To put it simply, as abbreviation can be described as the shortened form of a single word, or a phrase. Abbreviations come in a few different types, but primarily they are when only the first and last letters of a word is used, or the first letter of each word of a whole phrase are used.
It can sometimes be tricky remembering whether or not to use full stops or capital letters when writing an abbreviation. Read our handy tips below for help with this issue.
Using full stops:
Full stops are used in an abbreviation if it is made up of the shortening of one word by using only the first few letters of that word. This can be seen with days, so Thursday can be abbreviated to Thur. with the full stop showing that the word has been abbreviated at the end.
When the initial letter from each word in a phrase is used, you do not need to use a full stop after each letter, for example, ESL instead of English as a Second Language. This goes for abbreviations such as USA, UK, ESL, EFL, and CNN.
If the abbreviation uses the first and last letter of the word, then you do not need to include a full stop. This is true with abbreviations such as Mr, Mrs, Dr, and Ltd.
Using capital letters:
As the above examples show, in general, capital letters are used if the first letter of each word of a phrase is used, such as UK, ESL, and EFL. Capital letters are not used with abbreviations that are made from using the first and last letter.
Do you struggle with how to write abbreviations correctly? Let the team at ProofreadMyDocument help you today!