How to Abbreviate Directions

Geographical directions should be clear and consistent.

When writing travel directions, instructions for complex tasks or even if you're simply sending an email with directions to a location, it is necessary for the directions to be clear and precise. Sentences sometimes must be shortened, though, by abbreviating terms like geographical directions. It is important to be consistent and correct to avoid confusion.

Instructions

1. Select an authoritative style guide to use as your reference for abbreviations. Your selection should be based upon the type of writing and the industry or discipline you are writing for. For example, if you are writing for publication in a news media outlet, you will probably use "The Associated Press Stylebook. "If you are writing for a historical journal or popular magazine, you might use the "The Modern Language Association Style Guide." Each publication requires a particular style guide, but in general, the AP Stylebook gives more detailed information on the abbreviation of addresses and other directions.

2. Spell out addresses if they are general. For example, in the phrase "He walked down Elm Avenue," use "Avenue" instead of "Ave." But if the exact address is given, you may abbreviate street, road, boulevard and avenue. For example, in the phrase "She lived at 412 Pine Blvd," use "Blvd."

3. Spell out state names when they are used alone in a sentence, but when both city and state are used, spell out the city and abbreviate the state according to the style guide. For example, the AP Stylebook suggests "Birmingham, Ala." Do not use the capitalized two-letter postal abbreviation, such as "MA" for "Massachusetts," except for state names that consist of two words such as "N.C." for "North Carolina" and then use periods after each letter.

4. Spell out short state names such as Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii. This is because those states' names have no abbreviations that would not be confusing in text.

5. Abbreviate, capitalize and punctuate compass directions such as north, south, east and west for exact addresses. For example, north is abbreviated "N." Combination compass directions like northwest and southeast are "N.W." and "S.E."

References

• University of Oregon's Style Guide: Abbreviations
• University of Pittsburgh Style Guide: Addresses

Resources

• Boston University College of Communication: Style Guides
• Ohio State University: Editorial Style Guide