Spelling and Grammar Standards

[Ray Jay]

Introduction

This thread is a reflection of C&C's Spelling and Grammar Standards article located here. Because this article is not easily accessible on-site, people make many errors that could've been easily prevented. For this reason, I am opening this thread so that users can both discuss the standards and refer to them easily within our forums.

Spelling and Grammar Standards

1. Spelling
   • Abbreviations
   • Coined Terms
2. Grammar
   • Capitalization

Spelling

• Pokemon should be spelled without the accent.
• The nature Naive should be spelled without the diaeresis (which looks like this: ï ).
• The phrase "super effective" is neither hyphenated nor capitalized.
• The phrases "revenge KO" and "revenge kill" are never hyphenated.
• When a type name is directly followed by the word "type", a hyphen is used (Normal-type).
• When saying that a Pokemon has "some typing", it is never hyphenated (Gengar's Ghost typing helps it be viable in OU.).
• Dealing with dual typings is a bit trickier. When a dual type name is directly followed by the word "type," a hyphen should not be used (Rock / Ground type). When saying that a Pokemon has "some dual typing," it is never hyphenated as well (Golem's Rock / Ground typing was a godsend in RBY OU.).
• Always spell out the full name of an item, never use abbreviations. (Life Orb is a powerful item on Gengar.)
• Always spell out the full name of a stat (Salamence should always run 252 Speed EVs.). The only exception is when used in a full EV spread or in damage calculations (An alternative spread of 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD is viable with a Bold nature.).
• Always use spaces inbetween the slash and numerical investment for EV spreads (Physical attackers should run a 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe EV spread.).
• Rotom and Deoxys formes, not forms.
• The standards for forme names are as follows: Wormadam-G, Wormadam-S, Shaymin-S, Deoxys-S, Deoxys-A, Deoxys-D, Giratina-O, and Rotom-A (where A is C for the lawn mower, H for the toaster, W for the washer, F for the refrigerator, S for the fan, and A for the five formes at large).
• The term is Speed tie, not Speed-tie or Speed Tie.
• Use "switch-in" when referring to a Pokemon that often switches in on another (Scizor is a common switch-in to Latias.).
• Do not use a hyphen when using "switch in" as a verb (Gyarados can switch in on Mamoswine.).
• Always use a hyphen when using "early-game, mid-game, and late-game" to refer to the point in a battle when a Pokemon typically fights in a battle.
• Use "Uber" when referring to the Uber tier, but "Ubers" is acceptable when referring to the Ubers metagame.
• Use the ASCII ( ' ) apostrophe in writing, not the curly ( ’ ) apostrophe.
• Use the ASCII ( " ) quotation marks in writing, not the curly ( “ ” ) quotation marks.
• When referring to the combination of Rest and Sleep Talk, use RestTalk. This also goes for other accepted move combinations, including BoltBeam, VoltTurn, SubSeed, and EdgeQuake. These combinations should not be reversed; QuakeEdge is not OK.
• When using one of the below-endorsed abbreviations, never use the non-abbreviated phrase.
• Do not refer to Latias and Latios together as Lati@s.
• When setup is being used as an adjective, spell it as setup and not set-up. (Pichu is setup bait for Mewtwo.) The verb form, to set up, is spelled as such. (Mewtwo can set up on Pichu.)
• The company is called Game Freak, not Gamefreak or GameFreak.
• The item is called Flying Gem, not Flight Gem.
• The item is called Fighting Gem, not Fight Gem.
• The item is called Eviolite, not Evolution Stone.

Abbreviations

• Use 3v3 as an abbreviation for the triple battle metagame.
• Use VGC as an abbreviation for the Video Game Championships.
• Use RBY as an abbreviation for the Red / Blue / Yellow generation.
• Use GSC as an abbreviation for the Gold / Silver / Crystal generation.
• Use ADV as an abbreviation for the Advance Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald generation.
• Use DPP as an abbreviation for the Diamond / Pearl / Platinum generation.
• Use BW as an abbreviation for the Black / White / Black 2 / White 2 generation.
• Use OHKO as an abbreviation for one-hit knock-out.
• Use NHKO as an abbreviation for an N-hit knock-out, where N is any number greater than 1 (Choice Band Gyarados can cleanly 2HKO even bulky Rotom-W.).

Coined Terms

• The term outspeed (outspeeding, outsped) is accepted as meaning "to move first in battle".
• The term outdamage (outdamaged, outdamaging) is accepted as meaning "to deal more damage than another attack or Pokemon".
• The term spinblock (spinblocker, spinblocking) is accepted as meaning "to block Rapid Spin".
• The term phaze (phazer, phazing, phazed) is accepted as meaning "to pseudo-haze", which in turn describes forcing a switch with a move such as Whirlwind.
• The term wallbreaker (wallbreaking) is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that breaks down walls".
• The term stallbreaker (stallbreaking) is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that breaks down stall".
• The term spinner (spinning) is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that can use Rapid Spin."
• The term Spiker is accepted as meaning "Pokemon that can use Spikes / Toxic Spikes."
• The term moveslot is accepted as meaning "slot in a Pokemon's set".
• The term movepool is accepted as meaning "pool of all of a Pokemon's moves".
• The term Spikes-stacking is accepted as an adjective meaning "a team that attempts to stack multiple layers of Spikes".
• The term four-moveslot syndrome is accepted as meaning "a problem arising due to the Pokemon only being allowed to have four moves at one time".
• The term Fire / Water / Grass core is accepted as meaning "a core used containing a Fire-type, Water-type, and Grass-type, which is notable for its synergy."
• In RBY analyses, it is permissible to use the term sleeper, which is accepted as meaning "a Pokemon that induces sleep onto the opponent".

Grammar

• Smogon uses the serial comma (the comma before "and" in a list). (I went to the store with Bob, Jane, and Mike.). This picture explains why
• Use active voice (Gliscor can OHKO Magnezone.) whenever possible rather than passive voice (Magnezone can be OHKOed by Gliscor.).
• Commas should not be used to separate a compound verb unless the conjunction is combining two independent clauses or the comma is necessary for clarity. (Pichu walked into the store and bought a pie).
• When writing a fraction, add a hyphen between the numerator and the denominator if both are written out rather than numerical. (Pichu ate two-thirds of the pie.)
• Do not put a hyphen between an adverb and a noun (Pichu can use a defensively oriented set or a specially based set.)
• When written as a single object, even naturally plural items are treated as singular (Leftovers is a good item choice on bulky Pokemon. Choice Specs is put to excellent use on Jolteon.).
• For unbracketed asides, use the em dash (—) and no spaces (Mareep—that is to say, the entire evolution family—is extremely cute.).
• Hidden Power Type, not Hidden Power [Type].
• The plural of a Pokemon is identical to the singular of that Pokemon. One Blissey, two Blissey. Never two Blisseys.
• OHKOes as the verb form (Salamence OHKOes Alakazam.) and OHKOs as a plural noun (Salamence scores many OHKOs.). OHKOed is the past tense (Salamence OHKOed Alakazam).
• 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).
• When listing multiple types, use a hyphen after each type (Water-, Flying-, and Normal-types).
• When listing effectiveness of attacks, the number goes before the x (Earthquake is 2x super effective on Lucario. Ice Beam is 4x super effective on Salamence.).
• The word "resists" is only to be used as a form of the infinitive "to resist" and never as a noun. ("Flying-type resists such as Pichu are good Pokemon" is incorrect.)
• Swift Swim user, not Swift Swimmer.
• You may use the pronoun "who" instead of "which" or "that" and use "he" or "she" to refer to Pokemon as people if you so desire. It must be consistent for the entire article or analysis if this is done, however.
• Do not write an analysis in a form that puts emphasis on changes by generation. This includes avoiding phrases such as "With the advent of BW...".
• When referring to the battler, use the pronoun "you". Do not use "you" to refer to a Pokemon.
• Smogon uses the American English spelling of words (favor, minimized, maximized, etc.).
• It is "an OHKO", not "a OHKO" (pronounce it 'oh-aitch-kay-oh' and it will make sense).
• The past tense of "to EV" is "EVed".
• The word "spectrum" should never be used to describe the difference between physical and special offensive and defensive stats; "Infernape hits hard from both sides of the spectrum" should be rephrased to say "Infernape hits hard both physically and specially," or something similar.
• Refer to the "Wi-Fi Clause" as "Team Preview."
• Avoid using "crux" in your analysis unless you know what you are doing. 95% of the time, you will simply be adding useless filler like "X is the crux of this set," which does not provide the reader with any information of value.
• The word "base" should come before the numbers of a stat. For example, Mew has a base 100 Special Attack. Rather than, Mew has a 100 base Special Attack.

Capitalization

• Stats (Attack, Special Defense, etc.) are capitalized.
• Pseudo-stats (accuracy, evasion) are not capitalized.
• Types (Fire-type, Water-type, etc.) are capitalized.
• Status effects (paralysis, sleep, etc.) are not capitalized.
• Pseudo-status effects (confusion, etc.) are not capitalized.
• "Berry" is always capitalized when talking about a pinch Berry, even when used without a specific name (The suggested item is a Berry.). If not talking about some kind of pinch Berry, then it should not be capitalized (Pichu enjoys berries in its salad.)
• "Ball" is always capitalized when talking about a Poke Ball of some sort, even when used without a specific name (The Ball used for capture doesn't matter.). If not talking about some kind of Poke Ball, then it should not be capitalized (Pichu likes playing with a beach ball.)
• "Egg" is always capitalized when talking about a Pokemon Egg of some sort. (The Pokemon's Egg hatched!) This also applies to Egg Groups. If not talking about a Pokemon's Egg, then it should not be capitalized (Delibird is actually quite a fan of scrambled eggs.)
• "Choice" in "Choice item" is always capitalized when talking about any non-specific Choice item, such as Choice Specs, Choice Scarf, and Choice Band. (Tyranitar is an excellent user of Choice items.) When not used in context of the generalized items, then choice is not capitalized (The choice of which to do is up to you.)
• "Orb" in "status Orb" is always capitalized when talking about any non-specific status Orb, such as Flame Orb and Toxic Orb. (Swellow can activate its ability Guts through the use of a status Orb.) When not used in the context of the generalized items, then orb is not capitalized (Spoink has a beautiful orb on its head.)
• Weather (sun, rain, etc.) is not capitalized.
• Conditions (Gyarados was Thunderbolted.) are capitalized only when the entire move name is used (Scizor passed Iron Defense to Skarmory. Scizor Baton Passed Iron Defense to Skarmory.).
• Clauses (Sleep Clause, OHKO Clause, Item Clause, etc.) are capitalized in full, even when part of the word is normally not capitalized (ie. sleep, item, etc.).
• Tiers (Uber, Overused, Underused, etc.) are capitalized.
• Community-created terms such as "Speed tier" are not capitalized beyond the normal conventions, but Nintendo-created terms such as "Base Power" are capitalized as they would be in-game.
• Set names are only capitalized in set titles, never in set comments (If Arcanine is a specially defensive variant, it isn't OHKOed by Milotic's Surf.).
• Pokemon roles (sweeper, tank, special wall, etc.) are not capitalized.
• Ho-Oh, not Ho-oh.
• Wi-Fi, not Wifi or Wi-fi.
• The following applies for the capitalization of specific moves:
  • Any move or ability that is a single, 12-letter word consisting of two words appended with each other (Thunderpunch, Dynamicpunch, etc.) are written like so in DPP/BW: ThunderPunch, DynamicPunch, etc.
  • Other abilities or attacks that consist of two words but that fit the 12-letter restriction (Sunny Day, Zen Headbutt, Mold Breaker, etc.) are written with a space in between and with both words having an initial capital letter.
  • All attacks having a dash (Wake-Up Slap, X-Scissor, etc.) are written with the word after the dash also capitalized. U-turn and V-create are the only exceptions to this rule.
  • There are further exceptions to the first two rules. The following are the correct way of writing the particular word: BubbleBeam, Compoundeyes, DoubleSlap, Flamethrower, Lightningrod, Selfdestruct, SmokeScreen, Softboiled, SolarBeam, Superpower, Tailwind, Thunderbolt.
• The word "physical" is not capitalized. The word "special" is not capitalized when not referring to a stat (Azelf has base 125 Special Attack, but Flamethrower is a special attack.). When saying something is "physically defensive" or "specially defensive", physical and special are not capitalized.
• The word "defenses" is not capitalized when referring to a Pokemon's overall defensive ability rather than to a stat (Cresselia has exceptional balanced defenses.).
• The word "Pokemon" is always capitalized.
• The word "nature" is not capitalized (Adamant nature, not Adamant Nature).
• The word "suspect" is not capitalized when referring to a Pokemon (Garchomp is a suspect.), but it is capitalized when referring to the Suspect metagame or tier.
• The word "bulky" is not capitalized when it prefixes a type (bulky Water-type).
• The phrase "critical hit" is not capitalized.
• The phrase "dual screens" is not capitalized.
• The word "item" is never capitalized.

In-game

• It is indeed in-game with the hyphen, not ingame or in game.
• It's Pokédex, not PokéDex or Poké Dex
• You should write Pokémon Center with the accent.
• Other Poké words: Poké Ball, Poké Flute, Poké Mart, etc.
• The standard we go by is Poké Dollars to describe the currency of the Pokemon games.
• In GSC, it is called the Pokégear.
• "Berry" is always capitalized when talking about a pinch Berry, even when used without a specific name (The suggested item is a Berry.). If not talking about some kind of pinch Berry, then it should not be capitalized (Pichu enjoys berries in its salad.)
• "Ball" is always capitalized when talking about a Poké Ball of some sort, even when used without a specific name (The Ball used for capture doesn't matter.). If not talking about some kind of Poké Ball, then it should not be capitalized (Pichu likes playing with a beach ball.)
• "Egg" is always capitalized when talking about a Pokemon Egg of some sort. (The Pokemon's Egg hatched!) This also applies to Egg Groups. If not talking about a Pokemon's Egg, then it should not be capitalized (Delibird is actually quite a fan of scrambled eggs.)
• Trainer is always capitalized when used in the context of a Pokemon Trainer.
• The correct capitalization and spelling is Exp. Points.
• The "w" in wild Pokemon is never capitalized.
• Gym Leader is always capitalized.
• Gym is also always capitalized when talking about the Gym of the town where the Gym Leader resides that holds the Badge.
• Badge is always capitalized as well.
• The title of a Trainer is always capitalized; ie. Fisherman, Lass, Rocket Grunt, etc. However, when a Trainer class and a normal citizen have the same name, such as scientist, only capitalize those who are actually Trainers. (I got the item from the Scientist that I battled.) (I talked to one of the scientists in Cinnabar Lab.)
• The "r" in route is only capitalized when used as a proper noun in conjunction with the route number, such as Route 1.
• There is no space between the "TM" and the number of the TM, such as TM01. This is the same for HMs.

[ShinyAzelf]

Great, it's finally somewhere where people can read it!

Thanks Rising_Dusk, good work!

[Zystral]

A few things I'd like to add.

• Always Life Orb not LO
• Don't use "Scarfed/Banded/Specs <Pokemon>", use "Choice <Item> <Pokemon".
• The word "base" when used to refer to a stat is not capitalized ("Porygon-Z has base 135 Special Attack"), but when referring to power, is ("Explosion is Base 250 Power").
• When mentioning EV spreads in set descriptions, say the whole stat name ("Salamence usually invests 252 EVs in Speed", not "Salamence usually runs 252 Spe").

Otherwise, nice sticky, I'll come up with more as I come across common errors.

[Fatecrashers]

I understand that this sticky is mainly for PokeGrammar but can people please use 'its' and 'it's' correctly please? I swear it's the most common grammar error that I have to correct.

its = possessive

eg. Snorlax can restore some health using its Leftovers.

it's = contraction for 'it is'

eg. It's a damn shame that Snorlax doesn't get Slack Off.

For more on this basic rule of grammar, watch this video.

[Rising_Dusk]

Those are some good ideas, Zy, but they can be generalized and handled in one fell swoop. I'll update now.

[ShinyAzelf]

One more thing I think should be added:

The terms "hail" and "sandstorm" are not capitalized, unless it is the name of a set.

Example: Empoleon is immune to sandstorm, but not to hail.

EDIT: My bad, sorry Fate.

[Moo]

• 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).

Is that a mistake?

[Fatecrashers]

@ShinyAzelf

There's already this rule:

Weather (sun, rain, etc.) is not capitalized.

@Mooo

Why would you think that's a mistake? That's how apostrophes are meant to be used...

[Charmander]

I'm not sure why people don't do this anymore, but a while a back, people would use the term "bulky water" to refer to bulky Water-type tanks like Vaporeon and Milotic. Is this still acceptable or should we use "bulky Water-type"?

edit: @Mooo when a word ends with s, the apostrophe goes after the "s" if it's referring to position (i.e. "the muffins' leader attacked me" would be talking about multiple muffins that had a leader)

[Rising_Dusk]

Originally Posted by Fat -Charmander-

I'm not sure why people don't do this anymore, but a while a back, people would use the term "bulky water" to refer to bulky Water-type tanks like Vaporeon and Milotic. Is this still acceptable or should we use "bulky Water-type"?

It should always be "bulky Water-type". Bulky is just an adjective to Water-type, so it should make sense why it's this way.

[Tomahawk9]

Isn't it Ho-oH?
(Even if it's wrong, I think you should mention it's wrong.)

[Eos]

@Toma, no it's Ho-Oh.
Also, thanks for putting this up for everyone to see. Should be easier for people to write articles now, as well as, our job easier if we need to double check something.

[Oglemi*]

Can we add something about how to say set up. Even I still get confused on when and how to use set up, and setup sweeper, etc. I want it standardized.

EDIT: Also, I want the standard to state that we should use Pokemon without the accent on the e.

[Rising_Dusk]

I haven't included anything because it's not a convention, it's a normal grammar rule that my grammar reference book on-hand has in it. This article isn't to replace typical grammar sense.

• Setup is a noun, used as follows: "Gyarados has an easy setup against Scizor."
• Set up is a verb, used as follows: "Gyarados can easily set up against Scizor."
• Set-up is an adjective, used as follows: "A set-up Gyarados is dangerous."

[Erebyssial]

Are "ADV/DPP/BW" etc. abbreviations only for when refering to the metagame, or must they be used for the generation as a whole as well? I'm noticing lots of analyses have things like "X didn't gain anything new in the fifth generation" and I'm wondering if that's acceptable since it's not refering to competitive play specifically.

[Rising_Dusk]

"fifth generation" is ok because it's not attempting to abbreviate anything, it's literally saying the fifth generation of Pokemon, which is perfectly acceptable. Those abbreviation rules are so people don't say things that are non-standard like D/P/P or whatever.

[Oglemi*]

Hey R_D, can we add something about not using those dastardly curly apostrophes? Unless you already have and I missed it.

[Flora]

^

"Use the ASCII ( ' ) apostrophe, not the curly ( ’ ) apostrophe, in writing."

Yep, it's there!

[Oglemi*]

Ahh, I found it. Well, in any case I think the quotations should be added too. I've seen some analyses where they use the correct apostrophes but use the curly "" quotations.

[Rising_Dusk]

I'll extend the rule to the curly quotation marks just because there's no reason not to.

[Zystral]

I was given a book today as a gift, all about the intricacies of the English language. There's a page all on common mistakes, so I think I'd throw a few of these in for reference.

• When giving examples, it is better to use "such as" instead of "like". E.g. Houndoom has problems with bulky Water-types, such as Slowbro.
• In general, "since" should only be used in terms of chronology. If you are stating a reason, then use "because" or "due to". E.g. Because Porygon-Z is Normal-type and has low Defense, Mach Punches will kill it.
• For numbers smaller than 10, write it out in word form. Only for 10 and above should figures be used.
• May vs Might. "May" is to do with permission, thus most likely you will be using "might" in your writing. (Choice Specs Reshiram Overheat might OHKO Blissey in the Sun.)
• Rising vs Raising. "Raising" means to physically elevate, and such should be avoided when talking about stat-up moves. It's usually more grammatically correct to say "increase" or "boost". Rising means to actually go up, and as such, the in-game text actually says "X (sharply) rose!", so we should aim to use that.
• When comparing things, to "compare to" is to measure similarity, whereas to "compare with" is to measure difference.
• When counting objects, "how much" is used for non-unitary objects, such as water, damage, etc., while "how many" is used for countable objects, such as "how many layers of Spikes are in play?"

[Oglemi*]

Some Pokegrammar stuff I'd like to bring up:

- Poké Ball, Pokéwalker, PokéDex, Poké Mart, and Pokémon Center are the correct spellings; however are we going to need the accent on the "e" here? For Poke Ball and PokeDex especially, I think we should have the accent for pronounciation purposes.

- Route. I think think Route should always be capitalized, because in the cartridges it is capitalized. For example, "You can find x on Route 27."

- level and level-up should not be capitalized. However, Lv. to signify level should be capitalized with the period after the v.

[Zystral]

I agree with you on the second two points, but the first point, I don't think its necessary. not everyone is able to (be bothered) generate the é on their computers (Alt Gr + e), and we leave it as Pokemon which is fine, so I think items will work too.

[Oglemi*]

I agree with you completely Zy, I can't make the stupid e either on my laptop (I just c/p from somewhere else to use it), but they are used so infrequently, unlike Pokemon. And like I said, for pronounciation purposes.

I don't know.

[Rising_Dusk]

I really want to avoid the spelling and grammar standards turning into a page for normal grammar issues. This is specifically for PokeGrammar and nothing else. There are literally thousands of standard grammar assistance websites on the internet, we don't need to clutter our article with the information and make it harder to find what really matters.

Originally Posted by Fat Oglemi

- Poké Ball, Pokéwalker, PokéDex, Poké Mart, and Pokémon Center are the correct spellings; however are we going to need the accent on the "e" here? For Poke Ball and PokeDex especially, I think we should have the accent for pronounciation purposes.

I don't like the accented e at all for anything. People read "Poke Ball" and they know how it's pronounced because they know how "Pokemon" is pronounced. I don't think it's a huge issue.

Originally Posted by Fat Oglemi

- Route. I think think Route should always be capitalized, because in the cartridges it is capitalized. For example, "You can find x on Route 27."

That's because they're places! If you were saying "I can't remember which route that TM is on" you wouldn't capitalize route. However, if you specify "Route 27" you do, since that is the name of the place. This is standard grammatical stuff for capitalization of proper nouns, and so shouldn't be added to the article.

Originally Posted by Fat Oglemi

- level and level-up should not be capitalized. However, Lv. to signify level should be capitalized with the period after the v.

Really only relevant in set names. I don't want to put set name conventions in the grammar article, but I do think it'd be nice to document that stuff somewhere. I used to put it in the PokeDictionary article, but that was cluttered and everyone kept editing it anyway, so meh. I'll think of something.