MOS:VAR

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Tɛmplet:Short description Tɛmplet:Pp-vandalism Tɛmplet:MoS guideline Tɛmplet:Style

This Manual of Style (MoS or MOS) is the style manual for all English Wikipedia articles (though provisions related to accessibility apply across the entire project, not just to articles). This primary page is supported by further detail pages, which are cross-referenced here and listed at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Contents. If any contradiction arises, this page has precedence.Tɛmplet:Efn

Tɛmplet:AnchorEditors should write articles using straightforward, succinct, easily understood language and structure articles with consistent, reader-friendly layouts and formatting (which are detailed in this guide).

Tɛmplet:AnchorWhere more than one style or format is acceptable under the MoS, one should be used consistently within an article and should not be changed without good reason. Edit warring over stylistic choices is unacceptable.Tɛmplet:Efn

New content added to this page should directly address a persistently recurring style issue.

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Retaining existing styles

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Sometimes the MoS provides more than one acceptable style or gives no specific guidance. The Arbitration Committee has expressed the principle that "When either of two styles is acceptable it is inappropriate for a Wikipedia editor to change from one style to another unless there is some substantial reason for the change."Tɛmplet:Efn If you believe an alternative style would be more appropriate for a particular article, discuss this at the article's talk page orTɛmplet:Sndif it raises an issue of more general application or with the MoS itselfTɛmplet:Sndat Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style.

Edit-warring over style, or enforcing optional style in a bot-like fashion without prior consensus, is never acceptable.Tɛmplet:EfnTɛmplet:Efn

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Article titles, sections, and headings

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Article titles

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A title should be a recognizable name or description of the topic that is natural, sufficiently precise, concise, and consistent with those of related articles. If these criteria are in conflict, they should be balanced against one another.

For formatting guidance see the Tɛmplet:Section link section, noting the following:

Subject both to the above and to Wikipedia:Article titles, the rest of the MoS, particularly Tɛmplet:Section link, applies also to the title.

Tɛmplet:Crossref

Section organization

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An article's content should begin with an introductory Tɛmplet:EmTɛmplet:Snda concise summary of the articleTɛmplet:Sndwhich is never divided into sections Tɛmplet:Crossref. The remainder of the article is typically divided into sections.

Infoboxes, images, and related content in the lead section must be right-aligned.

Certain standardized templates and wikicode that are not sections go at the very top of the article, before the content of the lead section, and in the following order:

  • A short description, with the Tɛmplet:Tlx template
  • A disambiguation hatnote, most of the time with the Tɛmplet:Tlx template Tɛmplet:Crossref
  • No-output templates that indicate the article's established date format and English-language variety, if any (e.g., Tɛmplet:Tlx, Tɛmplet:Tlx)
  • Banner-type maintenance templates, Dispute and Cleanup templates for article-wide issues that have been flagged (otherwise used at the top of a specific section, after any sectional hatnote such as Tɛmplet:Tlx)
  • An infobox, which is optional (except in special cases like Tɛmplet:Tlx and Tɛmplet:Tlx, or a variant thereof, at applicable articles); usually also includes the first image
  • An introductory image, when an infobox is not used, or an additional image is desired for the lead section (for unusually long leads, a second image can be placed midway through the lead text)

If an article has at least four section headings, a navigable table of contents appears automatically, just after the lead.

If the topic of a section is covered in more detail in a dedicated article Tɛmplet:Cross reference, insert Tɛmplet:Tlx or Tɛmplet:Tlx immediately under the section heading.

As explained in detail in Tɛmplet:Slink, several kinds of material (mostly optional) may appear after the main body of the article, in the following order:

  • Books or other works created by the subject of the article, under a section heading "Works", "Publications", "Discography", "Filmography", etc. as appropriate (avoid "Bibliography", confusable with reference citations)
  • Internal links to related English Wikipedia articles, with section heading "See also"
  • Notes and references, with a section heading "Notes" or "References" (usually the latter), or a separate section for each in this order Tɛmplet:Crossref; avoid "Bibliography", confusable with the subject's works
  • Relevant books, articles, or other publications that have not been used as sources; use the section heading "Further reading"; be highly selective, as Wikipedia is not a bibliographic directory
  • Relevant and appropriate websites that have not been used as sources and do not appear in the earlier appendices, using the heading "External links", which may be made a subsection of "Further reading" (or such links can be integrated directly into the "Further reading" list instead); link templates for sister-project content also usually go at the top of this section when it is present (otherwise in the last section on the page)
  • The following final items never take section headings:

Stand-alone list articles have some additional layout considerations.

Section headings

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Section headings should generally follow the guidance for article titles (above), and should be presented in sentence case (Tɛmplet:Xt), not title case (Tɛmplet:!xt).Tɛmplet:Efn

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Anchor The heading must be on its own line, with one blank line just before it; a blank line just after is optional and ignored (but do not use two blank lines, before or after, because that will add unwanted visible space).

Tɛmplet:AnchorFor technical reasons, section headings should:

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Tɛmplet:AnchorThese technical restrictions are necessary to avoid technical complications and are not subject to override by local consensus.

Tɛmplet:AnchorAs a matter of consistent style, section headings should: Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Tɛmplet:AnchorThese are broadly accepted community preferences. Tɛmplet:Anchor Tɛmplet:Short An invisible comment on the same line must be Tɛmplet:Em the == == markup:Tɛmplet:Efn Tɛmplet:Block indent It is more usual practice to put such comments Tɛmplet:Em the heading.

Tɛmplet:Anchor Tɛmplet:Short <section begin="heading links" />Before changing a heading, consider whether you might be breaking existing links to it.<section end="heading links" /> If there are many links to the old title, create an anchor with that title to ensure that these still work. Similarly, when linking to a section, leave an invisible comment at the heading of the target section, naming the linking articles, so that if the heading is later altered these can be fixed. For (a combined) example: Tɛmplet:Block indent which will be saved in the article as: Tɛmplet:Block indent

The advantage of using {{subst:Anchor}}, or simply inserting the <span> tags directly, is that when edits are made to the section in the future, the anchor will not be included in page history entries as part of the section name. When {{Anchor}} is used directly, that undesirable behavior does occur. Note: if electing to insert the span directly, do not abbreviate it by using a self-closing tag, as in ==Implications<span id="Consequences" />==, since in HTML5 that XML-style syntax is valid only for certain tags, such as Tɛmplet:Nowrap.[1] See Tɛmplet:Section link for further discussion.

Heading-like material

The above guidance about sentence case, redundancy, images, and questions also applies to headers of tables (and of table columns and rows). However, table headings can incorporate citations and may begin with, or be, numbers. Unlike page headings, table headers do not automatically generate link anchors. Aside from sentence case in glossaries, the heading advice also applies to the term entries in description lists. If using template-structured glossaries, terms will automatically have link anchors, but will not otherwise. Citations for description-list content go in the term or definition element, as needed.

National varieties of English

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National varieties of English (for example, American English or British English) differ in vocabulary (elevator vs. liftTɛmplet:Hairspace), spelling (center vs. centre), and occasionally grammar Tɛmplet:Crossref. Articles such as English plurals and Comparison of American and British English provide information about such differences. The English Wikipedia prefers no national variety over others.

An article's date formatting (Tɛmplet:Xt vs. Tɛmplet:Xt) is also related to national varieties of EnglishTɛmplet:Sndsee MOS:DATEFORMAT and especially MOS:DATETIES and MOS:DATEVAR.

Consistency within articles

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Tɛmplet:Em the conventions of one particular variety of English should be followed consistently. Exceptions include:

Opportunities for commonality

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For an international encyclopedia, using vocabulary common to all varieties of English is preferable.

  • Use universally accepted terms rather than those less widely distributed, especially in titles. For example, [[Glasses|Tɛmplet:Xt]] is preferred to the national varieties Tɛmplet:!xt (British English) and Tɛmplet:!xt (American English); [[Ten million|Tɛmplet:Xt]] is preferable to [[crore|Tɛmplet:!xt]] (Indian English).
  • If a variant spelling appears in a title, make a redirect page to accommodate the others, as with artefact and artifact, so that all variants can be used in searches and linking.
  • Terms that differ between varieties of English, or that have divergent meanings, may be glossed to prevent confusion, for example, Tɛmplet:Xt.
  • Use a commonly understood word or phrase in preference to one that has a different meaning because of national differences (rather than Tɛmplet:!xt, use Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt, as appropriate), except in technical contexts where such substitution would be inappropriate (Tɛmplet:Xt; Tɛmplet:Xt).
  • When more than one variant spelling exists within a national variety of English, the most commonly used current variant should usually be preferred, except where the less common spelling has a specific usage in a specialized context, e.g., connexion in Methodist connexionalism.

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Strong national ties to a topic

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An article on a topic that has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation should use the (formal, not colloquial) English of that nation. For example: Tɛmplet:Columns-list

For topics with strong ties to Commonwealth of Nations countries and other former British territories, use Commonwealth English orthography, largely indistinguishable from British English in encyclopedic writing (excepting Canada, which uses a different orthography).

Retaining the existing variety

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When an English variety's consistent usage has been established in an article, maintain it in the absence of consensus to the contrary. With few exceptions (e.g., when a topic has strong national ties or the change reduces ambiguity), there is no valid reason for changing from one acceptable option to another.

Tɛmplet:AnchorWhen no English variety has been established and discussion does not resolve the issue, use the variety found in the first post-stub revision that introduced an identifiable variety. The established variety in a given article can be documented by placing the appropriate variety of English template on its talk page.

An article should not be edited or renamed simply to switch from one variety of English to another. Tɛmplet:Tlxs may be placed on an editor's talk page to explain this.

Capital letters

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Wikipedia article titles and section headings use sentence case, not title case; see Wikipedia:Article titles and Tɛmplet:Section link. For capitalization of list items, see Tɛmplet:Section link. Other points concerning capitalization are summarized below. Full information can be found at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters. The central point is that Wikipedia does not capitalize something unless it is consistently capitalized in a substantial majority of independent, reliable sources.

Capitalization of The

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Generally, do not capitalize the word the in mid-sentence: Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt. Conventional exceptions include certain proper names (Tɛmplet:Xt) and most titles of creative works (Tɛmplet:XtTɛmplet:Sndbut be aware that the may not be part of the title itself, e.g., Tɛmplet:Xt).

There are special considerations for: band names · institution names · nicknames · titles of works · trademarks.

Titles of works

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The English-language titles of compositions (books and other print works, songs and other audio works, films and other visual media works, paintings and other artworks, etc.) are given in Tɛmplet:Em, in which every word is given an initial capital except for certain less important words (as detailed at Tɛmplet:Section link). The first and last words in an English-language title are always capitalized.

Capitalization in foreign-language titles varies, even over time within the same language; generally, retain the style of the original for modern works, and follow the usage in currentTɛmplet:Efn English-language reliable sources for historical works. When written in the Latin alphabet, many of these items should also be in italics, or enclosed in quotation marks.

Titles of people

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Religions, deities, philosophies, doctrines

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Calendar items

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Animals, plants, and other organisms

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When using taxonomic ("scientific") names, capitalize and italicize the genus: Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt. (Supergenus and subgenus, when applicable, are treated the same way.) Italicize but do not capitalize taxonomic ranks at the level of species and below: Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt; no exception is made for proper names forming part of scientific names. Higher taxa (order, family, etc.) are capitalized in Latin (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt) but not in their English equivalents (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt); they are not italicized in either form, except for viruses, where all names accepted by the ICTV are italicized (Tɛmplet:Xt).

Cultivar and cultivar group names of plants are not italicized, and are capitalized (including the word Group in the name); cultivar names appear within single quotes (Tɛmplet:Xt), while cultivar groups do not (Tɛmplet:Xt).

English vernacular ("common") names are given in lower case in article prose ([[Plains zebra|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Mountain maple|Tɛmplet:Xt]], and [[Southwestern red-tailed hawk|Tɛmplet:Xt]]) and in sentence case at the start of sentences and in other places where the first letter of the first word is capitalized.Tɛmplet:Efn They are additionally capitalized where they contain proper names: [[Przewalski's horse|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[California condor|Tɛmplet:Xt]], and [[Fair-maid-of-France|Tɛmplet:Xt]]. This applies to species and subspecies, as in the previous examples, as well as to general names for groups or types of organism: [[Bird of prey|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Oak|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Great apes|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Bryde's whales|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Livestock guardian dog|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Poodle|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Van cat|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Wolfdog|Tɛmplet:Xt]]. When the common name coincides with a scientific taxon, do not capitalize or italicize, except where addressing the organism taxonomically: Tɛmplet:Xt Non-English vernacular names, when relevant to include, are handled like any other foreign-language terms: italicized as such, and capitalized only if the rules of the native language require it. Non-English names that have become English-assimilated are treated as English ([[Ayahuasca|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Okapi|Tɛmplet:Xt]]).

Standardized breeds should generally retain the capitalization used in the breed standards.Tɛmplet:Efn Examples: [[German Shepherd dog|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Russian White goat|Tɛmplet:Xt]], [[Berlin Short-faced Tumbler|Tɛmplet:Xt]]. As with plant cultivars, this applies whether or not the included noun is a proper name, in contrast to how vernacular names of species are written. However, unlike cultivars, breeds are never put in single quotation marks, and their names are never part of a scientific name. A species term appended at the end for disambiguation ("cat", "hound", "horse", "swine", etc.) should not be capitalized, unless it is a part of the breed name itself and is consistently presented that way in the breed standard(s) (rare cases include [[Norwegian Forest Cat|Tɛmplet:Xt]] and [[American Quarter Horse|Tɛmplet:Xt]]).

Create redirects from alternative capitalization and spelling forms of article titles, and from alternative names, e.g., Adélie Penguin, Adelie penguin, Adelie Penguin and Pygoscelis adeliae should all redirect to Adélie penguin.

Celestial bodies

Tɛmplet:Main Tɛmplet:See also The words sun, earth, moon and solar system do not take capitals in general use (Tɛmplet:Xt; Tɛmplet:Xt). They are capitalized when the entity is personified (Tɛmplet:Xt) or when used as the name of a specific body in a scientific or astronomical context (Tɛmplet:Xt; but Tɛmplet:Xt).

Names of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, stars, constellations, and galaxies are proper names, and therefore capitalized (Tɛmplet:Xt). The first letter of every word in such a name is capitalized (Tɛmplet:Xt and not Tɛmplet:!xt; Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt). Words such as comet and galaxy should be capitalized when they form part of a proper name, but not when they are used as a generic term (Tɛmplet:Xt; Tɛmplet:Xt).

Compass points

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Do not capitalize directions such as north, or their related forms (Tɛmplet:Xt), except where they are parts of proper names (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt).

Capitalize names of regions if they have attained proper-name status, including informal conventional names (Tɛmplet:Xt; Tɛmplet:Xt), and derived terms for people (e.g., a Southerner as someone from the Southern United States). Do not capitalize descriptive names for regions that have not attained the status of proper names, such as Tɛmplet:Xt.

Composite directions may or may not be hyphenated, depending on the variety of English adopted in the article. Tɛmplet:Xt and Tɛmplet:Xt are more common in American English; but Tɛmplet:Xt and Tɛmplet:Xt in British English. In cases such as Tɛmplet:Xt and Tɛmplet:Xt, use an en dash; see Tɛmplet:Section link.

Proper names versus generic terms

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Capitalize names of particular institutions (Tɛmplet:Xt;Tɛmplet:Nbsp Tɛmplet:Xt) but not generic words for institutions (Tɛmplet:Xt). Do not capitalize the at the start of an institution's name, regardless of the institution's preferred style. There are rare exceptions, when a leading The is represented by a T in the organization's acronym: Tɛmplet:Xt.

Treat political or geographic units similarly: Tɛmplet:Xt;Tɛmplet:Nbsp Tɛmplet:Xt. Do not mimic the style of local newspapers which refer to their municipality as the City or The City; an exception is the City of London, referred to as Tɛmplet:Xt in a context that already makes the subject clear, as distinct from London and Greater London. When in doubt, use the full name for accessibility reasons; users of text-to-speech systems usually cannot hear a difference between city and City.

Ligatures

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Ligatures should be used in languages in which they are standard (hence Tɛmplet:Xt is preferable to Tɛmplet:Xt) but not in English (Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt), except in proper names (Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt).

Abbreviations

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Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases. In strict analysis, they are distinct from contractions, which use an apostrophe (e.g., won't, see Tɛmplet:Section link), and initialisms. An initialism is formed from some or all of the initial letters of words in a phrase. Below, references to abbreviations should be taken to include acronyms, and the term acronym to apply also to initialisms.

Write first occurrences in full

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When an abbreviation will be used in an article, first introduce it using the full expression: Tɛmplet:Block indent

Do not use capitals in the full version merely because capitals are used in the abbreviation: Tɛmplet:!xt.

Except in special circumstances, common abbreviations (such as Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt) need not be expanded even on first use.

Plural forms

Pluralize acronyms by adding -s or -es: Tɛmplet:Xt. (Do not use apostrophes to form plurals: Tɛmplet:!xt.)

Punctuation and spacing

An abbreviation may or may not be terminated with a full point (also called a period or full stop). A consistent style should be maintained within an article. North American usage is typically to end all abbreviations with a period/point (Tɛmplet:Xt) but in common British and Australian usage, no period/point is used if the abbreviation (contraction) ends in the last letter of the unabbreviated form (Tɛmplet:Xt) unless confusion could result. This is also common practice in scientific writing. Regardless of punctuation, words that are abbreviated to more than one letter are spaced (Tɛmplet:Xt not Tɛmplet:!xt or Tɛmplet:!xt). There are some exceptions: Tɛmplet:Xt Tɛmplet:Crossref for "Philosophiae Doctor"; Tɛmplet:Xt for "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine". In most situations, Wikipedia uses no such punctuation inside acronyms and initialisms: Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt

US and U.S.

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While, in principle, either Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt may be used (with internal consistency) to abbreviate "United States" in any given article, the use or non-use of periods (full stops) should also be consistent with other country abbreviations in the same article (thus Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt). In longer abbreviations (three letters or more) that incorporate the country's initials (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt), do not use periods. When the United States is mentioned with one or more other countries in the same sentence, Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt may be too informal, especially at the first mention or as a noun instead of an adjective (Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt). Do not use the spaced Tɛmplet:!xt or the archaic Tɛmplet:!xt, except when quoting; and do not use Tɛmplet:!xt or Tɛmplet:!xt except in a quotation, as part of a proper name (Tɛmplet:Xt), or in certain technical or formal uses (e.g., the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes and FIFA country codes).

Circa

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To indicate approximately, the use of Tɛmplet:Tlx, showing as Tɛmplet:Xt, is preferred over circa, c., ca., or approx.

Avoid unwarranted use

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Avoid abbreviations when they might confuse the reader, interrupt the flow, or appear informal. For example:

Do not invent

Generally avoid devising new abbreviations, especially acronyms. For example, Tɛmplet:Xtn is good as a Tɛmplet:Em of Tɛmplet:Xt, but neither it nor the reduction Tɛmplet:!xt is used by the organization or by independent sources; use the original name and its official abbreviation, Tɛmplet:Xt.

If it is necessary to abbreviate in a tight space, such as a column header in a table, use widely recognized abbreviations. For example, for Tɛmplet:Xt, use Tɛmplet:Xt and Tɛmplet:Xt, with a link if the term has not already been written out in the article: Tɛmplet:Xt. Do not make up initialisms such as Tɛmplet:!xt.

HTML tags and templates

Either Tɛmplet:Tag or Tɛmplet:Tlx can be used for abbreviations and acronyms: Tɛmplet:Tag or Tɛmplet:Tlx will generate Tɛmplet:Abbr; hovering over the rendered text causes a tooltip of the long form to pop up.

Ampersand

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In normal text and headings, use and instead of the ampersand (&): Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt. But retain an ampersand when it is a legitimate part of the style of a proper noun, the title of a work, or a trademark, such as in Up & Down or AT&T. Elsewhere, ampersands may be used with consistency and discretion where space is extremely limited (e.g., tables and infoboxes). Quotations may be cautiously modified, especially for consistency where different editions are quoted, as modern editions of old texts routinely replace ampersands with and (just as they replace other disused glyphs, ligatures, and abbreviations). Another frequent permissible but not required use is in short bibliographic references to works by multiple authors, e.g.: Tɛmplet:Xt.

Italics

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Emphasis

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Italics are used for emphasis, rather than boldface or capitals. But overuse diminishes its effect; consider rewriting instead.

Use Tɛmplet:Tag or Tɛmplet:Tlx for emphasis. This allows user style sheets to handle emphasis in a customized way, and helps reusers and translators.Tɛmplet:Refn

Titles

Tɛmplet:/titles hatnote include Tɛmplet:Shortcut Use italics for the titles of works (such as books, films, television series, named exhibitions, computer games, music albums, and artworks). The titles of articles, chapters, songs, episodes, storylines, research papers and other short works instead take double quotation marks.

Italics are not used for major religious works (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt). Many of these titles should also be in title case.

Words as words

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Use italics when Tɛmplet:Em a word or character Tɛmplet:Crossref or a string of words up to one sentence (Tɛmplet:Xt; Tɛmplet:Xt). When a whole sentence is mentioned, double quotation marks may be used instead, with consistency (Tɛmplet:Xt; or Tɛmplet:Xt). Quotation marks may also be used for shorter material to avoid confusion, such as when italics are already heavily used in the page for another purpose (e.g., for many non-English words and phrases). Tɛmplet:Em (to discuss grammar, wording, punctuation, etc.) is different from Tɛmplet:Em (in which something is usually expressed on behalf of a quoted source). Quotation is done with quotation marks, never italics, nor both at once Tɛmplet:Crossref

A closely related use of italics is when introducing or distinguishing terms: Tɛmplet:Xt

Foreign words

Tɛmplet:Main Italics is indicated for phrases in other languages and for isolated foreign words that are not common in everyday English. However, proper names (such as place names) in other languages are not usually italicized, nor are terms in non-Latin scripts. The Tɛmplet:Tlx template and its variants support all ISO 639 language codes, correctly identifying the language and automatically italicizing for you. Please use these templates rather than just manually italicizing non-English material. Tɛmplet:Crossref

Scientific names

Use italics for the scientific names of plants, animals, and all other organisms except viruses at the genus level and below (italicize Tɛmplet:Xt and Tɛmplet:Xt, but not Tɛmplet:Xt). The hybrid sign is not italicized (Tɛmplet:Xt), nor is the "connecting term" required in three-part botanical names (Tɛmplet:Xt).

Quotations in italics

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Do not use italics for quotations. Instead, use quotation marks for short quotations and block quoting for long ones.

Italics within quotations

Use italics within quotations to reproduce emphasis that exists in the source material. If it is not clear that the source already included italics (or some other styling) for emphasis, add the editorial note Tɛmplet:Xt after the quotation.

If adding emphasis that was not in the original, add the editorial note Tɛmplet:Xt after the quotation.

Effect on nearby punctuation

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Italicize only the elements of the sentence affected by the emphasis. Do not italicize surrounding punctuation.

Quotations

Tɛmplet:See Tɛmplet:For Tɛmplet:Redirects here Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Brief quotations of copyrighted text may be used to illustrate a point, establish context, or attribute a point of view or idea. While quotations are an indispensable part of Wikipedia, try not to overuse them. Using too many quotes is incompatible with an encyclopedic writing style and may be a copyright infringement. It is generally recommended that content be written in Wikipedia editors' own words. Consider paraphrasing quotations into plain and concise text when appropriate (while being aware that close paraphrasing can still violate copyright).

Original wording

Tɛmplet:Redirect Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Quotations must be verifiably attributed, and the wording of the quoted text must be faithfully reproduced. This is referred to as the Tɛmplet:Strong. Where there is good reason to change the wording, bracket the changed text; for example, Tɛmplet:!xt might be quoted as Tɛmplet:Xt. If there is a significant error in the original, follow it with Tɛmplet:Tlx (producing Tɛmplet:XtTɛmplet:Hsp) to show that the error was not made by Wikipedia. However, insignificant spelling and typographic errors should simply be silently corrected (for example, correct Tɛmplet:!xt to Tɛmplet:Xt).

Use ellipses to indicate omissions from quoted text. Legitimate omissions include extraneous, irrelevant, or parenthetical words, and unintelligible speech (Tɛmplet:!xt and Tɛmplet:!xt), but do not omit text where doing so would remove important context or alter the meaning of the text. Vulgarities and obscenities should be shown exactly as they appear in the quoted source; Wikipedians should never bowdlerize words (Tɛmplet:!xt), but if the text being quoted itself does so, copy the text verbatim and use Tɛmplet:Tlx to indicate that the text is quoted as shown in the source.

In direct quotations, retain dialectal and archaic spellings, including capitalization (but not archaic glyphs and ligatures, as detailed below).

Point of view

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

Quotation should be used, with attribution, to present emotive opinions that cannot be expressed in Wikipedia's own voice, but never to present cultural norms as simply opinional:

Concise opinions that are not overly emotive can often be reported with attribution instead of direct quotation. Use of quotation marks around simple descriptive terms can imply something doubtful regarding the material being quoted; sarcasm or weasel words such as supposedly or so-called, might be inferred.

Typographic conformity

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

A quotation is not a facsimile and, in most cases, it is not a requirement that the original formatting be preserved. Formatting and other purely typographical elements of quoted textTɛmplet:Efn should be adapted to English Wikipedia's conventions without comment, provided that doing so will not change or obscure meaning or intent of the text. These are alterations which make no difference when the text is read aloud, for example:

Tɛmplet:Crossref

However, national varieties should not be changed, as these may involve changes in vocabulary. For example, a quotation from a British source should retain British spelling, even in an article that otherwise uses American spelling. Tɛmplet:Crossref Numbers also usually should not be reformatted.

Direct quotation should not be used to preserve the formatting preferred by an external publisher (especially when the material would otherwise be unchanged), as this tends to have the effect of scare-quoting:

Italics can be used to mark a particular usage as a term of art (a case of "words as words"), especially when it is unfamiliar or should not be reworded by a non-expert:

When quoting a complete sentence, it is usually recommended to keep the first word capitalized. However, if the quoted passage has been integrated into the surrounding sentence (for example, with an introduction such as "Tɛmplet:Var said that"), the original capital letter may be lower-cased.

It is normally unnecessary to explicitly note changes in capitalization. However, for more precision, the altered letter may be put inside square brackets: Tɛmplet:Nobr

Attribution

The reader must be able to determine the source of any quotation, at the very least via a footnote. The source must be named Tɛmplet:Em if the quotation is an opinion Tɛmplet:Crossreference. When attributing a quotation, avoid characterizing it in a biased manner.

Quotations within quotations

See Tɛmplet:Section link.

Linking

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Be conservative when linking within quotations; link only to targets that correspond to the meaning clearly intended by the quote's author. Where possible, link from text outside of the quotation instead – either before it or soon after. (If quoting hypertext, add an editorial note, Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt, as appropriate, to avoid ambiguity as to whether the link was made by the original author.)

Block quotations

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Format a long quote (more than about forty words or a few hundred characters, or consisting of more than one paragraph, regardless of length) as a block quotation, indented on both sides. Block quotations should be enclosed in Tɛmplet:Tlx.

Do not enclose block quotations in quotation marks (and especially avoid large, decorative quotation marks; those provided by the Tɛmplet:Tlx template have been disabled in mainspace). Block quotations using a colored background are also discouraged.

Use Tɛmplet:Tnull and so on only for actual quotations; indentation for other purposes is done differently.

It is conventional to precede a block quotation with an introductory sentence (or sentence fragment) and append the source citation to that line. Alternatively, the Tɛmplet:Tnull template provides parameters for attribution and citation which will appear below the quotation. Tɛmplet:Crossref This below-quotation attribution style is intended for famous quotations and is unusual in articles because it may strike an inappropriate tone. A quotation with no cited source should be flagged with Tɛmplet:Tlx, or deleted.

Line breaks and indentation inside a Tɛmplet:Tnull or Tɛmplet:Tag are generally ignored; use Tɛmplet:Xtag or Tɛmplet:Tlx for poetry, lyrics, and similar material: 

{{blockquote|<poem>
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
            Meant in croaking "Nevermore."
</poem>}}

This gives: Tɛmplet:Xt

Or quote such material inline, with line breaks indicated by {{nbsp}}/, and paragraph or stanza breaks by {{nbsp}}//.

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Anchor Pull quotes do not belong in Wikipedia articles. These are the news and magazine style of "pulling" material already in the article to reuse it in attention-grabbing decorative quotations. This unencyclopedic approach is a form of editorializing, produces out-of-context and undue emphasis, and may lead the reader to conclusions not supported in the material.

Foreign-language quotations

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Quotations from foreign-language sources should appear with a translation into English, preferably a modernTɛmplet:Efn one. Quotations that are translations should be explicitly distinguished from those that are not. Indicate the original source of a translation (if it is available, and not first published within Wikipedia), and the original language (if that is not clear from the context).

If the original, untranslated text is available, provide a reference for it or include it, as appropriate.

When editors themselves translate foreign text into English, care must always be taken to include the original text, Tɛmplet:Em (except for non-Latin-based writing systems), and to use actual and (if at all possible) common English words in the translation. Unless you are certain of your competency to translate something, see Wikipedia:Translation for assistance.

Punctuation

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:For

Apostrophes

Tɛmplet:Anchor Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Quotation marks

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

In the material below, the term quotation includes conventional uses of quotation marks such as for titles of songs, chapters, episodes, and so on. Quotation marks are also used in other contexts, such as in cultivar names.

Quotation characters

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Double or single

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Most quotations take double quotation marks (Tɛmplet:Xt).Tɛmplet:Efn Exceptions:

For a quotation within a quotation

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Use single quotes:

For deeper nesting, alternate between single and double quotes:

For quote marks in immediate succession, add a sliver of space by using Tɛmplet:Nowrap, Tɛmplet:Nowrap, or (as in the example just given) Tɛmplet:Nowrap:

Article openings

In the bolded text typically appearing at the opening of an article:

Punctuation before quotations

Tɛmplet:Shortcut If a non-quoted but otherwise identical construction would work grammatically without a comma, using a comma before a quotation embedded within a sentence is optional:

The comma-free approach is often used with partial quotations:

A comma is required when it would be present in the same construction if none of the material were a quotation:

Do not insert a comma if it would confuse or alter the meaning:

It is clearer to use a colon to introduce a quotation if it forms a complete sentence, and this should always be done for multi-sentence quotations:

No additional punctuation is necessary for an explicit words-as-words scenario:

Names and titles

Tɛmplet:/titles hatnote include

Quotation marks should be used for the following names and titles: Tɛmplet:Columns-list

Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt

Do not use quotation marks or italics for: Tɛmplet:Columns-list

Many, but not all, of the above items should also be in title case.

Punctuation inside or outside

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also Tɛmplet:See also

Use the "logical quotation" style in all articles, regardless of the variety of English in which they are written. Include terminal punctuation within the quotation marks only if it was present in the original material, and otherwise place it after the closing quotation mark. For the most part, this means treating periods and commas in the same way as question marks: keep them inside the quotation marks if they apply only to the quoted material and outside if they apply to the whole sentence. Examples are given below.

If the quotation is a single word or a sentence fragment, place the terminal punctuation outside the closing quotation mark. When quoting a full sentence, the end of which coincides with the end of the sentence containing it, place terminal punctuation inside the closing quotation mark.

If the quoted sentence is followed by a clause that should be preceded by a comma, omit the full stop (period) – but other terminal punctuation, such as a question mark or exclamation mark, may be retained.

If the quoted sentence is followed by a clause identifying the speaker, use a comma outside the quotation mark instead of a full stop inside it, but retain any other terminal punctuation, such as question marks.

Do not follow quoted words or fragments with commas inside the quotation marks, except where a longer quotation has been broken up and the comma is part of the full quotation.

External links to article titles should have the title in quotes inside the link. CS1 and CS2 templates do this automatically, and untemplated references should do the same.

Internal links (wikilinks) accompanied by quotation marks should usually have the quotes outside the link. This applies to song titles.

However, quotation marks are needed inside wikilinks when the quotation mark is part of the link, or where the linked display text includes quotation marks indicating slang, nicknames, common names, or similar usage.

Brackets and parentheses

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

This section applies to both round brackets Tɛmplet:Xt, often called parentheses, and square brackets Tɛmplet:Xt.

If a sentence contains a bracketed phrase, place the sentence punctuation outside the brackets Tɛmplet:Xt However, where one or more sentences are wholly inside brackets, place their punctuation inside the brackets. There should be no space next to the inner side of a bracket. An opening bracket should usually be preceded by a space. This may not be the case if it is preceded by an opening quotation mark, another opening bracket, or a portion of a word:

There should be a space after a closing bracket, except where a punctuation mark follows (though a spaced dash would still be spaced after a closing bracket) and in unusual cases similar to those listed for opening brackets.

Avoid adjacent sets of brackets. Either put the parenthetical phrases in one set separated by semicolons, or rewrite:

Square brackets are used to indicate editorial replacements and insertions within quotations, though this should never alter the intended meaning. They serve three main purposes:

  • To clarify: Tɛmplet:Xt, where this was the intended meaning, but the type of school was unstated in the original sentence.
  • To reduce the size of a quotation: Tɛmplet:Xt may be reduced to Tɛmplet:Xt. When an ellipsis (Tɛmplet:Xt) is used to indicate that material is removed from a direct quotation, it should not normally be bracketed. Tɛmplet:Crossref
  • To make the grammar work: Referring to someone's statement Tɛmplet:Xt, one could properly write Tɛmplet:Xt.

If a sentence includes subsidiary material enclosed in square or round brackets, it must still carry terminal punctuation Tɛmplet:Em those brackets, regardless of any punctuation within the brackets. Tɛmplet:Block indent However, if the entire sentence is within brackets, the closing punctuation falls within the brackets. Tɛmplet:Xt

Brackets and linking

Square brackets inside of links must be escaped:

He said, "Tɛmplet:Mxt answered."

He said, "John [Doe] answered."

He said, "Tɛmplet:Mxt answered."

He said, "[[John Doe|John Tɛmplet:Bracket]] answered."

Tɛmplet:Mxt

On the first day [etc.]

Tɛmplet:Mxt

On the first day Tɛmplet:Bracket

The Tɛmplet:Xtag markup can also be used: Tɛmplet:Tag or Tɛmplet:Tag.

If a URL itself contains square brackets, the wiki-text should use the URL-encoded form https://example.com/foo.php?query=Tɛmplet:BxtxxxTɛmplet:Bxtyyy, rather than ...query=Tɛmplet:!bxtxxxTɛmplet:!bxtyyy. This will avoid truncation of the link after xxx.

Ellipses

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Use an ellipsis (plural ellipses) if material is omitted in the course of a quotation, unless square brackets are used to gloss the quotation Tɛmplet:Crossref.

  • Wikipedia's style for an ellipsis is three unspaced dots (Tɛmplet:Xt); do not use the precomposed ellipsis character (Tɛmplet:!xt) or three dots separated by spaces Tɛmplet:Nobr
  • Generally, use a non-breaking space before an ellipsis, and a regular space after it: Tɛmplet:Nobr
    • But where an ellipsis is immediately followed by any of . ? ! : ; , ) ] } or by a closing quotation mark (single or double), use a non-breaking space before the ellipsis, and no space after it:
      Tɛmplet:Xt
      Tɛmplet:Xt (Place terminal punctuation after an ellipsis only if it is textually important, as is often the case with exclamation marks and question marks but rarely with periods.)
    • Or, if the ellipsis immediately follows a quotation mark, use no space before the ellipsis, and a non-breaking space after it:
      Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Visible anchor
Three dots are occasionally used to represent a pause in or suspense of speech, in which case the punctuation is retained in its original form: Tɛmplet:Xt. When it indicates an incomplete word, no space is used between the word fragment(s) and the ellipsis: Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:AnchorWith square brackets
Square brackets may be placed around an ellipsis that indicates omitted text to distinguish it from an ellipsis that is part of the quoted text: Tɛmplet:Xt. In this example, the first ellipsis is part of the quoted text and the second ellipsis (in square brackets) indicates omitted text.

Commas

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Serial commas

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Redirect

A serial comma (sometimes also called an Oxford comma or Harvard comma) is a comma used immediately before a conjunction (and, or, nor) in a list of three or more items.

Tɛmplet:Block indent Tɛmplet:Block indent

Editors may use either convention so long as each article is internally consistent. Serial commas are more helpful when article text is complex, such as a list with multi-word items (especially if one contains its own "and"Tɛmplet:--) or a series of probably unfamiliar terms.

However, there are cases in which either omitting or including the serial comma results in ambiguity:

Tɛmplet:Block indent

Tɛmplet:Block indent

In such cases of ambiguity, clarify one of four ways:

Colons

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:For

A colon (Tɛmplet:Xt) introduces something that demonstrates, explains, or modifies what has come before, or is a list of items that has just been introduced. The items in such a list may be separated by commas, or if they are more complex and perhaps themselves contain commas, the items should be separated by semicolons or arranged in a bulleted list.

Tɛmplet:Block indent

A colon may also be used to introduce direct speech enclosed within quotation marks Tɛmplet:Crossref.

In most cases, a colon works best with a complete grammatical sentence before it. When what follows the colon is also a complete sentence, start it with a capital letter, but otherwise, do not capitalize after a colon except where doing so is needed for another reason, as for a proper name. Except in technical usage (Tɛmplet:Xt), no sentence should contain multiple colons, no space should precede a colon, and a space (but never a hyphen or dash) should follow the colon.

Semicolons

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:For

A semicolon (Tɛmplet:Xt) is sometimes an alternative to a full stop (period), enabling related material to be kept in the same sentence; it marks a more decisive division in a sentence than a comma. If the semicolon separates clauses, normally each clause must be independent (meaning that it could stand on its own as a sentence). In many cases, only a comma or only a semicolon will be correct in a given sentence.

Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:!xt

Above, "Though he had been here before" cannot stand on its own as a sentence, and therefore is not an independent clause.

Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:!xt

This incorrect use of a comma between two independent clauses is known as a comma splice; however, in certain kinds of cases, a comma may be used where a semicolon would seem to be called for:

Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt (two brief clauses in an aphorism; see Ars longa, vita brevis)
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt (reporting brisk conversation, such as this reply of Newton's)

A sentence may contain several semicolons, especially when the clauses are parallel in construction and meaning; multiple unrelated semicolons are often signs that the sentence should be divided into shorter sentences or otherwise refashioned.

Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:!xt
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt

Semicolons are used in addition to commas to separate items in a listing, when commas alone would result in confusion.

Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:!xt
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt

Semicolon before "however"

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

The meaning of a sentence containing a trailing clause that starts with the word however depends on the punctuation preceding that word. A common error is to use the wrong punctuation, thereby changing the meaning to one not intended.

When the word however is an adverb meaning "nevertheless", it should be preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma. Example:

Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt

When the word however is a conjunction meaning "in whatever manner", or "regardless of how", it may be preceded by a comma but not by a semicolon, and should not be followed by punctuation. Example:

Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt

In the first case, the clause that starts with "however" cannot be swapped with the first clause; in the second case this can be done without change of meaning:

Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt

If the two clauses cannot be swapped, a semicolon is required.

A sentence or clause can also contain the word however in the middle, if it is an adverb meaning "although" that could have been placed at the beginning but does not start a new clause in mid-sentence. In this use, the word may be enclosed between commas. Example:

Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt

Hyphens

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Hyphens (Tɛmplet:Xt) indicate conjunction. There are three main uses: Tɛmplet:Multiple image Tɛmplet:Multiple image

  1. In hyphenated personal names (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt).
  2. To link prefixes with their main terms in certain constructions (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt).
  3. To link related terms in compound modifiers:Tɛmplet:Efn
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:!xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt (markup: 9&nbsp;mm gap)
Tɛmplet:Em    Tɛmplet:!xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt (markup: 12&nbsp;h shift)

Multi-word hyphenated items: It is often possible to avoid multi-word hyphenated modifiers by rewording (Tɛmplet:Xt may be easier to read as Tɛmplet:Xt). This is particularly important where converted units are involved (Tɛmplet:Xt might be possible as Tɛmplet:Xt, and the ungainly Tɛmplet:!xt as simply Tɛmplet:Xt).

For optional hyphenation of compound points of the compass such as southwest/south-west, see Tɛmplet:Section link.

Do not use a capital letter after a hyphen except for a proper name: Tɛmplet:Xt and Tɛmplet:Xt, but not Tɛmplet:!xt. In titles of published works, follow the capitalization rule for each part independently (resulting in, e.g., Tɛmplet:Xt), unless reliable sources consistently do otherwise in a particular case (Tɛmplet:Xt).

Hyphenation rules in other languages may be different. Thus, in French a place name such as Tɛmplet:Xt ("Three Rivers") is hyphenated, when it would not be in English. Follow reliable sources in such cases.

Spacing: A hyphen is never followed or preceded by a space, except when hanging Tɛmplet:Crossref or when used to display parts of words independently, such as Tɛmplet:XtTɛmplet:Nbspand Tɛmplet:Xt.

Image filenames and redirects: Image filenames are not part of the encyclopedic content; they are tools. They are most useful if they can be readily typed, so they usually use hyphens instead of dashes. Similarly, article titles with dashes should also have a corresponding redirect from a copy of the title with hyphens: for example, Tɛmplet:Xt redirects to Tɛmplet:Xt.

Non-breaking: A non-breaking hyphen (Tɛmplet:Tlx) will Tɛmplet:Em be used as a point of line-wrap.

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Anchor Soft hyphens: Use soft hyphens to mark locations where a word will be broken and hyphenated Tɛmplet:Em at the end of a line of text, usually in very long words or narrow spaces (such as captions, narrow table columns, or text adjacent to a very wide image), for example: {{shy| Penn|syl|va|nia and Mass|a|chu|setts style themselves com|mon|wealths.}}. Use sparingly to avoid making wikitext difficult to read and edit. For more information, see Help:Line-break handling.

Encoding: The hyphen is represented by the Tɛmplet:Small character, which is entered by the hyphen or minus key on all standard keyboards. Do not use the Tɛmplet:Small character.

Hyphenation involves many subtleties that cannot be covered here; the rules and examples presented above illustrate the broad principles.

Dashes

Tɛmplet:Redirect Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Two forms of dash are used on Wikipedia: en dash (Tɛmplet:Xt) and em dash (Tɛmplet:Xt). To enter them, click on them in the CharInsert toolbar, or enter them manually as:

Do not use a double hyphen (--) to stand in for a dash. Tɛmplet:Crossref

Sources use dashes in varying ways. For consistency and clarity, Wikipedia adopts the following principles.

In article titles

In article titles, do not use a hyphen (Tɛmplet:Xt) as a substitute for an en dash, for example in eye–hand span (since eye does not modify hand). Nonetheless, to aid searching and linking, provide a redirect with hyphens replacing the en dash(es), as in eye-hand span. Similarly, provide category redirects for categories containing dashes.

Punctuating a sentence (em or en dashes)

Dashes are often used to mark divisions within a sentence: in pairs (parenthetical dashes, instead of parentheses or pairs of commas) or singly (perhaps instead of a colon). They may also indicate an abrupt stop or interruption, in reporting quoted speech. In all these cases, use either unspaced em dashes or spaced en dashes, with consistency in any one article:

  • An em dash is Tɛmplet:Em (with no space on either side):

Tɛmplet:Block indent

  • An en dash is Tɛmplet:Em (with a space on each side) when used as sentence punctuation:

Tɛmplet:Block indent Ideally, use a non-breaking space before the en dash, which prevents the en dash from occurring at the beginning of a line (markup: Tɛmplet:Tlx or Tɛmplet:Tlx or &nbsp;&ndash;): Tɛmplet:Block indent But do not insert a non-breaking or other space where the en dash should be unspaced Tɛmplet:Crossref.

Dashes can clarify the sentence structure when there are already commas or parentheses, or both.

Tɛmplet:AnchorTɛmplet:Shortcut Use dashes sparingly. More than two in a single sentence makes the structure unclear; it takes time for the reader to see which dashes, if any, form a pair.

In ranges that might otherwise be expressed with to or through

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Hatnote Tɛmplet:See also

For ranges between numbers, dates, or times, use an en dash:

Do not change hyphens to dashes in filenames, URLs, or templates such as Tɛmplet:Tlx (which formats verse ranges into URLs), even if a range is embedded in them.

Do not mix en dashes with between or from.

The en dash in a range is always unspaced, except when either or both elements of the range include at least one space, hyphen, or en dash; in such cases, Tɛmplet:Tl between them will provide the proper formatting.

If negative values are involved, an unspaced en dash might be confusing:

In compounds when the connection might otherwise be expressed with to, versus, and, or between

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Here, the relationship is thought of as parallel, symmetric, equal, oppositional, or at least involving Tɛmplet:Em. The components may be nouns, adjectives, verbs, or any other independent part of speech. Often, if the components are reversed there would be little change of meaning.

Generally, use a hyphen in compounded proper names of single entities.

  • [[Guinea-Bissau|Tɛmplet:Xt]]; Bissau is its capital, and this name distinguishes the country from neighboring Guinea
  • Tɛmplet:Xt, a single city named after two people, but Tɛmplet:Xt, an area encompassing two cities
  • Tɛmplet:Xt, an individual named after two families

Tɛmplet:Anchor Tɛmplet:Shortcut Use an en dash between the names of nations or nationalities when referring to an association between them. For people and things identifying with multiple nationalities, use a hyphen when using the combination adjectivally and a space when they are used as nouns, with the first used attributively to modify the second.

A slash or some other alternative may occasionally be better to express a ratio, especially in technical contexts Tɛmplet:Crossref.

Use an en dash for the names of two or more entities in an attributive compound.

Do not use an en dash for hyphenated personal names, even when they are used as adjectives:

  • Tɛmplet:Xt with a hyphen: named after John Lennard-Jones

Do not use spaces around the en dash in any of the compounds above.

Instead of a hyphen, use an en dash when applying a prefix or suffix to a compound that itself includes a space, dash or hyphen

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

The form of category names follows the corresponding main articles, e.g., Tɛmplet:Cat. However, the principle is not extended when compounding other words in category names, e.g., Tɛmplet:Cat and Tɛmplet:Cat both use hyphens.

Tɛmplet:Anchor

To separate parts of an item in a list

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Spaced en dashes are sometimes used between parts of list items. For example:

or

Other uses (en dash only)

The en dash (–) has other roles, beyond its use as a sentence-punctuating dash Tɛmplet:Crossref. It is often analogous to the hyphen Tɛmplet:Crossref, which Tɛmplet:Em more strongly than the en dash; or to the slash Tɛmplet:Crossref, which Tɛmplet:Em more definitely. Consider the exact meaning when choosing which to use.

Other uses (em dash only)

An indented em dash may be used before a name or other source when attributing below a block quotation, poem, etc. This dash should not be fully spaced, though it is best for metadata and accessibility reasons to hair-space it from the name.Tɛmplet:Efn Most of Wikipedia's quotation templates with attribution-related parameters already provide this formatting.

For example, Tɛmplet:Mxt will produce:

Tɛmplet:In5—Tɛmplet:Hair spaceCharlotte Brontë

Other dashes

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Do not use typewriter approximations or other substitutes, such as two hyphens (Tɛmplet:!xt), for em or en dashes.

For a negative sign or subtraction operator use Tɛmplet:Unichar, which can also be generated by clicking on the Tɛmplet:Code following the Tɛmplet:Code in the Tɛmplet:Xt toolbar beneath the edit window. Do not use Tɛmplet:Unichar inside a Tɛmplet:Tag tag, as the character gives a syntax error; instead use a normal hyphen Tɛmplet:Unichar.

Slashes (strokes)

Tɛmplet:Redirect Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Generally, avoid joining two words with a slash, also called a forward slash, stroke or solidus (Tɛmplet:Xt), because it suggests that the words are related without specifying how. Replace with clearer wording.

An example: Tɛmplet:!xt Must both be present? (Then write Tɛmplet:Xt.) Must at least one be present? (Then write Tɛmplet:Xt.) Are they the same person? (Use a hyphen: Tɛmplet:Xt.)

In circumstances involving a distinction or disjunction, the en dash Tɛmplet:Crossref is usually preferable to the slash: Tɛmplet:Xt.

An unspaced slash may be used:

A spaced slash may be used:

  • to separate run-on lines in quoted poetry or song (Tɛmplet:Xt), or rarely in quoted prose, where careful marking of a paragraph break is textually important;
  • to separate items that include at least one internal space (Tɛmplet:Xt), where for some reason use of a slash is unavoidable.

To avoid awkward linebreaks, code spaced slashes (and fraction slashes) with a non-breaking space on the left and a normal space on the right, as in: My mama told me&nbsp;/ You better shop around. For short constructions, both spaces should be non-breaking: Tɛmplet:Nobr. On the other hand, if two long words are connected by an unspaced slash, an Tɛmplet:Tl added after the slash will allow a linebreak at that point.

Do not use the backslash character (Tɛmplet:!xt) in place of a slash.

Prefer the division operator (Tɛmplet:Xt) to slash or fraction slash when representing elementary arithmetic in general text: Tɛmplet:Xt. In more advanced mathematical formulas, a vinculum or slash is preferred: xnn! or Tɛmplet:Xt Tɛmplet:Cross reference.

And/or

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Avoid writing Tɛmplet:!xt unless other constructions would be lengthy or awkward. Instead of Tɛmplet:!xt, write simply Tɛmplet:Xt (which would normally be interpreted as an inclusive-or to imply or both); or, for emphasis or precision or both, write Tɛmplet:Xt. Where more than two possibilities are present, instead of Tɛmplet:!xt write Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt.

Number (pound, hash) sign and numero

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:For Tɛmplet:See also

Avoid using the [[Number sign|Tɛmplet:!xt]] symbol (known as the number sign, hash sign, pound sign, or octothorpe) when referring to numbers or rankings. Instead write Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt; do not use the symbol [[Numero sign|Tɛmplet:!xt]]. For example:

Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:!xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt

An exception is issue numbers of comic books, which unlike for other periodicals are conventionally given in general text in the form Tɛmplet:Xt, unless a volume is also given, in which case write Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt. Another exception are periodical publications carrying both, issue and number designations (typically one being a year-relative and the other an absolute value); they should be given in the form Tɛmplet:Xt in citations, or be spelt out as Tɛmplet:Xt in text. When using the abbreviations, write Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, or Tɛmplet:Xt, at first occurrence.

Terminal punctuation

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Spacing

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

In normal text, never put a space before a comma, semicolon, colon, period/full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark (even in quoted material; see Tɛmplet:Section link).

Some editors place two spaces after a period/full stop (Tɛmplet:Crossref); these are condensed to one space when the page is rendered, so it does not affect what readers see.

Consecutive punctuation marks

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Where a word or phrase that includes terminal punctuation ends a sentence, do not add a second terminal punctuation mark. If a quoted phrase or title ends in a question mark or exclamation mark, it may confuse readers as to the nature of the article sentence containing it, and so is usually better reworded to be mid-sentence. Where such a word or phrase occurs mid-sentence, new terminal punctuation (usually a period) must be added at the end.

Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:!xt
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em: Tɛmplet:Xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:!xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt

Punctuation and footnotes

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

Ref tags (Tɛmplet:Tag) are used to create footnotes (sometimes called endnotes or just notes), as citation footnotes and sometimes explanatory notes. All ref tags should Tɛmplet:Em follow the text to which the footnote applies, with no intervening space.Tɛmplet:Efn Refs are placed Tɛmplet:Em adjacent punctuation, not before (apart from the exceptions below). Adjacent ref tags should have no space between them, nor should there be any between ref tags and inline dispute/cleanup templates.

When ref tags are used, a footnote list must be added, and this is usually placed in the References section, near the end of the article in the standard appendices and footers.

Tɛmplet:Hatnote

Exceptions: Ref tags are placed Tɛmplet:Em dashes, not after. Where a footnote applies only to material within parentheses, the ref tags belong just before the closing parenthesis.

Punctuation after formulae

A sentence that ends with a formula should have terminal punctuation (period, exclamation mark, or question mark) after the formula. Within a sentence, place other punctuation (such as commas or colons) after the formula just as if the text were not a formula. See Tɛmplet:Section link.

Dates and time

Tɛmplet:Main

For ranges of dates and times, see Tɛmplet:Section link.

Dates should be linked only when they are germane and topical to the subject, as discussed at Tɛmplet:Section link.

Time of day

Tɛmplet:Main

Times of day are normally expressed in figures rather than words. Context determines whether the 12- or the 24-hour format is more appropriate.

Dates

Tɛmplet:Main

Full dates are formatted Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt; or where the year is omitted, use Tɛmplet:Xt or Tɛmplet:Xt.

  • The dates in the text of any one article should all have the same format (day-first or month-first).
    • For date formats in citations, see Tɛmplet:Section link.
    • Dates in quotations and titles are always left as-is.
    • If a numerical format is required (e.g., for conciseness in lists and tables), use the YYYY-MM-DD format: Tɛmplet:Xt.
  • Articles on topics with strong ties to a particular English-speaking country should generally use the more common date format for that country (month-first for the US, except in military usage; day-first for most others; articles related to Canada may use either consistently). Otherwise, do not change an article from one date format to the other without good reason.

Months

Tɛmplet:Main

  • For month and year, write Tɛmplet:Xt, with no comma.
  • Abbreviations for months, such as Tɛmplet:Xt, are used only where space is extremely limited. Such abbreviations should use three letters only, and should not be followed by a period (full point) except at the end of a sentence.

Seasons

Tɛmplet:Main

  • Avoid ambiguous references to seasons, which are different in the southern and northern hemispheres.
  • Names of seasons may be used when there is a logical connection to the event they are describing (Tɛmplet:Xt) or when referring to a phase of a natural yearly cycle (Tɛmplet:Xt). Otherwise, neutral wording is usually preferable (Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt).
  • Journals and other publications that are issued seasonally (e.g., "Summer 2005") should be dated as such in citations Tɛmplet:Crossref.

Years and longer periods

Tɛmplet:Main

  • Do not use the year before the digits (Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt), unless the meaning would otherwise be unclear.
  • Decades are written in the format Tɛmplet:Xt, with no apostrophe. Use the two-digit form ('80s) only with an established social or cultural meaning. Avoid forms such as Tɛmplet:!xt that could refer to ten or a hundred years.
  • Years are denoted by AD and BC or, equivalently, CE and BCE. Use only one system within an article, and do not change from one system to the other without good reason. The abbreviations are written without periods, and with a non-breaking space, as in Tɛmplet:Xt. Omit AD or CE unless omitting it would cause ambiguity.

More information on all the above topics can be found at Tɛmplet:Section link, including the handling of dates expressed in different calendars, and times corresponding to different time zones.

Current

Tɛmplet:See also

Terms such as "current", "now", and "recent"Tɛmplet:Efn should be avoided. What is current today may not be tomorrow; situations change over time. Instead, use date- and time-specific text. To help keep information updated use Tɛmplet:Tlx, which will allow editors to catalog and update dated statements.

Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:!xt
Tɛmplet:Em Tɛmplet:Xt

Numbers

Tɛmplet:Main

Currencies

Tɛmplet:Main

  • Use the full abbreviation on first use (Tɛmplet:Xt for the US dollar and Tɛmplet:Xt for the Australian dollar), Tɛmplet:Em. For example, the government of the United States always spends money in American dollars, and never in Canadian or Australian dollars.
  • Use only one symbol with ranges, as in Tɛmplet:Xt.
  • In articles that are not specific to a country, express amounts of money in United States dollars, euros, or pounds sterling. Do not link the names or symbols of currencies that are commonly known to English-speakers (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt), unless there is a particular reason to do so; do not use potentially ambiguous currency symbols, unless the meaning is clear in the context.
  • In country-specific articles, use the currency of the country. On first occurrence, consider including conversion to US dollars, euros, or pounds sterling, at a rate appropriate to the context. For example, Tɛmplet:Xt. Wording such as "approx." is not appropriate for simple rounding-off of the converted amount.
  • Generally, use the full name of a currency, and link it on its first appearance if English-speakers are likely to be unfamiliar with it (Tɛmplet:Xt); subsequent occurrences can use the currency sign (just Tɛmplet:Xt).
  • Most currency symbols are placed Tɛmplet:Em the number, and unspaced Tɛmplet:Nobr

Units of measurement

Tɛmplet:Main

  • The main unit in which a quantity is expressed should generally be an SI unit or non-SI unit officially accepted for use with the SI. However,
    • Scientific articles may also use specialist units appropriate for the branch of science in question.
    • In non-scientific articles with strong ties to the United States, the main unit is generally a U.S. customary unit (Tɛmplet:Xt).
    • In non-scientific articles with strong ties to the United Kingdom, although the main unit is generally a metric unit (Tɛmplet:Xt), imperial units are still used as the main units in some contexts (Tɛmplet:Xt).
  • Where English-speaking countries use different units for the same measurement, provide a conversion in parentheses. Examples: Tɛmplet:Xt; Tɛmplet:Xt. See Tɛmplet:Tlx.
  • In a direct quotation, always retain the source's units. Any conversion should follow in square brackets (or, an obscure use of units can be explained in the article text or a footnote).
  • Where space is limited (such as tables, infoboxes, parenthetical notes, and mathematical formulas) unit symbols are preferred. In prose, unit names should be given in full if used only a few times but symbols may be used when a unit (especially one with a long name) is used repeatedly after spelling out the first use (e.g., Tɛmplet:Xt), except for unit names that are hardly ever spelled out (Tɛmplet:Xt rather than Tɛmplet:!xt).
  • Most unit names are not capitalized (see Tɛmplet:Section link for spelling differences).
  • Use "per" when writing out a unit, rather than a slash: Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt.
  • Units unfamiliar to general readers should be presented as a name–symbol pair on first use, linking the unit name (Tɛmplet:Xt).
  • For ranges, see Tɛmplet:Section link, and MOS:NUM, at Tɛmplet:Section link.
  • Unit symbols are preceded by figures, not by spelled-out numbers. Values and unit symbols are separated by a non-breaking space. For example, Tɛmplet:Xt. The percent sign and units of degrees, minutes, and seconds Tɛmplet:Em are unspaced.

Common mathematical symbols

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

Grammar and usage

Tɛmplet:Short Tɛmplet:Clear

Possessives

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:For Tɛmplet:For

Singular nouns

For the possessive of singular nouns, including proper names and words ending in s, add 's (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt). Exception: abstract nouns ending with an /s/ sound when followed by sake (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt). If a name ending in s or z would be difficult to pronounce with 's added (Tɛmplet:Xt), consider rewording (Tɛmplet:Xt).

Plural nouns

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Official names

Official names (of companies, organizations, or places) should not be altered. (Tɛmplet:Xt should therefore Tɛmplet:Em be rendered as Tɛmplet:!xt or Tɛmplet:!xt, even for consistency.)

Pronouns

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

First-person pronouns

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

To maintain an objective and impersonal encyclopedic voice, an article should never refer to its editors or readers using I, my, we, us, our, or similar forms: Tɛmplet:!xt. But some such forms are acceptable in certain figurative uses. For example:

Second-person pronouns

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Redirect

Avoid addressing the reader using you or your, which sets an inappropriate tone Tɛmplet:Crossref.

  • Use a noun or a third-person pronoun: instead of Tɛmplet:!xt, use Tɛmplet:Xt, or Tɛmplet:Xt.
  • If a person cannot be specified, or when implying "anyone" as a subject, the impersonal pronoun one may be used: Tɛmplet:Xt. Other constructions may be preferable if the pronoun one seems stilted: Tɛmplet:Xt.
  • The passive voice may sometimes be used instead:Tɛmplet:Efn Tɛmplet:Xt.
  • Do not bait links, e.g., "Tɛmplet:!xt"; let the browser's normal highlighting invite a click. ("Tɛmplet:!xt" also makes no sense to someone reading on paper.)
  • Likewise, "See: (reference)" or "Consider ..." are milder second-person baits, common in academic writing (pedagogy). This interactive personality is inconsistent with an encyclopedia's passive presentation of objective matter.
    • "See" and the like can be used to internally cross-reference other Wikipedia material. Do not italicize words like "see". Such a cross reference should be parenthetical, so the article text stands alone if the parenthetical is removed. Tɛmplet:Tlx can be used for this: Tɛmplet:Tlx, Tɛmplet:Tlx It is usually better to rewrite the material to integrate these links contextually rather than use explicit Wikipedia self-references.
  • Do not address the reader with the Socratic method by asking and answering questions. Tɛmplet:!xt

Plurals

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also Tɛmplet:For

Use the appropriate plural; allow for cases (such as excursus or hanif) in which a word is now listed in major English dictionaries, and normally takes an s or es plural, not its original plural: Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt as in Latin; Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt as in Arabic.

Some collective nounsTɛmplet:Sndsuch as team (and proper names of them), army, company, crowd, fleet, government, majority, mess, number, pack, and partyTɛmplet:Sndmay refer either to a single entity or to the members that compose it. In British English, such words are sometimes treated as singular, but more often treated as plural, according to context (but singular is not actually Tɛmplet:Em). In North American English, these words are almost invariably treated as singular; the major exception is that when a sports team is referred to by its short name, plural verbs are commonly used, e.g. Tɛmplet:Xt.

Names of towns and countries usually take singular verbs (even when grammatically plural: Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt), but exceptionally in British English, typically when used to refer to a sports team named after a town or country or when discussing actions of a government, plural is used. For example, in Tɛmplet:Xt, England refers to a football team; but in Tɛmplet:Xt, it refers to the country. See also Tɛmplet:Section link including Tɛmplet:Section link.

Verb tense

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Redirect Tɛmplet:See also

By default, write articles in the present tense, including those covering works of fiction Tɛmplet:Crossref and products or works that have been discontinued. Generally, use past tense only for past events, and for subjects that are dead or no longer meaningfully exist. Use past tense for articles about periodicals no longer produced, with common-sense exceptions.

Tense can be used to distinguish between current and former status of a subject: Tɛmplet:Xt (Emphasis added to distinguish the different tense usages; Dún Aonghasa is a structure that was later damaged by an event.)

Always use present tense for verbs that describe genres, types and classes, even if the subject of the description (e.g. program, library, device) no longer exists, is discontinued or is unsupported/unmaintained.

Vocabulary

Contractions

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Main

Avoid contractions, which have little place in formal writing. For example, write Tɛmplet:Xt instead of Tɛmplet:!xt. Use of Tɛmplet:Xt is an exception. Contracted titles such as Tɛmplet:!xt and Tɛmplet:!xt generally should not be used but may apply in some contexts (e.g., quoted material, place names, titles of works).

Gender-neutral language

Tɛmplet:Redirect Tɛmplet:For Tɛmplet:See also Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Use gender-neutral language – avoiding the generic he and generic she, for example – if this can be done with clarity and precision. This does not apply to direct quotations or the titles of works (Tɛmplet:Xt), which should not be altered, or to wording about one-gender contexts, such as an all-female school (Tɛmplet:Xt).

References to space programs, past, present and future, should use gender-neutral phrasing: Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt or Tɛmplet:!xt. Direct quotations and proper nouns that use gendered words should not be changed, like Tɛmplet:Xt. Tɛmplet:Shortcut Ships may be referred to using either neuter forms ("it", "its") or feminine forms ("she", "her", "hers"). Either usage is acceptable, but each article should be internally consistent and employ one or the other exclusively. As with all optional styles, articles should not be changed from one style to another unless there is a substantial reason to do so. See Tɛmplet:Section link.

Contested vocabulary

Avoid words and phrases that give the impression of straining for formality, that are unnecessarily regional, or that are not widely accepted. See List of commonly misused English words; see also Tɛmplet:Section link.

Instructional and presumptuous language

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Redirect Tɛmplet:See also

Avoid phrases such as Tɛmplet:!xt and Tɛmplet:!xt, which address readers directly in an unencyclopedic tone and lean toward instructional. They are a subtle form of Wikipedia self-reference, "breaking the fourth wall". Similarly, phrases such as Tɛmplet:!xt, Tɛmplet:!xt, Tɛmplet:!xt, Tɛmplet:!xt, and Tɛmplet:!xt make presumptions about readers' knowledge, may express a viewpoint, and may call into question the reason for including the information in the first place. Do not Tɛmplet:Em readers that something is interesting, ironic, surprising, unexpected, amusing, coincidental, etc. Simply present sourced facts neutrally and allow readers to draw their own conclusions. Such constructions can usually just be deleted, leaving behind proper sentences with a more academic and less pushy tone: Tɛmplet:!xt becomes Tɛmplet:Xt

Avoid rhetorical questions, especially in headings. Use a heading of Tɛmplet:Xt and text such as Tɛmplet:Xt, not Tɛmplet:!xt

For issues in the use of cross-referencesTɛmplet:Snde.g., Tɛmplet:XtTɛmplet:Sndsee Tɛmplet:Sectionlink.

Subset terms

Tɛmplet:See also Tɛmplet:Shortcut

A subset term identifies a set of members of a larger class. Common subset terms are including, among, and etc. Avoid redundant subset terms (e.g., mis-constructions like Tɛmplet:!xt or Tɛmplet:!xt). The word including does not introduce a complete list; instead, use consisting of, or composed of.

Identity

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

When there is a discrepancy between the term most commonly used by reliable sources for a person or group and the term that person or group uses for themselves, use the term that is most commonly used by recentTɛmplet:Efn reliable sources. If it is unclear which is most used, use the term that the person or group uses.

Disputes over how to refer to a person or group are addressed by Wikipedia content policies, such as those on verifiability, and neutral point of view (and article titles when the term appears in the title of an article).

Use specific terminology. For example, it is often more appropriate for people or things from Ethiopia (a country in Africa) to be described as Ethiopian, not carelessly (with the risk of stereotyping) as African.

Gender identity

Tɛmplet:Main

Specific guidelines apply to any person whose gender might be questioned, and any living transgender or non-binary person. In summary:

  • Use gendered words only if they reflect the person's latest self-identification as reported in recent sources.
  • If the person is living and was not notable yet when a former name was in use, that name should not be included in any Wikipedia page, even in quotations, as a privacy matter. Exception: Do not expunge or replace names in source citations (whether as authors or mentioned in work titles).
  • Former names under which a living person was notable should be introduced with "born" or "formerly" in the lead sentence of their main biographical article. Name and gender matters should be explained at first appearance in that article, without overemphasis. In articles on works or other activities of such a person, use their current name by default, and give another name associated with that context in a parenthetical or footnote, only if they were notable under that name. In other articles, do not go into detail about such a person's name or gender except when directly relevant to the context.
  • Avoid confusing constructions by rewriting. Paraphrase, elide, or use square brackets to replace portions of quotations as needed to avoid confusion, former names, and mismatching gendered words.

Tɛmplet:Crossref

Foreign terms

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

No common usage in English

Tɛmplet:Main

Foreign terms should be used sparingly.

Use italics for phrases in other languages and for isolated foreign words that are not current in English (except certain cases in other guidance). Where possible, this is best done with the Tɛmplet:Tlx template using the appropriate ISO language code, e.g., Tɛmplet:Tlx. This does not apply to foreign names of people or places. There are alternatives to the Tɛmplet:Tnull template which also provide additional information about a foreign word or phrase, such as a link to the language name; Tɛmplet:Crossref. The Tɛmplet:Tlx template and related templates automatically italicize text for Latin-alphabet scripts, so do not add separate italics markup around or within them. Non-Latin-based scripts like Chinese should not be italicized, since it is already obvious the material cannot be English, and some such scripts do not support italicization.

Common usage in English

Loanwords and borrowed phrases that have common usage in EnglishTɛmplet:SndTɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:XtTɛmplet:Snddo not require italics. A rule of thumb is to not italicize words that appear in major general-purpose English-language dictionaries.

Spelling and romanization

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

Names not originally written in one of the Latin-script alphabets (written for example in Greek, Cyrillic, or Chinese scripts) must be given a romanized form for use in English. Use a systematically transliterated or otherwise romanized name (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt); but if there is a more common English form of the name (Tɛmplet:Xt, Tɛmplet:Xt), use that form instead.

The use of diacritics (such as accent marks) for foreign words is neither encouraged nor discouraged; their usage depends on whether they appear in verifiable reliable sources in English, and on the constraints imposed by specialized Wikipedia guidelines. Provide redirects from alternative forms that use or exclude diacritics.

Proper names in languages which use the Latin alphabet can include characters with diacritics, ligatures, and others that are not commonly used in present-day English. Wikipedia normally retains these special characters, except where there is a well-established English spelling that replaces them with English standard letters. Examples:

  • The name of the article on Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős is spelt with the double acute accent, and the alternative spellings Paul Erdos and Paul Erdös redirect to that article.
  • Similarly, the name of the article on the Nordic god Ægir is so spelt, with redirects from the ligature-free form Aegir and the Swedish spelling Ägir.
  • However, the Spanish region named Tɛmplet:Lang in Spanish and Tɛmplet:Lang in Catalan is given as Aragon, without the accent, as this is the established English name (the non-English names appear, with their diacritics, in its lead section).

Such matters are determined on a topic-by-topic basis; a small group of editors cannot "prohibit" or "require" diacritics across a category of articles.Tɛmplet:Efn

Spell a name consistently in the title and the text of an article. Tɛmplet:Crossref For a foreign name, phrase, or word, adopt the spelling most commonly used in English-language reliable sources, including but not limited to those already cited in the article.Tɛmplet:Efn For punctuation of compounded forms, see relevant guidelines in Tɛmplet:Section link.

A non-English proper name should generally not be italicized, unless it would be for some other reason; this is most commonly when it is the title of a major published work, as in [[Les Liaisons dangereuses|Tɛmplet:Xt]]; or when it is being compared in a words-as-words manner to another name for the same subject, e.g., Tɛmplet:Xt. When the name should not be italicized, language markup can still be used to ensure proper pronunciation in screen readers, with the Tɛmplet:Para parameter: Tɛmplet:Tlx.

Sometimes usage will be influenced by other guidelines, such as Tɛmplet:Section link, which may lead to different choices in different articles.

Other non-English concerns

Technical language

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:Redirect Tɛmplet:See also

Some topics are intrinsically technical, but editors should try to make them understandable to as many readers as possible. Minimize jargon, or at least explain it or tag it using Tɛmplet:Tlx or Tɛmplet:Tlx for other editors to fix. For unavoidably technical articles, a separate introductory article (like Introduction to general relativity) may be the best solution.

Avoid excessive wikilinking (linking within Wikipedia) as a substitute for parenthetic explanations such as the one in this sentence. Do not introduce new and specialized words simply to teach them to the reader when more common alternatives will do.

When the notions named by jargon are too complex to explain concisely in a few parenthetical words, write one level down. For example, consider adding a brief background section with Tɛmplet:Tlx tags pointing to the full treatment article(s) of the prerequisite notions; this approach is practical only when the prerequisite concepts are central to the exposition of the article's main topic and when such prerequisites are not too numerous. Short articles, such as stubs, generally do not have such sections.

Tɛmplet:Crossref

Geographical items

Tɛmplet:Shortcut Tɛmplet:See also

<section begin="MOS:GEO" />Geographical or place names are the nouns used to refer to specific places and geographic features. These names often give rise to conflict, because the same places are called different things by different peoples speaking different languages. Many place names have a historical context that should be preserved, but common sense should prevail. There can be few places that have not been parts of more than one culture or have had only one name. As proper nouns, all such place names (but not terms for types of places) have major words capitalized.

A place should generally be referred to consistently by the same name as in the title of its article Tɛmplet:Crossref. An exception may be made when there is a widely accepted historical English name appropriate to the given context. In cases where such a historical name is used, it should be followed by the modernTɛmplet:Efn name in round brackets (parentheses) on the first occurrence of the name in applicable sections of the article. This resembles linking; it should not be done to the detriment of style. On the other hand, it is probably better to provide such a variant too often than too rarely. If more than one historical name is applicable for a given context, the other names should be added after the modern English name, that is: "historical name (modern name, other historical names)".

This is an English-language encyclopedia, so established English names are preferred if they exist, and spellings in non-English alphabets should always be transcribed into the Roman alphabet. In general, other articles should refer to places by the names which are used in the articles on those places, according to the rules described at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names). If a different name is appropriate in a given historical or other context, then that may be used instead, although it is normal to follow the first occurrence of such a name with the standard modern name in parentheses.

At the start of an article, provide notable equivalent names from other languages, including transcriptions where necessary:

Cologne (German: Köln, IPA: Tɛmplet:IPA) is the ...
Mount Fuji (Tɛmplet:Lang Fuji-san, IPA: Tɛmplet:IPA) is the ...

Names in languages with no particular present-day or historical ties to the place in question (English excepted, of course) should Tɛmplet:Em be listed as alternatives.

Avoid anachronism. An article about Junípero Serra should say he lived in Alta Mexico, not in California, because the latter entity did not yet exist in Serra's time. The Romans invaded Gaul, not France, and Thabo Mbeki was the president of the Republic of South Africa, not of the Cape Colony. To be clear, you may sometimes need to mention the current name of the area (for example "in what is now France"), especially if no English name exists for that area in the relevant historical period.<section end="MOS:GEO" />

Media files

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Images

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  • Each image should be inside the levelTɛmplet:Nbs2 section to which it relates, within the section defined by the most recent ==Heading== delimited by two equal signs, or at the top of the lead section. Do not place images immediately above section headings.
  • Avoid sandwiching text horizontally between two images that face each other, and between an image and an infobox or similar.
  • It is often preferable to place images of people so they "look" toward the text. Do not achieve this by reversing the image.
  • Any galleries should comply with Tɛmplet:Section link. Consider linking to additional images on Commons instead.
  • Avoid referring to images as being to the left, the right, above or below, because image placement varies with platform, and is meaningless to people using screen readers; instead, use captions to identify images.
  • An image's Tɛmplet:Para text takes the image's place for those who are unable to see the image. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility/Alternative text for images.

Other media files

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Other media files include video and audio files. Style recommendations for such files largely follow recommendations for image files (as far as applicable).

Avoid using images to convey text

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Textual information should almost always be entered as text rather than as an image. True text can be colored and adjusted with CSS tags and templates, but text in images cannot be. Images are not searchable, are slower to download, and are unlikely to be read as text by devices for the visually impaired. Any important textual information in an image should also appear in the image's alt text, caption, or other nearby text.

For entering textual information as audio, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia.

Captions

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Photographs and other graphics should have captions, unless they are unambiguous depictions of the subject of the article or when they are "self-captioning" images (such as reproductions of album or book covers). In a biography article no caption is necessary for a portrait of the subject pictured alone, but one might be used to give the year, the subject's age, or other circumstances of the portrait along with the name of the subject.

Formatting of captions

  • Captions normally start with a capital letter.Tɛmplet:Efn
  • Most captions are not complete sentences but merely sentence fragments which should not end with a period. However, if any complete sentence occurs in a caption, then every sentence and every sentence fragment in that caption should end with a period.
  • The text of captions should not be specially formatted, except in ways that would apply if it occurred in the main text (e.g., italics for the Latin name of a species).
  • Captions should be succinct; more information can be included on its description page, or in the main text.
  • Captions for technical charts and diagrams may need to be substantially longer than usual; they should fully describe all elements of the image and indicate its significance.

Bulleted and numbered lists

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  • Do not use lists if a passage is read easily as plain paragraphs.
  • Use proper wiki markup- or template-based list code Tɛmplet:Crossref.
  • Do not leave blank lines between items in a bulleted or numbered list unless there is a reason to do so, since this causes the Wiki software to interpret each item as beginning a new list.
    • Indents (such as this) are permitted if the elements are "child" items.
  • Use numbers rather than bullets only if:
    • a need to refer to the elements by number may arise;
    • the sequence of the items is critical; or
    • the numbering has some independent meaning, for example in a listing of musical tracks.
  • Use the same grammatical form for all elements in a list, and do not mix sentences and sentence fragments as elements, for example when the elements are:
    • complete sentences – each one is formatted with sentence case (its first letter is capitalized) and a final period (full point);
    • sentence fragments – the list is typically introduced by an introductory fragment ending with a colon;
    • titles of works – they retain the original capitalization of the titles;
    • other elements – they are formatted consistently in either sentence case or lower case.

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Make links only where they are relevant and helpful in the context: Excessive use of hyperlinks can be distracting and may slow the reader down. Redundant links (like the one in Tɛmplet:!xt) clutter the page and make future maintenance harder. High-value links that Tɛmplet:Em worth pursuing should stand out clearly.

Linking to sections: A hash sign (#) followed by the appropriate heading will lead to a relevant part of a page. For example, [[Apostrophe#Use in non-English names]] links to a particular section of the article Apostrophe.

Initial capitalization: Wikipedia's MediaWiki software does not require that wikilinks begin with an upper-case character. Capitalize the first letter only where this is naturally called for, or when specifically referring to the linked article by its name (see also related rule for italics in cross-references): Tɛmplet:Xt

Check links: Ensure the destination is the intended one; many dictionary words lead to disambiguation pages and not to complete or well-chosen articles.

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External links should not normally be used in the body of an article. Instead, articles can include an External links section at the end, pointing to further information outside Wikipedia as distinct from citing sources. The standard format is a primary heading, ==External links==, followed by a bulleted list of links. Identify the link and briefly indicate its relevance to the article. For example:

Tɛmplet:Block indent

These will appear as:

Tɛmplet:Block indent

Where appropriate, use external link templates such as Tɛmplet:Tlx and Tɛmplet:Tlx.

Add external links with discretion; Wikipedia is not a link repository.

Miscellaneous

Keep markup simple

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Other things being equal, keep markup simple. This makes wikitext easier to understand and edit, and the results seen by the reader more predictable. Use HTML and CSS markup sparingly. See: KISS principle.

In general, wikitext formatting is considered easier to use than HTML and wikitext is preferred if there are equivalents; see Help:HTML in wikitext. Obsolete elements and attributes should be updated or removed. There are many templates that allow HTML markup to be used without putting it in articles directly, such as Tɛmplet:Tl (see MOS:EMPHASIS) and Tɛmplet:Tl (see MOS:BOLD).

An HTML character entity is sometimes better than the equivalent Unicode character, which may be difficult to identify in edit mode; for example, &Alpha; is explicit whereas Α (the upper-case form of Greek α) may be misidentified as the Latin A.

Formatting issues

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Modifications in font size, blank space, and color Tɛmplet:Crossref are an issue for the Wikipedia site-wide style sheet and should be reserved for special cases only.

Typically, the use of custom font styles:

  • reduces consistency, as the text no longer looks uniform;
  • reduces usability, as it may be impossible for people with custom style sheets (e.g. for accessibility reasons) to override it, and may clash with a different skin or inconvenience people with color blindness Tɛmplet:Crossref; and
  • causes disputes, as other editors may disagree aesthetically with the choice of style.

Specify font sizes Tɛmplet:Em (for example with font-size: 85%) rather than Tɛmplet:Em (like font-size: 8pt). The resulting font size of any text should not drop below 85% of the page's default font size.

Color coding

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Do not use color Tɛmplet:Em to mark differences in text: they may be invisible to people with color blindness and useless in black-and-white printouts or displays.

Choose colors such as maroon and teal that are distinguishable by readers with the most common form of colorblindness, and Tɛmplet:Em mark the differences with change of font or some other means (maroon and alternative font face, teal). Avoid low contrast between text and background colors. See also color coding.

Even for readers with unimpaired color vision, excessive background shading of table entries impedes readability and recognition of Wikilinks. Background color should be used only as a Tɛmplet:Em visual cue and should be subtle (consider using lighter, less-dominant pastel hues) rather than glaring.

Indentation

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Do not abuse block quotation markup to indent non-quotations. Various templates are available for indentation, including Tɛmplet:Tlx and (for inline use) Tɛmplet:Tlx.

Avoid : (description list markup) for simple visual indentation in articles (common as it may be on talk pages). It causes accessibility problems and outputs invalid HTML. Tɛmplet:Crossref

Controlling line breaks

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It is sometimes desirable to force a text segment to appear entirely on a single lineTɛmplet:Mdashbthat is, to prevent a line break (line wrap) from occurring anywhere within it.

It is desirable to prevent line breaks where breaking across lines might be confusing or awkward. For example: Tɛmplet:Columns list

Whether a non-breaking space is appropriate depends on context: whereas it is appropriate to use 12Tɛmplet:TMB in prose, it may be counterproductive in a table (where an unattractive break may be acceptable to conserve precious horizontal space) and unnecessary in a short parameter value in an infobox (where a break would never occur anyway).

A line break may occur at a thin space (&thinsp;, or Tɛmplet:Tlx), which is sometimes used to correct too-close placement of adjacent characters. To prevent this, consider using Tɛmplet:Tlx.

Insert non-breaking and thin spaces as named character reference (&nbsp; or &thinsp;), or as templates that generate these (Tɛmplet:Tlx, Tɛmplet:Tlx), and never by entering them directly into the edit window from the keyboardTɛmplet:Sndthey are visually indistinguishable from regular spaces, and later editors will be unable to see what they are. Inside wikilinks, a construction such as Tɛmplet:Nobr works but Tɛmplet:Nobr doesn't.

Scrolling lists and collapsible content

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Scrolling lists, and collapsible templates that toggle text display between hide and show, can interfere with readers' ability to access our content. Such mechanisms should not be used to conceal "spoiler" information. Templates should not normally be used to store article text at all, as it interferes with editors' ability to find and edit it.

When such features are used, take care that the content will still be accessible on devices that do not support JavaScript or CSS, and to the greater than 60% of Wikipedia readers who use the mobile version of the site,Tɛmplet:Efn which has a limited set of features and does not support collapsing (any collapsible templates will either be automatically uncollapsed or hidden entirely). Mobile ability to access the content in question is easy to test with the "Mobile view" link at the bottom of each page.Tɛmplet:Efn

Tɛmplet:Strong This includes reference lists, tables and lists of article content, image galleries, and image captions.

When hiding content is desired, it must be done using the collapsible parameter of relevant templates, or manually-added CSS classes mw-collapsed, and autocollapse (see Help:Collapsing). Other methods of hiding content should not be used, as they may render content inaccessible to many users, such as those browsing Wikipedia with JavaScript disabled, browsing the mobile version,Tɛmplet:Efn or using proxy services such as Google Web Light.

Collapsed or auto-collapsing cells or sections may be used with tables if they simply repeat information covered in the main text (or are purely supplementary, e.g., several past years of statistics in collapsed tables for comparison with a table of uncollapsed current stats). Auto-collapsing is often a feature of navboxes. A few infoboxes also use pre-collapsed sections for infrequently accessed details. If information in a list, infobox, or other non-navigational content seems extraneous or trivial enough to inspire pre-collapsing it, consider raising a discussion on the article (or template) talk page about whether it should be included at all. If the information is important and the concern is article density or length, consider dividing the article into more sections, integrating unnecessarily list-formatted information into the article prose, or splitting the article.

Invisible comments

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Editors use "invisible" commentsTɛmplet:Sndnot shown in the rendered page seen by readers of the article, but visible in the source editing mode when an editor opens the article for editingTɛmplet:Sndto communicate with one another.

Invisible comments are useful for alerting other editors to issues such as common mistakes that regularly occur in the article, a section title's being the target of an incoming link, or pointing to a discussion that established a consensus relating to the article. They should not be used to instruct other editors not to perform certain edits, although where existing local consensus is against making such an edit, they may usefully draw the editor's attention to that. Avoid adding too many invisible comments because they can clutter the wiki source for other editors. Check that your invisible comment does not change the formatting, for example by introducing unwanted white space in the rendered page.

To leave an invisible comment, enclose the text you intend to be read only by editors between <!-- and -->. For example:

This notation can be inserted with a single click in wiki markup, just under the edit pane in edit mode.

Pronunciation

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Pronunciation in Wikipedia is indicated in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). In most situations, for ease of understanding by the majority of readers and across variants of the language, quite broad IPA transcriptions are best for English pronunciations. See Help:IPA/English and Help:IPA (general) for keys, and Tɛmplet:Tlx for templates that link to these keys. For English pronunciations, pronunciation respellings may be used Tɛmplet:Em the IPA.

See also

Guidance

Tools

Other community standards

Guidelines within the Manual of Style

Tɛmplet:Hatnote

(Links to policy and guidelines on specific questions)

Names

Tɛmplet:Shortcut

Notes

Tɛmplet:Notelist

References

Tɛmplet:Reflist

Further reading

External style guides

Wikipedians are encouraged to familiarize themselves with modern editions of other guides to style and usage, which may cover details not included here. Those that have most influenced the Wikipedia Manual of Style are:

For additional reference works, see notable entries at Style guide and Tɛmplet:Section link.

Tɛmplet:Manual of Style Tɛmplet:Wikipedia policies and guidelines Tɛmplet:Writing guides

  1. ↑ Tɛmplet:Cite web
  2. ↑ Tɛmplet:Cite web
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