Thisguideline is a part of the English Wikipedia'sManual of Style. Editors should generally follow it, thoughexceptions may apply.Substantive edits to this pageshould reflect consensus.

Shortcuts MOS:SUPMOS:SUP MOS:SUBMOS:SUB

Asuperscript orsubscript is text that is positioned slightly above or below the normal line of type. Superscripts and subscripts are often rendered in a smaller font size than the adjacent normal text. This part of theManual of Style aims to achieve consistency in the use and formatting of superscripts and subscripts in Wikipedia articles.

Subscripts and superscripts should be wrapped in<sub> and<sup>HTML tags, respectively, with no other formatting info, with some exceptions (seebelow). The{{sup}} and{{sub}} templates are useful shortcuts to the HTML markup. Do not use theUnicode subscripts and superscripts² and³, orXML/HTML character entity references (² etc.). Rather, write<sup>2</sup> and<sup>3</sup> to produce the superscripts² and³. The superscripted 2 and 3 are easier to read, especially on small displays, and ensure that exponents are properly aligned. Compare:

wⁱx²z⁽ⁿ ⁺ ⁶⁾ (Unicode superscripts) to

wⁱx²z^{(n + 6)} (w<sup>i</sup>x<sup>2</sup>z<sup>(n + 6)</sup>) or

wⁱx²z^{(n + 6)} (w{{sup|i}}x{{sup|2}}z{{sup|(n + 6)}})

1 +x² +y³ (²) to

1 +x² +y³ (<sup>2</sup>) or

1 +x² +y³ ({{sup|2}})

These guidelines also apply in citations and template parameters; templates are responsible for cleaning up markup if needed for external consumption, e.g. forCOinS.

Phonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet andUralic Phonetic Alphabet (which are most often inside{{IPA}},{{IPA link}},{{UPA}}, and related templates) should useUnicode subscripts and superscripts. This follows the recommendation of theInternational Phonetic Association^[1] and is done by the tools, help pages, and articles referenced inWikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation. Tone should usually be marked with diacritics or IPA tone symbols, according toWikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation#Tone. Use{{Needs IPA}} for any non-compliant articles.

Superscript and subscript symbols inorthographies of languages, such as in theProto-Indo-European language, someSalishan languages, and theWade–Giles romanization of Mandarin, should use Unicode subscripts and superscripts.

Another exception is where Unicode superscripts and subscripts are used is in thetitle of articles, though this is only rarely necessary. SeeWikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles § Typographic effects.

PerWP:SDFORMAT,{{short description}} cannot use HTML or wikitext formatting, leaving Unicode characters as the only option for superscripts and subscripts.

• Theordinal suffix (e.g.,th) is not superscripted (23rd and496th, not23^rd and496^th). (Exception: Non-English languages; seeMOS:ORDINAL.)
• Centuries and millennia are written using ordinal numbers, without superscripts and without Roman numerals:the second millennium,the 19th century,a 19th-century book perMOS:CENTURY.
• Non-base-10 notations in non-computer-related articles use subscript notation. For example:137₉,241₆,2A9₁₂,A87D₁₆ (use{{sub|radix}} or<sub>radix</sub>).

• Infigured bass, superscript and subscript may be combined by using math markup or by using the{{su}} template:<math>C_6^4</math> =${\displaystyle C_6^4}$,''C''{{su|b=6|p=4}} =C⁴
  ₆; (see alsoWikipedia:TeX markup orm:Help:Formula).
• Fordiminished chords and half-diminished chords:{{music|dim}} and{{music|halfdim}}.
• For chord qualities and inversions:vii{{music|dim}},I{{sub|6}}. This looks like:vii^o,I₆.

• Powers of unit symbols such as squares and cubes are expressed with a superscript exponent (5 km²,2 cm³). Use the<sup> tag or{{sup}} template rather than the Unicode superscript characters such as². Squared imperial and US unit abbreviations may be rendered withsq, and cubic withcu (15 sq mi,3 cu ft).

Descriptions of:

• Chemical compounds

C₂H₅O⁻ using{{chem2|C2H5O-}}

• Isotopes

³
₂He using{{Nuclide|He|3}} or³
He using{{tlx|SimpleNuclide|He|3}}

• Exponentiation is indicated using a superscript:

2² = 4 using2{{sup|2}} = 4

Special care is needed with subscripted labels to distinguish the purpose of the subscript (as this is a common error): variables and constants in subscripts should be italic, while textual labels should be in normal text font (Roman, upright). For example:

${\displaystyle x_{\text{this one}}=y_{\text{that one}}}$   (correct—typeset from<math> x_\text{this one} = y_\text{that one} </math>),

and

${\displaystyle \sum _{i=1}^n{y_i}^2}$   (correct—typeset from<math>\sum_{i=1}^n{{y_i}^2}</math>),

but not

${\displaystyle r=x_{predicted}-x_{observed}}$   (incorrect—typeset fromr = x_{predicted} - x_{observed}).

Moreover, the TeX engine used on Wikipedia may format simple superscripts using<sup>...</sup> depending on user preferences. Thus, instead of the image${\displaystyle x^2}$, many users seex². Formulae formatted without using TeX should use the same syntax to maintain the same appearance.

• This guideline was implemented peran RfC discussion atWikipedia:Village pump (proposals).

• Wikipedia Manual of Style (formatting)

• Pages using sidebar with the child parameter