Spelling and Grammar Standards

fleurdyleurse

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Weebl

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  • Always append 's to a noun when signifying a singular possessive (Latias's Soul Dew) or plural possessive that doesn't end in s (Lucario's Swords Dance), and simply a ' when signifying a plural possessive for a word that ends in s (All Latios' Draco Meteor).
Does this mean that the plural form of a move is the singular form, just like with Pokemon?
 

Electrolyte

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Does this mean that the plural form of a move is the singular form, just like with Pokemon?
Although there are a lot of gray areas when it comes to how this is handled, generally Pokemon names can only refer to singular instances, while moves can be both singular and plural (but again, there are many exceptions to this rule).

This is because when you refer to a Pokemon you refer to an entity--and thus, the singular form is enough to refer to that Pokemon. Also, generally you would not find yourself in a position where you need to refer to a species of Pokemon in the plural form, as doing so is often out of context, thanks to the umbrella effect of the Species Clause. When you refer to a move, you are referring to an action--something that can be performed or observed multiple times, replicating both in frequency (ie "Ludicolo can sponge Earthquakes easily.") or in presence (ie "I carry multiple Brave Birds on my team to counter Fighting-types.") [Though honestly the latter sounds weird and should probably be rephrased.].

So yes, moves can have singular and plural forms and still be grammatically correct. Sometimes it just sounds weird, so if it does, try changing it to singular and see if it can keep the meaning but also sound better.
 

Weebl

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  • When referring to a set that uses two specific moves, ensure the "+" sign is used, not "and" (Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary). The moves should also not be abbreviated
Would Substitute + Calm Mind, for example, be plural or singular? Would it be "Substitute + Calm Mind allows xxx" or "Substitute + Calm Mind allow xxx" ? I know it refers to a set, but does the phrase refer to the singular set or the two moves encompassed by the set?
 

GatoDelFuego

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Would Substitute + Calm Mind, for example, be plural or singular? Would it be "Substitute + Calm Mind allows xxx" or "Substitute + Calm Mind allow xxx" ? I know it refers to a set, but does the phrase refer to the singular set or the two moves encompassed by the set?
It only refers to the set itself, such as "Substitute + Calm Mind Mewtwo can pose a threat". If you want to refer to the moves themselves, say "Substitute and Calm Mind allow"
 

GatoDelFuego

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as a proper noun they should probably be OverUsed and UnderUsed, etc.
Can you elaborate on what this means for the standards? Does this mean only when referring to the tiers themselves, or something like "Metang is a great Pokemon in Rarelyused". Would that be capitalized?
 

NoCheese

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I came across the phrase "1 v 1" in the Dex entry for RU Bulk Up Gurdurr, and am not sure if we should standardize something for this. Would we rather use "1 v 1" as is, or "1v1," one-on-one," or something else? I suspect this phrase appears elsewhere, though I can't recall any specific dex entries, and think it would be good to at least be consistent on the spacing. In favor of "1v1" without spaces is the fact that "3v3" is the proper term for the triples metagame.

EDIT: I can confirm some inconsistency between entries now, as the Dex entry for NU Special Attacker Jynx uses "one-on-one."
 
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GatoDelFuego

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From my experience, I usually say things like "X can beat Y in a one-on-one matchup" or "X can beat Y one-on-one". I don't see a problem with 1v1 as well, but I would say "in a 1v1" is 'incorrect'. It's tricky for me to articulate this, but "one-on-one" seems to fit better into more things than "1v1". I don't see a reason to remove all "1v1"s where they can work, though.


But "1 v 1" and "1v1"? Spaces look gross
 

NoCheese

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Great. And I'm with you on the spaces thing. I've gone ahead and changed it to "one-on-one," since once I'm removing the spaces I might as well be consistent with the other entry I've seen, but won't mess with appropriate uses of "1v1" if I see them in other entries.
 
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Stratos

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Attack control vs attack control

I've seen two uses for this: the first being Attack control; controlling the opponent's Attack stat, by use of burns or Intimidate. The other is absorbing/redirecting attacks, such as with Follow Me or Rage Powder, which would be "attack control". Because we added in speed control, I'll add this one as well in a bit.
we refer to using fm/rp as either "fm/rp," "redirection," or (one of the components under the category of) "disruption." not attack control.

for that matter ive never seen or said Attack control either but i can understand why saying "burn or intimidate" every time can get old
 

Electrolyte

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"attack control" is generally accepted enough by the Doubles community to mean "controlling the opponent's (physical) attack power through methods such as burns and Indimidate" that I'd say keep it there. Also, it logically matches "speed control", which is the same thing, just with Speed stats and things such as TWave and Icy Wind.

Also, as just a note:

  • Do not put a hyphen between an adverb and a noun (Pichu can use a defensively oriented set or a specially based set).

I believe you mean adverb and an adjective; "oriented" and "based" are both adjectives. And that said, adverbs can't be used to describe nouns anyway, so you usually wouldn't even see them placed next to each other.
 

GatoDelFuego

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Fixed both. "Attack control" apparently didn't exist so I removed it a while ago. "attack control" is now redirection.
 

NoCheese

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A couple small questions from reviewing recent SCMS uploads.

1. Would we like "birdspam" to become a defined term that does not require the use of quotes around it?
2. Is there benefit to trying to standardize the use (or lack of use) of the definite article regarding weather? I see lots of inconsistencies regarding things like "Mega Charizard Y brings the sun" versus "Mega Charizard X brings sun." Same with things like preferring the rain, being faster in the sand, and so forth. This is likely too nitpicky, but I figure it's worth asking about.
 
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Oglemi

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RE: birdspam, I don't think it's exactly prominent to warrant coinage, but maybe it does. Jukain might have a better answer.

Re: weather, it depends totally on context. If weather is being talked about as part of a strategy, then it should be "the sun," but if it's simply a battlefield change or no the center of what the paragraph or Pokemon is about, just "sun" is probably best. I don't want to standardize anything, it's more of a feel for it kind of thing and also sounds better with some voices than other.
 

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