MT Grammar Guidelines in Brief

Mentioned below are some of the key points to remember while transcribing any
document. Though some of these features may change in course of time with the oncoming
AAMT style of book.

The most difficult task or rather the biggest confusion occurs while writing numbers. Here is a
list of some Dos and Donts.

Playing with Numbers

Always spell out whole numbers zero through nine and use numerals for 10 and above.
Eg. This nine-year-old boy comes for a followup visit.
Use numerals to express size and measurements.
Use numerals for every sort of measurement. Centimeters, millimeters, liters, etc.
Use numerals in all expressions pertaining to drugs - this includes strength, dosage and
directions. Eg. Tamoxifen 20 mg daily, or Xeloda 1000 mg on days 2-5.
Spell out fractions and hyphenate them when standing alone. Eg: She drank one-half liter
of Ensure.
Use numerals to express mixed fractions. 1 months.
Use commas only if there are 5 or more digits when expressing numbers. E.g. Platelets
250,000 and WBC 4000.
Use numerals when expressing vital statistics including height, weight, blood pressure,
pulse and respiration.
Substitute a hyphen for the word "to". John was supposed to take 1-2 tablets of Naprosyn
every 4-6 hours p.r.n. but he misunderstood and took five of them at a time.
Leave a space between numerals and measurements unless they form a compound
modifier. Eg. It is 10 cm below the popliteal fossa. A 4-cm melanocytic nevi was
removed. A 5 x 4-mm lesion from the breast was resected.
By default, always use 0 in front of the decimal point if the number is not a whole
number. 0.75 mg
Use decimal fractions with metric measurements. 1.5 cm
Use mixed fractions with English system measurements. 1 1/2 inch
Use numerals for: Ages, units of measure, vital statistics, lab values and in other
instances where it is important to communicate clearly the number referenced. She has
three cats, all of which died last summer. Around 8 keratotic plaques were removed.
Do not start a sentence using a number. Spell out the number or recast the sentence. Eg.
When it dictated as 3 milligrams of Diazepam was administered stat, transcribe it as
Diazepam 3 mg was administered stat. However, there is one exception to this when
beginning the sentence with a date. Eg. 2005 has been a bad year for this patient.

Plurals - Do not use an apostrophe to form plural numbers.
Eg: 5 x 5s. She was in her late 30s or thirties. She was born in the 1950s.

Series of numbers - Use numerals if at least one is greater than nine or if there is a mixed or
decimal fraction.
Example She works at 2 places, gets paid for 3 jobs as she works 16 hours a day.

Most common error is while transcribing Diabetes type I and type II, which is not
correct. The correct version is Diabetes type 1 and 2. Similarly, A II/VI holosystolic
murmur was heard is wrong. The correct way of transcribing is A 2/6 holosystolic
murmur was heard.

Many a times it happens that the figures get jumbled up, or rather two different series of
numbers are and measurements are present in the same sentence. So to avoid confusion, it
is better to transcribe one in figures and spell out the other. Eg. The Apgar scores were 6
and 8 at one and five minutes.

Time Examples
4:30 a.m. - morning
7:30 p.m. - evening
noon, not 12:00 noon
midnight, not 12:00 midnight or 12 'o'clock or 12:00 p.m.


Space Usage

Do not Type a Space
Between any word and the punctuation following it.
Between the number and the colon used to indicate a dilute solution or ratio.
Following a period with an abbreviation
Following a period used as a decimal point
Between quotation marks and the quoted material
Before or after a hyphen
Before or after a slash
Before or after a dash
Between a number and percent sign
Between parentheses and the enclosed material
On either side of the colon when expressing the time of day
Before an apostrophe
Before or after a comma used within numbers
Before or after an ampersand in abbreviations, e.g., C&S
On either side of the colon when expressing ratios e.g. 1:1
After the closing parenthesis if another mark of punctuation follows

Do Type One Space
Between words
After a comma
After a semicolon
After a period following an initial
after the closing parenthesis
on each side of the x(times or multiplication sign) in an expression of dimension, e.g. 4 x
4, alert and oriented x3.


Get your Measurements right

Use F for Fahrenheit if it is accompanied by the symbol for degree, as in-his temperature
was recorded as 101.6F
However, spell out Fahrenheit if you wish to take the pain of spelling of the degree out-
101.6 degrees Fahrenheit (but not generally advisable as it lengthens the text.)
Similarly use C for Celsius if accompanied by the symbol for degree-35.3C and spell out
Celsius if degree is spelled out. 35.3 degrees Celsius.
Spell out all non-metric measurements. Feet, inches, pounds, ounces, yards with few
exceptions as in tsp for teaspoon and tbsp for tablespoon.
By default abbreviate all metric measurements. Write cm for centimeter, similarly mm
for millimeter and so forth. There are some abbreviations for non-metric measurements
too.
Use ft or ' for feet
Use " for inches
Use yd for yard
Use pt for pint
Use oz for ounce
Use fl oz for fluid ounce

It is customary to abbreviate units of measure when accompanied by numerals, as using full form
does not look good for it increases the text length.

Eg:
140/80 milligram of mercury - 140/80 mmHg. Also do not leave space between mm & Hg.
1.5 centimeters square -0.8 sq cm
4.2.0 liters per minute-3.0 L/min (L is abb for liters and should be written in Capital letters while
milliliter is written as ml.)
8.5 grams percent of hemoglobin-8.5 gm% (no space to be used between gm and % as advised
earlier).


Use Symbols when you cant text

Use symbols when they are used with numbers
Eg. Four to five 4-5
Number 3 0 #3-0
Twenty-twenty vision 20/20
BP 120 over 80 120/80
Grade two over six 2/6
A positive A+
Three point five centimeters 3.5 cm
Point five centimeters 0.5 cm

Capitalize when lower is ruled out

Capitalize abbreviations when the words they represent are capitalized
Capitalize the first word following a colon if it begins a complete sentence or is part of an outline
entry
Capitalize most abbreviations of English words
Capitalize the first letter of chemical elements
Capitalize the names of the days of the week, months, holidays, historic events and religious
festivals
Capitalize the names of specific departments or sections in the institution only when the
institution name is included
Capitalize the names of diseases that include proper nouns, eponyms or genus names
Capitalize the trade or brand names of drugs
Capitalize a quote when it is a complete sentence
Capitalize the names of races, peoples, religions and languages. Eg African-American female,
Black man.

Do not capitalize the spelled out names of the chemical elements
Do not capitalize the seasons of the year
Do not capitalize the common names of diseases
Do not capitalize the names of viruses unless they include a proper noun
Do not capitalize generic drug names
Do not capitalize the common noun following the brand name. Example - Tylenol tablets
Do not capitalize the names of medical or surgical specialties
Do not capitalize designations based on skin color, like "a tall white man."

The prodigy of Hyphenation

Use of hyphenation has been always a big headache while transcribing. It is difficult to
remember which words are to be hyphenated and which not. However, in general terms, all those
words, which are commonly used are generally not hyphenated. Besides below is a list of those
words starting with these prefixes that do not require the use of hyphen:

ante Antepartum
anti antihypertensive
bi bibasilar
co cooperative
contra contraindicated
de defibrillated
extra extrapyramidal
infra infratemporal
inter intervertebral
intra intramammary
micro microglossia
mid midpole
non Noninflammatory
over Overprotective
pre preoperative
post postvoid
pro proactive
pseudo pseudomembranous
re reevaluation
semi semicircular
sub sublingual
super superannuated
supra supratentorial
trans transesophageal
ultra ultraviolet
un unintentional
under undernutrition
weight Weightloss



Always use a hyphen when compounded with the prefix self.
Example - self-administered, self-monitored.

IMP: Many a times, there may be altogether different meanings of a non-hyphenated word
depending on sentence structure for clarification.

Cancer Classifications
Stage and grade - do not capitalize either one if it does not begin a sentence.
Use Roman numerals for cancer stages-stage I
Use Arabic numerals for cancer grades-grade 4
Eg: stage IIIA, stage IIIB, grade 3.