Language Arts Grade Six

Unit Seven, Lesson Three: Abbreviations and Acronyms

  1. snail
  2. pail
  3. quail
  4. sprain
  5. brain
  6. grain
  7. national
  8. ecosystem
  9. cycle
  10. system
  1. habitat
  2. producers
  3. decomposers
  4. herbivores
  5. community
  6. niche
  7. consumers
  8. chain
  9. competition
  10. carnivores
Abbreviations

We use abbreviations all the time. Some abbreviations are even more commonly used than the full versions of the words they are derived from.

Here are some of the most commonly used abbreviations: 


	WORD			ABBREVIATION

 	 Mister			 Mr.
	 Doctor			 Dr.
	 Junior			 Jr.
	 Road			 Rd.
	 Avenue			 Ave.
	 Street			 St.
Often you do not use a period at the end of an abbreviation. Here are some examples: 

	WORD(s)			ABBREVIATION

	 etcetera		 etc
	 words per minute	 wpm
	 junction		 jct
	 point			 pt
	 amount			 amt
	 abbreviation		 abbr
	 especially		 esp
	 UFO			 Unidentified Flying Object
	 USA			 United States of America
	 psi			 pounds per square inch
	 DNA			 deoxyribonucleic acid
	 rpm			 revolutions per minute
The names of many organizations are more well-known by their abbreviations than by their full names. Consider these examples: 

	ABBREVIATION		NAME
	 FBI			Federal Bureau of Investigation
	 BLM			Bureau of Land Management
	 USDA			United States Department of Agriculture
	 CIA			Central Intelligence Agency
	 USFS			United States Forest Service
Names of organizations which are abbreviated are sometimes also called initializations.

The days of the week all have standard abbreviations: 


	ABBREVIATION		FULL WORD
	 Mon.			 Monday
	 Tues.			 Tuesday
	 Wed.			 Wednesday
	 Thurs.			 Thursday
	 Fri.			 Friday
	 Sat.			 Saturday
  	 Sun.			 Sunday
Here are some abbreviations for the months of the year: 

	ABBREVIATION		FULL WORD
	 Jan.			 January
	 Feb.			 February
	 Mar.			 March
	 Apr.			 April
	 Aug.			 August
	 Sept.			 September
	 Oct.			 October
	 Nov.			 November
	 Dec.			 December
You should also be aware of some common abbreviations for elements. 

	ABBREVIATION		FULL WORD

	  O			 oxygen
	  C			 carbon
	  H			 hydrogen
	  He			 helium
	  N			 nitrogen
	  Mg			 mercury
	  Cu			 copper

Click here to go to next page