User:Brequinda/page004

WikiStyle

Use the EN DASH correctly in biographies

En dashes should be used to indicate the span of time between a beginning point and an endpoint. On Wikipedia this comes up a lot in biographies, so stop doing hyphens, m-dashes, space-ndash-spaces and whatever else you punctuationally kooky types like to do, and just succumb to my will, okay? Thanks. :)

Example: Napoléon Bonaparte (15 August 1769–5 May 1821) blah blah blah tried to take over the world...

En dash code: – or –

English

• abscess
• absorption
• abysmal
• abyss
• accents

include all accents on French words (but not anglicised French words such as cafe; exception: exposé, to avoid confusion with expose), and umlauts on German words. Do not use accents on other languages.

• accommodate is so spelled
• achilles heel, achilles tendon
• acknowledgment not acknowledgement
• acronyms

take initial cap: Aids, Isa, Mori, Unison, Nato

• acting

always lc: acting prime minister, acting committee chairman

• adaptation

not adaption

• adverbs

do not use a hyphen between an adverb and the adjective it modifies: a hotly disputed penalty, a constantly evolving newspaper, genetically modified food, etc.

• aeroplane

not airplane (in British English)

• affinity with or between , not to or for
• aggravate

to make worse, not to annoy

• ahead of

use before or in advance of (unless talking about a race)

• aide-memoire

plural aides-memoire

• alibi

being somewhere else; not synonymous with excuse

• allot, allotted
• all right

is right; alright is not all right

• alternative

strictly, a choice between two courses of action; if there are more than two, option or choice may be preferred

• amok

not amuck

• ampersand

use in company names when the company does: Marks & Spencer, P&O

• anaesthetic
• analysis

plural analyses

• analyst
• annex verb annexe noun
• anticipate

take action in expectation of, not synonymous with expect

• anticlimax
• apostrophes

Plural nouns take a singular apostrophe (children's games, gentlemen's outfitter, old folk's home)

The possessive in words and names ending in s also takes the singular (Jones's, James's), but be guided by pronunciation and use the plural apostrophe where it helps: Mephistopheles' rather than Mephistopheles's

Use apostrophes in phrases such as 12 years' imprisonment and 200 hours' community service

• its = belonging to it
• it's = it is, it has
• judgment not judgement