Tues.
Wed.
Thurs.
Fri.
Sat.

Note: Due to severe space limitations, the Office of Academic Records and University Registrar uses the following abbreviations for the days of the week: M (Monday), T (Tuesday), W (Wednesday), R (Thursday), and F (Friday).

months

In running text, don't abbreviate the names of months. If you must abbreviate in a table, shorten as follows:

Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.

Spell out months when used alone or with a year (for example, January 1967).

p.m.

Abbreviation for "post meridiem" or "after mid-day." Lowercase and use the periods.

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