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Bulbanews:Manual of style: Difference between revisions
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Reverting back to news style. Remember that sometimes it contradicts traditional English language rules.
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* Except for historically ingrained cases such as Jesus and Moses, '''singular''' [[wp:Saxon genitive|possessives]] are formed with ''' 's''' - ''with an apostrophe''. [http://orwell.ru/library/others/style/e/estyle_1.htm] '''Plural''' possessives take a bare apostrophe '''if''' they end in '''s'''. | * Except for historically ingrained cases such as Jesus and Moses, '''singular''' [[wp:Saxon genitive|possessives]] are formed with ''' 's''' - ''with an apostrophe''. [http://orwell.ru/library/others/style/e/estyle_1.htm] '''Plural''' possessives take a bare apostrophe '''if''' they end in '''s'''. | ||
* Titles ahead of a name are capitalized, such as "Frontier Brain Noland." Titles after a name are lower-case, such as "Noland, frontier brain,..." Put a long title in back of a name (making it lower-case). If it is a job description, it is always lower-case, such as "trainer Ash Ketchum." | * Titles ahead of a name are capitalized, such as "Frontier Brain Noland." Titles after a name are lower-case, such as "Noland, frontier brain,..." Put a long title in back of a name (making it lower-case). If it is a job description, it is always lower-case, such as "trainer Ash Ketchum." | ||
* Hourly times do not use 0s (5 p.m., not 5:00 PM) and the a.m. and p.m. are written lower-case with periods. Use "noon" or "midnight" instead of "12"; | * Hourly times do not use 0s (5 p.m., not 5:00 PM) and the a.m. and p.m. are written lower-case with periods. Use "noon" or "midnight" instead of "12"; "midnight" is always counted as the day preceding the next. | ||
* Dates are to be presented with the month | * Dates are to be presented with the month abbreviated according to news style and preceding the day of the month, which does not take an ordinal suffix. A year may optionally be added, with a comma after the day of the month. Months that are never abbrevated are March, April, May, June and July. Therefore: | ||
** | ** Sept. 1, 2005 | ||
** | ** Sept. 2005 | ||
** | ** Sept. 1 | ||
=Punctuation= | =Punctuation= | ||
* Use a hyphen to connect related adjectives, such as 9-foot board, first-place finisher, 3-year-old girl. When linked adjectives are not related and not dependent upon each other to make sense, they require a comma, such as "the rusted, dull saw". | * Use a hyphen to connect related adjectives, such as 9-foot board, first-place finisher, 3-year-old girl. When linked adjectives are not related and not dependent upon each other to make sense, they require a comma, such as "the rusted, dull saw". | ||
* A sentence with one subject and two verbs does not need a comma. A sentence that is constructed with subect-verb and subject-verb does need a comma; for example: "Pikachu ate an apple and threw away the core," and "Pikachu ate an apple, and Pichu ate a pear." | * A sentence with one subject and two verbs does not need a comma. A sentence that is constructed with subect-verb and subject-verb does need a comma; for example: "Pikachu ate an apple and threw away the core," and "Pikachu ate an apple, and Pichu ate a pear." | ||
* | * While traditional English rules dictate the use of [[wp:Serial commas|serial commas]], in news style, the final word in a series is '''not''' preceded by a comma. For example, it would be "Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle," not "Bulbasaur, Charmander''',''' and Squirtle." | ||
* Never [[wp:comma splice|comma splice]], as in "Misty said being a Gym Leader is hard, her sisters give her plenty of trouble." Instead of the comma, you have three options: a conjunction ("because" is good in this case), making it two sentences, or using a semi-colon (the best choice in this case, but don't over-use it). | * Never [[wp:comma splice|comma splice]], as in "Misty said being a Gym Leader is hard, her sisters give her plenty of trouble." Instead of the comma, you have three options: a conjunction ("because" is good in this case), making it two sentences, or using a semi-colon (the best choice in this case, but don't over-use it). | ||
* Starting a direct quote requires its own paragraph. An indirect quote (paraphrasing what someone else said) directly related to the preceding sentence can be part of the same paragraph. Try to have paragraphs be no longer than six lines. A reader needs plenty of breaks. Try to mix short and longer paragraphs and sentences. | * Starting a direct quote requires its own paragraph. An indirect quote (paraphrasing what someone else said) directly related to the preceding sentence can be part of the same paragraph. Try to have paragraphs be no longer than six lines. A reader needs plenty of breaks. Try to mix short and longer paragraphs and sentences. | ||
* When quoting words, sentence fragments and punctuation-sensitive phrases (such as URLs and phrases to be input into software), do not insert punctuation before the quotation mark; therefore: "<nowiki>http://www.pokemon.com/</nowiki>", "Bulbanews", and "This is correct usage." | * When quoting words, sentence fragments and punctuation-sensitive phrases (such as URLs and phrases to be input into software), do not insert punctuation before the quotation mark; therefore: "<nowiki>http://www.pokemon.com/</nowiki>", "Bulbanews", and "This is correct usage." <!-- I have never heard of this rule in all my years as an English student. In fact, I've heard the contrary. Source? --> | ||
* Use a comma, not a period, when connecting a quote to a speech tag. It is not: "You do this right." he said. If the punctuation ending the quote is a ! or a ?, the pronoun is still lower-case, such as "You get it right!" he said. | * Use a comma, not a period, when connecting a quote to a speech tag. It is not: "You do this right." he said. If the punctuation ending the quote is a ! or a ?, the pronoun is still lower-case, such as "You get it right!" he said. | ||
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* Use Japanese Pokémon names in a Japanese context, especially with translations of Japanese episode titles; for example, ''{{tt|Nyula|Sneasel}} and {{tt|Barrierd|Mr. Mime}}! Whose Restaurant?!'' | * Use Japanese Pokémon names in a Japanese context, especially with translations of Japanese episode titles; for example, ''{{tt|Nyula|Sneasel}} and {{tt|Barrierd|Mr. Mime}}! Whose Restaurant?!'' | ||
* Use "U.S." as an adjective and "United States" as a noun unless that's how it is in a direct quote. Same goes for "U.K." and "United Kingdom". For example: "Pokémon is popular in the United States", not "Pokémon is popular in the U.S." | * Use "U.S." as an adjective and "United States" as a noun unless that's how it is in a direct quote. Same goes for "U.K." and "United Kingdom". For example: "Pokémon is popular in the United States", not "Pokémon is popular in the U.S." | ||
* | * Nine and below are spelt out, whereas 10 and above are written as numbers, including ordinals such as "first" and "11th". | ||
** Exceptions are numerous, including ages, dimensions and addresses, all of which use numerals. Avoid starting sentences with numbers. | ** Exceptions are numerous, including ages, dimensions and addresses, all of which use numerals. Avoid starting sentences with numbers, but when it is unavoidable, spell them out, even those 10 and above. The only exceptions to this rule are years. | ||
* The word "age" isn't needed with an age, such as "Ash Ketchum, age 10", unless the numeral can be confused with some other figure in the same sentence. Hyphenate an age when ahead of the noun, such as "4-year-old boy" and use separate words otherwise, such as "He is 4 years old." | * The word "age" isn't needed with an age, such as "Ash Ketchum, age 10", unless the numeral can be confused with some other figure in the same sentence. Hyphenate an age when ahead of the noun, such as "4-year-old boy" and use separate words otherwise, such as "He is 4 years old." | ||
* Subjects and verbs must match, such as "Electric and Psychic '''are''' my favorite types." Some misleading pronouns are singular, such as "everyone": "Everyone brought their Poké Balls" is incorrect | * Subjects and verbs must match, such as "Electric and Psychic '''are''' my favorite types." Some misleading pronouns are singular, such as "everyone": "Everyone brought their Poké Balls" is incorrect- instead, write "Everyone brought his or her Poké Balls." | ||
* "It's" is a contraction for "it is" as in "It's time we got this right." "Its" is possessive as in "The Poochyena wants its bone." | * "It's" is a contraction for "it is" as in "It's time we got this right." "Its" is possessive as in "The Poochyena wants its bone." | ||
* Avoid first-person writing (using "I", "me", "us", and "we" to refer to yourself) unless you're writing a first-person feature, column or opinion piece. | * Avoid first-person writing (using "I", "me", "us", and "we" to refer to yourself) unless you're writing a first-person feature, column or opinion piece. | ||
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**Avoid: "You get it right," said May. | **Avoid: "You get it right," said May. | ||
**Accepted: "You get it right," said May, the youngest coordinator in the room. | **Accepted: "You get it right," said May, the youngest coordinator in the room. | ||
* Use "plenty" and "several" instead of "much," "lots," or "a lot" except in a direct quote. Note that "a lot" | * Use "plenty" and "several" instead of "much," "lots," or "a lot" except in a direct quote. Note that "a lot" is two words. | ||
=References= | =References= | ||
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=External resources= | =External resources= | ||
* [[wp:News style|News style (Wikipedia)]] | * [[wp:News style|News style (Wikipedia)]] | ||
* [[wp:News values|News values (Wikipedia)]] | * [[wp:News values|News values (Wikipedia)]] <!-- Wikinews Style Guide doesn't exist. --> | ||
* [[wn:Content guide|Content guide (Wikinews)]] | * [[wn:Content guide|Content guide (Wikinews)]] | ||