But, if there was an up-tick in the speakers voice, wouldn't
All totaled? Probably about three days.
be correct?

I am not sure how to handle this with a.m. and p.m. coming at the beginning of a sentence. Which is right?

Example 1:
Q. Was that in the morning or at night?
A. a.m.

Example 2
Q. Was that in the morning or at night?
A. A.M.

Jennie,
I use a.m., but I think either one would work.

Per Morson's, A.m. or AM.
"a.m." isn't correct, and I think A.m. looks ridiculous, so I use AM at the beginning of sentences even though I use a.m. elsewhere.

I'd go with "A.m." at the beginning of a sentence. It should follow the rule like everything else.

Having said that, I take rules as guides and then do what I see fit. So when I said "isn't correct," it didn't mean that I'm telling you not to do it; only that TPTB say it isn't correct.

I use A.M. at the beginning of a sentence. I have been capping both A.M. and P.M. lately throughout the transcript. Is that wrong? And if so, why? I like it better, but I can see where an application of A.M. may mean something else. I don't know if it would ever be confusing, though.

V.

I've seen it either capped without periods or lowercase with, not capped and periods. Morson's has those two options. I found these in dictionaries:

A.M.

ABBREVIATION: 1. airmail 2. or a.m. Latin anno mundi (in the year of the world) 3. also a.m. or a.m. ante meridiem

4 ante meridiem —often not cap and often punctuated

So A.M. stands for airmail, and a.m. or AM for ante meridiem. I haven't seen A.M. supported anywhere to reflect time.

Thanks for all the great responses. One reference book I have says: "Do not capitalize a.m. or p.m., even when written out." Of course, it did not say what to do when it appears at the beginning of a sentence. I knew the collective body of experts on this forum would lead me in the right direction! :>)

Thank you, Brenda. Now I know better. But what do you do at the beginning of a sentence? If a.m. is correct mid-sentence, what is correct to start a sentence?

:-)
Veronica

I do like Marla's:

THE WITNESS: A.m.

I use "The Gregg Reference Manual" by William A. Sabin as my grammar and punctuation bible. It says a.m.

So, THE WITNESS: A.m.
would be my preference. :)

A.m. really hits my eye like a fist. I use AM at the beginning of sentences.

I went with A.M. at the beginning of the sentence, after reading all of the replies.

I agree with Brenda that "A.m." at the beginning of the sentence is odd looking, though I like her description better. LOL!

I have a burning question that I have always wondered about, how others do it, and what is considered the industry norm, so to speak. I was not sure where to post this question, and so I put it here, hoping to get a few responses.

Option A. With the major change, my question is how do airports create a viable plan.

Option B. With the major change, my question is: How do airports create a viable plan?

Option C. With the major change, my question is, how do airports create a viable plan?

Option A seems like a statment, i.e., my question is this. It is a statement and not a question, or is it?

Option B. Placing the old trusty colon there takes care of everything and is my favorite choice, but is it right?

Option C. Placing a comma after "my question is" allows me to turn what I consider a statement into a question.

This comes up ALL THE TIME. Are all three options acceptable? Is there another option available? Looking forward to learning from others how you handle this. TIA! :>)

I took a grammar class at the NCRA annual convention, and the instructor said that you really shouldn't be putting any kind of punctuation between is and the item that comes after it. "How do airports create a viable plan" is the predicate nominative clause.
So make it simpler. You wouldn't put an comma or a colon between is and a girl. A girl is a predicate nominative redefining the cat.
The cat is a girl.

Just because it's now a predicative nominative clause doesn't mean you would go and add a comma or colon between the is and the how.
In this case is is a linking verb. Forgive the use of the double is's.
So to parse this puppy, so to speak.

The noun clause is my question is how do airports create a viable plan.
The prepositional phrase is with the major change which is modifying how the airports create a viable plan.

Most basic sentence structure should be subject + verb + direct object/indirect object. But then you can modify practically with other stuff.

So the basic sentence is “How do airports create a viable plan?” Right? The other stuff is kind of fluff.

The prep phrase can be put anywhere in front or behind the basic sentence above. If it is put behind, you probably wouldn’t need a comma.

How do airports create a viable plan with the major change? If you put it at the beginning of the sentence, it becomes an introductory prepositional phrase, and you would put a comma.
So now we’re down to “With the major change, how do airports create a viable plan?”

Technically, if they’re throwing in “The question is”, then I guess it would be a period strictly technically.
But I choose to think the whole thing is a question. So I would do it this way.

With the major change, the question is how do airports create a viable plan?

Intro prep phase+punctuation+noun+linking verb+predicative nominative clause.

That’s how I do it? Industry standard? I don’t know.

I think it is a poorly worded because the prep phrase is so far from the item it is modifying. A slightly better question would be

The question is, with the major change, how do airports create a viable plan? I put commas around it because it is an introductory prep phrase that should/could probably be at the end of the sentence to be entirely proper.

The best question and what the attorney really means.

How do airports create a viable plan with the major change? Just restate the damn question and make my life easier.

Probably way more than you wanted to know. I know other people do it differently. I could be off my rocker. Hope it helps.

Kyung,

I would also punctuate it the way you do. I would use a comma to set off the prep phrase and then use an interrog at the end.

Regarding the colon situation, I was taught that the colon should really only follow a COMPLETE sentence. So it works if the person says, "With the major change, my question is THIS: How do airports create a viable plan?" But without "this," Option B doesn't work well for me.

Kyung, I appreciate the grammar lesson. School was so long ago that I need a refresher course on parts of speech. I don't even remember hearing about a "predicate nominative clause."

I always go to my trusted Morson's. In this case, Rule 31:

"If the question is to be quoted because it appears elsewhere in the transcript and is being restated, a colon may introduce the question and the sentence ends with a question mark. Commas could also be used...and the effect is to make the question less formal."

"If the question is introduced by the verb to be but has a word that completes the verb placed before the actual question, only the colon is correct to separate the two elements."

Normally I use a colon after an introduction like "My question is this" or "My question is: How do airports create a plan?"

But since the phrase "with the major change" comes before the introduction, it changes things. You shouldn't separate an introductory phrase from the main clause with anything other than a comma.

My vote is to do it this way:
With the major change, my question is how do airports create a viable plan?

"With the major change, my question is how do airports create a viable plan?"

To weird?

Veronica

LeAnne, that's how I learned it, with the colon. The first part, "The questions is," is a sentence, calling for a period; the second part is a question, calling for a question mark. In this case, because of the intervening "my question is" in the middle of the entire question, I'd go with a comma.

Marla, yours came in as I was typing this up. I'd surround "my question is" with commas because without it is the actual question: With the major change, how do airports create a viable plan?

Why the HECK do attorneys feel they need to say "my question is" when DUH! of course it's a question!?!?!?!

I mean, "too weird."
Okay, this is getting ridiculous.
V.
:0\

For what it's worth, I found a rule from my little grammar and punctuation book I got in court reporting school, "Court Reporting: Grammar and Punctuation," by Diane Castilaw-Palliser.

Rule 260:
Use a colon to focus the reader's attention on what follows.
"My question is simple: Were you there or not?"
"There is one issue that we must resolve: Is the defendant guilty or not?"

Rule 266:
With certain introductory phrases and clauses, a colon offers greater clarity than other marks of punctuation.
"So that I make myself perfectly clear, Mr. Purcell: Were you or were you not employed by them on May 10, 1985?"
"Tell me one thing: Where were you that evening?"
"Before we proceed: Are you aware of the time?"

Thanks for all the replies. I think I understand most of the replies, and, Kyung, I appreciate your kind reply, though I am not sure I understand it fully. It was nice of you to write such a lengthy reply, though! :>)

Marla, I do have that Castilaw book. I am going to pull it out more often. I like the Rule 260 and 266 references.

I like to see how others handle some situations like that, and with all the great responses, it helps me learn to produce a better transcript. Thanks again to all!

Comma or no comma, that's the question! :>)

Example 1: We do do that kind of work.
Example 2: We do, do that kind of work.

Example 1: He got in in the nick of time.
Example 2: He got in, in the nick of time.

Do you place a comma between words when the same word is spoken twice in a row?

What Diane said. No grammatical, or even clarifying, reason for commas there.

There is a rule that you can put a comma between double words if it helps make it clearer, but it's a silly rule if you ask me.

Thanks, Brenda, Diane, and Marla for the response.

It just came up again this morning, and if I leave out the comma, it looks strange to me.

Example 1: That would complement what's going on, on Gallaudet's campus.
Example 2: That would complement what's going on on Gallaudet's campus.

The two "on" words, right in a row, look strange to my eye. I wish there was a rule I could find about this conundrum! :>)

Jennie,
I would have to agree with Marla, Brenda, and Diane. I would leave the commas out.

Thanks, Christine, for the response.

It is so nice to have a place like this where I can ask these kinds of questions. I feel so isolated sometimes, and to have a forum where I can ask seasoned veterans how they handle these kinds of situations is wonderful.

"I wish there was a rule I could find about this conundrum!"

Jennie, what you need is a rule to USE the comma, not a rule to leave it out. In these sentences, there's no grammatical reason to use it. "Looks strange to my eye" -- not sure you can find a good hard rule for that one. ;)

Exactly, Diane!

I think the clarity "rule" was referenced a couple of times in this discussion. Commas would lead to confusion in these examples. Commas between identical words for "clarity" need to be used very sparingly.

I agree with Brenda and Diane. A comma is not necessary for clarity. People use and read double words all the time and understand their usage. Adding a comma would put an unnecessary speed bump into the works.

By the way, this would've been an excellent discussion to add to the "comma" discussion above so that people could easily find it later.

Thanks for all the kind responses.

Marla, I apologize for posting the inquiry here on the Comment Wall.

What topics should be discussed on the comment wall? I don't want to clutter up the forum, and I do want to try to follow the rules. :>)

No need to apologize, Jennie. I'm not the "forum police." ;) I was just hoping to keep this categorized so that people can search through the discussion topic that applies to their question rather than surfing through multiple pages of comments.

So if you have a question about commas, click on the "commas" link above and put your question in there. If you have a question about whether something should be capitalized, put it in the "capitalization" discussion link above.

And if you don't see a discussion link above that applies to your question, either start a new discussion or just add a comment.

Of course, anyone is welcome to post any kind of comments or questions anywhere they like. Well, not any kind. You know what I mean.

I'm just tickled pink we have this forum and that reporters are discussing punctuation because I think it's really important to our career as a whole.

How do you write the year 2003 when it is said 203? It looks weird when I write 2'03, but I'm not sure what is proper. I think I have seen this topic on this site previously, but can't find the discussion. Thanks.

Barbara
I write it was two-oh-three. I know a lot of other reporters don't agree with how I tran it, but at least what I give 'em is verbatim.

Omgoodness. I wish people wouldn't feel the need to include the 2! I do 2003. Others do 2'03. If you think about it, it is no different from writing '99. It's the very same thing, showing that a digit is missing.

Personally, just put 2003 because it is very apparent what is meant and there is no confusion on anyone's part. And it avoids the awkwardness in print that you're talking about.

I see Phil has just commented, and although I haven't seen it yet, I'll bet it says to use two-oh-three. ;)

Gee, now she's got esp
;)

I agree with Brenda. Sorry, Phil. ;) 2'03 to show the omission of a digit. But if it's not a video, I'd just do 2003 and make everyone's life easier.

Thank you all for your input. I tend to agree just to write out the year 2003, but I was wondering what to do next time if it happens on a video job.

Where do you ladies like to put the apostrophe? Which zero was omitted? Does it matter?
;)

Phil, my reasoning for the apopstrophe omitting the first zero is that what is really being spoken of is the '03 part, just like '99, '68, etc. For some reason, people seem compelled to include the fact that we're in the 2000s, but the focus is the last two digits, just like in the previous century. If we put an apostrophe omitting the second zero, that could be anydecade3 -- '13, '23, etc.

Brenda
Those were really rhetorical, tongue-in-cheek questions. Although we disagree on how to transcribe such drivel, and I know and understand your argument for the way you do it, I just prefer to be more verbatim in this instance.

It's actually a good question, though. It does matter. I saw someone suggest 20'3 once, and that doesn't make sense if you break it down. I still think 2'03 is no less verbatim than '99.

The one that someone mentioned not long ago that really makes no sense and is hard to reflect in numerals OR words and clearly reflect what they mean is "2 3" (2-3, 2'3, two-three) for 2003. I want to say, "Use your big boy and big girl words, people!"

I vote for all tongue-in-cheek comments to be italicized, underlined, and bold from now on.

:)

LOL That spoils the fun of trying to recognize them, Marla! :P

Phil and I go round and round with this one (we have a couple pet disagreements - lol) so I kind of thought it might be rhetorical, but also figured it was a good opportunity to explain the rationale to others.

I used to write a monthly article for a pool magazine. In this one article, I made mention of the score of a pool match, a race to 9 which ended up being 9-zip, meaning one competitor never won a game.

I wrote the score as 9-0, not 9-zip. I did not realize until the magazine was published that the editor corrected the score to "9-oh."

I do use "oh" when the speaker says "0" meaning zero in my transcripts, and so I would have done it like Phil. However, I do enjoy reading how others handle things because it gives me food for thought. I'm always changing my style, it seems.

It was just within the last year or two that I quit putting a comma before "too" and "also" at the end of a sentence.

Okay, does this make sense or am I just wrong?

When one through ten refers to an actual number - i.e., a scale from 1 to 10, document number 10, age 8 -- as opposed to several totaling a number of them - i.e., ten toes, nine days, etc. -- do you use numbers for the first example when it's 1 through 10 or is it correct to ALWAYS use numbers written out from one to ten?

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it didn't quite fit the Word Help group description.

Anyway, the attorney said "gouge," like "ow," but I know she meant "gauge," like "age." So what would you write: "gouge" or "gauge." If I write "gouge," it just makes her look illiterate. But she got the rough, and in the rough, I sic'd her "gouge." :/

Thanks!