User:Sb2001

About me

I live in Nottingham in the east Midlands (UK). I like to edit syntax, the incredibly irritating incorrect use of 'compared to' instead of 'compared with' and occasionally article content I think I can contribute positively to. I am a member of the Labour party, and attend meetings regularly.

If anyone has a problem with anything I do on here, please let me know. My opinion can be changed quite easily - as long as there is logical reasoning behind your argument. If you don't understand why I have done something, I will happily explain it to you.

I tend to follow the advice of the Guardian style guide, although sometimes go with what is said by the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge style guides. These three seem to be the most progressive, and agree with what I was taught.

Frequently changed

UK articles

e.g., etc. and i.e.: Full stops are not used to abbreviate initials in UK English. All major UK style guides tell you to write 'eg', 'etc' and 'ie' instead. See the following;

Guardian style guide - 'eg no full points'

Economist style guide - 'ie and eg'

NB 'eg' or 'for example' cannot start a list which ends in 'etc' or 'and so on'. The former is illustrative, whilst the latter is exhaustive.

Time notation: Use a full stop instead of a colon for 12-hour time, or either for 24-hour. The Oxford, BBC and Cambridge style guides tells you to use a full stop for 12-hour and a colon for 24-hour. The Guardian style guide tells you to use a full stop for both 12-hour and 24-hour. The Economist style guide tells you only to write in 12-hour time and to use a full stop.

See the following;

Economist style guide - '6.25am, 11.15pm, etc'

Guardian style guide - '6.30pm, etc'; '00.47, 23.59'

Oxford style guide - 'the 12-hour clock uses a full stop between the hours and minutes; the 24-hour clock uses a colon'

I will tend to follow the style I see first. If the lead section says '7.30pm', I will change instances of '19.30' or '19:30' to '7.30pm' for consistency.

All articles

compared with vs compared to: 'Compared with' does not mean the same thing as 'compared to'. The latter can be used to liken one thing with another, eg 'he was compared to Jeremy Corbyn' whilst the former is used to assess differences.

continuous tenses: The past continuous requires 'was' (or equiv) and a present participle, eg 'he was sitting'. The present continuous requires 'is' (or equiv) and a present participle, eg 'he is standing'. The future continuous requires 'will be' (or equiv) and a present participle, eg 'he will be walking'.

It is incorrect to say 'he was stood', 'he is sat' etc. You have no choice but to form the continuous if you want to start with words such as 'was' and 'is'.