විකිපීඩියා:රචනාකරණ ශෛලිය පිළිබඳ මාර්ගෝපදේශ

Pause or suspension of speech

Three periods are occasionally used to represent a pause in or suspense of speech, in which case the punctuation is retained in its original form (Virginia's startled reply was: "Could he...? No, I cannot believe it!"). This usage is avoided in other contexts in Wikipedia.

With square brackets

An ellipsis does not normally need square brackets around it, since its function is usually obvious—especially if the guidelines above are followed. But square brackets may optionally be used for precision, to make it clear that the ellipsis is not itself quoted; this is usually only necessary if the quoted passage also uses three period in it to indicate a pause or suspension. The ellipsis should follow exactly the principles given above, but with square brackets inserted immediately before and after it. (Her long rant continued: "How do I feel? How do you think I... look, this has gone far enough! [...] I want to go home!")

The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma or Harvard comma) is a comma used immediately before a conjunction in a list of three or more items. The phrase ham, chips, and eggs is written with a serial comma, but ham, chips and eggs is not. Sometimes omitting the comma can lead to an ambiguous sentence, as in this example: The author would like to thank her parents, Sinéad O'Connor and President Bush. Including the comma can also cause ambiguity, as in: The author would like to thank her mother, Sinéad O'Connor, and President Bush which may be a list of either two or three people. In such cases, there are three options for avoiding ambiguity:

• A choice can be made whether to use or omit the comma after the penultimate item to avoid ambiguity.
• The sentence can be recast to avoid listing the items in an ambiguous manner.
• The items can be presented using a formatted list.

If the presence or absence of the final serial comma has no bearing on whether the sentence is ambiguous, there is no Wikipedia consensus on whether it should be used.

Colons (:) should not have spaces before them:

Correct:	He attempted it in two years: 1941 and 1943
Incorrect:	He attempted it in two years : 1941 and 1943

Colons should have complete sentences before them:

Correct:	He attempted it in two years: 1941 and 1943
Incorrect:	The years he attempted it included: 1941 and 1943

Hyphens (-) indicate conjunction. There are three main uses.

1. To distinguish between homographs (re-dress = dress again, but redress = remedy or set right).
2. To link certain prefixes with their main word (non-linear, sub-section, super-achiever):
   • However, a clear tendency is emerging to join both elements in all varieties of English (subsection is now standard), particularly in North America (where nonlinear is also standard).
   • The hyphen is more likely to be used when the letters brought into contact are vowels, especially the same vowel (co-opt, pre-existing), or where a word is unusual or less expected in the context (co-proposed, re-target).

   • It is somewhat common not to hyphenate well-known and recognizable cases (coopt, preexisting, but not coowned, and probably not reanchor).

   • The hyphen is very often used to avoid doubling a or i: intra-atomic, juxta-articular, semi-intensive.
   • The hyphen is sometimes retained after sub- to avoid bringing two consonants into contact, and especially to avoid doubling b (subabdominal, but sub-basement). It is often retained for clarity when the main word begins with a vowel, or is short—especially when both of these apply (sub-era, not subera).
   • The hyphen is still often used after non-, and especially when n would be doubled (non-linear or nonlinear, as above; non-negotiable).
3. To link related terms in compound adjectives and adverbs:
   • Sometimes the hyphen helps with ease of reading (face-to-face discussion, hard-boiled egg); hyphens are particularly useful in long nominal groups where non-experts are part of the readership, such as in Wikipedia's scientific articles: gas-phase reaction dynamics.
   • Sometimes the hyphen helps with disambiguation (little-used car, not a reference to the size of a used car).
   • Many compound adjectives that are hyphenated when used attributively (before the noun they qualify—a light-blue handbag), are not hyphenated when used predicatively (after the noun—the handbag was light blue). Where there would be a loss of clarity, the hyphen may also be used in the predicative case (hand-fed turkeys, the turkeys were hand-fed).
   • Hyphens are often not used after -ly adverbs (wholly owned subsidiary), unless part of larger compounds (a slowly-but-surely strategy).
   • A hyphen is normally used when the adverb well precedes a participle used attributively (a well-meaning gesture; but normally a very well managed firm, since well itself is modified); and even predicatively, if well is necessary to, or alters, the sense of the adjective rather than simply intensifying it (the gesture was well-meaning, the child was well-behaved, but the floor was well polished).
   • A hanging hyphen is used when two compound adjectives are separated (two- and three-digit numbers, a ten-car or -truck convoy).
   • Values and units used as compound adjectives are hyphenated only where the unit is given as a whole word. Where hyphens are not used, values and units are always separated by a non-breaking space ( ).

Incorrect:	9-mm gap
Correct:	9 mm gap (rendered as 9 mm gap)
Incorrect:	9 millimetre gap
Correct:	9-millimetre gap
Correct:	12-hour shift
Correct:	12 h shift

Hyphens are never followed or preceded by a space, except when hanging or when used to display parts of words independently, such as the prefix sub- and the suffix -less.

Hyphens are used only to mark conjunctions; not to mark disjunction (for which en dashes are correct: see below).

Hyphenation involves many subtleties that cannot be covered here; but the rules and examples presented above illustrate the sorts of broad principles that inform current usage.

Several kinds of dash are used on Wikipedia.

En dashes (–) have four distinct roles.

1. To indicate disjunction. In this role there are two main applications.
   • To convey the sense of to or through, particularly in ranges (pp. 211–19, 64–75%, the 1939–45 war, May–November) and where movement is involved (Dublin–Belfast route). Year and page ranges are often an issue on Wikipedia. The word to, rather than an en dash, is used when a number range involves a negative value or might be misconstrued as a subtraction (−3 to 1, not −3–1), or when the nearby wording demands it (he served from 1939 to 1941, not he served from 1939–1941).
   • As a substitute for some uses of and, to or versus for marking a relationship involving independent elements in certain compound expressions (Canada–US border, blood–brain barrier, time–altitude graph, 4–3 win in the opening game, male–female ratio, 3–2 majority verdict, Michelson–Morley experiment, diode–transistor logic; but a hyphen is used instead in Mon-Khmer languages which lacks a relationship, Sino-Japanese trade, in which Sino- lacks independence, and Indo-European linguistics which lacks both relationship and lexical independence).
     • Spacing: All disjunctive en dashes are unspaced, except when there is a space within either or both of the items (the New York – Sydney flight, the New Zealand – South Africa grand final, 3 July, 1888 – 18 August, 1940).
2. For negative signs and subtraction operators, as an alternative to the usually slightly shorter minus sign, − (input with −). Negative signs (–8°C) are unspaced; subtraction signs (42 – 4 = 38) are spaced. The en dash was the traditional typographic symbol for this operator, but now that unicode defines a character for this specific use, the minus is preferred. In contexts such as code, where the text is intended to be copied and executed or evaluated, the ordinary hyphen works better and is preferred.
3. In lists, to separate distinct information within points—particularly track titles and durations, and musicians and their instruments, in articles on music albums. In this role, en dashes are always spaced.
4. As a stylistic alternative to em dashes (see below).

Hyphens have often been wrongly used in disjunctive expressions on Wikipedia; this is especially common in sports scores. When creating an article, a hyphen is now not used as a substitute for an en dash in the title.

The article on dashes includes input methods for typing dashes on several operating systems.

En dashes in page names

The en dash may be used in a page name, for example, Eye–hand span. Editors should provide a redirect page to such an article, using a hyphen in place of the en dash (e.g., Eye-hand span), to allow the name to be typed easily when searching Wikipedia. See also Wikipedia:Naming conventions (precision). Regardless of whether the page name includes a dash, the associated talk page name should match the page name exactly.

Em dashes (—) indicate interruption. They are used in the following two roles.

1. Parenthesis (Wikipedia—one of the most popular web sites—has the information you need). Here, a pair of em dashes is a more arresting way of nesting a phrase or clause than a pair of commas, and may be less intrusive than brackets. A pair of em dashes is particularly useful where there are already many commas; em dashes can make a sentence with more than one nesting easier to read, and sometimes they can remove ambiguity.
2. A sharp break in the flow of a sentence—sharper than is provided by a colon or a semicolon.

Em dashes are normally unspaced on Wikipedia.

Because em dashes are visually striking, Wikipedia takes care not to overuse them. A rule of thumb is to avoid more than two in a single paragraph, unless the paragraph is unusually long or the use of more than two em dashes would be logically cohesive. Only very rarely are there more than two em dashes in a single sentence.

The main article shows common input methods for em dashes on Macintosh and Windows.

Spaced en dashes as an alternative to em dashes

Spaced en dashes – such as here – can be used instead of em dashes in all of the ways discussed above. Spaced en dashes are used by several major publishers, to the complete exclusion of em dashes; style manuals more often prefer unspaced em dashes. One style should be used consistently in an article.

These are avoided on Wikipedia, notably the double-hyphen (--).

There are no guidelines on whether to use one space after the end of a sentence, or two (French spacing), but the issue is not important, because the difference is only visible in the monospace edit boxes; it is ignored by browsers when displaying the article.

Avoid joining two words by a slash (/, also known as a forward slash), as it suggests that the two are related, but does not specify how. It is often also unclear how the construct would be read aloud. Consider replacing a slash with an explanation, or adding one in a footnote. Where possible, reword more fully to avoid uncertainties.

An example: The parent/instructor must be present at all times. Must both be present? (Then write the parent and the instructor.) Must at least one be present? (Then write the parent or the instructor.) Are they the same person? (Use a hyphen: the parent–instructor.)

In circumstances involving a distinction or disjunction, the en dash is usually preferable to the slash, e.g., the novel–novella distinction.

An unspaced slash may be used:

• To show pronunciations ("ribald is pronounced /ˈrıb•əld/")
• To separate the numerator and denominator in a fraction (7/8 or ​⁷⁄₈)
• To indicate regular defined yearly periods that do not coincide with calendar years (see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)#Longer periods)
• Where slashes are used in a phrase outside of Wikipedia, and using a different construction would be inaccurate, unfamiliar or ambiguous

A spaced slash may be used:

• To separate run-in lines of poetry or song (To be or not to be: that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune)
• To separate any construction that can be separated with an unspaced slash when readability would be enhanced by doing so, most often when the items being separated are complex, such as involving a number of abbreviations, numbers; compare the NY 31 east / NY 370 exit with the NY 31 east/NY 370 exit.

Spaced slashes should be coded with a leading non-breaking space and a trailing normal space, e.g., x / y (which renders as x / y), to prevent line breaks introducing readability problems.

The backslash character, \, is never used in place of a slash.

It is preferred in general prose to use ÷ rather than / to represent mathematical division. (See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)#Common mathematical symbols and Help:Displaying a formula for more information.)

The construct and/or is usually awkward. In general, where it is important to mark an inclusive or, use x or y, or both, rather than x and/or y. For an exclusive or, use either x or y, and optionally add but not both, if it is necessary to stress the exclusivity.

Where more than two possibilities are presented, from which a combination is to be selected, it is even less desirable to use and/or. With two possibilities, at least the intention is clear; but with more than two it may not be. Instead of x, y, and/or z, use an appropriate alternative, such as one or more of x, y, and z; some or all of x, y, and z.

• Question and exclamation marks are never preceded by a space in normal prose.
• The exclamation mark is used with restraint: it is an expression of surprise or emotion that is generally unsuited to a scholarly or encyclopedic register.
• Clusters of question marks, exclamation marks, or a combination of them (such as the interrobang) are highly informal and inappropriate in Wikipedia articles.
• For the use of these marks in association with quotation marks, see #Quotations above.

Avoid statements that will date quickly, except on pages that are regularly refactored, such as those that cover current events. Avoid such items as recently and soon (unless their meaning is clear in a storyline), currently (except on rare occasions when it is not redundant), in modern times, is now considered and is soon to be superseded. Instead, use either:

• more precise items (since the start of 2005; during the 1990s; is expected to be superseded by 2008); or
• an as of phrase (as of August 2007), which is a signal to readers of the time-dependence of the statement, and to later editors of the need to update the statement (see As of).

Context determines whether the 12- or 24-hour clock is used; in both, colons separate hours, minutes and seconds (1:38:09 pm and 13:38:09).

• 12-hour clock times end with dotted or undotted lower-case a.m. or p.m., or am or pm, which are spaced (2:30 p.m. or 2:30 pm, not 2:30p.m. or 2:30pm). Noon and midnight are used rather than 12 pm and 12 am; whether midnight refers to the start or the end of a date will need to be specified unless this is clear from the context.
• 24-hour clock times have no a.m., p.m., noon or midnight suffix. Discretion may be used as to whether the hour has a leading zero (08:15 or 8:15). 00:00 refers to midnight at the start of a date, 12:00 to noon, and 24:00 to midnight at the end of a date.

• Wikipedia does not use ordinal suffixes or articles, or put a comma between month and year.

Incorrect:	June 25th, 25th June, the 25th of June
Correct:	14 February, February 14
Incorrect:	October, 1976
Correct:	October 1976

• Date ranges are preferably given with minimal repetition (5–7 January 1979; September 21–29, 2002), using an unspaced en dash. If the autoformatting function is used, the opening and closing dates of the range must be given in full (see Autoformatting and linking) and be separated by a spaced en dash.
• Rarely, a night may be expressed in terms of the two contiguous dates using a slash (the bombing raids of the night of 30/31 May 1942); this cannot be done using the autoformatting function.
• Yearless dates (5 March, March 5) are inappropriate unless the year is obvious from the context. There is no such ambiguity with recurring events, such as "January 1 is New Year's Day".
• ISO 8601 dates (1976-05-13) are uncommon in English prose and are generally not used in Wikipedia. However, they may be useful in long lists and tables for conciseness and ease of comparison.

• Months are expressed as whole words (February, not 2), except in the ISO 8601 format. Abbreviations such as Feb are used only where space is extremely limited, such as in tables and infoboxes. Do not insert of between a month and a year (April 2000, not April of 2000).

• Seasons. Because the seasons are reversed in each hemisphere (and areas near the equator tend to have just wet and dry seasons), neutral wording may be preferable (in early 1990, in the second quarter of 2003, around September). Consider using a date or month rather than a season name, unless there is a logical connection (the autumn harvest). In any case, avoid frank ambiguities like "Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in the summer of 1969". Seasons are normally spelled with a lower-case initial.
• Years
  • Years are normally expressed in digits; a comma is not used in four-digit years (1988, not 1,988).
  • Avoid inserting the words the year before the digits (1995, not the year 1995), unless the meaning would otherwise be unclear.
    • Either CE and BCE or AD and BC can be used—spaced, undotted (without periods) and upper-case. Choose either the BC-AD or the BCE-CE system, but not both in the same article. AD appears before or after a year (AD 1066, 1066 AD); the other abbreviations appear after (1066 CE, 3700 BCE, 3700 BC). The absence of such an abbreviation indicates the default, CE-AD. It is inappropriate for a Wikipedia editor to change from one style to another unless there is some substantial reason for the change; the Manual of Style favors neither system over the other.
    • Uncalibrated (bce) radiocarbon dates: Do not give uncalibrated radiocarbon dates (represented by the lower-case bce unit, occasionally bc or b.c. in some sources), except in directly quoted material, and even then include a footnote, a [square-bracketed editor's note], or other indication to the reader what the calibrated date is, or at least that the date is uncalibrated. Calibrated and uncalibrated dates can diverge surprisingly widely, and the average reader does not recognize the distinction between bce and BCE-BC.
    • Year ranges, like all ranges, are separated by an en dash (do not use a hyphen or slash (2005–08, not 2005-08 or 2005/08). A closing CE-AD year is normally written with two digits (1881–86) unless it is in a different century from that of the opening year (1881–1986). The full closing year is acceptable, but abbreviating it to a single digit (1881–6) or three digits (1881–886) is not. A closing BCE-BC year is given in full (2590–2550 BCE). While one era signifier at the end of a date range still requires an unspaced en dash (12–5 BC), a spaced en dash is required when a signifier is used after the opening and closing years (5 BC – 29 AD).
    • A slash may be used to indicate regular defined yearly periods that do not coincide with calendar years (the financial year 1993/4).
    • Abbreviations indicating long periods of time ago—such as BP (before present), as well as various annum-based units such as Ka (kiloannum) and kya (thousand years ago), Ma (megaannum) and mya (million years ago), and Ga (gigaannum or billion years ago)—are given as full words and wikilinked on first occurrence.
    • To indicate around, approximately, or about, the abbreviations c. and ca. are preferred over circa, approximately or approx., and are spaced (c. 1291). Use a question mark instead (1291?) only if the date is in fact questioned rather than approximate. (The question mark may mistakenly be understood as a sign that editors have simply not checked the date.)
• Decades contain no apostrophe (the 1980s, not the 1980's); the two-digit form is used only where the century is clear (the '80s or the 80s).
• Centuries and millennia
  • There was no year 0. So for dates AD (or CE) the 1st century was 1–100, the 17th century was 1601–1700, and the second millennium was 1001–2000; for dates BC (or BCE) the 1st century was 100–1; the 17th century was 1700–1601, and the second millennium was 2000–1001.
  • Use numerals for centuries (the 17th century), except at the start of a sentence; do not capitalize century.
  • Because expressions like the 1700s are ambiguous (referring to a century or a decade), they are best avoided.

• In the body of an article, single-digit whole numbers (from zero to nine) are given as words; numbers of more than one digit are generally rendered as figures, or as words if they are expressed in one or two words (sixteen, eighty-four, two hundred, but 3.75, 544, 21 million).

• The numerical elements of dates and times are never given as words (that is, never the seventh of January or twelve forty-five p.m.; but specific references such as Daniel Webster's Seventh of March speech, should follow standard usage for the topic).
• Numbers that open a sentence are given as words; alternatively, the sentence can be recast so that the number is not in first position.
• In tables and infoboxes, all numbers are expressed as numerals.
• Within a context or a list, style should be consistent (either There were 5 cats and 32 dogs or There were five cats and thirty-two dogs, not There were five cats and 32 dogs).
• On rare occasions when figures may cause confusion, use words instead (thirty-six 6.4-inch rifled guns, not 36 6.4-inch rifled guns).
• Fractions are given as words unless they occur in a percentage or with an abbreviated unit (⅛ mm, but never an eighth of a mm), or are mixed with whole numerals.
• Ordinal numbers are given as words using the same rules as for cardinal numbers. The exception is ordinals for centuries, which are always expressed in figures (the 5th century CE; 19th-century painting). The ordinal suffix (e.g., th) is not superscripted (23rd and 496th, not 23^rd and 496^th).
• Proper names and formal numerical designations comply with common usage (Chanel No. 5, 4 Main Street, 1-Naphthylamine, Channel 6). This is the case even where it causes a numeral to open a sentence, although this is usually avoided by rewording.

• Two-word numbers from 21 to 99 are hyphenated when presented as words (fifty-six), as are fractions (seven-eighths). Do not hyphenate other multi-word numbers (five hundred, not five-hundred).

• Commas are used to break the sequence every three places (2,900,000).
• Large rounded numbers are generally assumed to be approximations; only where the approximation could be misleading is it necessary to qualify with about or a similar term.
• Avoid over-precise values where they are unlikely to be stable or accurate, or where the precision is unnecessary in the context. (The speed of light in a vacuum is 299,792,458 metres per second is probably appropriate, but The distance from the Earth to the Sun is 149,014,769 kilometres and The population of Cape Town is 2,968,790 would usually not be, because both values are unstable at that level of precision, and readers are unlikely to care in the context.)
• Scientific notation (5.8 × 10⁷) is preferred in scientific contexts.
• Where values in the millions occur a number of times through an article, upper-case M may be used for million, unspaced, after using the full word at the first occurrence. (She bequeathed her fortune of £100 million unequally: her eldest daughter received £70M, her husband £18M, and her three sons each just £4M each.)
• Billion is understood as 10⁹. After the first occurrence in an article, billion may be abbreviated to unspaced bn ($35bn).

• A decimal point is used between the integral and the fractional parts of a decimal; a comma is never used in this role (6.57, not 6,57).
• The number of decimal places should be consistent within a list or context (The response rates were 41.0 and 47.4 percent, respectively, not The response rates were 41 and 47.4 percent, respectively), except in the unusual instances where the items were measured with unequal precision.
• Numbers between minus one and plus one require a leading zero (0.02, not .02); exceptions are performance averages in sports where a leading zero is not commonly used, and commonly used terms such as .22 caliber.

• Percent or per cent are commonly used to indicate percentages in the body of an article. The symbol % may be more common in scientific or technical articles, or in complex listings.
• The symbol is unspaced (71%, not 71 %).
• In tables and infoboxes, the symbol is used, not the words percent or per cent.
• Ranges are preferably formatted with one rather than two percentage signifiers (22–28%, not 22%–28%).

• For US-related articles, the main units are US units; for example, 10 miles (16 km).
• For UK-related, the main units are either metric or imperial (consistently within an article).
• For other country-related articles, the main units are metric; for example, 16 kilometres (10 mi).
• American English spells metric units with final -er (kilometer); in all other varieties of English, including Canadian, -re is used (kilometre).
• In scientific articles, use the units employed in the current scientific literature on that topic. This will usually be SI, but not always. For example, natural units are often used: ångströms (or angstroms) are widely used in such fields as x-ray crystallography and structural chemistry, and Hubble's constant should be quoted in its most common unit of (km/s)/Mpc rather than its SI unit of s⁻¹.
• If editors cannot agree on the sequence of units, put the source value first and the converted value second. If the choice of units is arbitrary, use SI units as the main unit, with converted units in parentheses.

• Conversions to and from metric and US units should generally be provided. There are two exceptions:
  • scientific articles where there is consensus among the contributors not to convert the metric units, in which case the first occurrence of each unit should be linked;
  • where inserting a conversion would make a common expression awkward (The four-minute mile).
• In the main text, give the main units as words and use unit symbols or abbreviations for conversions in parentheses; for example, a pipe 100 millimetres (4 in) in diameter and 16 kilometres (10 mi) long or a pipe 4 inches (100 mm) in diameter and 10 miles (16 km) long. The exception is that where there is consensus to do so, the main units may also be abbreviated in the main text after the first occurrence.
• Converted values should use a level of precision similar to that of the source value; for example, the Moon is 380,000 kilometres (240,000 mi) from Earth, not (236,121 mi). The exception is small numbers, which may need to be converted to a greater level of precision where rounding would be a significant distortion; for example, one mile (1.6 km), not one mile (2 km).
• Category:Conversion templates can be used to convert and format many common units, including {{convert}}, which includes non-breaking spaces.
• In a direct quotation:
  • conversions required for units cited within direct quotations should appear within square brackets in the quote;
  • if the text contains an obscure use of units (e.g., five million board feet of lumber), annotate it with a footnote that provides standard modern units, rather than changing the text of the quotation.
• Where footnoting or citing sources for values and units, identify both the source and the original units.

• Standard abbreviations and symbols for units are undotted (do not carry periods). For example, m for meter and kg for kilogram (not m. or kg.), in for inch (not in.,  or ″), ft for foot (not ft., or ′) and lb for pound (not lb. or #).
• The degree symbol is °. Using any other symbol (e.g., masculine ordinal º or "ring above" ˚) for this purpose is incorrect.
• Do not append an s for the plurals of unit symbols (kg, km, in, lb, not kgs, kms, ins, lbs).
• Temperatures are always accompanied by °C for Celsius, °F for Fahrenheit, or K for කෙල්වින් (35 °C, 62 °F, and 5,000 K, not 5,000 °K); the words for these three terms always have an upper-case initial.
• Values and unit symbols are spaced (25 kg, not 25kg). The exceptions are degrees, minutes and seconds for angles and coordinates (the coordinate is 5° 24′ 21.12″ N, the pathways are at a 180° angle, but the average temperature is 18 °C).
• Squared and cubic metric-symbols are always expressed with a superscript exponent (5 km², 2 cm³); squared imperial-unit abbreviations are rendered with sq, and cubic with cu (15 sq mi, 3 cu ft). A superscript exponent indicates that the unit is squared, not the unit and the quantity (3 meters squared is 9 square meters, or 9 m²; 8 miles squared is 64 square miles).
• In tables and infoboxes, use symbols and abbreviations for units, not words.
• Some different units share the same name. These examples show the need to be specific.
  • Use US or imperial gallon rather than just gallon.
  • Use nautical or statute mile rather than mile in nautical and aeronautical contexts.
  • Use long ton or short ton rather than just ton (the metric unit—the tonne—is also known as the metric ton).
• Ranges are preferably formatted with one rather than two unit signifiers (5.9–6.3 kg, not 5.9 kg – 6.3 kg).

Use accurate measurements whenever possible.

Vague:	The wallaby is small.
Precise:	The typical male wallaby is 1.6 metres (63 in) from head to tail.
Vague:	Prochlorococcus marinus is a tiny cyanobacterium.
Precise:	The cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus marinus is 0.5 to 0.8 micrometres across.
Vague:	The large herd of dugong stretched a long way down the coast.
Precise:	The dugong swam down the coast in a herd five kilometres (3 mi) long and 300 metres (1000 ft) wide.

• In country-specific articles, such as Economy of Australia, use the currency of the country.
• In non-country-specific articles such as Wealth, use US dollars (US$123).

• Fully identify a currency on its first appearance (AU$52); subsequent occurrences are normally given without the country identification (just $88), unless this would be unclear. The exception to this is in articles related to the US and the UK, in which the first occurrence may also be shortened ($34 and £22, respectively), unless this would be unclear.
• Do not place a currency symbol after the value (123$, 123£), unless the symbol is normally written thus. Do not write $US123 or $123 (US).
• Currency abbreviations that come before the number are unspaced if they end in a symbol (£123, €123), and spaced if they end in an alphabetical character (R 75). Do not place EU or a similar prefix before the € sign.
• If there is no common English abbreviation or symbol, use the ISO 4217 standard.
• Ranges are preferably formatted with one rather than two currency signifiers ($250–300, not $250–$300).
• Conversions of less familiar currencies may be provided in terms of more familiar currencies, such as the euro or the US dollar. Conversions should be in parentheses after the original currency, with the year given as a rough point of reference; for example, 1,000 Swiss francs (US$763 in 2005), rounding to the nearest whole unit.
• Consider linking the first occurrence of a symbol for less well-known currencies (₮146); it is generally unnecessary to link the symbols of well-known currencies.

• For a negative sign or subtraction operator, use a minus sign (−), input by clicking on it in the insert box beneath the edit window or by keying in −), or an en dash (see En dashes); do not use a hyphen, unless writing code.
• For a multiplication sign, use ×, which is input by clicking on it in the edit toolbox under the edit window or by keying in × (however, the unspaced letter x is accepted as a substitute for by in such terms as "4x4").
• The following signs are spaced on both sides:
  • plus, minus, plus or minus (as operators): + − ±
  • multiplication and division: × ÷
  • equals, does not equal, equals approximately: = ≠ ≈
  • is less than, is less than or equal to, is greater than, is greater than or equal to: < ≤ > ≥

Lines that start with blank spaces in the editing window are displayed boxed and in a fixed-width font, for simple tabulation. Lines that contain only a blank space insert a blank line into the table. For a complete guide to constructing tables, see Meta:Help:Table.

For thorough treatment of the English possessive see Apostrophe.

• It's is the short form of it is or it has; counterintuitively, the possessive its has no apostrophe.
• Usage varies for the possessive of singular nouns ending in s. Maintain consistency (James' house or James's house, but not both in the same article). Some forms almost always take an extra s (Ross's father); some usually do not (Socrates' wife; Moses' ascent of Sinai; Jesus' last words).

Abbreviations of Latin terms such as i.e. and e.g., or the use of the Latin terms in full, such as nota bene, or vide infra, should be left as the original author wrote them. When used in the main text, the abbreviations should normally be in roman rather than italic face. However, articles intended for a general audience will be more widely understood if English terms such as that is and for example are used instead.

Wikipedia articles must not be based on one person's opinions or experiences; thus, I is never used, except when it appears in a quotation. For similar reasons, avoid we; a sentence such as We should note that some critics have argued in favor of the proposal sounds more personal than encyclopedic.

Nevertheless, it is sometimes appropriate to use we when referring to an experience that any reader would be expected to have, such as general perceptual experiences. For example, although it might be best to write When most people open their eyes, they see something, it is still legitimate to write When we open our eyes, we see something.

It is also acceptable to use we in mathematical derivations (To normalize the wavefunction, we need to find the value of the arbitrary constant A). In historical fields, we can mean the modern world as a whole (The text of De re publica has come down to us with substantial sections missing).

Use of the second person (you), which is often ambiguous and contrary to the tone of an encyclopedia, is discouraged. Instead, refer to the subject of the sentence or use the passive voice, for example:

Use:	When a player moves past "Go", that player collects $200.
Use:	Players passing "Go" collect $200.
Use:	$200 is collected when passing "Go".
Do not use:	When you move past "Go", you collect $200.

This guideline does not apply to quoted text, which should be quoted exactly, nor to the Wikipedia namespace, where you refers to the writers to whom articles in the namespace are addressed.

Words and phrases like thusly, overly, whilst, as per, refute in the sense of dispute, along with several others, should be avoided because they not widely accepted—at least in some of their applications. Some are regional, so unsuitable in an international encyclopedia (see National varieties of English, below). Some give an impression of "straining for formality", and therefore of an insecure grasp of English. For a collection of contested words see List of English words with disputed usage; for a larger collection of words that are often misused or confused see List of frequently misused English words. See also Identity and Gender-neutral language, below.

In general, the use of contractions—such as don't, can't, won't, they'd, should've, it's—is informal and should be avoided. Contractions should be left unchanged, however, when they occur in a quotation.

It is usually preferable to avoid such phrases as remember that and note that, which address readers directly in an unencyclopedic tone. Similarly, phrases such as of course, naturally, and obviously make presumptions about readers' knowledge, and call into question the reason for including the related information in the first place.

The English Wikipedia has no general preference for a major national variety of the language. No variety is more correct than the others. Users are asked to take into account that the differences between the varieties are superficial. Cultural clashes over spelling and grammar are avoided by using four simple guidelines. The accepted style of punctuation is covered in the punctuation section.

Consistency within articles

Each article should consistently use the same conventions of spelling and grammar. For example, center and centre are not to be used in the same article. The exceptions are:

• quotations (the original variety is retained);
• titles (the original spelling is used, for example United States Department of Defense and Australian Defence Force); and
• explicit comparisons of varieties of English.

Strong national ties to a topic

An article on a topic that has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation uses the appropriate variety of English for that nation. For example:

• American Civil War—(American English)
• Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings—(British English)
• Australian Defence Force—(Australian English)
• European Union institutions—(British English)
• Vancouver—(Canadian English)

Retaining the existing variety

If an article has evolved using predominantly one variety, the whole article should conform to that variety, unless there are reasons for changing it on the basis of strong national ties to the topic. In the early stages of writing an article, the variety chosen by the first major contributor to the article should be used, unless there is reason to change it on the basis of strong national ties to the topic. Where an article that is not a stub shows no signs of which variety it is written in, the first person to make an edit that disambiguates the variety is equivalent to the first major contributor.

Opportunities for commonality

Wikipedia tries to find words that are common to all varieties of English.

• In choosing words or expressions, especially for article titles, there may be value in making choices that avoid varying spellings, where possible. In extreme cases of conflicting names, a common substitute (such as fixed-wing aircraft) is favored over national varieties (fixed-wing aeroplanes [British English], and fixed-wing airplanes [American English]).
• If a variable spelling appears in an article name, redirect pages are made to accommodate the other variants, as with Artefact and Artifact, so that they can always be found in searches and linked to from either spelling.
• Sensitivity to terms that may be used differently between different varieties of English allows for wider readability; this may include glossing terms and providing alternative terms where confusion may arise. Insisting on a single term or a single usage as the only correct option does not serve well the purposes of an international encyclopedia.
• Use an unambiguous word or phrase in preference to one that is ambiguous because of national differences. For example, use alternative route (or even other route) rather than alternate route, since alternate means only "alternating" to a British English speaker.

Articles such as English plural and American and British English differences provide information on the differences between the major varieties of the language.

Foreign words are used sparingly.

No common usage in English

Wikipedia prefers italics for phrases in other languages and for isolated foreign words that do not yet have common usage in English. However, in an article on a subject for which there is no English-language term, the foreign term does not require italicization.

Common usage in English

Loanwords and -phrases that have common usage in English—praetor, Gestapo, samurai, esprit de corps—do not require italicization. A rule of thumb is: do not italicize words that appear in an English language dictionary.

Spelling and transliteration

For terms in common usage, use anglicized spellings; native spellings are an optional alternative if they use the Latin alphabet. Diacritics are optional, except where they are required for disambiguation (résumé). Where native spellings in non-Latin scripts (such as Greek and Cyrillic) are given, they appear in parentheses (except where the sense requires otherwise), and are not italicized, even where this is technically feasible. The choice between anglicized and native spellings should follow English usage (e.g., Besançon, Edvard Beneš and Göttingen, but Nuremburg, role, and Florence). Article titles follow our naming conventions.

• Use terminology that subjects use for themselves (self-identification) whenever this is possible. Use terms that a person uses for himself or herself, or terms that a group most commonly uses for itself.
• A transgender, transsexual or genderqueer person's latest preference of name and pronoun should be adopted when referring to any phase of that person's life, unless this usage is overridden by that person's own expressed preference as to how this should be managed. Nevertheless, write to avoid confusing or seemingly logically impossible text that could result from pronoun usage (e.g., she fathered her first child).
• Use specific terminology. For example, often it is more appropriate for people from Ethiopia (a country in Africa) to be described as Ethiopian, not carelessly (with the risk of stereotyping) as African.
• To counter an interpretation that is inappropriately essentialist, terms used to describe people should qualify other nouns (black people, not blacks; gay people, not gays). Some groups, however, prefer the direct noun (many Jews, for example, prefer to use that noun rather than Jewish people).
• The term Arab (never to be confused with Muslim or Islamic) refers to people and things of ethnic Arab origin. The term Arabic refers to the Arabic language or writing system, and related concepts (Not all Arab people write or converse in Arabic.)
• As always in a direct quotation, use the original text, even if the quoted text is judged unsatisfactory by the preceding guidelines.

Please consider using gender-neutral language where this can be achieved in tidy wording and without loss of precision. This recommendation does not apply to direct quotations, the titles of works (The Ascent of Man), or where all referents are of one gender, such as in an all-female school (if any student broke that rule, she was severely punished).

පින්තූර එක් කිරීමේදී පහත දැක්වෙන පිලිවෙත් අනුගමනය කරන්න.

• ලිපියක ආරම්භයේ ඇති පින්තූරය ලිපියේ දකුණට වන්නට එක් කිරීම
• පින්තූර කිහිපයක් ඇති විට මාරුවෙන් මාරුවට දකුණට හා වමට වන්නට එක් කිරීම
• ඉතා කුඩා ජේදයකට පින්තූර 2ක් එක් කිරීමෙන් ජේදය සැන්ඩ්විච් නොකිරීම
• Generally, right-alignment is preferred to left- or center-alignment. (Example: Race (classification of human beings)).
  • Exception: Portraits with the head looking to the reader's right should be left-aligned (looking into the text of the article) when this does not interfere with navigation or other elements. In such cases, it may be appropriate to move the Table of Contents to the right by using {{TOCright}}. Since faces are not perfectly symmetrical, it is generally inadvisable to use photo editing software to reverse a right-facing portrait image; however, some editors employ this controversial technique when it does not alter obvious non-symmetrical features (such as Mikhail Gorbachev's birthmark) or make text in the image unreadable.
• බොහෝ පින්තූර අඩංගු වේ නම් ඒවා පින්තූර ගැලරියකට එක් කිරීම.
• Do not place left-aligned images directly below second-level (===) headings, as this disconnects the heading from the text it precedes. For example, do not use:

=== Section 1b ===
[[Image:Image relating to section 1b.jpg|frame|left|]]
First paragraph of section 1b.

Instead, either right-align the image, remove it, or move it to another relevant location.

• හැකි සෑමවිටම {{කොමන්ස්}} වල ඇති පින්තූර භාවිතා කිරීම
• පින්තූරයට අදාළව විස්තරයක් එක් කිරීම
• Specifying the size of a thumbnail image is not recommended: without specifying a size, the width will be what readers have specified in their user preferences, with a default of 180px (which applies for most readers), and a maximum of 300px. However, the image subject or image properties may call for a specific image width to enhance the readability or layout of an article. Cases where a specific image width is appropriate include:
  • images with extreme aspect ratios
  • detailed maps, diagrams or charts
  • images in which a small region is relevant, but cropping to that region would reduce the coherence of the image
  • a lead image that captures the essence of the article (recommended not to be smaller than 300px, as this will make the image smaller for users who have set 300px in their user preferences).

• Some users need to configure their systems to display large text; forced large thumbnails can leave little width for text, making reading difficult.

The current image markup for landscape-format and square images is:

[[Image:picture.jpg|thumb|right|Insert caption here]]

and for portrait-format images:

[[Image:picture.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Insert caption here]]

This will result in default image width of 180px and 140px respectively, which may vary proportionately by user preferences. Image rendering in this markup does not depend on image height.

Usage

Photos and other graphics always have captions, unless they are "self-captioning" (such as in reproductions of album or book covers) or when they are unambiguous depictions of the subject of the article. For example, in a biography article, a caption is not mandatory for a portrait of the subject pictured alone, but might contain the name of the subject and additional information relevant to the image.

Formatting

• Captions always start with a capital letter.
• Most captions are not complete sentences, but extended phrases, which should not finish with a period.
• Complete sentences in captions always end in a period.
• Captions should not be italicized, except for words that would otherwise be italicized.
• Captions should be succinct; more information on the file can be included in the image or media description page, or in the main text.

• Do not use lists if a passage reads easily using plain paragraphs.
• Use numbers rather than bullets only if:
  • there is a need to refer to the elements by number;
  • the sequence of the items is critical; or
  • the numbering has value of its own, for example in a track listing.
• All elements in a list should use the same grammatical form and should be consistently either complete sentences or sentence fragments.
  • When the elements are complete sentences, they are formatted using sentence case and a final period.
  • When the elements are sentence fragments, they are typically introduced by a lead fragment ending with a colon, are formatted using consistently either sentence or lower case, and finish with a final semicolon or no punctuation, except that the last element typically finishes with a final period.

Make links only where they are relevant to the context. It is not useful and can be very distracting to mark all possible words as hyperlinks. Links should add to the user's experience; they should not detract from it by making the article harder to read. A high density of links can draw attention away from the high-value links that you would like your readers to follow up. Redundant links clutter up the page and make future maintenance harder. A link is the equivalent of a footnote in a print medium. Imagine if every second word in an encyclopedia article were followed by "(see: ...)". Hence, the links should not be so numerous as to make the article harder to read.

Check links after they are wikified to make sure they direct to the correct concept; many dictionary words lead to disambiguation pages and not to complete articles on a concept. If an anchor into a targeted page (the label after a pound/hash sign (#) in a URL) is available, is likely to remain stable, and gets the reader to the relevant area significantly faster, then use it.

When wikilinks are rendered as URLs by the MediaWiki software, the initial character becomes capitalized and spaces are replaced by underscores. When including wikilinks in an article, there is no need to use capitalization or underscores, since the software produces them automatically. This feature makes it possible to avoid a piped link in many cases. The correct form in English orthography can be used as a straight link. Wikilinks that begin sentences or are proper nouns should be capitalized as normal.

Likewise, the use of piped links can be avoided in many cases when adding a grammatical suffix to a wikilink that is not part of an article title, by placing the suffix outside of the brackets. The suffix will still appear as part of the link, but will not be included in the link's target when actually clicked. For example, the markup [[transformer]]s appears in the article text as transformers but links to the article named Transformer.

Pronunciation in Wikipedia is indicated using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For ease of understanding across dialects, fairly broad IPA transcriptions are usually provided. See Help:IPA and Help:pronunciation for keys, and {{IPA}} for templates that link to these keys.

Use the simplest markup to display information in a useful and comprehensible way. Markup may appear differently in different browsers. Use HTML and CSS markup sparingly and only with good reason. Minimizing markup in entries allows easier editing.

In particular, do not use the CSS float or line-height properties because they break rendering on some browsers when large fonts are used.

Formatting issues such as font size, blank space and color are issues for the Wikipedia site-wide style sheet and should not be dealt with in articles except in special cases. If you absolutely must specify a font size, use a relative size, that is, font-size: 80%; not an absolute size, for example, font-size: 8pt. It is also almost never a good idea to use other style changes, such as font family or color.

Typically, the usage of custom font styles will

• reduce consistency—the text will no longer look uniform with typical text;
• reduce usability—it will likely be impossible for people with custom stylesheets (for accessibility reasons, for example) to override it, and it might clash with a different skin as well as bother people with color blindness; and
• increase arguments—there is the possibility of other Wikipedians disagreeing with choice of font style and starting a debate about it for aesthetic purposes.

For such reasons, it is typically not good practice to apply inline CSS for font attributes in articles.

Using color alone to convey information (color coding) should not be done. This is not accessible to people with color blindness (especially monochromacy), on black-and-white printouts, on older computer displays with fewer colors, on monochrome displays (PDAs, cell phones), and so on.

If it is necessary to use colors, try to choose colors that are unambiguous (such as orange and violet) when viewed by a person with red-green color blindness (the most common type). In general, this means that shades of red and green should not both be used as color codes in the same image. Viewing the page with Vischeck can help with deciding if the colors should be altered.

It is certainly desirable to use color as an aid for those who can see it, but the information should still be accessible without it.

Editors use invisible comments to communicate with each other in the body of the text of an article. These comments are visible only in the wiki source (i.e., the edit box), not when normally reading the page.

Invisible comments are useful for flagging an issue or leaving instructions concerning a specific part of the text, where this is more convenient than raising the matter on the talk page.

To leave an invisible comment, enclose the text which you intend to be read only by editors within <!-- and -->.

For example:

• (Inline:) ... dysoproxil fumerates.<!--Check my insertion of "s" --> These compounds have major uses in ...

• (Immediately after a section title:) <!--Do not change this section title: there are links to it.-->

• (At the top of the wiki source:) <!--This article is written in AmEng.-->


Invisible comments should be used judiciously, since they can clutter the wiki source for other editors and often will need to be removed by another editor when addressed. Check that your invisible comment does not change the formatting on the normal page, such as introducing unwanted white space.

Articles can include an external links section at the end to list links to websites outside of Wikipedia for purposes of providing further information as opposed to citing sources. The standard format is a primary heading named == External links == followed by a bulleted list of links. External links should identify the link and briefly summarize the website's contents and why the website is relevant to the article. For example:

*[http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/history/index.html History of NIH]

*[http://www.nih.gov/ National Institutes of Health homepage]

When wikified, the link will appear as:

• History of NIH
• National Institutes of Health homepage

Refrain from using too many links in articles: a sea of speckled blue often looks messy.

• In articles about chemicals and chemistry, use the style of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) for chemical names wherever possible. An exception is in article titles, where the common name should be used if it is different, followed by the IUPAC name. For general information see systematic name, and for organic compounds in particular see IUPAC nomenclature.
• In periodic table groups, use the IUPAC names (these use Arabic numerals, not Roman numerals or letters).

Wikipedians are encouraged to familiarize themselves with other guides to style and usage, which may cover details that are not included in this Manual of Style. These include:

• The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), which provides an online guide, The Chicago Manual of Style Online (subscription required).
• The Oxford Guide to Style (OGS), along with its companion the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors.
• The Mayfield Electronic Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing (free online).
• The CMS Crib Sheet (free online).
• Guides such as Fowler's Modern English Usage and Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage.
• The major English dictionaries.

• Style guide, the Wikipedia entry on style guides. Contains links to the online style guides of some magazines and newspapers.
• Wikipedia:Annotated article is a well-constructed article, with annotations that explain why.
• Wikipedia:Avoiding common mistakes gives a list of common mistakes and how to avoid them.
• Wikipedia:Be bold in updating pages should define your attitude toward page updates.
• Wikipedia:Citing sources explains process and standards for citing references in articles.
• Wikipedia:Editing policy explains Wikipedia's general philosophy of editing.
• Wikipedia:Footnotes describes footnote usage and style; parts of it are contested.
• Wikipedia:Guide to layout is an example of how to lay out an article.
• Wikipedia:How to edit a page is a short primer on editing pages.
• Wikipedia:Introduction is a gentle introduction to the world of Wikipedia.
• Wikipedia:Perfect stub article shows what you should aim for at a minimum when starting a new article.
• Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines is the main stop for policies and, well, guidelines.
• Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Jguk was an Arbitration Committee case on style edit warring.
• Wiki markup explains the mechanics of what codes are available to you when editing a page, to do things like titles, links, external links, and so on.
• Wikipedia:WikiProject sets out boilerplates for certain areas of knowledge.
• Meta:Reading level (discussion)