Editing Encyclopedia:Manual of Style (section)

====Second-person pronouns<span class="anchor" id="Second-person pronouns"></span>====
{{Shortcut|MOS:YOU|MOS:YOUR|MOS:BAIT|MOS:PEDAGOGY|MOS:SOCRATIC}}
{{redirect|WP:YOU|"Wikipedia is not about {{em|you}}"|WP:NOTYOU|"A picture of you"|WP:APoY}}

Avoid addressing the reader using ''you'' or ''your'', which sets an inappropriate tone {{crossref|pw=y|(see also {{section link||Instructional and presumptuous language}})}}.
*Use a noun or a third-person pronoun: instead of {{!xt|When you move past "Go", you collect $200}}, use {{xt|A player passing "Go" collects $200}}, or {{xt|When a player passes "Go", they collect $200}}.
*If a person cannot be specified, or when implying "anyone" as a subject, the impersonal pronoun ''[[One (pronoun)|one]]'' may be used: {{xt|a sense that one is being watched}}. Other constructions may be preferable if the pronoun ''one'' seems stilted: {{xt|a person's sense of being watched}}.
*The [[English passive voice|passive voice]] may sometimes be used instead:{{efn|name=passive}} {{xt|Impurities are removed before bottling}}.
*Do not bait links, e.g., "{{!xt|Click here for more information}}"; let the browser's normal highlighting invite a click. ("{{!xt|Click here}}" also makes no sense to someone reading on paper.)
*Likewise, "See:&nbsp;..." or "Consider&nbsp;..." (in reference to arguments, principles, facts, etc.) are milder second-person baits, common in academic writing ([[pedagogy]]). This interactive personality is inconsistent with an encyclopedia's passive presentation of objective matter.
**"See" and the like can be used to internally cross-reference other Wikipedia material. Do not italicize words like "see". Such a cross-reference should be parenthetical, so the article text stands alone if the parenthetical is removed. {{tlx|Crossref}} can be used for this: {{tlx|Crossref|(see <nowiki>[[Chicken]]</nowiki>)}}, {{tlx|Crossref|(See <nowiki>[[Dacian language]]</nowiki> for details.)}} It is usually better to rewrite the material to integrate these links contextually rather than use [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Self-references to avoid|explicit Wikipedia self-references]].
*Do not address the reader with the [[Socratic method]] by asking and answering questions. {{!xt|Did [[Francis Bacon|Bacon]] write [[Shakespeare]]? Then who wrote Bacon?}}