A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
N
names
In news for the first mention we use full name with professional title where appropriate title (Prof, Rev etc.). Subsequent mentions use title followed by surname only, e.g. "Mr Cameron said:", "according to Dr Foster".
In features we use full name at first mention with professional titles where appropriate. Subsequent mentions can be first name only for people we like and surname only for people we don't, e.g. "Julie agreed readily", "Lewis, predictably, wasn't happy".
Prominent figures can just be named, with their function at second mention: “Gordon Brown said last night” (first mention); “the chancellor said” (subsequent mentions). Where it is thought necessary to explain who someone is, write “Neil Warnock, the Sheffield United manager, said” or “the Sheffield United manager, Neil Warnock, said”. In such cases the commas around the name indicate there is only one person in the position, so write “the Tory leader, Michael Howard, said” (only one person in the job), but “the former Tory prime minister John Major said” (there have been many).
nation
Do not use when you mean country or state; reserve nation to describe people united by language, culture and history so as to form a distinct group within a larger territory
National Audit Office
National Grid
owner and operator of the British electricity transmission system since the industry was privatised in 1990
national insurance
National Savings
the former Post Office Savings Bank, now a government agency (full name National Savings and Investments)
naught
nothing nought the figure 0
nearby
one word, whether adjective or adverb: the pub nearby; the nearby pub
Netherlands, the
not Holland, which is only part of the country; use Dutch as the adjective. Exception: the Dutch football team is generally known as Holland
nevertheless
but none the less
new, now
often redundant
newspaper titles
the Guardian, the New York Times, etc. Italicise
new year
lc, but New Year's Day, New Year's Eve
NHS
national health service, but not necessary to spell out; health service is also OK
no-brainer
means something along the lines of “this is so obvious, you don't need a brain to know it” not “only someone with no brain would think this”
no man's land
no hyphens
no one
not no-one
none
It is a (very persistent) myth that “none” has to take a singular verb, but plural is acceptable and often sounds more natural, eg “none of the current squad are good enough to play in the Premiership”, “none of the issues have been resolved”
none the less
but nevertheless
north
north London, north-east England, the north-west, etc
nosy
not nosey
numbers
Spell out from one to nine; integers from 10 to 999,999; thereafter use m or bn for sums of money, quantities or inanimate objects in copy, eg £10m, 5bn tonnes of coal, 30m doses of vaccine; but million or billion for people or animals, eg 1 million people, 3 billion rabbits, etc; in headlines use m or bn
In news for the first mention we use full name with professional title where appropriate title (Prof, Rev etc.). Subsequent mentions use title followed by surname only, e.g. "Mr Cameron said:", "according to Dr Foster".
In features we use full name at first mention with professional titles where appropriate. Subsequent mentions can be first name only for people we like and surname only for people we don't, e.g. "Julie agreed readily", "Lewis, predictably, wasn't happy".
Prominent figures can just be named, with their function at second mention: “Gordon Brown said last night” (first mention); “the chancellor said” (subsequent mentions). Where it is thought necessary to explain who someone is, write “Neil Warnock, the Sheffield United manager, said” or “the Sheffield United manager, Neil Warnock, said”. In such cases the commas around the name indicate there is only one person in the position, so write “the Tory leader, Michael Howard, said” (only one person in the job), but “the former Tory prime minister John Major said” (there have been many).
nation
Do not use when you mean country or state; reserve nation to describe people united by language, culture and history so as to form a distinct group within a larger territory
National Audit Office
National Grid
owner and operator of the British electricity transmission system since the industry was privatised in 1990
national insurance
National Savings
the former Post Office Savings Bank, now a government agency (full name National Savings and Investments)
naught
nothing nought the figure 0
nearby
one word, whether adjective or adverb: the pub nearby; the nearby pub
Netherlands, the
not Holland, which is only part of the country; use Dutch as the adjective. Exception: the Dutch football team is generally known as Holland
nevertheless
but none the less
new, now
often redundant
newspaper titles
the Guardian, the New York Times, etc. Italicise
new year
lc, but New Year's Day, New Year's Eve
NHS
national health service, but not necessary to spell out; health service is also OK
no-brainer
means something along the lines of “this is so obvious, you don't need a brain to know it” not “only someone with no brain would think this”
no man's land
no hyphens
no one
not no-one
none
It is a (very persistent) myth that “none” has to take a singular verb, but plural is acceptable and often sounds more natural, eg “none of the current squad are good enough to play in the Premiership”, “none of the issues have been resolved”
none the less
but nevertheless
north
north London, north-east England, the north-west, etc
nosy
not nosey
numbers
Spell out from one to nine; integers from 10 to 999,999; thereafter use m or bn for sums of money, quantities or inanimate objects in copy, eg £10m, 5bn tonnes of coal, 30m doses of vaccine; but million or billion for people or animals, eg 1 million people, 3 billion rabbits, etc; in headlines use m or bn
