New Zealand Style Guide

New in February 2026

A

a vs an

Use a before an aspirated ‘h’; use an before a silent ‘h’:

If the start of an abbreviation (or acronym) sounds like a consonant, use a. If it sounds like a vowel, use an:

abbreviations

Within each page (or each section of a long page), write words in full in the first instance, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. Subsequently, use only the abbreviation:

Exceptions:

Use a lower-case ‘s’ for plurals:

Avoid pluralised acronyms where they may be confusing:

Follow the usual punctuation rules for possessives (see apostrophes):

Generally, do not use full-stops in abbreviations:

Aboriginal Australian

AC adapter

Not power adapter.

acknowledge vs admit

Use acknowledge instead of admit, except where the subject has previously tried to conceal the truth or has confessed to a crime:

ACT New Zealand

Also known as the ACT Party or ACT.

admit

See acknowledge vs admit.

advisor

Not adviser.

aegrotat

aged care

Use aged care or eldercare.

afterwards

Not afterward.

ageing

ages

AI

It’s generally not necessary to write artificial intelligence in full.

Airbnb

air hostess / air steward

Use flight attendant instead.

See also cabin crew.

alignment

Left-align headings and paragraphs.

Right-align numbers within tables.

Never justify.

all-around

Use all-round instead.

All Blacks

All Whites

all-in-one

all-round

Hyphenate when used as an adjective.

all-time

Hyphenate when used as an adjective.

alphabetical lists

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:

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:

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:

alt text

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:

alumni

For simplicity, use the gender-neutral terms alum (one person) and alumni (two or more people).

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.

amidst

Not amid.

amongst

Not among.

ampersands (&)

Avoid ampersands (&), except when:

analog vs analogue

Android

Capitalise the operating system name.

and/or

No space around the slash.

antibiotic

Anzac / Anzac Day

Aotearoa

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.

See also New Zealand.

apostrophes (’)

Omit the extra ‘s’ for plural possessives or names ending in ‘s’:

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

Use curved apostrophes (’), not straight apostrophes ('):

appendices

Plural of appendix.

Apple Pay

Apple TV vs Apple TV+

Apple TV is a set-top box. Apple TV+ is a streaming service.

April Fools’ Day

armband

Art Deco

artefact

Not artifact.

Arthur’s Pass

as

When you mean to show cause, use because instead.

Asperger syndrome

No longer a standalone diagnosis, it is now considered a form of autism.

associate professor

Not assoc prof.

Only capitalise when used as someone’s title:

astrophotography

at sign (@)

Outside of industry-specific uses like accounting and invoicing, @ should only be used in email addresses and usernames — or to @ someone on social media.

aubergine

Use eggplant instead.

Auckland University

For clarity, use Auckland University of Technology (AUT) or University of Auckland instead.

Auckland University of Technology

Commonly AUT.

audio conference

aurora australis

Not southern lights.

aurora borealis

Not northern lights.

auroras

Plural of aurora.

autumn

Not fall.

a while

Not awhile.

B

back-end

Hyphenate when used as an adjective:

backlight

backlit

backwards compatible / backwards compatibility

B&B

Plural: B&Bs.

bachelors degrees

Do not include an apostrophe:

bail-out

bandwidth

Barnes Dance

Beyoncé

Bitcoin

Bluesky

Bluetooth

Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc

boardroom

bona fide

book-keeping

bookshop

bottom-most

brackets

See parentheses.

braille

brand new vs brand-new

Hyphenate when used as an adjective:

Britain

To avoid ambiguity, use one of the following:

British

Citizens of the UK, and other matters relating to the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales).

Britomart Station

Now Waitematā Station.

broad-based

brutalist

Use to describe an architectural style characterised by raw concrete and stark, utilitarian design. Do not use to mean brutal, harsh, or severe.

bullet points

If there’s no intended order, always alphabetise 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

bungee vs bungy

burnt

Not burned.

bypass

C

c. (circa)

Italicised with a full-stop. No space when used before numbers, but use a space before letters or words:

cabin crew

See also flight attendant.

Cabo Verde

Not Cape Verde.

caesar salad

cafe

call-up

candy floss

Canterbury University

Use University of Canterbury instead.

Cape Verde

Now Cabo Verde.

capital letters

See upper case.

CAPTCHA

captions

Use sentence case.

Finish sentences with a full‑stop (or if appropriate, an exclamation mark or question mark).

caregiver

carpark

carpool

catch-22

Lower-case, unless referencing the novel Catch-22.

cattle stop

CD

Celsius

Not centigrade.

Include a space before the ºC unit:

Cellophane

centigrade

Use Celsius instead.

centre-left / centre-right

c’est la vie

chair

Can be used in place of chairman, chairperson, or chairwoman.

chameleon

ChatGPT

checklist

Ch’i

A New Zealand herbal drink. Use qi for the vital force in traditional Chinese culture, and Qi for the wireless charging standard.

chilly bin

China

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 also Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China.

Chinese Taipei

See Taiwan.

Christmas Day / Christmas Eve

Chromecast

chur

cilantro

Use coriander instead.

clicks

See klicks.

clock radio

college

When referring to secondary education, use secondary school instead (except where part of a school’s name).

colons

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

Commas sit outside closing quotation marks:

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:

Exclude an Oxford comma if it’s formally omitted from a proper noun:

If at least one item in a list includes a comma, use semi-colons to differentiate between items:

See also:

contractions

Use positive contractions to make text more friendly:

Avoid negative contractions when your intended audience may have difficulty reading (for example, if English is not their first language):

Never use negative contractions for critical information.

co-ordinate / co-ordinator

coriander

Not cilantro.

correct vs right

To avoid ambiguity, use correct when something is correct.

cost–benefit analysis

Use an en dash without spaces.

Countdown

Now Woolworths.

coveralls

Use overalls instead.

COVID-19

crib

For the holiday home, use bach instead.

critical

Avoid unless something is actually critical.

cromulent

It’s perfectly cromulent to use this word, especially when referencing The Simpsons.

crypto / cryptocurrency

Use cryptocurrency for audiences that may be unfamiliar with the term crypto.

curb

Use kerb instead.

Cure Kids

currency

See money.

curriculum vitae

Use CV instead.

cutting-edge

Hyphenate when used as an adjective:

CV

Use CV instead of curriculum vitae or resumé.

Czechia

Not Czech Republic.

D

dashes

See:

data

data is plural:

However, in casual English, data is often used as a mass noun:

dates

For a single day, use DD Month YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD format:

If adding more information, use DD Month YYYY format:

Use to for a date range:

See also time.

day-to-day

Dead Poets Daily

A poetry email service from Flickerwell, the publisher of this style guide. See deadpoetsdaily.com.

deaf vs Deaf

Use an upper-case ‘D’ when referring to the Deaf community.

defence

degrees

For clarity, write in full, followed by the abbreviation:

dependant vs dependent

deputy director

deputy prime minister

Capitalise when used as a title:

deputy vice-chancellor

Capitalise when used as a title:

digits

See numbers.

disc vs disk

disk vs disc

See disc vs disk.

domain names

See URLs.

doomscroll / doomscrolling

double degree

downpipe

Dr

dreamt

Not dreamed.

driver licence

drycleaner / drycleaner’s / drycleaning

duffel bag

DVD

E

early bird

Earth

Capitalise when referencing the planet.

ebike

ebook

e-cigarette

e-commerce

eftpos

eg

Use for example instead.

elder / eldest

Except when referring to an elder person, use older or oldest instead of elder or eldest:

eldercare

Use aged care or eldercare.

ellipsis (…)

Plural: ellipses.

Used to indicate an interruption, omission, or pause:

To type an ellipsis:

email

Write email addresses in lower case.

When adding an email address to a webpage, always show the address:

Not:

em dash (—)

An em dash is roughly the width of a letter ‘m’.

A single em dash indicates a break in a sentence:

A pair of em dashes can border a parenthetical statement:

To type an em dash (–):

See also:

emoji

The plural of emoji is emoji.

When ending a sentence with an emoji, a full-stop is not required 😉

encyclopedia

en dash (–)

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:

An en dash can also describe a score or outcome:

To type an en dash (–):

See also:

English

enquire

Use ask instead.

enrol / enrolment

en route

en suite

ensure

To make sure something happens.

See also insure.

entrepôt

To type ô:

EPUB

A popular ebook file format, notably used by Apple Books and Kobo.

e-reader

estate

Avoid when referring to the car body style. Use station wagon instead.

Ethernet

EV

If the context is clear, it’s not necessary to write electric vehicle in full.

every day vs everyday

evidence-based

Hyphenate when used as an adjective:

euro (€)

Abbreviate to € (ideally), or E.

To type €:

exclamation mark

Not exclamation point.

F

Facebook

faeces

fall

When referencing seasons, use autumn instead.

FAQs

No apostrophe or other punctuation. Written in full as frequently asked questions.

farther

Use further instead.

fiancé

filename

film-maker / film-making

fiord

first aid

first-born

first-hand

Fisher & Paykel / Fisher & Paykel Healthcare

fjord

Use fiord instead.

flatmate

Flickerwell

The publisher of this style guide. See flickerwell.com.

Flickerwell Academy

Online web writing courses that use the New Zealand Style Guide as a companion resource. See flickerwell.com/academy.

flight attendant

Not an air hostess or air steward.

footpath

Not pavement or sidewalk.

for example

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):

focused / focuses / focusing

for better or for worse

Not for better or worse.

former president

former prime minister

forwardslash (/)

See slash.

fossick

freephone

See also phone numbers.

Freeview

frequently asked questions

FAQs for short.

fulfil / fulfilled / fulfilling / fulfilment

Full HD

Use 1080p instead.

full-stop

Not period.

full-time

Fujifilm

G

gas / gas station

Use petrol / petrol station instead.

g’day

gelled

Not jelled.

get-together

Hyphenate when describing a gathering.

ghost chips

GitHub

glovebox

Gmail

GOAT

Use greatest of all time (or all-time greatest) instead.

Godzone

Google Pay

gotten

Use got instead.

An exception is ill-gotten gains.

gram

Not gramme.

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Commonly Green Party or the Greens.

G-string

Guy Fawkes Day

gynaecology

H

handheld

handout

hapū

hāpuku

hard copy

hardcore

hardout

harebrained

Hawaii

Hawke Bay vs Hawke’s Bay

The bay is called Hawke Bay; the region is called Hawke’s Bay.

headings

Do not use a full‑stop.

Use sentence case. This means only using upper-case letters for:

For example:

Avoid ellipses (…) and exclamation marks (!) in formal writing.

Question marks (?) can be used if they make sense in context.

headlines

Apply the rules used for headings.

heads‑up display

Not head‑up display.

high-rise

high school

Avoid, except where part of a school’s name. Use secondary school instead (or junior high school if applicable).

h-index

Italicise the h.

hīkoi

hokey pokey

hole-in-one

Holland

Use the Netherlands when referencing the country; Holland when referencing the geographical region on the Netherlands’ western coast.

homeopathy

homepage

Hong Kong

Can be described as a special administrative region of China.

hoover

Use vacuum or vacuum cleaner instead, unless referencing the Hoover brand.

Hotmail

Unless expressly referencing its former name (or a hotmail.com email address), use its new name Outlook.com instead.

hot pool

hot spring

hyena

hyphen

Hyphenate words when they form a single adjective:

Where the meaning may be ambiguous, hyphens can provide clarification:

See also:

I

ice block

iCloud

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:

ICON (ICX)

Use upper-case for the ICON blockchain and cryptocurrency.

ie

Use that is instead.

IKEA

ill-gotten gains

iMac

Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i.

incur / incurred / incurring

Instagram

install / installation / instalment

insure

To insure against risk.

See also ensure.

internet

See also URLs.

in utero

in vitro

in vivo

iOS

Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i.

iPad / iPadOS

Try to avoid starting a sentence with these words, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i.

iPhone

Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case i.

IRD

The term IRD number is still used, but in other contexts, use Inland Revenue instead.

ironic

Not ironical (unless trying to be ironic).

irregardless

Use regardless instead.

IS

See Islamic State.

ISBN

isite

Formerly i-SITE.

Islamic

Use Muslim when describing people. Islamic can be used in other contexts, for example, when describing architecture or culture.

Islamic State

Use Islamic State (IS) in the first instance, then just IS.

Islamophobia

Islamophobic

italics

Within a block of text, italicise the names of:

Do not italicise headings.

its vs it’s

Generally, its indicates possession:

Generally, it’s is short for ‘it is’:

J

Jack Daniel’s

jack-in-the-box

jack of all trades

jandals

Use flip-flops instead, unless referencing the Jandals brand.

JavaScript

Jay-Z

jelled

Use gelled instead.

jellybean

jetski

Jetstar

jewellery

JPEG

Use .jpg for file filename extensions (not .jpeg).

judder bar

judgement

junction

When referring to roading, use intersection instead.

Make exceptions for proper nouns, including Auckland’s Central Motorway Junction, commonly known as Spaghetti Junction.

junior high school

just deserts

Despite its pronunciation, it’s spelt deserts, not desserts.

K

kākāpō

kānuka

kātipo

kaumātua

KC

Short for King’s Counsel (KC).

kerb

Not curb.

kererū

kia kaha

kia ora

kickstart

kilogram

King’s Counsel (KC)

Formerly Queen’s Counsel (QC).

King’s Speech

kiwi vs Kiwi

Use kiwi for the bird (plural: kiwi).

Use Kiwi for the people (plural: Kiwis).

Kiwibank

kiwifruit

KiwiRail

KiwiSaver

klicks

Slang for kilometres:

km/h

Not kmph or kph.

knowledge base / knowledge-based

kōhanga reo

kōkako

Koran

Use Qur’an instead.

kōrero

kūmara

L

left-click

left-leaning

left-wing

Lego

Plural: Lego bricks (not Legos).

let alone

LGBT

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:

Rainbow community, Rainbow communities, or other labels may be preferred.

licence

licence plate

Use number plate instead.

life-long

ligatures

Unless making an old-timey stylistic choice, do not use ligatures in digital documents.

The only exception is if the letters f and i have a visual overlap.

like

When a list is preceded with “like”, always explain what they are like:

If you don’t explain what they are like, it’s not clear why they’ve been grouped together:

In many cases, including can be used to avoid the need to explain:

Lincoln University

LinkedIn

lists

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.

literally

Never use in place of figuratively. These are all wrong:

Only use literally to describe something that is factually true:

long-exposure photography

lorry

Use truck instead.

lunchtime

M

m

Short for million. Use it without a leading space:

Macao vs Macau

Both spellings are fine, but for consistency, stick with the Portuguese spelling Macau.

Macau can be described as a special administrative region of China.

MacBook Air / MacBook Pro

macOS

Formerly Mac OS X.

Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case m.

macrons

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:

maimai

In New Zealand English, a maimai is a duck-shooter’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 guests to a tangihanga”.

mainland China

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.

See also Macau and Taiwan.

mānuka

Māori

Maori Hill

No macron in the Dunedin suburb’s name.

Māori Party

Now Te Pāti Māori.

Māori Television

Now Whakaata Māori.

Markdown

markup

Massey University

master class

masters

No apostrophe for a masters degree.

mataī

Matariki

McDonald’s

MediaWorks

memory card

memory stick

Use USB flash drive instead.

microSD card

Microsoft

mini-golf

MiniSD card

misspell / misspelt

misstep

money

When using the dollar sign ($), include an abbreviation to indicate the currency:

Mount Egmont / Mount Taranaki

Now Taranaki Maunga.

Mr

Mrs

Ms

MS

Short for multiple sclerosis. Do not use for Microsoft.

multicultural

multidisciplinary

multimedia

Mx

Pronounced ‘mix’, Mx is a gender-neutral alternative to Mr or Ms.

N

names

If initials are used, do not use full-stops (unless requested by the subject):

NASA

National / National Party

See New Zealand National Party.

nationwide

Use sentence case for app and website navigation menus:

NCEA

Use an upper-case ‘L’ for Level:

nerve-racking

Not nerve-wracking.

Netherlands

Use the Netherlands instead.

Newshub

Now ThreeNews.

New Zealand

Where there is a risk of New and Zealand being split across two lines, use a non-breaking space.

For local audiences, the abbreviation NZ can be used without writing New Zealand in full. In some specific contexts, other abbreviations may be used — for example:

See also Aotearoa.

Newstalk ZB

New Year’s Day / New Year’s Eve

New Zealand First

Can be abbreviated to NZ First or NZF.

New Zealand Labour Party

Commonly Labour or Labour Party.

New Zealand National Party

Commonly National or National Party.

New Zealand Sign Language

NZSL for short.

See also deaf vs Deaf.

Ngāi

ngā mihi

Ngāti

non-

Include a hyphen, for example:

non-profit

Use not-for-profit instead.

Northern Hemisphere

northern lights

Use aurora borealis instead.

Northern Tropic

Use Tropic of Cancer instead.

notebook

Use laptop instead when referring to a computer.

not-for-profit

Not nonprofit.

noticeboard

noughts and crosses

Not tic-tac-toe or Xs and Os.

number plate

Not licence plate.

numbers

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:

But, do not use commas for years:

NZ

Abbreviation for New Zealand.

See also Aotearoa and New Zealand.

NZ Post

NZSL

Short for New Zealand Sign Language.

See also deaf vs Deaf.

NZX

NZX 50

O

occur / occurred / occurring

octopuses

off-road / on-road

OK vs okay

OK is strictly correct (and preferable in most cases), but okay can be used as a softer alternative.

Olympic Games / Olympics

Both are fine. Where context is clear, the Games can also be used.

One News

Use 1News instead.

One NZ

The company formerly known as Vodafone NZ.

one-on-one vs one-to-one

Use one-on-one to describe a competitive scenario, or one-to-one for meetings and talks:

ongoing

online

on tenterhooks

Not tenderhooks.

on to

Not onto.

OpenAI

open-source

organise

orient vs orientate

Use orientate, orientated, and disorientated.

orthopaedic

Otago University

Use University of Otago instead.

Outlook

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:

overalls

Not coveralls.

overrated

overruled

Oxford comma

See commas.

P

pā

PA

Short for personal assistant or public address.

paddleboard

Also stand-up paddleboard.

paediatric

pajamas

Use pyjamas instead.

Pākehā

parental leave

Use parental leave instead of maternity leave or paternity leave.

parentheses

Singular: parenthesis.

If a whole sentence is within parentheses, put the full-stop inside the closing parenthesis:

part-time

pavement

Use footpath instead.

payWave

Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case p.

PDF

pen drive

Use USB flash drive instead.

People’s Republic of China (PRC)

This is the official name of China.

Not to be confused with Republic of China (ROC), which is the official name of Taiwan.

percent (%)

Always use a numeral for the percentage:

period

For the punctuation mark, use full-stop instead.

petrol station

Not gas station or service station.

pH

PhD

PHEV

If the context is clear, it’s not necessary to write plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in full.

phone numbers

Always include the international calling code for regular phone numbers, and adjust spacing depending on the number of digits:

Do not include the international calling code for special numbers:

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&nbsp;9&nbsp;123&nbsp;4567</a>
Phone <a href="tel:0800123456">0800&nbsp;123&nbsp;456</a>

photocopy

Photoshop

pillowcase

platypuses

PlayStation

PO Box

Use PO Box in an address, but PO box if referring to post office boxes generally:

pōhutukawa

policymaker / policy-making

Port of Tauranga

Ports of Auckland

postdoctoral

post mortem vs post-mortem

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).

post-nominals

These are the abbreviated qualifications, memberships, and other designations that may be listed after a person’s name. Omit full-stops and other punctuation:

The order of post-nominals is:

  1. Official honours and appointments, in alphabetical order
  2. Degrees in ascending order (for example, BAppSci MBA PhD)
  3. Diplomas awarded by tertiary institutions, in alphabetical order
  4. Certificates awarded by tertiary institutions, in alphabetical order
  5. Fellowships, in alphabetical order
  6. Memberships, in alphabetical order

power adapter

Use AC adapter instead.

powerpoint vs PowerPoint

practice vs practise

pre-eminent

preferred / preferring

preschool

president

Capitalise when used as the title of a nation’s current president:

If referencing anyone other than the US president (including business leaders), explain what type of president they are:

Use former president if they no longer hold the position:

press-up

Use pushup instead.

prime minister

Capitalise when used as a title in their name:

Use former prime minister if they no longer hold the position:

Prime Television

Now Sky Open.

professor

Avoid prof.

Capitalise when used as someone’s title in their name:

program vs programme

pro-vice-chancellor

Capitalise when used as someone’s title:

pūkeko

pushup

Not press-up.

pyjamas

Q

QA

Short for quality assurance.

See also:

Qantas

QC

Short for Queen’s Counsel. Now King’s Counsel (KC).

qi

Use qi for the vital force in traditional Chinese culture, and Qi or Qi2 for the wireless charging standard.

The New Zealand herbal drink is Ch’i.

QR code

quad bike

Also four-wheeler or 4‑wheeler.

Quebecers

Queen’s Counsel

Now King’s Counsel (KC).

Queen’s Speech

queueing

quicksand

quicksilver

quid pro quo

quiz show

Quorn

A trademarked food product.

quotation marks

Use double quotation marks (“ ”) for speech:

Use single quotation marks (‘ ’) for nested speech:

Single quotation marks can also emphasise things that are so-called:

Finally, single quotation marks can also be used for titles — but only if the font cannot be italicised:

quotation marks and punctuation

Unless quoting a full sentence, place ending punctuation outside of the closing quotation mark:

quotation mark typography

Use curved quotation marks (‘ ’ and “ ”), not straight quotation marks (' and ").

Opening single quotation marks (‘):

Closing single quotation marks (’):

Opening double quotation marks (“):

Closing double quotation marks (”):

Qur’an

Not Koran.

QWERTY

Q&A / Q&As

Short for question and answer / questions and answers.

Q+A

The TVNZ political show.

R

Radio New Zealand

Use the following names instead of Radio New Zealand:

Radio Waatea

railway

Not railroad.

railway crossing

Not railroad crossing.

But railway level crossing can be used for additional clarity.

ranchslider

rark up

real-life

refresh vs reload

When browsing the web, use reload instead of refresh.

regardless

Not irregardless.

reload vs refresh

See refresh vs reload.

Republic of China (ROC)

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.

re-sit

resumé

Use CV instead.

retweet

See X (formerly Twitter).

See correct vs right.

right-click

right-leaning

right of passage vs rite of passage

right-wing

rite of passage vs right of passage

See right of passage vs rite of passage.

RNZ

RNZ Concert

RNZ National

RNZ News

RNZ Pacific

Formerly RNZ International.

Rocket Lab

rocket science

rock ’n’ roll

An exception is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

roofs / rooftop / rooftops

round-up vs Roundup

S

Samsung Pay

schoolchild / schoolchildren

school-leaver

sci-fi

Use a hyphen for sci-fi but not for science fiction.

screenshot

The past tense of screenshot is screenshot. Only use screenshotted if necessary for clarity.

SD card

Available in three sizes:

seaside

seasons

Lower-case. Do not use fall.

seatbelt

secondary school

Except where part of a school’s name, use secondary school instead of high school.

second hand vs second‑hand

Sellotape

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:

Semi-colons also connect two related ideas within a single sentence:

serial comma

See commas.

service station

Use petrol station instead.

set-up

shake-up

SharePoint

shortlist

sidewalk

Use footpath instead.

sign in vs sign-in

sign in is a verb; sign-in is an adjective:

sign out

SilverStripe

SIM card

Just use SIM if the audience will understand it in context.

Siri

Sky Open

Formerly Prime Television.

slash

Generally, use a space either side of a slash:

Exceptions include:

To avoid ambiguity, it can be helpful to replace a slash with and, or or:

smart home

smartphone

You can usually just use phone.

smartwatch

smelt

Not smelled.

Snapchat

so-called

soft copy

Use electronic copy instead.

soft drink

solidus (/)

See slash.

sought-after

Southern Hemisphere

southern lights

Use aurora australis instead.

Southern Tropic

Use Tropic of Capricorn instead.

South Pacific

spaces

Use a single space after:

Use a single non-breaking space before a unit of measure:

An exception is the percent symbol (%):

Use a single space either side of an em dash (—):

Do not use a space either side of an en dash (–) when indicating a range, relationship, or result:

speed bump

Use judder bar instead.

Speight’s

split infinitives

Not something to ever be worried about.

spoilt

Not spoiled.

spring

squeegee

Not squilgee.

stand-alone

stand-up paddleboard

startup

state-of-the-art

station wagon

storewide

storey / storeys

Use when referring to levels of a building (floor and floors are also OK).

See also story / stories.

story / stories

Use when referring to a tale of people and events.

See also storey / storeys.

Strait of Gibraltar

Not Straits of Gibraltar.

subdivision

substation

suffice to say / suffice it to say

Both are OK, just be consistent.

summer

sweet as

T

Tai Rāwhiti

Taiwan

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 and Taiwan maintain an unofficial relationship. Therefore, 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 commonly referred to as Taiwan.

takahē

Takatāpui

See also LGBT.

take-off

Hyphenate when referencing an aircraft take-off.

Talley’s

Taranaki Maunga

Formerly Mount Egmont and Mount Taranaki.

taxpayers’ dollars / taxpayers’ money

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.

Taxpayers’ Union

Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu

Also Te Kura. Formerly The Correspondence School.

teammate

teamwork

tee

Can be used interchangeably with t-shirt.

Te Karere

telephone

Use phone instead.

See also phone numbers.

tēnā koe / tēnā kōrua / tēnā koutou

tenterhooks

Not tenderhooks.

Te Pāti Māori

Formerly the Māori Party.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Te Tiriti for short.

textbook

that

Always omit an unnecessary that (unless doing so would make the sentence sound awkward):

that vs which

Use that when the first part of the sentence doesn’t make sense without the second part:

Use which when the first part of the sentence could stand alone:

The Correspondence School

Now Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu or just Te Kura.

The Gambia

Not the Gambia.

the Greens

See Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.

their

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:

the Māori Party

Now Te Pāti Māori.

the Netherlands

theses

Plural of thesis.

Three

Formerly TV3.

ThreeNews

Formerly 3 News and Newshub.

thumb drive

Use USB flash drive instead.

tic-tac-toe

Use noughts and crosses instead.

TikTok

time

Use 12-hour time:

Use to for a time range:

See also dates.

timeframe

time-lapse

tires

Use tyres instead.

titles

Avoid abbreviations (except for Dr, Mr, Mrs, Ms, and Mx):

to a T

tons of

Used to mean many. But for metric measurements, use tonne.

top-up

tōtara

towards

Not toward.

traffic lights

The three colours are:

tramp / tramping

Because these terms are exclusive to New Zealand, use tramp and tramping for a local audience, but hike and hiking for an international audience.

transgender

The umbrella term trans describes anyone whose gender identity does not align with their assigned sex at birth.

trans man

A man who was assigned female at birth.

trans-Pacific

trans-Tasman

trans woman

A woman who was assigned male at birth.

Treaty of Waitangi

Tropic of Cancer

Not Northern Tropic.

Tropic of Capricorn

Not Southern Tropic.

t-shirt

Can be used interchangeably with tee.

tuberculosis

Can be abbreviated to TB.

tūī

Türkiye

Not Turkey.

TVNZ Duke

TVNZ 1

Formerly TV One.

TVNZ 2

Formerly TV2.

TV One / TV2 / TV3

These channels have been renamed:

tweet

See X (formerly Twitter).

Twitch

Capitalise the name of the live-streaming service.

Twitter

See X (formerly Twitter).

typeface

Unless writing for a typographic audience, use font instead.

tyres

Not tires.

U

UK

See United Kingdom.

UN

undergraduate

underpass

under-perform

underrate

underway

United Kingdom (UK)

To avoid ambiguity, use one of the following:

University of Auckland

University of Canterbury

University of Otago

University of Waikato

University of Wellington

Use Victoria University of Wellington or Victoria University instead.

untoward

See also towards.

upper case

Hyphenate when used as an adjective:

using upper case

Generally, avoid it. Use sentence case instead — including for headings.

To emphasise text, use bold or italics.

Upper case can be used sparingly to visually separate secondary text (such as navigation labels or image captions), but only if the text is very short. Long sentences in upper case are harder to read.

See also:

Up the Wahs

up to date

Hyphenate when used as an adjective:

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>

USA

Also: the US, the USA, the United States, and the United States of America.

Never the US of A.

USB

USB connectors include:

USB standards include:

USB flash drive

user-pays

Hyphenate when used as an adjective:

ute

Capitalise when referencing the Holden Ute.

U-turn

V

vacuum flask

vacuum-pack

vale

Italicise vale when used as a farewell.

Valentine’s Day

value judgement

varsity

Use university instead.

Vaseline

Use petroleum jelly instead, unless referencing the trademarked product.

Vatican City

Not the Vatican City, but the Vatican is OK.

VCR

vendor

ventilator

veranda

verbalise

veterinarian / veterinary

vet is also OK.

VHS

VHS player

Use VCR instead.

vice-chancellor

Capitalise when used as a title:

vice versa

Victoria Cross

VC for short.

Victoria University of Wellington

Commonly Victoria University. Never University of Wellington.

video conference

video game

video recorder

Use VCR instead.

videotape

Vietnam

viewfinder

VIN

Short for vehicle identification number.

vineyard

VIP

visa vs Visa

Use a lower-case ‘v’ to refer to the international travel document; use an upper-case ‘V’ to refer to the credit card:

vis-a-vis

visionOS

Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case v.

visitors’ book

visitors’ centre

See also isite.

vital

Avoid unless something is actually vital.

vlog

V-neck

voice box

voicemail

voltmeter

Vodafone

Now One NZ.

volcanoes

voting booth

vox pop

VPN

vs

Short for versus.

VTOL

Short for vertical take-off and landing.

vulgarise

W

wagon

Use station wagon when referring to the car body style.

Waikato University

Use University of Waikato instead.

Waitematā Harbour

Waitematā Station

Formerly Britomart Station.

Wānaka

Wanganui

Generally, use Whanganui instead.

watchOS

Try to avoid starting a sentence with this word, but if you must, then retain the lower-case w.

Wear OS

web address

See URLs.

weblog

Use blog instead.

webpage

website

See also URLs.

wellbeing

Wellington University

Use Victoria University of Wellington or Victoria University instead.

wētā

Wētā FX

Formerly Weta Digital.

Whakaata Māori

Formerly Māori Television.

whānau

Whanganui

which vs that

See that vs which.

while

Not whilst.

whiteware

Wi-Fi

Wikipedia

Windows

The Microsoft operating system:

winter

wish

To indicate a preference, use want instead.

withhold

Woolworths

Formerly Countdown.

wop-wops

workplace

workstreams

world-class

worldview

worldwide

World Wide Web

Use web instead of World Wide Web or WWW.

Use online instead of on the web.

X

X (formerly Twitter)

Use X (formerly Twitter) in the first instance, then just X.

Use post instead of tweet; use repost instead of retweet.

Xbox

Xero

The New Zealand-based accounting software company.

Xerox

A trademarked company name. Use photocopy instead.

x-height

XHTML

Xmas

Use Christmas instead, unless critically short of space.

XML

X-rated

X-ray

Xs and Os

Use noughts and crosses instead.

X-Trail

Y

Yahoo

Omit the exclamation mark (!) when referring to the internet corporation Yahoo.

Yahoo Mail

yard glass / yardie

yearbook

year-on-year

year-round

years

To avoid ambiguity, it’s best to write the year in full:

If using only two digits, an apostrophe precedes the first digit:

When referencing decades, there is no apostrophe immediately before the ‘s’:

year of study

Hyphenate when the year of study is an adjective:

Capitalise Year when referencing school years:

yen (¥)

Plural: yen.

Abbreviate to ¥ (ideally), or Y.

To type ¥:

yeses

Plural of yes.

YHA

YMCA

yogis

Plural of yogi.

youth hostel

Use backpacker hostel or hostel instead.

YouTube

yo-yo

YWCA

Z

zeitgeist

Z Energy

Z can be used when referencing the company’s trading name:

zero

Plural: zeros (but zeroes in on…).

The New Zealand-based accounting software company is Xero.

zero-day attack

zero-hour contract

zhoosh

Use zhuzh instead.

zhuzh

Use zhuzh instead of zhoosh. For example:

zig-zag

Zimmer frame

Unless referencing the trademarked walking frame, use walking frame instead.

zoos

Zumba

#

1News

2D

2degrees

2G

3D

3G

3 News

Now ThreeNews.

4G

4K

Use 4K, not 4K UHD or Ultra HD.

4WD

5G

8K

24-hour

Hyphenate when used as an adjective:

24/7

720p

1080p

To avoid ambiguity, use 1080p instead of Full HD.