AP Style Month Abbreviation Rules Lookup

Basic AP prose month abbreviation with a specific date; March–July stay unabbreviated, no table-layout or other editorial exceptions. Caller independently verifies context, evidence, reference edition and applicability; not factual authenticity, current legal advice or publication clearance.

Description

Month abbreviations depend on whether a numbered day accompanies the month in the adopted style.

Month abbreviations depend on whether a numbered day accompanies the month in the adopted style.^[1]

Formatting a month name does not validate a complete date.

When to use AP Style Month Abbreviation Rules Lookup

Use this tool to calculate or review the supplied observations under the stated rules. Establish the reviewed evidence, house style or applicable jurisdiction and dated reference.

How to use AP Style Month Abbreviation Rules Lookup and understand its results

Establish the reviewed evidence, house style or applicable jurisdiction and dated reference.
Enter monthOneBased, callerSpecificDayPresent, using the field meanings and rules below, then run the tool.
Read basicApMonthToken, using the output meanings and calculation rules below.
Correct any reported input issue and run again. Before using a successful result, check the stated units, signs, reference scope and observation coverage.

Input field	Meaning	Value type	Requirement
monthOneBased	Month one based	number	Required
callerSpecificDayPresent	Caller specific day present	boolean	Required

Enter an integer month 1..12 and a boolean indicating an accompanying numbered day. With a day, use Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.; March, April, May, June and July remain full. Without a day, return the full month name.

monthText=withNumberedDay?dayContextNames[month−1]:fullMonthNames[month−1]

Use the matching field units and the exact boundary, ordering and reference rules above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
basicApMonthToken	Basic ap month token	string

json

{
  "input": {
    "monthOneBased": 9,
    "callerSpecificDayPresent": true
  },
  "output": {
    "basicApMonthToken": "Sept."
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

The tool formats only the month name. It does not check a day/year, infer sentence context or implement a complete stylebook.

Missing required fields, unknown fields, wrong types and violated rules return input issues. Numeric values and outputs must be finite.

Alternative or Complementary methods

For a related step, use AP Style Numerals vs Words Selector Lookup: Numeral and word choices depend on the adopted style and grammatical context. For a complementary comparison, use Title Case vs Sentence Case Headline Selector: Sentence case and title case are headline presentation policies with different capitalization conventions.

References

AP Style Month Abbreviation Rules Lookup — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

AP Style Numerals vs Words Selector Lookup
Numeral and word choices depend on the adopted style and grammatical context.
Title Case vs Sentence Case Headline Selector
Sentence case and title case are headline presentation policies with different capitalization conventions.