A
Use a before an aspirated ‘h’; use an before a silent ‘h’:
- a herb
- a hospital
- an hour
- an honest person
With abbreviations (including acronyms), be guided by pronunciation. If the start of the abbreviation sounds like a consonant, use a. If it sounds like a vowel, use an:
- a BA
- a SIM card
- a USB flash drive
- an FBI agent
- an HTML page
- an MSc
Within each section, write words in full in the first instance, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. Subsequently, use only the abbreviation:
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is based in Wellington. The RBNZ sets the Official Cash Rate (OCR).
Exceptions:
- When the abbreviation will be familiar to the reader (OBGYN; TVNZ)
- When the full form may be unfamiliar (NASA; SD card)
Use a lower-case ‘s’ for plurals:
Avoid pluralised acronyms where they may be confusing:
- She has two MScs – this can be rewritten as She has two MSc degrees
Follow usual the punctuation rules for possessives (see apostrophes):
- The GP’s clinic was closed for the weekend.
- The DVDs’ cases are all broken.
- The GPS’ accuracy was questionable.
Generally, do not use full-stops in abbreviations:
- DIA
- eg (note, it’s better to write for example in full)
- GCSB
Not power adapter.
Use acknowledge instead of admit, except where the subject has previously tried to conceal the truth or has confessed to a crime:
- They acknowledged the mistake.
- She acknowledged not everyone liked the proposal.
- He admitted lying on his application.
- She admitted stealing the car.
Also known as the ACT Party or ACT.
See acknowledge vs admit.
Use aged care or eldercare.
Not afterward.
- five years old
- a five-year-old child
- three-to-four years old
- a three-to-four-year-old child
- a 20-year-old student
- a 20-to-30-year-old man
It’s generally not necessary to write artificial intelligence in full.
Use flight attendant instead.
See also cabin crew.
Left-align headings and paragraphs.
Right-align numbers within tables.
Never justify.
Use all-round instead.
Hyphenate when used as an adjective.
Hyphenate when used as an adjective.
If there is no intended order, always alphabetise items in a list (to avoid a perceived hierarchy).
alphabetical letter case
If two words are identical apart from the letter case, put the lower-case letters first:
- apple
- Apple
- banana
- Banana
alphabetical macrons
If two words are identical apart from the macrons, put the un-macronised words first:
alphabetical numbers
Put numerals in order from lowest to highest, after the letters A–Z:
- Fifty Fifty
- One Direction
- Twenty One Pilots
- 3 the Hard Way
- 21 Savage
- 10,000 Maniacs
alphabetical punctuation, spaces, and symbols
It’s generally OK to ignore punctuation, spaces, and symbols when determining alphabetical order. An exception is when words are otherwise identical. Put spaces first, then punctuation and symbols, then other words:
- car
- carpal tunnel
- car park
- car-park
- carpark
- carpool
- car-shaped
Alt text is used to describe a digital image to people who use screen reader software to read aloud the contents of a webpage.
Alt text should be added to all non-decorative images. (Leave alt text blank for decorative images.)
Alt text should be as short as possible, while retaining enough information to be useful in context. For example:
- A cat. (where more details about the cat are not relevant)
- A cat sitting on a windowsill, looking out at birds in the garden. (where the cat’s activity is relevant)
- An American Polydactyl cat in a small plastic cage on its owner’s lap, in the waiting room of a vet clinic. (where the species and environment are relevant)
alumni are former staff or students of a tertiary education provider. Former students must have passed at least one course or paper to be considered an alum.
For simplicity, it’s preferable to use the gender-neutral terms alum and alumni, but the following are all strictly correct:
- alum – single person of any gender
- alumna – single woman
- alumnae – plural women
- alumni – plural men, or plural people of any gender
- alumnus – single man
Not amid.
Not among.
Avoid ampersands (&), except when:
- Critically necessary to save space in app or webpage navigation
- Part of proper noun (for example, Fisher & Paykel or Fix & Fogg)
- analog stick – an input device for gaming
- analogue – all other uses
Capitalise the operating system name.
No space around the slash.
Aotearoa can optionally be used instead of New Zealand for domestic audiences, plus international audiences that are familiar with this name.
Aotearoa New Zealand can be used for any audience.
Omit the extra ‘s’ for plural possessives or names ending in ‘s’:
- The cat’s pyjamas (pyjamas belonging to one cat)
- The cats’ pyjamas (pyjamas belonging to multiple cats)
- The platypus’ food (food belonging to one platypus)
- The platypuses’ food (food belonging to multiple platypuses)
apostrophes in dates
See years.
apostrophes in place names
The New Zealand Geographic Board omits apostrophes in official place names except Arthur’s Pass and Hawke’s Bay.
See also Hawke Bay vs Hawke’s Bay.
apostrophe typography
Used curved apostrophes (’), not straight apostrophes ('):
- Android: Hold the apostrophe key (’) then select from the pop-up options
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the apostrophe key (’) then select from the pop-up options
- macOS: option + shift + ]
- Windows: Hold alt while typing 0146
Plural of appendix.
Apple TV is a set-top box. Apple TV+ is a streaming service.
Not artifact.
No longer a standalone diagnosis, it is now considered a form of autism.
Not assoc prof.
Only capitalise when used as someone’s title:
- Associate Professor Firstname Lastname
- Firstname Lastname is an associate professor.
- I talked to an associate professor.
Outside of industry-specific uses like accounting and invoicing, @ should only be used in email addresses and usernames — or to @ someone on social media.
Use the word at in all other writing.
Use eggplant instead.
For clarity, use Auckland University of Technology (AUT) or University of Auckland instead.
Commonly AUT.
Not southern lights.
Not northern lights.
Plural of aurora.
Not fall.
B
Hyphenate when used as an adjective:
- He’s at the back end of the warehouse
- She works on back-end security
Plural: B&Bs.
Do not include an apostrophe:
- I have a bachelors degree in music.
- She has two bachelors degrees.
- She has bachelors degrees in accounting and economics.
- He has a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in history.
See parentheses.
Hyphenate when used as an adjective:
- The car was brand new.
- It’s a brand-new car.
To avoid ambiguity, use one of the following:
- Great Britain — the island comprising England, Scotland, and Wales
- United Kingdom (UK) — the kingdom comprising England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
Citizens of the UK, and other matters relating to the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales).
If there’s no intended order, always alphabetize the items.
When using a sentence to introduce a bulleted list, finish the sentence with a colon. Start each bullet point with a capital letter. Do not use a full stop at the end of bullet points (even if this requires you to rewrite each point). For example:
This product is available in three colours:
If the list is immediately below a heading (and does not have an introductory sentence), do not add a colon to the end of the heading:
Sizes
Not burned.
C
Italicised with a full-stop. No space when used before numbers, but use a space before letters or words:
- It dates back to c.1840
- It dates from c.2,500 years ago
- They found two c. 15th century artefacts
See also flight attendant.
Use University of Canterbury instead.
Lower-case, unless referencing the novel Catch-22.
Not centigrade.
Include a space before the ºC unit:
Use Celsius instead.
Can be used in place of chairman, chairperson, or chairwoman.
A New Zealand herbal drink. Use qi for the vital force in traditional Chinese culture, and Qi for the wireless charging standard.
Formally called the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the country of China includes the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
Not to be confused with Republic of China (ROC), which is the official name of Taiwan.
See Taiwan.
When referring to secondary education, use secondary school instead (except where part of a school’s name).
Use a colon to introduce an inline or bulleted list. For example:
Requirements include: two years’ experience, three written references, and a relevant tertiary qualification.
See also:
Commas sit outside closing quotation marks:
- “I’m too hot”, he complained.
- I overheard negative comments like “it was too long”, “it sucked”, and “I preferred the original”.
Generally, include an Oxford comma (also known as a serial comma) before the final item in a list. This enhances clarity and helps the reader with pacing:
- Bring an eraser, a pencil, and a ruler.
- Brands including Fisher & Paykel, Fix & Fogg, and Raine & Horne.
Exclude an Oxford comma if it’s formally omitted from a proper noun:
- Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage
- Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
If at least one item in a list includes a comma, use semi-colons to differentiate between items:
- The Ministries of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE); Education; and Health…
See also:
Use positive contractions to make text more friendly:
- I’ll help you with that
- Let’s begin
- We’ll consider the next steps
Avoid negative contractions when your intended audience may have difficulty reading (for example, if English is not their first language):
- Do not push the red button (correct)
- If you have not received a letter (correct)
- Don’t push the red button (wrong)
- If you haven’t received a letter (wrong)
Never use negative contractions for critical information.
To avoid ambiguity, use correct when something is correct.
Use an en dash without spaces.
Now Woolworths.
Use overalls instead.
For the holiday home, use bach instead.
Avoid unless something is actually critical.
It’s perfectly cromulent to use this word, especially when referencing The Simpsons.
Use kerb instead.
See money.
Use CV instead.
Hyphenate when used as an adjective:
- A cutting-edge discovery
- He works at the cutting edge
Use CV instead of curriculum vitae or resumé.
D
See:
For a single day, use DD Month YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD format:
- 1 December 2024
- 31 December 2024
- 2024-12-01
- 2024-12-31
If adding more information, use DD Month YYYY format:
- Tuesday 31 December 2024
- 9am Tuesday 31 December 2024
Use to for a date range:
- 1 December 2024 to 31 December 2024
- Saturday 30 November 2024 to Sunday 1 December 2024
- 9am Saturday 30 November 2024 to 5pm Sunday 1 December 2024
See also time.
Use an upper-case ‘D’ when referring to the Deaf community.
For clarity, write in full, followed by the abbreviation:
- Bachelor of Arts (BA)
- Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB)
- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- dependant (person)
- dependent (adjective)
Capitalise when used as a title:
- I met the deputy prime minister.
- Deputy Prime Minister Firstname Lastname said…
Capitalise when used as a title:
- I met the deputy vice-chancellor.
- Deputy Vice-Chancellor Firstname Lastname said…
See numbers.
- disc (flat circular objects, including CDs)
- disk (information storage devices, excluding CDs)
See disc vs disk.
See URLs.
Not dreamed.
E
Capitalise when referencing the planet.
Use for example instead.
Except when referring to an elder person, use older or oldest instead of elder or eldest:
- My older sister
- His oldest brother
- New approaches to eldercare
- We should respect our elders
Use aged care or eldercare.
Plural: ellipses.
Used to indicate an interruption, omission, or pause:
- “I… I… I’m not sure.”
- “Look at that…”
- “…and that’s why I’m right”, she concluded.
- She noted “the animals … have a tendency to be aggressive at times”.
To type an ellipsis:
- Android: Hold the full-stop key (.) then select from the pop-up options
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the full-stop key (.) then select from the pop-up options
- macOS: option + ;
- Windows: ctrl + minus sign (-)
Write email address in lower-case.
An em dash is roughly the width of a letter ‘m’.
A single em dash indicates a break in a sentence:
- I called the cat — but it never came.
- It may be appropriate to send a follow-up email — but only after waiting three days.
A pair of em dashes can border a parenthetical statement:
- My cat — which is temperamental at the best of times — hasn’t been home for days.
- If you want to send a follow-up email — which may be appropriate — please wait at least three days.
To type an em dash (–):
- Android: Hold the minus key (-) then select from the pop-up menu
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the minus key (-) then select from the pop-up menu
- macOS: option + shift + minus sign (-)
- Windows: hold alt and type 0151
See also:
An en dash is roughly the width of a letter ‘n’. It can be used to indicate a range of values:
An en dash also signifies a relationship:
- a brother–sister relationship
- the Auckland–Wellington route
- the National–ACT–New Zealand First coalition
An en dash can also describe a score or outcome:
- The Crusaders beat the Chiefs 25–20
- The Supreme Court voted 4–1 to uphold the decision
To type an en dash (–):
- Android: Hold the minus key (-) then select from the pop-up menu
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the minus key (-) then select from the pop-up menu
- macOS: option + minus key (-)
- Windows: hold alt and type 0150
See also:
Use ask instead.
To make sure something happens.
See also insure.
A popular ebook file format, notably used by Apple Books and Kobo.
Avoid when referring to the car body style. Use station wagon instead.
- every day (daily)
- everyday (common, unremarkable)
Hyphenate when used as an adjective:
- They teach evidence-based medicine
- The research was evidence based
Abbreviate to € (ideally), or E.
To type €:
- Android: Hold the dollar key ($) then select € from the pop-up menu
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the dollar key ($) then select € from the pop-up menu
- macOS: option + shift + 2
- Windows: ctrl + alt + 4
F
When referencing seasons, use autumn instead.
No apostrophe or other punctuation. Written in full as frequently asked questions.
Use further instead.
Use fiord instead.
The publisher of this style guide. See flickerwell.com.
Not an air hostess or air steward.
Avoid eg or e.g.
Generally, for example should be followed by a comma (within a sentence), or a colon (when introducing a bulleted list):
- Some of the largest cities — for example, Auckland and Christchurch — voted differently.
- Choose one of the available colours, for example:
See slash.
See also phone numbers.
FAQs for short.
Use 1080p instead.
Not period.
G
Use petrol / petrol station instead.
Hyphenate when describing a gathering.
Use greatest of all time (or all-time greatest) instead.
Use got instead.
Commonly Green Party or the Greens.
H
The bay is called Hawke Bay; the region is called Hawke’s Bay.
Use sentence case. This means only using upper-case letters for:
- The very first letter of a heading
- The first letter after a colon (:)
- Proper nouns
For example:
- Too many peanuts: The story of my elephant
Avoid, except where part of a school’s name. Use secondary school instead (or junior high school if applicable).
Use the Netherlands when referencing the country; Holland when referencing the geographical region on the Netherlands’ western coast.
Can be described as a special administrative region of China.
Use vacuum or vacuum cleaner instead, unless referencing the Hoover brand.
Unless expressly referencing its former name (or a hotmail.com email address), use its new name Outlook.com instead.
Hyphenate words when they form a single adjective:
- an all-round good guy
- an overly-complicated document
- the all-time greatest… (see also GOAT)
Where the meaning may be ambiguous, hyphens can provide clarification:
- a high-school student
- a high school-student
See also:
I
Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i. But use all-lower-case for URLs:
- Use iCloud drive to store your files.
- You can sign in at icloud.com.
Use that is instead.
Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i.
To insure against risk.
See also ensure.
See also URLs.
Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i.
Try to avoid starting a sentence with these words, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i.
Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i.
The term IRD number is still used, but in other contexts, use Inland Revenue instead.
See Islamic State.
Formerly i-SITE.
Use Muslim when describing people. Islamic can be used in other contexts, for example, when describing architecture or culture.
Use Islamic State (IS) in the first instance, then just IS.
Within a block of text, italicise the names of:
- Boats and ships
- Movies
- Poems
- Publications — including books, journals, and newspapers
- Shows
- Websites (but not URLs)
Do not italicise headings.
Generally, its indicates possession:
- Its prices are low
- The dog’s chasing its tail
Generally, it’s is short for ‘it is’:
- It’s sunny today.
- I think it’s a good painting.
J
Despite its pronunciation, it’s spelt deserts, not desserts.
K
Short for King’s Counsel (KC).
Not curb.
Formerly Queen’s Counsel (QC).
Use kiwi for the bird (plural: kiwi).
Use Kiwi for the people (plural: Kiwis).
Not kmph or kph.
Use Qur’an instead.
L
LGBT may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual, non-heteroromantic, and/or non-cisgender. It does not exclusively refer to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender. However, the LGBT label is not universally agreed to by everyone it may be intended to include.
Alternatives include:
- LGBT+
- LGBTQ
- LGBTQ+
- LGBTQI+
- LGBTQIA+
- LGBTQIATakatāpui+
Rainbow community, Rainbow communities, or other labels may be preferred.
When a list is preceded with “like”, always explain what they are like:
- Large cities like London, New York, and Tokyo… (the cities are large)
- Recent prime ministers like Chris Hipkins, Jacinda Ardern, and Bill English… (the prime ministers are recent)
If you don’t explain what they are like, it’s not clear why they’ve been grouped together:
- Cities like London, New York, and Tokyo… (what do these cities have in common?)
- Prime ministers like Chris Hipkins, Jacinda Ardern, and Bill English… (why these three?)
In many cases, including can be used to avoid the need to explain:
- Countries including Argentina, Kenya, and Sweden…
- Radio stations including Newstalk ZB and RNZ National…
Never use in place of figuratively. These are all wrong:
- The audience was literally in the palm of my hand. (No, they weren’t; they wouldn’t fit.)
- The beach is literally on my doorstep. (No, it isn’t; your doorstep’s not under the beach.)
- I could literally eat a horse. (Although technically possible, it’s probably not what you mean.)
Only use literally to describe something that is factually true:
- The building is literally 100 storeys tall. (It actually has 100 storeys.)
- They were literally jumping up and down. (They were actually jumping.)
When a list contains more than three items, convert it to a bulleted (or numbered) list for ease of reading.
Always alphabetise list items, unless the sequence is intended to convey meaning.
See also bullet points.
Use truck instead.
M
Short for million. Use it without a leading space:
Both spellings are fine, but for consistency, stick with the Portuguese spelling Macau.
Formerly Mac OS X.
Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case m.
Always use correct macron characters: ā, Ā, ē, Ē, ī, Ī, ō, Ō, ū, Ū. Do not substitute with incorrect alternatives like a, â, or ä.
However, it’s generally preferable to use un-macronised characters in domain names (web addresses) — such as ngaitahu.iwi.nz — to make them accessible to people who cannot type macrons.
When alphabetising, if two words are identical apart from the macrons, sort with the macronised words last. The following list is alphabetical:
- kai
- keke
- kekē
- kēkē
- kete
- kiwi
In New Zealand English, a maimai is a duckshooter’s hide. It’s derived from the Aboriginal Australian word mia-mia.
In Māori, maimai means “song of affection for the dead, haka to welcome guest to a tangihanga”.
No macron in the Dunedin suburb’s name.
Now Te Pāti Māori.
Now Whakaata Māori.
Although parts of Hong Kong and Macau are technically on the Chinese mainland, references to mainland China are generally understood to exclude Hong Kong and Macau.
No apostrophe for a masters degree.
Use USB flash drive instead.
When using the dollar sign ($), include an abbreviation to indicate the currency:
Short for multiple sclerosis. Do not use for Microsoft.
Pronounced ‘mix’, Mx is a gender-neutral alternative to Mr or Ms.
N
If initials are used, do not use full-stops (unless requested by the subject):
- Firstname A Lastname
- AB Lastname
See New Zealand National Party.
Use sentence case for app and website navigation menus:
- Home
- New arrivals
- On sale
- All products
- Contact
Use an upper-case ‘L’ for Level:
- NCEA Level 1
- NCEA Level 2
- NCEA Level 3
Use the Netherlands instead.
Now ThreeNews.
Can be abbreviated to NZ First or NZF.
Commonly Labour or Labour Party.
Commonly National or National Party.
NZSL for short.
See also deaf vs Deaf.
Include a hyphen, for example:
- non-binary
- non-fiction
- non-refundable
- non-stop
Use aurora borealis instead.
Use Tropic of Cancer instead.
When part of a sentence, write one to nine in full: one, two, three … eight, nine, 10, 11, 12.
For larger numbers, use a comma to group digits in threes:
- 1,000
- 20,000
- 300,000
- 4,000,000
- 50m
- 600 million
- 7 billion
- 80,000,000,000
But, do not use commas for years:
Short for New Zealand Sign Language.
See also deaf vs Deaf.
O
OK is strictly correct (and preferable in most cases), but okay can be used as a softer alternative.
Both are fine. Where context is clear, the Games can also be used.
Use 1News instead.
The company formerly known as Vodafone NZ.
Use one-on-one to describe a competitive scenario, or one-to-one for meetings and talks:
- Let’s play basketball, one-on-one.
- The manager requested a series of one-to-one meetings.
Not onto.
Use orientate, oriented, and disoriented.
Use University of Otago instead.
Outlook is the email and calendar app that’s part of Microsoft Office.
Outlook.com is the email service formerly known as Hotmail. Use an upper-case ‘O’ when referencing the email service, but a lower-case ‘o’ when providing its URL:
- Gmail, Outlook.com, and Yahoo Mail all offer free email accounts.
- Go to outlook.com to create your account.
Not coveralls.
See commas.
P
Short for personal assistant or public address.
Use pyjamas instead.
Use parental leave instead of maternity leave or paternity leave.
Singular: parenthesis.
If a whole sentence is within parentheses, put the full-stop inside the closing parenthesis:
- I often visit the cinema (but only on Tuesdays).
- He says he likes spicy food. (I don’t believe him.)
Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case p.
Use USB flash drive instead.
This is the official name of China.
Not to be confused with Republic of China (ROC), which is the official name of Taiwan.
Always use a numeral for the percentage:
- There was a 5 percent chance...
- Around 90% of households...
For the punctuation mark, use full-stop instead.
Not gas station or service station.
Always include the international calling code for regular phone numbers, and adjust spacing depending on the number of digits:
- Phone +64 9 123 4567
- Mobile +64 21 123 456
- Mobile +64 21 123 4567
- Mobile +64 21 1234 5678
Do not include the international calling code for special numbers:
- Freephone 0800 123 456
- Freephone 0800 EXAMPLE (0800 3926753)
- Emergency dial 111
When coding apps, ebooks, and webpages, always create a tel: link to phone numbers, and include non-breaking spaces so the number doesn’t wrap over two lines:
Phone <a href="tel:+6491234567">+64 9 123 4567</a>
Phone <a href="tel:0800123456">0800 123 456</a>
Use PO Box in an address, but PO box if referring to post office boxes generally:
- Our postal address is PO Box 1234...
- We have a PO box.
Italicise, but do not hyphenate, when referring to ‘after death’ (I saw his body post mortem).
Hyphenate, but do not italicise, when referring to the activity (I conducted a post-mortem).
These are the abbreviated qualifications, memberships, and other designations that may be listed after a person’s name. Omit full-stops and other punctuation:
- Firstname Lastname BA BSc
- Firstname Lastname AREINZ
The order of post-nominals is:
- Official honours and appointments, in alphabetical order
- Degrees in ascending order (for example, BAppSci MBA PhD)
- Diplomas awarded by tertiary institutions, in alphabetical order
- Certificates awarded by tertiary institutions, in alphabetical order
- Fellowships, in alphabetical order
- Memberships, in alphabetical order
Use AC adapter instead.
- powerpoint (an electrical socket)
- PowerPoint (Microsoft presentation software)
- practice (noun)
- practise (verb)
Capitalise when used as the title of a nation’s current president:
- I met the president.
- President Firstname Lastname said…
- President Lastname said…
If referencing anyone other than the US president (including business leaders), explain what type of president they are:
- The president of the Philippines said…
- The president marketing communications said…
Use former president if they no longer hold the position:
- I met the former president.
- former president Firstname Lastname said…
Use pushup instead.
Capitalise when used as a title in their name:
- I met the prime minister.
- Prime Minister Firstname Lastname said…
Use former prime minister if they no longer hold the position:
- I met the former prime minister.
- former prime minister Firstname Lastname said…
Avoid prof.
Capitalise when used as someone’s title in their name:
- Professor Firstname Lastname
- Firstname Lastname is a professor.
- I talked to a professor.
- program (computing)
- programme (all other uses)
Capitalise when used as someone’s title:
- I met the pro-vice-chancellor.
- Pro-Vice-Chancellor Firstname Lastname said…
Not press-up.
Q
Short for quality assurance.
See also:
Short for Queen’s Counsel. Now King’s Counsel (KC).
Use qi for the vital force in traditional Chinese culture, and Qi for the wireless charging standard.
The New Zealand herbal drink is Ch’i.
Also four-wheeler or 4-wheeler.
Now King’s Counsel (KC).
A trademarked food product.
Use double quotation marks (“ ”) for speech:
- “Whatever”, she said.
- They described the scene as “surreal”.
Use single quotation marks (‘ ’) for nested speech:
- “The teacher said ‘do what you want’”, he told me.
- “I always forget the line ‘Guard our country’s spotless name’ when singing the national anthem”, she said.
Single quotation marks can also emphasise things that are so-called:
- In Australia, ‘thongs’ are not footwear.
- The so-called ‘chimney effect’…
Finally, single quotation marks can also be used for titles — but only if the font can’t be italicised:
- Recently, I finished The Bone People. (preferable)
- Recently, I finished ‘The Bone People’. (only if italics are unavailable)
quotation marks and punctuation
Unless quoting a full sentence, place ending punctuation outside of the closing quotation mark:
- “I’m the best in the world”, he boasted.
- She claimed to be “the tallest person around”.
- “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
quotation mark typography
Used curved quotation marks (‘ ’ and “ ”), not straight quotation marks (' and ").
Opening single quotation marks (‘):
- Android: Hold the apostrophe key (’) then select from the pop-up menu
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the apostrophe key (’) then select from the pop-up menu
- macOS: option + ]
- Windows: Hold alt while typing 0145
Closing single quotation marks (’):
- Android: Hold the apostrophe key (’) then select from the pop-up menu
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the apostrophe key (’) then select from the pop-up menu
- macOS: option + shift + ]
- Windows: Hold alt while typing 0146
Opening double quotation marks (“):
- Android: Hold the quotation mark key (”) then select from the pop-up menu
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the quotation mark key (”) then select from the pop-up menu
- macOS: option + [
- Windows: Hold alt while typing 0147
Closing double quotation marks (”):
- Android: Hold the quotation mark key (”) then select from the pop-up menu
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the quotation mark key (”) then select from the pop-up menu
- macOS: option + shift + [
- Windows: Hold alt while typing 0148
Not Koran.
Short for question and answer / questions and answers.
The TVNZ political show.
R
Use the following names instead of Radio New Zealand:
- RNZ
- RNZ Concert
- RNZ National
- RNZ News
- RNZ Pacific
When browsing the web, use reload instead of refresh.
See refresh vs reload.
This is the official name of Taiwan. Not to be confused with People’s Republic of China (PRC), which is the official name of China.
Use CV instead.
See X (formerly Twitter).
See correct vs right.
- right of passage (the right to travel through a certain territory)
- rite of passage (a ceremony or ritual marking an important stage of life)
See right of passage vs right of passage.
- round-up (an action)
- Roundup (a herbicide)
S
The past tense of screenshot is screenshot. Only use screenshotted if necessary for clarity.
Available in three sizes:
Lower-case. Do not use fall.
Except where part of a school’s name, use secondary school instead of high school.
Use Sellotape when referring to the brand. Use adhesive tape, sticky tape, or just tape in other instances.
semi-colons
Use semi-colons to differentiate items in a list when at least one item includes a comma:
- The Ministries of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE); Education; and Health…
See commas.
Use petrol station instead.
sign in is a verb; sign-in is an adjective:
- Sign in with your username and password.
- The sign-in form is easy to use.
Just use SIM if the audience will understand it in context.
Generally, use a space either side of a slash:
- Australia / New Zealand / South Africa
- Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday
Exceptions include:
To avoid ambiguity, it can be helpful to replace a slash with and, or or:
- Bring your driver licence / passport (ambiguous)
- Bring your driver licence and passport (clear)
- Bring your driver licence or passport (clear)
You can usually just use phone.
Not smelled.
Use electronic copy instead.
See slash.
Use aurora australis instead.
Use Tropic of Capricorn instead.
Use a single space after:
- Colons (:)
- Commas (,)
- Ellipses (…) (unless the ellipsis is at the start of a sentence)
- Full-stops (.)
Use a single space before a unit of measure:
- 20 ºC
- 35 kg
- 50 km/h
- 100 years old
An exception is the percent symbol (%):
Use a single space either side of an em dash (—):
- Yesterday — the first day of March — was a bit wet.
- My neighbour — who I never really trusted — disappeared last week.
Do not use a space either side of an en dash (–) when indicating a range, relationship, or result:
- 10–20 years ago
- the father–daughter relationship
- they won 5–0
Use judder bar instead.
Not something to ever be worried about.
Not spoiled.
Use when referring to levels of a building (floor and floors are also OK).
See also storey / storeys.
Use when referring to a tale of people and events.
See also storey / storeys.
T
Taiwan’s official name is Republic of China (ROC), sometimes written as Republic of China (Taiwan) or ROC (Taiwan).
Not to be confused with China, which has the official name People’s Republic of China (PRC).
New Zealand does not officially recognise Taiwan as an independent country, so maintains an unofficial relationship. Therefore, in some contexts, it may not be appropriate to refer to Taiwan as a country, nation, or state. Alternatives include democracy, economy, island, or simply Taiwan.
Because of the unofficial relationship, New Zealand does not have an embassy in Taiwan. Instead, it has the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office in Taipei, and Taiwan has the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Auckland and Wellington.
At various international events (including the Olympic Games), Taiwan participates under the name Chinese Taipei, but is unofficially referred to as Taiwan.
See also LGBT.
Hyphenate when referencing an aircraft take-off.
Avoid. This is because once the government receives money from taxpayers, it becomes the government’s money.
(Similarly, once a shopkeeper receives money from customers, it becomes the shopkeeper’s money.)
Alternatives include government funds or public funds.
Also Te Kura. Formerly The Correspondence School.
Can be used interchangeably with t-shirt.
Use phone instead.
See also phone numbers.
Formerly the Māori Party.
Te Tiriti for short.
Use that when the first part of the sentence doesn’t make sense without the second part:
- The clock that was ticking loudly.
- The shirt that she bought yesterday.
Use which when the first part of the sentence could stand alone:
- I set the clock to 24-hour time, which was an unpopular choice.
Now Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu or just Te Kura.
See Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Use their instead of her or his if a person’s preferred pronouns are they/them, or if the subject’s gender is unknown. In other contexts, their can optionally be used instead of her or his — especially when the subject’s gender is unknown or irrelevant:
- Apparently, my colleague’s neighbour says their house is worth $5m.
- The winner will have their photo taken.
- I saw their brother in the weekend.
Now Te Pāti Māori.
Plural of thesis.
Formerly TV3.
Formerly 3 News and Newshub.
Use USB flash drive instead.
Use 12-hour time:
- 12am (midnight)
- 6am
- 6:30am
- 12 noon
- 9pm
- 11:59pm
Use to for a time range:
- 9am to 5pm
- 8:30pm to 10:45pm
- Monday to Friday
- January to March
See also dates.
Use tyres instead.
Avoid abbreviations (except for Dr, Mr, Mrs, Ms, and Mx):
- Dr Firstname Lastname
- Judge Firstname Lastname
- Ms Firstname Lastname
- Professor Firstname Lastname
- Professor Lastname
Used to mean many. But for metric measurements, use tonne.
Not toward.
The three colours are:
- Green
- Red
- Yellow (not amber or orange)
The umbrella term trans describes anyone whose gender identity does not align with their assigned sex at birth.
A man who was assigned female at birth.
A woman who was assigned male at birth.
Not Northern Tropic.
Not Southern Tropic.
Can be used interchangeably with tee.
Can be abbreviated to TB.
Formerly TV One.
Formerly TV2.
These channels have been renamed:
See X (formerly Twitter).
Capitalise the name of the live-streaming service.
See X (formerly Twitter).
Not tires.
U
See United Kingdom.
United Kingdom (UK)
To avoid ambiguity, use one of the following:
- Great Britain — the island comprising England, Scotland, and Wales
- United Kingdom (UK) — the kingdom comprising England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
Use Victoria University of Wellington or Victoria University instead.
See also towards.
Hyphenate when used as an adjective:
- Keep your computer up to date
- An up-to-date spreadsheet
URLs
Omit the http://, https://, and www. parts of the URL unless necessary for the URL to work.
When creating links in a digital document, use the full address in the code but show the shortened version to the reader:
<a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/">rnz.co.nz</a>
Also: the US, the USA, and the United States of America.
Never the US of A.
USB connectors include:
- USB Type-A (or USB-A for short)
- USB-C
USB standards include:
- USB 1.0
- USB 2.0
- USB 3.0
- USB4
Hyphenate when used as an adjective:
- Each user pays for their own equipment
- A user-pays system
Capitalise when referencing the Holden Ute.
V
Italicise vale when used as a farewell.
Use university instead.
Use petroleum jelly instead, unless referencing the trademarked product.
Not the Vatican City, but the Vatican is OK.
vet is also OK.
Use VCR instead.
Capitalise when used as a title:
- I met the vice-chancellor.
- Vice-Chancellor Firstname Lastname said…
VC for short.
Commonly Victoria University. Never University of Wellington.
Use VCR instead.
Short for vehicle identification number.
Use a lower-case ‘v’ to refer to the international travel document; use an upper-case ‘V’ to refer to the credit card:
- You must apply for a travel visa.
- We accept Mastercard and Visa.
Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case v.
See also isite.
Avoid unless something is actually vital.
Now One NZ.
Short for versus.
Short for vertical take-off and landing.
W
Use station wagon when referring to the car body style.
Use University of Waikato instead.
Generally, use Whanganui instead.
Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case w.
See URLs.
Use blog instead.
See also URLs.
Use Victoria University of Wellington or Victoria University instead.
Formerly Weta Digital.
Formerly Māori Television.
See that vs which.
Not whilst.
The Microsoft operating system:
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8
- Windows 10
- Windows 11
To indicate a preference, use want instead.
Formerly Countdown.
Use web instead of World Wide Web or WWW.
Use online instead of on the web.
X
Use X (formerly Twitter) in the first instance, then just X.
Use post instead of tweet; use repost instead of retweet.
The New Zealand-based accounting software company.
A trademarked company name. Use photocopy instead.
Use Christmas instead, unless critically short of space.
Y
Omit the exclamation mark (!) when referring to the internet corporation Yahoo.
To avoid ambiguity, it’s best to write the year in full:
If using only two digits, an apostrophe precedes the first digit:
- The summer of ’69
- Class of ’24
When referencing decades, there is no apostrophe immediately before the ‘s’:
- The 1950s
- The ’90s
- The early 2000s
year of study
Hyphenate when the year of study is an adjective:
- A first-year student
- The second-year class
- Third-, fourth-, and fifth-year students
Capitalise Year when referencing school years:
- He joined the Year 9 class part-way through the second term
- She studied calculus in Year 13
Plural: yen.
Abbreviate to ¥ (ideally), or Y.
To type ¥:
- Android: Hold the dollar key ($) then select from the pop-up menu
- iOS / iPadOS: Hold the dollar key ($) then select from the pop-up menu
- macOS: option + Y
- Windows: Hold alt while typing 0165
Plural of yes.
Plural of yogi.
Use backpacker hostel or hostel instead.
Z
Z can be used when referencing the company’s trading name:
- There’s a 24-hour Z petrol station in Oamaru.
Plural: zeros (but zeroes in on…).
The New Zealand-based accounting software company is Xero.
Use zhuzh instead.
Use zhuzh instead of zhoosh. For example:
- zhuzh your hair
- zhuzh-up your room
Unless referencing the trademarked walking frame, use walking frame instead.
- Auckland Zoo
- Orana Wildlife Park
- Wellington Zoo
#
Now ThreeNews.
Use 4K, not 4K UHD or Ultra HD.
Hyphenate when used as an adjective:
- A 24-hour petrol station
- It’s open 24 hours a day
To avoid ambiguity, use 1080p instead of Full HD.
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The New Zealand Style Guide is published by Flickerwell, PO Box 12219, Thorndon, Wellington 6144, New Zealand. The information in this guide can be used to inform your writing style, but cannot be copied or reproduced without express permission from the publisher.