Lists and tables

1. Lists#

A line that starts with a marker and a space is a list item; the items that follow it make the list.

- one item per line;- a second item;  - an item indented by two spaces sits one level down.1. Read the new word aloud.2. Write it once by hand.3. Use it in a sentence of your own → now it is yours.

* a star makes a bullet too,* and an item goes on  over a line indented by two spaces;+ so does a plus.1) A number and a bracket2) make a numbered list.

The rules are few, and a little stricter than elsewhere:

The first item decides the kind.

A list is numbered when its first marker is a number, and later items join it whatever their markers.

The numbers count themselves

: a numbered list always starts at 1 and goes up by one, whatever numbers you typed — 5., 9., 1. come out 1, 2, 3.

An item goes on

over the lines under it that are indented by at least two spaces (or a tab). A line under an item at the margin ends the list and starts a paragraph.

A blank line ends the list.

Items with blank lines between them are separate lists, and a numbered one starts again at 1 after each.

One level of nesting.

An item indented further than the first one sits one level down, in a bullet list, even inside a numbered one. Deeper indentation does not go deeper: every indented item is on that one level.

What those rules make of a few lists, shown as source because this guide’s own pages read them otherwise:

1. first2. second3. third             <- a new list, numbered 1 again- bullet    - indented        <- one level down        - indented more   <- still one level down  1. numbered         <- one level down, as a bullet- [ ] a task          <- the item reads "[ ] a task": no checkbox

Labelled lists#

A bullet list whose every item starts with a bold label — two items or more — is a labelled list: each label is set in bold at the head of its line, the text running on after it.

- **Script** an alphabet of 32 letters, joined as in handwriting- **Direction** right to left- **Vowels** the short ones are usually left unwritten

When a label is a longer stretch of the target language — more than ten characters of it — the labels go on lines of their own, with the text indented under each, which reads better for phrases:

- **کتاب‌های قدیمی** old books, a plural with the ezafe left out- **کتابخانهٔ ملی** the national library

A single item with a bold label, or a numbered list with them, is an ordinary list.

2. Tables#

A table is a header line and a line of dashes under it, then its rows, the cells parted by |:

| Infinitive | Present stem | Past stem | Meaning ||:---|:---:|:---:|---:|| رفتن *raftan* | رو *rav* | رفت *raft* | to go || آمدن *āmadan* | آ *ā* | آمد *āmad* | to come || دیدن *didan* | بین *bin* | -- | to see |

• The line of dashes sets each column’s alignment: :--- left, :---: centred, ---: right, and --- alone left. One dash a cell is enough, as in GitHub’s Markdown: |:-:|-| is a line of dashes too. It is read only on the line right under the header, so a body row of - or -- cells is still a row (of empty cells).
• Two columns or more. A one-column “table” is text.
• The pipes at the ends of a line are optional: a | b over --|-- is a table too.
• The rows run until a line with no | in it, or a blank line.
• A row with fewer cells is filled with empty ones; the cells of a row beyond the header’s number are dropped.
• A cell holding only —, -- or - is an empty one, drawn as a dash — the way a printed table says nothing here.
• A | can never be in a cell, not even in code: every one splits the row. (Which is also why a document’s name may not hold one: a link to it inside a table would split the cell.)
• A cell holds what a line of prose holds: bold, italics, target-language words, colours, a formula, a footnote.

A table of four columns or more is set in a smaller size, and one of six or more smaller still, so that it fits the column:

| Person | Present | Past | Future | Perfect | Subjunctive ||---|---|---|---|---|---|| I | می‌روم | رفتم | خواهم رفت | رفته‌ام | بروم || you | می‌روی | رفتی | خواهی رفت | رفته‌ای | بروی |

A table wider than the column scrolls sideways in the reading view. On paper it is a book-style table, header in bold between two rules; in large print, one wider than the line is scaled down to it. Very wide tables are still best shortened, or cut in two.