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Wikipedia talk:WikiProject GrammarDeleting the copy edit template?I just have a quick question. When we are copyediting a page for grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc., are we supposed to delete the template at the top of the page when we are done? I know that it is supposed to be removed after a page is "Wikified," but I wasn't sure about general cleanup templates. Thanks! HusikaSN 17:44, 18 October 2006 (UTC) If you are unsure about the job you did on the article, leave it in place and wait for a second opinion. If you are confident that the article is now properly edited and wikified, then remove the copyedit tag. Trusilver 04:26, 15 November 2006 (UTC) ListingsThere are many articles in Category:Wikipedia grammar check that are not listed on this page. For ease of maintenance, I would recommend dropping the listings on this page and just going by the category listings. If necessary, a bot could be used to distinguish the old from the new, but there's not that many on the list at any one time, and they can be added to Template:Opentask on a rotating alphabetical basis to make sure no individual articles stay in the category for too long. Beland 02:44, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Template merger?Template:gcheck and Template:cleanup-copyedit seem largely redundant. The latter has a nice bounding box, the former has better instructions. Should they be merged? Beland 02:52, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Display problems with this project pageWhen viewed in Mozilla 1.7.5, this project page is a little broken. Unless the page area is large enough, the horizontal yellow copyediting box overlaps with the vertical purple resources for maintenance and collaboration box. Internet Explorer gets around the problem by leaving a large gap so that the horizontal box is just below the vertical one. Is this a Mozilla bug, a wiki bug, or just a problem with the design of this page? Open4D 15:56, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC) Grammar deskThe Language and grammar desk is now open for questions on English grammar and usage, similar to the Wikipedia:Reference desk and Wikipedia:Help desk. Assitance in answering questions would be appreciated. Ground Zero 21:58, 22 August 2005 (UTC) MembershipHey, should I just put my name on the mainpage if I would like to join the Grammar Squad or do I have to do something else? Useless Fodder 23:40, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
Common ErrorsI'm relatively new to Wikipedia, but I was wondering if it would be appropriate to have a section on common grammatical errors. I'm not talking about spelling so much as putting commas, periods, question marks, etc. before the closing quotation mark. We all have pet-peeves, and although it's not always right to correct styles because they bother you, many annoyances are also incorrect. I'm not going to correct someone who uses the British spelling of color; colour is technically correct. However, using the word "two" when "to" is needed is an error that should be corrected. So, should there be a page devoted to common errors? Also, if I am posting this in the wrong place, please let me know. Msmays 20:19, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
UserboxWe should have a userbox, the one below is an example, it's not a serious attempt at a userbox.
Interpreting a sentenceI have a problem with a sentence in a Wikipedia article. I'm not a native speaker so maybe I'm wrong. The sentence is as follows: With a total of over 40 million speakers this is the most numerous of the 3 groups, as well as most spread globally and the only group that has members which are official, national and standard languages. I interpret this to mean that the other two groups neither have one or more of: official, national or standard languages. Yet I know that in at least one of the other two groups there indeed is an official and national language (I'm no linguist so I won't even try to interpret the standard one which may or may not apply). The original author/editor of that article has already reverted my change (I simply dropped the and the only group that has members which are official, national and standard languages part). He says I am wrong and insists on the plural (I suggested he add multiple if that was his intent). If anything I feel his argument could be on the and at the end of the sentence. Anyhow, how would you interpret this? Could someone suggest a rewrite, assuming one is needed? Lastly, the other editor is I believe also ESL like me. If needed I'll also post the internal link (if someone else wants to edit the sentence). Caranorn 16:18, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
"Would"I've noticed that in many Wikipedia articles, instead of just putting past events in past tense, "would" is used. Here is an example from the Bryan Berard article:
Basically, I think this is completely wrong to write like this. "Would" should be used for hypothetical past situations, like "I would have taken out the trash if it hadn't rained." But I don't know exactly what rule this violates, or what to call this mistake. I would like to be able to let editors know, on their talk pages, about this common error so they can fix it. Does anyone know exactly what is wrong with using "would" this way? Muéro(talk/c) 19:44, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
Copy edit IndonesiaHi guys how are you going? So we've got this article, which failed GA status. However, currently the issues have been fulfilled, except for grammar. I also know that prose is really important to reach FA status. That is why, I'd like to request you all to improve the article, because from the peer review, it is very close to GA and FA status. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Imoeng 05:38, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
Copy-editors?
Project directoryHello. The WikiProject Council has recently updated the Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory. This new directory includes a variety of categories and subcategories which will, with luck, potentially draw new members to the projects who are interested in those specific subjects. Please review the directory and make any changes to the entries for your project that you see fit. There is also a directory of portals, at User:B2T2/Portal, listing all the existing portals. Feel free to add any of them to the portals or comments section of your entries in the directory. The three columns regarding assessment, peer review, and collaboration are included in the directory for both the use of the projects themselves and for that of others. Having such departments will allow a project to more quickly and easily identify its most important articles and its articles in greatest need of improvement. If you have not already done so, please consider whether your project would benefit from having departments which deal in these matters. It is my hope that all the changes to the directory can be finished by the first of next month. Please feel free to make any changes you see fit to the entries for your project before then. If you should have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. B2T2 13:45, 26 October 2006 (UTC) Proper Possessive NounsWhich is more proper: " Selous' Mongoose " or " Selous's Mongoose ?" VGF11 03:01, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
Wikipedia Day AwardsHello, all. It was initially my hope to try to have this done as part of Esperanza's proposal for an appreciation week to end on Wikipedia Day, January 15. However, several people have once again proposed the entirety of Esperanza for deletion, so that might not work. It was the intention of the Appreciation Week proposal to set aside a given time when the various individuals who have made significant, valuable contributions to the encyclopedia would be recognized and honored. I believe that, with some effort, this could still be done. My proposal is to, with luck, try to organize the various WikiProjects and other entities of wikipedia to take part in a larger celebrartion of its contributors to take place in January, probably beginning January 15, 2007. I have created yet another new subpage for myself (a weakness of mine, I'm afraid) at User talk:Badbilltucker/Appreciation Week where I would greatly appreciate any indications from the members of this project as to whether and how they might be willing and/or able to assist in recognizing the contributions of our editors. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 18:48, 30 December 2006 (UTC) League of Copyeditors participation drive!Hello all, The League of Copyeditors has started a participation drive for the remainder of February. If you would like to join or help, visit our project page for more information. Our participation drive aims to help clear the backlog by adopting the following goals each week:
Thanks for your help! BuddingJournalist 09:18, 7 February 2007 (UTC) Articles that need checkingI think there's some testing/vandalism happened on the project mainpage - in the "Articles that need checking" section. I'm loath to edit a project front page being an inexperienced editor, but it looks wrong to me ? Cricketgirl 16:23, 25 March 2007 (UTC) HelpI am having a little grammar dispute with User:TheTruth2. He keeps removing the word "the" from wrestling PPV articles where events were held at the Kemper Arena. He is making it so the articles say "event X took place on date Y at Kemper Arena". I tried giving him examples of why that is wrong (like you wouls say "this event took place at the White House" even though it's technically just "White House"). Could anyboy here help? TJ Spyke 05:26, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
"Earth" or "the Earth"Hi, We're having a discussion on the Earth article's talk page about whether it is more appropriate to say "the Earth" or just "Earth" on an article that is specifically about the planet. If possible, would some grammar experts be willing to clear up the confusion? The conversation is located at: Talk:Earth#.22Earth.22_vs_.22the_Earth.22.3F. Thank you! — RJH (talk) 16:05, 26 May 2007 (UTC) This is my first post so forgive me if I should accidentally transgress into doing no faux pas, but it's my considered opinion that "Earth" is considerably less presumptuous than "the Earth". How are we to know for sure that in a possible purplexingly infinite "Multiverse" there would be no other Earths? Maybe the least presumptuous of all ways to say it might instead be "the earth", where the "earth" in "the earth" means the oh-so-thin soil on which we actually live? Blagoblag out.
GA to FAI've been requested to copy-edit a Good Article awaiting Featured Article status. Is there any special protocol that needs to be followed during/after editing an article of this type? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Abernethyj (talk • contribs)
Urgent Help for Copy editing Kaziranga National Park in FACKindly help in Copy editing Kaziranga National Park which is currently in FAC. I had put it up in WP:LOCE in April 2007, but still now no one have noticed. I need your urgent help in cpediting the article, as i am not so good in doing it. The article has no other issue but cpedit, i gurantee u that a fine refinement will help a lot. Amartyabag TALK2ME 06:47, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
OK to requestBold text copy-editing for you own articles/edits?Here's a question I've been pondering for a while: I'm a non-native contributor to the English wikipedia. Although confident about the content I add, I often find myself wondering if the English I write might sound stylistically silly or unsophisticated to native readers. My question now is, is it OK to request a copy-edit of my own stuff by inserting the copyedit template or are authors barred from requesting such for their own work, like they're prohibited to remove AfDs from their own work? thanks Funkysapien 00:41, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
Verb tense on old consumer productsCurrently there is a civil—yet intense—discussion going on at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games, regarding the verb tense to use in the introductory sentence of Wikipedia articles on products that have been out of production for many years. Some say that the Wikipedia articles on old model cars or 25-year old cameras which begin with sentences like "The Nash Rambler was a North American automobile produced by the Nash Motors" are demonstrating perfectly acceptable usage for a mass-produced item, even though some of the cars may still exist. Others say that, because there are still some of these cars still in existence, such an introduction should be replaced with "The Nash Rambler is a North American automobile produced by the Nash Motors"; use of the past tense in such a case, it is asserted, would be grammatically incorrect. Others do not necessarily reject the use of the past tense in describing automobiles, but state that it is not germane to the subject of articles on videogame consoles. I think many of us would be very grateful for the advice of persons who not only have no personal interest in these articles, but who also are persons who take really know English grammar and take it seriously. I am a party to this debate, and have strong feelings about what is correct, but I also know that I don't know everything about writing. I submit our dispute to your greater wisdom. Unschool 04:33, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
CompareIn the following sentence, should it be "compared with" or "compared to": "Unemployment in London is at 2.2%, compared with/to 3.4% nationally"? Epbr123 (talk) 20:24, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
"The" before arena namesOccasionally I will have to put up with an editor removing the word "the" from before arena names. The most recent case is Survivor Series (1991) where an editor changed it from "from the Joe Louis Arena" to "from Joe Louis Arena". To me that is grammatically wrong and doesn't sound right. The last editor to do this tried to justify their actions by saying we shouldn't use it just because the arena name is "Joe Louis Arena" (although that would be like saying we should use "at White House" rather than "as the White House" since "the" isn't part of the name). Am I correct? Maybe this would finally settle matters. TJ Spyke 05:33, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
Massive backlog of articles needing copy editHi friends! I've been working on the backlog of articles needing copy edit for the past couple of weeks, and there are far too few of us working on it to catch up with the increasing number of articles tagged for copy-edit. At my last count there were 4,243 articles needing copy-edit, representing a backlog stretching as far back as January 2007, with around 400 articles being tagged per month. So if any of you are free and feel like helping out, head over to the category page! :) -Samuel Tan (talk) 11:06, 28 June 2008 (UTC) Wikiproject or taskforce to deal with the copy edit backlogHey all! I've been trying to gauge interest in a taskforce or even a wikiproject dedicated to maintaining and working on the category of articles needing copy edit, which has backlog reaching to January 2007. Already there are a few people interested in the idea; if you're interested or want to help, drop a note at my talk page! When there are enough of us interested, we can put up a proposal for the wikiproject and start working out the details. :) Samuel Tan 01:38, 4 July 2008 (UTC) Degree of comparison questionOver at Albert Pujols, I have recently been butting heads over grammar with a new user, User:Cardinals10WS (who may be using sockpuppets), and I would like other opinions from established users on what should be a simple matter. Here's the frustrating background: The issue is which word, better or best, to use in the phrase "[Albert Pujols] is widely regarded as one of the [better/best] players in the game today." I have laid out my concerns and reasoning several times: at Talk:Albert Pujols, at Cardinals10WS's talk page (only to be met with page blankings), on my talk page and on the talk page of one of the new single-purpose accounts. What I have gotten is largely a silly edit war in which the new user(/users?) changes the long-established wording in the article from "best" to "better" by claiming in an edit summary to be making "grammatical corrections". My attempts at discussion have not met with much reasoning: just [1] and [2]. A form of this question has been asked at Talk:Degree_of_comparison#Question, and "one of the best" was supported. So, to the question: Which degree of comparison should be used for one of the top current hitters in baseball? Is Albert Pujols "one of the best players" or merely "one of the better players"? Thanks in advance. I can clarify anything further if necessary. -Phoenixrod (talk) 05:20, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
"Most populated"I was rather alarmed to discover that (using the search string "most populated" site:en.wikipedia.org -User -talk) over 1,000 articles have this hideous creation. (The -User -talk eliminates talk pages and user pages.) I've gone through about 100 articles and templates, changing "most populated" to "most populous" and moving the page if needed), but there's still a lot of work to be done. Anybody willing to help stamp out this specific ugliness? Horologium (talk) 23:49, 9 November 2008 (UTC) 2 people with the same name in the same pragraphI am wondering if there is a way to clean up a paragraph dealing with 2 people of the same name (first name is the only name ever given) that doesn't force me to reuse a addative information within commas every time, thus inflating the size of the paragraph a whole lot. Here is the paragraph I'm trying to reduce:
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Jinnai (talk • contribs) at 20:02 on 18 Dec 2008 (UTC) Progressive past tenseThe tense in a sentence in the Jehovah's Witnesses article has been changed, with the editor making the change helpfully explaining his reason. I think he's wrong. I can't find any support for his stance in a Google search of grammar websites, or a copy of Fowlers English Usage, but then again I can't find anything that directly supports my preference either. Here's the sentence as it reads now: "As their interpretations of Scripture continued to develop, Witnesses were told that saluting the flag or standing for the national anthem are forms of idolatry." I think that because the tense is initially established as past (continued to develop, were told) the following phrase should read "Witnesses were told that saluting the flag or standing for the national anthem were forms of idolatry." It seems awkward and downright wrong for the tense to change mid-sentence. The editor who altered the tense claimed it was a progressive aspect verb and gave this explanation: "When something (considered to be) absolute (ongoing) is determined in the past, it is still correct to use a present verb, because the subject is always in the present. e.g. Scientists discovered that the universe is big, rather than was. In the specific instance, they decided that anthems and saluting are (always) idolatry, not just that it was idolatry at the time." Is he right or wrong? Any thoughts would be appreciated! LTSally (talk) 02:11, 18 March 2009 (UTC) My (far too late to be useful) opinion is that the editor who corrected you is partly correct. When the event spoken of is no longer true in present, real, time, then the verb is always backshifted, as: "I like my work: - George Washington said that he liked his work. When the event is still true in present, real time, then the verb may or may not be backshifted. Both forms are correct as: "I like my work" -I spoke to my daughter yesterday and she told me that she liked/likes her work. Incidentally, there is no progressive aspect of a verb in your quotation gramorak (talk) 16:23, 10 July 2010 (UTC) Centralized discussion regarding requested move of London Underground linesDiscussion turns on a point of grammar. Talk:Victoria line#Requested move Ed Fitzgerald t / c 10:35, 4 June 2009 (UTC) "regarded as"In reference to this: Is Hinduism regarded as one of the world's oldest religions? Or is it simply regarded one of the world's oldest religions? I was confident when I edited that sentence but now I'm not so sure. EnviroboyTalkCs 12:37, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
QuestionDoes one refer to it as the town of Brunswick or the Town of Brunswick? wadester16 03:20, 26 June 2009 (UTC) PerfectIt (computer program for easier copyediting)I have just discovered a computer program for easier copyediting. See Intelligent Editing - Cleaner, Smarter, Better Documents. Narrative present and other verb tense issuesI have some questions and would like input on the use of the narrative present verb tense in Wikipedia article text. Please comment at WT:MOSBETTER. — AjaxSmack 01:08, 14 July 2009 (UTC) Acronyms ending in SHey there. When an acronym ends in S (e.g. SAS), would it be SAS's in possessive form or SAS'. Cheers. Ashnard Talk Contribs 20:21, 8 August 2009 (UTC) Caps/nounsHi, There is a minor friendly debate to reach consensus about the correct way to capitalize certain terms; as there are few people working on the article, it would really help if a few others could add their opinions, in Talk:Pentecostalism#Proper_names. Thanks, Chzz ► 09:39, 13 August 2009 (UTC) Data are pluralI find myself being accused of edit waring for correcting "data is ..." to "data are ..." Please join the discussion in the Hard Disk Drive Talk page; perhaps some folks interested in grammar can help Tom94022 (talk) 21:22, 10 October 2009 (UTC) It's called a "fluid term," an abstract word that compares to amounts of liquid quantitatively. "Water is" would not be "water are." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.160.92 (talk) 05:31, 23 December 2011 (UTC) hypenation and Magical girl articlesPeople: I've summarized at Talk:Magical girl#hyphenation: "magical girl" and "magical-girl": summarizing discussion for convenience an issue concerning common names, compound adjectives and accepted usage in the articles dealing with a recognized concept in manga/anime. Perhaps we've just talked past each other, but User:Malkinann and I would appreciate comments. Thanks. HoundsOfSpring (talk) 06:42, 6 May 2010 (UTC) Hebe Camargo article{{helpme}} You could make spelling proofreading in the section "Awards and honors" of the article "Hebe Camargo"? The verbal placements which I suspect are wrong are all below in bold:
These verbal placements are correct? Otherwise, could correct? Gustavo1997 (talk) 00:58, 22 May 2010 (UTC) Potential taskforce or related WikiProjectWikiProject English dialects? I've been thinking about creating a group of Wikipedians to more-or-less enforce WP:ENGVAR—the standards of allowing different national varieties of English on the English Wikipedia. Responsibilities might include:
User:Radiopathy is also interested and generally focuses on checking pages for conformance to British English. Would anyone else be interested in assisting with English dialect issues like this? Are there any Australian, Canadian, or South Asian Wikipedians who would also be interested in making conformity for their own national English variations as well? Please respond here with any feedback you have about the plausibility of this proposal or your interest in it. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 17:56, 8 August 2010 (UTC) Editors with consistently terrible grammarIs there any relevant WP policy for editors who clearly are not native English speakers and write terrible prose? I'm not trying to be a dick, but I'm in the midst of a content dispute with an editor at International child abduction in Japan and, on top of his POV pushing, I can't always understand what he says on Talk and, adding insult to injury, I am conflicted as to whether I should copyedit his factually POV edits for grammar for the sake of a readable article (so he has something to revert me to) and then rewrite them to be NPOV and accurate (and still readable.) Cybermud (talk) 04:13, 5 September 2010 (UTC) Commas inside/outside quotesI have noticed, just about everywhere on Wikipedia, that periods and commas only show up after a quote mark. For example: Jack said, "I ate eggs for dinner". However, proper convention is to place periods and commas inside the final quote mark. (See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/577/01/ rule #5). Thus, proper English would be: Jack said, "I ate eggs for dinner." Sometimes I see punctuation outside of the quote marks on Wikipedia and feel the urge to correct it, but then I remember that it's like that everywhere and my edits will only lead to a lack of consistency. So, why is it almost like an unspoken rule to have improper period and comma placement on Wikipedia? Althepal (talk) 16:54, 25 October 2010 (UTC)
Adverbs and auxiliaries
Has the Singular Possesive Pronoun Gone the Way of the Dinosaur?Hello All, I made what I thought to be a simple, obvious grammatical correction here. My edit was reverted, and I am now told that "they" can be used as a singular pronoun in today's politically-correct linguistic landscape. While such a suggestion sounds like poppycock to an old fuddy-duddy like myself, I suppose I should check with the experts. Who is correct? Is the "singular they" a commonly-accepted element of our evolving language? Many thanks, Ebikeguy (talk) 15:53, 1 July 2011 (UTC)
Affect or EffectThere is currently a debate at Talk:A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010 film)#Production: Development regarding whether a quote is incorrectly using "effect". Here is the quote:"It's definitely not a standard slasher film. This is a movie that you can mention to people and their jaws drop [...] because of that franchise, that character, had a profound effect on their childhood. [...] I hear things like, 'Freddy scared the hell out of me.' [...] What everyone involved wants to do is re-invent the character for a new generation." The question is whether "effect" is being used as a verb (to influence) or as a noun. One side is arguing that the word should be "affect", because the statement is implying an influence on childhood. The other side is arguing that the statement is correct already, because it is speaking about causing a change. I've looked at various websites (1, 2, and 3), and it seems to always come down to whether the word is being used as a verb or as a noun. I'd really like to get some more opinions on which is appropriate in this statement so that the article can reflect that. BIGNOLE (Contact me) 18:51, 4 July 2011 (UTC) Definitely "effect". It's certainly not being used as a verb in that sentence; "profound" is an adjective. An example using "affect" would be "...that character profoundly affected their childhood." (In rare cases "effect" can be a verb, and "affect" can be a noun, but this isn't one of those.)Tdslk (talk) 19:15, 4 July 2011 (UTC)
Tense in discontinued video game articleSo, I'm in the middle of copy editing Exteel, a game that was discontinued a while ago. Following the convention of using the present tense for fiction, it seems better to write "The Mechanaughts are ..." than "The Mechanaughts were ...". But "Players can ..." instead of "Players could ..." just sounds weird, knowing that there aren't any players anymore. Any advice? Thanks. Leonxlin (talk) 22:18, 24 July 2011 (UTC) Governor generalA question has come up pertaining to the whole series of biographies of Canadian governors general: what is the best way to apply the noun suffix "-ship" to the term "governor general"? Is it "governorship general" or "governor generalship"? The answer, by extention, affects whether it's best to pluralise "governor general" as "governors general" or "governor generals". Ħ MIESIANIACAL 17:04, 15 November 2011 (UTC)
Commas for more than two subjects.I've noticed a recent phenomenon on Wikipedia: Using incorrect placement of commas on multiple subjects. For example: Mix milk, eggs and cheese. That should be: Mix milk, eggs, and cheese. When the former is written, it would be read as such, Mix milk...Eggs & cheese. That implies that instead of mixing milk, eggs, and cheese, one would combine 1. Milk, and 2. A mixture of eggs and cheese. "And" is sufficient to separate two subjects. Otherwise, each subject should have a comma separating it from its neighbor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.171.160.92 (talk) 05:40, 23 December 2011 (UTC) Some newspapers and magazines have a local style guide mandating the serial comma -- so leaving it out would, as you suggested, be incorrect when writing an article for them. You may be surprised to learn that other newspapers and magazines have a local style guide forbidding the serial comma -- so the "correction" you suggest would make it incorrect when writing an article for them. See our serial comma article for more details. While I personally agree that always using a serial comma makes a lot of sense, the Wikipedia style guide MOS:SERIAL specifically says either way is acceptable in Wikipedia articles. Neither way is always "incorrect". DavidCary (talk) 15:23, 14 November 2013 (UTC) Still extantIn the infobox at Matsudaira clan, in the dissolution line, is the phrase "still extant". Isn't this redundant (and a good example of tautology)? Wiktionary, Merriam-Webster's, Compact OED, and Webster's New World all use the word "still" in their definitions. Can I remove "still" from the infobox? – Kerαunoςcopia◁galaxies 18:58, 2 March 2012 (UTC) Elizabeth IIIs the desk still alive? See Talk:Elizabeth_II#Rewriting_some_lines. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Spelling Style (talk • contribs) 20:53, 24 September 2012 (UTC) Villyan Bijev"In 2012 he declined an invitation to play for Bulgaria U-21,but in the next year he is part of the team." That doesn't make sense to me. – Michael (talk) 21:52, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
"Which" vs. "that"Someone just changed this sentence: "This was a suborbital flight which lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds." to "This was a suborbital flight that lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds." I don't think there was anything wrong with the way it was. This seems to be a usage (style) issue; is there any grammatical preference for one over the other? Is which as used here in any way unclear? JustinTime55 (talk) 20:27, 9 September 2013 (UTC)
There are complicated grammar reasons for this, but that’s all you need to know. IWI (chat) 12:59, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
A or AnHi, I've been editing articles on U.S. Senators and congressmen and I was wondering which was correct. _________ was a U.S. senator. or __________ was an U.S. senator. The first one sounds better but I'm not sure. Thanks in advanced. Jamo58 (talk) 23:21, 12 September 2013 (UTC)
"On Mr. X's account,"An editor keeps using this phrase over and over for journalists, professors, etc. Some hypothetical examples: "On Einstein's account, E=MC2." "On Jay Leno's account, he's sad to have to leave his show." "On Professor's Jones account, all the lions in Africa will be extinct in 40 years." This just seems like clumsy and confusing grammar to me and there are far more grammatical ways to express the thought which editors use all the time. Thoughts? User:Carolmooredc active voiceWhy does wp: active voice redirect to this page? To comply with WP:R#PLA, wp: active voice should point to some page that at least mentions the phrase "active voice". Did this page once mention active voice, but that section was accidentally deleted and needs to be restored? Is there some other Wikipedia guideline that mentions active voice, and wp: active voice should point at that page instead of this one? DavidCary (talk) 16:20, 14 November 2013 (UTC) was or is?Which is correct?
Reference: [4] B2C 20:26, 9 February 2014 (UTC) updated B2C 20:31, 9 February 2014 (UTC)
Are you reading the sentence as if there were a comma between phrase and famously? "We will bury you is a phrase, (comma) famously used by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev...." Because that would make sense. Ykraps (talk) 17:20, 13 February 2014 (UTC) Hello, Grammarians! Is this old Afc submission of any use, or should it be left to be deleted as a stale draft? —Anne Delong (talk) 06:05, 11 February 2014 (UTC) LanguageToolI've been using LanguageTool to correct some common mistakes in the Spanish and English Wikipedia. You should take a look at it. Macofe (talk) 22:14, 3 May 2014 (UTC) Leaflet for Wikiproject Grammar at Wikimania 2014 Hi all, My name is Adi Khajuria and I am helping out with Wikimania 2014 in London. One of our initiatives is to create leaflets to increase the discoverability of various wikimedia projects, and showcase the breadth of activity within wikimedia. Any kind of project can have a physical paper leaflet designed - for free - as a tool to help recruit new contributors. These leaflets will be printed at Wikimania 2014, and the designs can be re-used in the future at other events and locations. This is particularly aimed at highlighting less discoverable but successful projects, e.g: • Active Wikiprojects: Wikiproject Medicine, WikiProject Video Games, Wikiproject Film • Tech projects/Tools, which may be looking for either users or developers. • Less known major projects: Wikinews, Wikidata, Wikivoyage, etc. • Wiki Loves Parliaments, Wiki Loves Monuments, Wiki Loves ____ • Wikimedia thematic organisations, Wikiwomen’s Collaborative, The Signpost
Members of this project......might be interested in this discussoion. BMK (talk) 07:20, 1 July 2014 (UTC) Quick questionA rather coarse one, but another editor and I are at an impasse: Are "cocksucker" and "dicksucker" synonyms for "fellatio"? The discussion is here: Talk:Dicksucker. Thanks. Lightbreather (talk) 06:26, 20 September 2014 (UTC)
Comment on the WikiProject X proposalHello there! As you may already know, most WikiProjects here on Wikipedia struggle to stay active after they've been founded. I believe there is a lot of potential for WikiProjects to facilitate collaboration across subject areas, so I have submitted a grant proposal with the Wikimedia Foundation for the "WikiProject X" project. WikiProject X will study what makes WikiProjects succeed in retaining editors and then design a prototype WikiProject system that will recruit contributors to WikiProjects and help them run effectively. Please review the proposal here and leave feedback. If you have any questions, you can ask on the proposal page or leave a message on my talk page. Thank you for your time! (Also, sorry about the posting mistake earlier. If someone already moved my message to the talk page, feel free to remove this posting.) Harej (talk) 22:47, 1 October 2014 (UTC) Walter Freud deceasedParaphrased, the last line state "He is the father of Lord Freud". I was about to change to "he was".... but I'm not sure if that is right either? Stacie Croquet (talk) 16:39, 15 October 2014 (UTC) WikiProject X is live! Hello everyone! You may have received a message from me earlier asking you to comment on my WikiProject X proposal. The good news is that WikiProject X is now live! In our first phase, we are focusing on research. At this time, we are looking for people to share their experiences with WikiProjects: good, bad, or neutral. We are also looking for WikiProjects that may be interested in trying out new tools and layouts that will make participating easier and projects easier to maintain. If you or your WikiProject are interested, check us out! Note that this is an opt-in program; no WikiProject will be required to change anything against its wishes. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you! Note: To receive additional notifications about WikiProject X on this talk page, please add this page to Wikipedia:WikiProject X/Newsletter. Otherwise, this will be the last notification sent about WikiProject X. Harej (talk) 16:57, 14 January 2015 (UTC) Is Material Design a proper noun?Could some experts please weight in on Talk:Material_design#Title_capitalization about whether Material Design is a proper noun? Thanks in advance. Thue (talk) 14:43, 13 March 2015 (UTC) "as well as"Several yesterday changes by User:Michael Demiurgos (redlink User:talk:Michael Demiurgos) carry edit summary "Grammar" and evidently comprise little or nothing but multiple replacement of "and" by "as well as". Extremely so at Earthsea (universe) diff; cannot be undone. Here is another one week earlier diff; cannot be undone. P64 (talk) 18:21, 15 March 2015 (UTC)
Use of commas at the Cougar (slang) articleOpinions are needed on the following matter: Talk:Cougar (slang)#Incorrect and/or improper usage of commas. A WP:Permalink for it is here. Flyer22 (talk) 10:02, 19 July 2015 (UTC) Grammar guidelines?Hi team, do we have any grammar guidelines anywhere? There doesn't seem to be anything in the MOS unless I've missed it. Thanks.Bermicourt (talk) 19:46, 21 March 2016 (UTC) Help me for the correct titleI recently created a new article album equivalent unit. But I'm actually still confused with its title, as I'm not a native speaker. Google Seach results "equivalent album unit", "album equivalent unit", and "album-equivalent unit". Which one is gramatically correct? Thanks in advance :) Bluesatellite (talk) 21:04, 1 July 2016 (UTC) Merge with the GOCEI propose merging this wikiproject into the GOCE, because this page is mostly inactive and has a similar scope to the GOCE. If you merge you will get the activity of the GOCE and add your content to the GOCE, and avoid redundancies. Thanks, Jjjjjjdddddd (talk) 05:25, 7 July 2016 (UTC)
Uses of the semicolonAt the Wikipedia article on semicolons, one of the uses listed is "when a comma replaces a period (full stop) in a quotation, or when a quotation otherwise links two independent sentences", followed by the example: "I have no use for this," he said; "you are welcome to it." There's no source cited verifying this use, so I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable about this can offer advice or cite a reference. I've often structured quotations this way, but using a period instead where the semicolon is in the example above. Is this more or less correct? Thoughts? @Plantsurfer: @SecretName101: Dan56 (talk) 22:39, 12 July 2016 (UTC) There is a serious proposal to use "plural they" to described a transgender personI can't believe I even have to report this, but some editors are seriously proposing using "they" instead of she/her for Alexis Arquette at Talk:Alexis Arquette#Detransitioned?. So if this is done, we will have sentences such as "Arquette is noted for their roles in films, and they were nominated for several awards" scattered throughout Alexis Arquette. MOS:GENDERID is very clear about this: we use the pronoun appropriate for the person's latest self-designated gender. Sundayclose (talk) 01:15, 16 September 2016 (UTC) I don't know where to start on this! Any bored grammar police can have a field day fixing it up. Equinox ◑ 09:05, 14 December 2016 (UTC) Commas in DatesAs per Wikipedia:Basic_copyediting, when using the "Month Day, Year" format you need a comma after the year. But it seems like it would be a lot of commas to do that in a sentence like the following: "I went camping from April 1, 2017, to April 3, 2017, in the Artic." When you are doing a date range like that do you still use commas after the years? Or is there a better way to format that sentence. (Also, can I just say that asking a written question to a bunch of grammar experts is very intimidating. I've written and re-written this question at least ten times...) VoodooEconomics (talk) 15:12, 11 April 2017 (UTC) Requesting grammar check at Jackbox GamesRecently, Jackbox announced a new gamemode in their upcoming game, The Jackbox Party Pack 4, and an IP decided to add details about the new gamemode. To assist them, I have added a source to the new gamemode and performed a partial grammar check, as I do not have the time to perform a full check. Would it be possible for someone to check the grammar in the section? Thanks! jd22292 (Jalen D. Folf) 01:43, 27 June 2017 (UTC) Discussion at Talk:Avel Enukidze#Requested move 1 November 2018
Perfect tense
In the lede of a BLP article, which one should be used, and why? The purpose is to convey where Fred lives now, how long he's been living there, and where he's lived before. It's been about a century or so since school
Title questionHey, would appreciate some insight to the correct usage. What is the correct (or more correct) way of writing this title:
The "minor" can be basically any other word - "main", "supporting", "recurring", etc. --Gonnym (talk) 10:35, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
Answers in Genesis grammar helpHello. There is currently a disagreement about a potential grammatical error in the Answers in Genesis article. The current wording of the opening two sentences of the lead section is,
However, if we study the pronoun 'which', we see that it refers to young Earth creationism, and hence the meaning of the sentence becomes:
The problem with this statement is that even if that is the intended meaning, 'their' in 'their literal interpretation' refers to young Earth creationism, while in my understanding it should 'its'. There are other obvious issues with this statement, such as that adherents of young Earth creationism still have different interpretations of the Genesis creation narrative (some believe the Earth is flat; others don't), but what I want to establish is that there is at least one grammatical error in the sentence. Can anyone help?OlJa 14:29, 27 March 2019 (UTC) A new newsletter directory is out!A new Newsletter directory has been created to replace the old, out-of-date one. If your WikiProject and its taskforces have newsletters (even inactive ones), or if you know of a missing newsletter (including from sister projects like WikiSpecies), please include it in the directory! The template can be a bit tricky, so if you need help, just post the newsletter on the template's talk page and someone will add it for you.
Episode table template grammar issueThe {{Episode table}} template has a country field that adds the title "(field value) Viewers." This appears to be incorrect as Nationality would seem to be more inline with the word Viewers than the country. So, should the templates docs be corrected to fix this oversight? 119.224.3.221 (talk) 05:34, 2 June 2019 (UTC)
Quick question Ned Flanders' leadThe lead sentence for Ned Flanders says, "Nedward Flanders Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode 'Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire'". I'm conflicted about the phrase "series premiere episode" in this sentence. Must it be "series' premiere episode" with a possessive shown to be correct? Jason Quinn (talk) 15:57, 3 June 2020 (UTC) Two of my recent articles need some copyeditingHi there! I posted this two recent articles of mine (Puelches, La Pampa and San Martín de los Andes) in the Teahouse, so somebody could take a look at them and do some basic copyediting. I know it's not the right place, but I really don't want to overload the Guild of Copyeditors, which does a really great job in my opinion. All I got is a few corrections by experienced users, which I feel it's not enough. I'd certainly appreciate if somebody here could read them and make some corrections. It doesn't need to be perfect, since I'm not nominating or so, which would make it a case for the Guild. I just want to make these two articles a little better. I think it's not terrible, but English is not my native language, so that's the thing. If this is not the proper place to get this kind of help, I'd be thankful if you could tell me where to go besides the Guild. Most likely, I'll have this problem in the future, so I'd like to know Thanks in advance--Gunt50 (talk) 21:02, 22 April 2021 (UTC) Why should insert we, our and us?Per WP:Pronouns and WP:MOS, article should be written in NPOV and the writer must be invisible to reader. However, this does not implied to the most important articles, especially scientific topics and explicitly use our, us and we. I saw it in articles Universe, Problematic smartphone use and Human evolution. There should be grammar checking administrator to eliminate this issue. The Supermind (talk) 20:17, 18 June 2021 (UTC)
@Christian75: Sorry I'm too urged to say Our Universe is inappropriate, but I noticed most scientific topics utilizing these pronouns to denote we the reader on behalf of humans. Such sounded outside the scope of "objectivity", which is the basic tool for WP:MOS. Yes, Wikipedia permits the use of these pronouns if it is inserted in contextual sense. For example:
Another example to the coronary of objectivity is:
Singular possessive nouns ending in /sMy biggest Wiki grammar peeve? Missing s’s after the apostrophe on a singular noun ending in s. I know anyone can find plenty of media that are the exception to this rule because Associated Press (AP) guidelines do not mandate an s after the apostrophe for singular possessive nouns ending in s. However, in an encyclopedia, lack of disambiguation between singular and plural possessive nouns can be much more confusing. I’m sure some editors have already decided not to use the s after the apostrophe for singular possessive nouns ending in s. I just hope they are conscious that nowhere in any grammar book is a rule that you don’t form singular possessive nouns ending in s the same way you form singular possessive nouns that do not end in s. They are supposed to be the same. 2601:3CB:480:9600:401F:5617:D43:782F (talk) 04:29, 31 August 2022 (UTC) — Forgot to sign in. —Cprice45 (talk) 04:32, 31 August 2022 (UTC)
I will say this mistake can probably found on most every article on the English Wiki. That is why I was so unsure, and clearly not the only one. The manual of style makes it exceedingly clear: ‘s. Cprice45 (talk) 11:36, 31 August 2022 (UTC) "Military Forces" "was" OR "were" ?Republic of Vietnam Military Forces (twice in the lead). Apokrif (talk) 15:51, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
Thru or Through?Hey everyone, Not a project member (based on my spelling, you do not want me to be...), but have come across the issue of whether "thru" is improper and better spelled as "through". I tried to find an answer thru some WP's but I found myself going through a wiki-hole and I threw myself somehow into articles about cheese. If it is a hard-and-fast "through" rule, I'll trust this projects judgment and go Jeff Bridges and abide. My thanks! Shortiefourten (talk) 19:14, 22 June 2023 (UTC)
Note2022–23 Indian State Leagues i have to try posting here, if any user able to fix article format can help; my edits are sourced but table got messed and local users dont care for some reason. these lower soccer leagues are my long term hobby. thanks in advance 93.140.193.65 (talk) 22:40, 28 June 2023 (UTC) Sentence fragment?@The Earwig, Beggarsbanquet, ThunderingTyphoons!, SecretName101, Plantsurfer, RevMSWIE500, and Cromwellt: Hello everyone! The wikiproject was inactive and I am taking steps to make it active again, therefore I decided to ping all active editors for a grammar question. Is the following text a sentence fragment or not, and if so, why?
Regards, Thinker78 (talk) 23:02, 25 November 2023 (UTC)
Full stop in TableI want to remove a full stop which is just after two word (Look for honorary members at the Other status section in List of X-Men members page) in table, which is not even full sentence. I didn't find any Wikipedia rule page regarding grammar in tables (If there is please mention to me). Shall I remove it on the basis on grammar or leave it as it is? Sewnbegun (talk) 06:44, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
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