Lionbridge Style Guide European Spanish

Lionbridge Style Guide
European Spanish
Lionbridge Technologies
WW Language Excellence
© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 1

© Copyright 2005–2016 Lionbridge Technologies. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material is
prohibited without prior permission of Lionbridge.
Revision History
 2015/12/21–Update and format adjustments. Addition of link to Official Spanish Spelling Rules
 2014/06/16– Update and format adjustments
 2011/07/27 – Addition of reference to Spanish Spelling reform
 2007/01/10 – Creation of the style guide
Important Note
This style guide indicates the general style to be followed in Lionbridge projects. However, the client's
preferences, glossaries and specifications overrule the style guide!
If the style guide and project specifications are not followed, Lionbridge reserves the right to deduct
expenses to correct the errors, or to require the translator/editor to correct the errors.
Warning! The style guide follows the latest recommendations of the Real Academia
Española published in 2010 except for numbers. Therefore be aware that some rules in
this style guide may conflict with customer instructions.

Table of Contents
Introduction 6
I. Writing Style 6
A. Language General Style 6
Sentence Structure 6
Personal Pronouns 6
Possessive Pronouns 7
Use and Spelling of Foreign Words 7
Repetitions 8
Use of “por favor” 8
US-centric Examples 8
Double Negations 9
Gerund 9
Numbered and Bulleted Lists 9
Verbs 10
B. Translation of Software 11
Names of Menus, Commands and Keys 11
Proper Form of Verb/noun 11
C. Translation of Help and Documentation 11
Style for Manuals 11
Chapter/Topic Titles 12
User Interface References 12
Index Entries 12
Verb Syntax (person) 13
II. Language Rules 13
A. Alphabet and Sorting Order 13
B. Capitalization Rules 13
Headlines 13
Book Titles 13
Abbreviations of Personal Titles 14
Commands 14
Organizations 14
Never Capitalize 14
C. Numbers, Date and Address Formats 14
Numbers 14
Internationalization of the Spanish Numbering System 15
Days 16
Time 17
Months 17
Standard Date Format 18
Standard Phone Number Format 18
Standard Address Format 18
D. Currency and Units of Measurement 19
Currency 19
Units of Measurement 20
E. Punctuation 20
Quotation Marks 20
Parentheses and Brackets 20
Period 21
Hyphen, En Dash, Em Dash 21
Semicolon 22
Comma 22
Colon 24
Question Marks and Exclamation Points 24
Spacing before and after Punctuation 25
Capitalization after Punctuation 25
Compound Words, Hyphenated Words and Prefixes 25
F. Accenting Rules 26
G. Formatting 28
Bold, Italics 28
Spacing 28
H. New Spelling 28
Replacing the letter “q” 29
Graphic variants of words containing the sound /k/ - 29
Names of the letters: “V” –“B” – “W” –“Y” –“I” 30
I. Special Symbols 30
J. Common Standard Abbreviations 30
III. References 31
A. Client Style Guides 31
B. Platform Glossaries 31
C. Other Reference Material 31

Introduction
The purpose of this style guide is to provide guidance for translation into Spanish as it is
used in Spain. It should be noted that this style guide is not intended to be an
exhaustive or in any way complete guide to Spanish grammar, but rather a practical
reference resource for obtaining answers to questions that arise in the translation.
I. Writing Style
A. Language General Style
Sentence Structure
In general, the final form of the translated text should reflect the normal structure in
Spanish. Therefore, the restructuring of the translated sentence in Spanish is
sometimes required.
The usual word collocation in Spanish is “subject+verb+complements”. Bear in mind
that this is just a general hint and adapt sentences as necessary to produce a fluent
translation.
Example:
English Correct Spanish Incorrect Spanish

“A very popular “XXX, una conocida “Una conocida empresa del
automotive firm, XXX, empresa del sector de la sector de la automoción,
was expecting to […]” automoción, tenía previsto XXXX, tenía previsto […]”
[…]”
The usual sentence length in English may be longer or shorter than in Spanish. Split or
join sentences as necessary in order to provide a fluent text.
Some English sentences start with “And”, “Or”, however this usage is not so common in
Spanish and should not be overused.
The final form of the translated text should reflect the current structure for Spanish.
Personal Pronouns
Spanish does not usually require the presence of pronoun subjects in the sentence as
verbs are conjugated in person and number.
Spanish may use formulas other than personal pronouns to translate “you”, “we”, etc.,
such as “the user”, “the company”.
Pay attention to the mixed usage of a company name and the pronoun “they” when
you are referring to it. Use a consistent criterion in the translation and do not mix
Spanish verbal forms in singular and plural as you may see in source text.

Possessive Pronouns
In English it is common to use possessive pronouns, such as in “Turn off your device”.
However, in Spanish it is more natural to translate this phrase using the definite article
equivalent to “Turn off the device” (“Apague el dispositivo”).
The excessive use of possessive pronouns should be avoided. Remember that
possessive pronouns are not used in Spanish in connection with body parts, clothing
and personal belongings.
Use and Spelling of Foreign Words

In general, the decision about using a foreign word, (particularly English) instead of a
Spanish word is based on its general acceptance. Please follow the spelling guidelines
indicated by the Real Academia Española:
Spelling of foreign loan words and words of Latin origin
 Original spelling:
Foreign loan words and words of Latin origin which are used with their original spelling
and pronunciation and are not spelled according to the Spanish spelling rules must be
written with some kind of graphic mark in order to indicate their foreign origin,
preferably italics or quotation marks.
 Adapted spelling:
On the other hand, foreign and Latin words that have been adapted or do not present
any problems with respect to Spanish spelling rules are to be written without any type
of highlighting and according to the normal Spanish spelling rules:
Use of foreign loan words Use of loan words adapted

with original spelling to Spanish spelling
Me encanta el ballet clásico Me encanta el balé clásico.
Juego al paddle todos los Juego al pádel todos los
domingos domingos
La reunión se suspendió por La reunión se suspendió por
falta de quorum. falta de cuórum.
 Foreign expressions:
Phrases or sayings in other languages that are used unmodified in Spanish texts should
also be written in italics or between quotation marks to indicate their foreign origin
even though they are commonly used:
Phrases in languages other than Spanish

Se casó in articulo mortis con su novia de toda la vida.
Decidieron aplazar sine die las negociaciones.
El examen post mortem reveló indicios de envenenamiento.
Las grandes potencias eran partidarias de mantener el statu quo.
La historia tuvo un happy end de película.
Su bien ganada fama de femme fatale le abría todas las puertas.
La tensión fue in crescendo hasta que, finalmente, estalló el conflicto.
Así fue, grosso modo, como acabó aquel asunto.
Renunció motu proprio a todos sus privilegios.
 Localize place names if their translations are widely used and recognizable. In
some cases, it may be better to leave the original name:
Recommended Discouraged
Amberes Antwerp
Frankfurt Fráncfort
Aquisgrán Aachen
Repetitions
It is common in English to repeat the words in a sentence.
Example: If you want to edit a document, first open the document by selecting Open
in the File menu.
In Spanish, the word “document” would not be repeated in the translation. Instead you
would use a pronoun.
Also, Spanish style in general avoids repetitions and prefers synonyms to give the text a
better flow. However, in technical language and where a glossary exists for the
translation, function always prevails over elegance.
Use of “por favor”

In English it is very common to use the word “Please” to introduce an instruction.
Example: “Please fill out the field Name in the form”.
Avoid using “por favor” in Spanish, since the usage of 3rd person singular to address
user already conveys a sense of politeness.
Example: “Rellene el campo Nombre del formulario.”
US-centric Examples
English text often contains US-centric examples, such as person’s names, city names
etc. Do not change the names unless you have been provided with specific instructions.

Double Negations
Double negations are often used in English, as in "If the guide is not properly aligned,
the biopsy guideline on the system display will not correspond to the actual needle
path.”
Use your best judgment according to the context in Spanish in order to decide whether
to remove the double negation or to keep it.
Gerund
Make sure to follow the Spanish grammatical rules for gerunds.
 Avoid copying English usage.

including incluido incluyendo
“Return the product “Devuelva el producto “Devuelva el producto
(including the (incluida la (incluyendo la
documentation) to the documentación) al documentación) al
place where you establecimiento donde establecimiento donde
purchased it.” lo adquirió” lo adquirió”
 Use infinitives for titles of topics or sections that begin with a gerund in English. For
more information, see section Chapter/Topic Titles.
 Gerunds are not used in Spanish as attributive adjectives:
Correct Incorrect
Un barril con 100 litros Un barril conteniendo
de... 100 litros de…
Numbered and Bulleted Lists

Numbered lists are useful for sequential steps and are often meant to show a
hierarchical relationship between its items. Bulleted lists usually indicate a set of items
that are at the same level of importance. Many lists are introduced by a main clause
followed by a colon.
The following formats can be used in Spanish:
 Phrases (incomplete sentences):

When the list item is the continuation of a phrase, the first word is indicated in
lowercase.
Use a comma or no punctuation at the end of each item and a period at the end of
the last item.

Example:
La entrada 9 se puede configurar para:

 mensajes guía completos,
 mensajes guía limitados,
 ausencia de mensajes guía.
It is equally correct not to use any punctuation:

Example:
Las funciones del lenguaje, según Jacobson, son seis:

- expresiva
- fática
- conativa
- referencial
- poética
- metalingüística
Note that if the bulleted items are joined by a conjunction, use lowercase and
period only on the last item.
Example:
El primer dígito se establece en 5 si:
 no hay más entradas de dominio, y
 no hay más buzones de usuario.
 Complete sentences:
When the list items consist of complete sentences, the first word is capitalized and
each item ends with a period.
Example:
 Se puede personalizar el saludo.
 Se pueden transferir las llamadas externas.
Verbs
 Infinitive versus imperative in instructions:
For instructions and commands to the user, translate using formal imperatives.

To see a performance Para ver un informe Para ver un informe de
report, check the de rendimiento, rendimiento, consultar la
Reports section. consulte la sección sección Informes.
Informes.

For the translation of CTA (Call to action) buttons, use infinitives.

Download the reports Descargar los informes Descargue los informes
 Future tense versus present tense:

In Spanish, the present or subjunctive may often replace the future tense in the
source language.
When describing a procedure or translating formulas used frequently in the text,
you should be consistent in the way you handle this transformation. Both the
imperative tense and infinitive forms may be used.
 Personal versus impersonal style:
Spanish tends to use a more personal style. The imperative and active voice is
preferred over the infinitive and the passive voice.
B. Translation of Software
Names of Menus, Commands and Keys

In English, menus and commands may have the first letters of all words capitalized. In
Spanish only the first letter is capitalized.
Example: “Save As” is translated as “Guardar como” and not “Guardar Como”.
English sometimes use a question, such as “What’s new in XXX?” or “Need assistance?”
In Spanish this phrase is often translated as an affirmative sentence, such “Novedades
de XXX” or “Ayuda”, respectively.
Proper Form of Verb/noun

This style guide recommends using the infinitive form in Spanish for menu names and
other parts of software interface, although the imperative or the noun form can be seen
in other documentation.
Translate complete sentences which are addressed to the user using formal imperative
2nd person singular, as in “Escriba el nombre del archivo”.
C. Translation of Help and Documentation
Style for Manuals

Manuals are written to help the reader understand how a product works. That means
that they must be easy to read and understand. Below please find recommendations
for the style of manuals translated into Spanish:
 Do not use complex sentences.

 Use normal language prose as used in better magazines or newspapers.

 Address the reader directly, using the active voice and 2nd person of the verb.
In technical manuals, “you” may be replaced with “el usuario”, and “we” with the actual
name of the company.
In technical texts, the use of possessive pronouns is avoided. The definite article should
be used instead.
Example: “Save your document” would be translated as “Guardar el documento”.
Chapter/Topic Titles
 Gerund:
Titles and chapter names in English often include an English gerund.
Example: “Creating a database”. Translate these gerunds using an infinitive verb form:
“Crear una base de datos”.
 Capitalization:
In Spanish only the first letter in a title is capitalized.
Example: “Creating and Printing Reports” is translated as “Crear e imprimir informes”.
 Questions:
English topic titles sometimes use a question, such as “How do I print a picture?” In
Spanish translate this kind of structures as “Cómo + infinitive” and without the question
mark.
Example: “Cómo imprimir una imagen”.
User Interface References

It is of the utmost importance that the translations of the references to the User
Interface that appear in the Help or Documentation match the actual translations of the
User Interface, so that there are no inconsistencies.
Index Entries
Use infinitives when translating English index entries that use the gerund. Use lower
case for index entries, unless the index entry actually refers to a UI item.
Use your best judgment when translating index entries and pay special attention to
entries with “button”, “menu” and similar. Using the structure below helps the user find
the desired index entry quickly.

Add User menu Agregar usuario (menú) menú Agregar usuario
Save as menu Crear nuevo informe menú Guardar como
(menú)
Print menu menú Imprimir
Guardar como (menú)
Create new report menu menú Crear nuevo informe
Importar campaña (menú)
Import campaign menu menú Importar campaña

Verb Syntax (person)
The usual verb person for the Spanish documentation or help text is formal imperative
2nd singular as in “Haga clic en ...”.
II. Language Rules

A. Alphabet and Sorting Order
The Spanish alphabet consists of 27 letters which should be sorted in the following
order:
ABCDEFGHI JKL MNÑ O PQ RST U VWXYZ
After the Spanish spelling reform in 2010, the digraphs “ch” and “ll” are no longer
letters of the Spanish alphabet.
NB: Always select Spanish International Sort or Spanish Modern Sort (just two names
for the same concept) when setting your language preferences for Spanish.
“Ñ” is not the letter N with a diacritic mark, but a letter in itself, that comes after the
“N.”
“W” is only used in words and nouns of foreign origin, but is still a specific letter in the
Spanish alphabet, where it tends to be pronounced in the English way.
The combination “rr” is a letter for hyphenation's sake but has no effect on sorting.
Letters with diacritical marks (accents and dieresis) are interspersed for sorting with
their regular equivalents. Accents and umlauts are only accidents, with no influence on
the sorting order.
B. Capitalization Rules
In Spanish only the names of people and places need to be capitalized.
Headlines
Only the letter of the first word in a sentence must be in upper case.
Book Titles
Capitalize only the first word and, of course, proper names and trademarks. Apply the
general rule for titles of paragraphs and chapters.
Do not capitalize the words cápitulo, apartado, párrafo, figura, etc..
Correct Incorrect
Consulte el capítulo 5... Consulte el Capítulo 5...

Abbreviations of Personal Titles
Capitalize abbreviations of personal titles: Ud. (you), Sr. (Mr.), Dr. (Dr.), but do not use
capital letters when spelled out:
Correct Incorrect
Para que usted pueda Para que Usted pueda
colocar... colocar...
Commands
Only capitalize the first letter in commands:
Correct Incorrect
Borrar tabuladores Borrar Tabuladores
Organizations
Names of departments, divisions and sections in an organization are capitalized, but
the actual word departamento, división or sección should be maintained in lowercase,
unless the office is formally addressed or it is listed suggesting a postal address.
Example:
Sr. gerente del Departamento de Reparaciones: [letter heading]
Centro de Servicio y Distribución, 7750 The Bluffs NW. [address]
But:
El departamento de Atención al Cliente responderá a sus consultas. [body text]
Never Capitalize
Never capitalize names of languages, nationalities, days of the week, months, seasons,
jobtitles, or the 1st person pronoun, except at the beginning of a sentence:
 Names of languages and nationalities: “Se habla español,” “el himno francés”
 Days of the week and names of the months: “El lunes 25 de mayo de 1992”
 Season names, except if they are personalized: “El verano pasado”
 Job titles: “ministro”,” presidente”, gerente”.
 The 1st person pronoun “yo”
C. Numbers, Date and Address Formats
Numbers
 Decimal separator:
The most common decimal separator in Spanish (Spain) is a comma and is the one
recommended by this style guide.
 Thousands separator:

The most common thousands separator in Spanish (Spain) is the point and is the one
recommended by this style guide.
 Years:
Never use thousand separators in years.
Example:
English-US: 1,000 15,000 year 1990
Spanish: 1000 15 000 año 1990
 Number abbreviation:
The correct abbreviation of “number” in Spanish is “n.º” or “núm.”
 Billion and million:
In Spanish, “un billón” is a million millions, not a thousand millions as in the USA. In
other words, one billion in Spanish speaking countries is a trillion in the USA.
ONE BILLION (ENGLISH) UN BILLÓN (SPANISH)
1,000,000,000 1.000.000.000.000
109 1012
Even though the Real Academia Española has accepted the term ‘millardo’ as a
translation of the English term “billion”, its use is best avoided . Consequently, the
number “5.3 billion” should be translated as “5300 millones”.
Internationalization of the Spanish Numbering System

In an effort to internationalize the Spanish numbering system, the Real Academia
Española has made some recommendations regarding the use of thousand and decimal
separators, which may not prosper, as they can create a good deal of confusion.
In Lionbridge Madrid we do not recommend changing the number separators
until we see that this becomes a common practice in the media.
However, for the sake of completeness, below please find the latest recommendations
of the Real Academia Española for decimal and thousands separators.
 Decimals:
Today both the comma and the point are admitted for separating decimals from whole
numbers. However, the Academy recommends using the point as separator for
decimals.
 Thousands:
o Write 4 digit numbers together in one group without separators.
Example: 2000 or 5467.
o Write numbers with more than 4 digits in groups of three digits
separated by a “thin” space.
Example: 34 000 000. (We interpret that “thin” should be understood as
non-breaking.)
o Separation in groups of three digits for numbers with more than 4 digits
is optional when the number expresses quantity.
o The exceptions to using spaces are not new and also apply to the existing
thousand separators:
1. Numbers that indicate years, whether or not the number
contains more than 4 digits: the year 2010, in 40000 a.C. (before
Christ). However the separation can be used if the number (more
than 4 digits) is used to quantify or express the number of years:
40 000 years ago.
2. Numbers indicating pages, numbering of lines or columns.
3. Numbers of legal texts, especially as regards legislation.
4. Numbers of zip codes, postal addresses, post boxes.
5. Numbers forming part of codes or identifiers, signatures or
registers.
Days
 Calendar:
In Spanish, the first day of the week is lunes (Monday).
 Capitalization:
Weekdays are not capitalized unless they appear at the beginning of the sentence.
 Abbreviations:
Weekdays can be abbreviated as indicated in the table below. Normally,
abbreviated forms are used due to space constraints. For this reason, the period
may be omitted (in spite of the general rule which requires the usage of a period in
abbreviations). If the abbreviation consists only of one letter, it must be capitalized.
Monday lunes lun L
Tuesday martes mar M
Wednesday miércoles mié X
Thursday jueves jue J
Friday viernes vie V
Saturday sábado sáb S
Sunday domingo dom D

Time
 Formal contexts:
Time format for Spanish in more formal contexts, such as press releases, manuals, etc.
should have the 24 hour format.
In less formal contexts the phrases “de la mañana”, “de la tarde” “de la madrugada”,
“de la noche” are used to differentiate between p. m. and a. m.
NOTE: 12.00 should be written out as “doce de la mañana” or “doce del mediodía”,
never “doce de la tarde”.
 Separation sign:
Use a period to separate the hour and the minutes. Example: 17.20.
In technical texts use a colon. Example: 17:20 or 17:20.
The a.m. / p.m. format is correct in Spanish, but is not widely used. Example: 5.20 pm.
Months
The names of the months are written in lower case and can be abbreviated as indicated
in the table below. Normally, abbreviated forms are used due to space constraints. For
this reason, the period may be omitted (in spite of the general rule which requires the
usage of a period in abbreviations).
January enero ene
February febrero feb
March marzo mar
April abril abr
May mayo may
June junio jun
July julio jul
August agosto ago
September septiembre sep
October octubre oct
November noviembre nov
December diciembre dic

Standard Date Format
In Spanish, the date is indicated in the order: day, month, year: “dd-mm-yy”. This is the
predominant format in Hispanic countries, whereas the usual format in the US and its
influence areas is “mm/dd/yy:
English-US: 05/23/14
Spanish: 23-05-14
 Separators:
When the dates are written in numbers only, the day, month and year can be separated
with hyphens (31-01-06), strokes (31/01/06) or periods (31.01.06) without spaces.
The preferred separator is a hyphen.
Do not add a zero before the number of the day when it is below 10 except for technical
reasons (4-2-98 is preferred over 04-02-98).
 Written out format:
The correct format for writing out a date using a combination of numbers and letters is:
31 de mayo de 2014. The use of letters only is reserved for very formal documents such as
deeds and bank documents.
 Spaces:
Do not include any signs or spaces when writing the year according to the number rule:
Correct Incorrect
2014 2.014
2 014
2,014
Standard Phone Number Format

In Spain, telephone numbers consist of 9 digits including area codes, which are not
indicated separately. Mobile phone numbers also consist of 9 digits, although they do
not have area codes.
Phone numbers are indicated in groups of 3. The international country code for Spain is
34 and is indicated in parentheses before the number: (34) 915 675 563.
The groups are separated by a space.
Be aware that phone number formats vary among Spanish-speaking countries.
Standard Address Format

The standard mailing address for Spain is similar to this:
First name, last name/Company name
Street/avenue name, house/building number, floor, apartment number,
neighborhood
Postal code, city
Country
Example:
Lionbridge Technologies Inc.
C/ Caleruega 102-104, 6ª planta, Edificio Ofipinar
28033 Madrid
España
Be aware that address formats vary among Spanish-speaking countries.
D. Currency and Units of Measurement
Currency
 Name:
The standard currency used in Spain is “euro” and “céntimo”.
The plural form of “euro” is “euros”.
€ and EUR are invariable.
Use céntimo(s), not cent nor centavo to indicate the fraction of the euro. Cent and
centavo indicates the fraction of the dollar.
The abbreviation of “céntimo” is “cént.” and the abbreviation of the plural form
“céntimos” is” cts.” As this abbreviation coincides with that of centavo, it is
advisable to specify the name of the currency to avoid confusion.
Example:
El precio de la carne subió 40 céntimos (o 40 cts.) de euro.
 Capitalization:
As all other currencies, euro is a common noun and is written in lowercase.
 Symbols:
The most commonly used symbol is € although the three-letter code EUR is also
used. Symbols are never followed by a period.
 Placing:
The currency symbol or the three-letter currency code is placed after the amount
and separated by a space.
This also applies to the symbols for other currencies. Be careful never to separate a
number and its accompanying symbol on different lines.
In Latin America, however, the symbol is usually placed before the number and
without a separating space. The three-letter code is also placed before the number
but is always written with a separating space.
Spain 50 $ 50 EUR
Latin America $50 EUR 50
NOTE: The use of hybrid symbols such as US$ is discouraged.

Units of Measurement
Use the metric system as defined by the International System of Units:
 The symbols must be placed after the number, leaving a blank space.
Example: 50 km
 The units of measurement are written in lowercase (g, mm, ha) except those whose
origin is the proper name of a person: N for newton (of Isaac Newton), W for vatio
(James Watt).
 Units of measurement are not abbreviations and therefore do not end with a
period.
 Units of measurement have no plural form. Therefore write 3 kg and not 3 kgs.
 Degree symbol. When referring to temperature, as in “xxx ºC/ xxxx ºF”, there
should be a space between the number and the symbol. When referring to angles or
latitude (35°), there is no space.
E. Punctuation
Please follow the rules published by the Real Academia Española in “Ortografía de la
lengua española.” For more information, see the section on References.
Quotation Marks
The use of the angled quotation marks, also called Latin quotation marks (« »), is
becoming less common in online documentation as these signs are not found on the
Spanish keyboard. It is recommended to use double quotes and single quotes only.
Quotation marks are not used as freely in Spanish as in English. Often they can be
changed to italics or even left out.
NOTE: The period must always be placed outside of the quotation marks (as well as
parentheses). This is a very common error in Spanish translations from English.
Parentheses and Brackets

If the parentheses or brackets appear together with other punctuation marks, these
marks must be indicated after the closing parenthesis mark. This also applies to whole
sentences, which is an important difference from English usage.
The sentence inside the parenthesis has its own punctuation.
Example:
1) … para excarcelar, a cambio, a 1.027 presos palestinos (de ellos, 477 serán
liberados hoy).
2) Dijo: «Tú y yo hemos terminado». Tras estas palabras se marchó, dando un
portazo. (Creo que estaba muy enfadada).

Period
The period (.) indicates a pause and the ending of a sentence. Periods that end a
sentence are followed by one space.
 Never write a period after a title or subtitle when it appears isolated and constitutes
the only text of the line. The same applies to slogans.
 Do not use a period at the end of texts below illustrations, photos, diagrams, etc.
that describe their contents. However, when the caption has an explanatory
character with a complete sentence structure, it must end with a period.
 Never write a period immediately after an interrogation or exclamation mark or
ellipsis.
 Never write a period before a closing quotation mark, parenthesis, bracket or dash
Example of correct use:
Dijo: “Tú y yo hemos terminado”. Tras estas palabras se marchó, dando un
portazo. (Creo que estaba muy enfadada. No me extraña). En la calle la
esperaba Emilio – un buen amigo–.Este, al verla llegar, sonrió.
For information on the use of periods in lists of items, see section Numbered and
Bulleted Lists.
Hyphen, En Dash, Em Dash

Do not confuse the dash with the hyphen or the underscore sign.
 Hyphens:
The hyphen is used for dividing words at the end of a line and for uniting two or more
closely related words. The rules are very complex and it is recommended to consult the
dictionaries as well as the Ortografía de la lengua española. See also the section on
Prefixes.
 Dashes:
The dash can be used as a single or a double sign. In this last case, as for other double
signs such as parentheses or quotation marks, the opening and closing dash is written
immediately before and after the enclosed text without a space.
Legitimate usage of dashes in Spanish is limited to indicating the entrance of a new
speaker when transcribing dialogues (an infrequent usage in technical manuals) and to
enclose parenthetic phrases in the middle of another sentence. This use can be
replaced by parentheses, or even by commas.
Neither dashes nor asterisks are proper ellipsis marks in Spanish, which uses three
ellipsis points for this purpose.
The em dash is not frequently used in Spanish and is often replaced by parenthesis. If
the sentence is too long, create a new sentence.
Never use dashes in Spanish to mean something like “in short”; colons are used instead.
The same applies to cases when an explanatory paragraph follows the dash in English—
a colon should be used instead.
Semicolon
In Spanish, the semicolon indicates a pause which is longer than the one marked by the
comma but shorter than the pause marked by the period.
It is used for:
 separating items in a list containing complex expressions with commas;

 separating contrasting clauses, especially if they contain commas;
 connecting syntactically independent clauses that are closely related but not linked
by a coordinating conjunction. In many cases you can replace the semicolon with a
period.
Comma
The comma rules in Spanish are very similar to English usage, however, there are
number of important exceptions:
 Conjunctions:
As a general rule the comma is not used together with the conjunctions y, e, ni, o, u.
Therefore, there is no comma before the conjunction ending a series of separate

items, i.e. in lists of items. Such an omission is optional in English and almost
imperative in Spanish.
Correct Incorrect
Imágenes, caracteres, Imágenes, caracteres,
líneas y símbolos. líneas, y símbolos.
However, in some cases the joint use of the comma and the conjunction is
necessary.
In a list of complex items separated by a semicolon, write a comma or a semicolon
before the last item.
Write a comma before the coordinating conjunctions when the first sequence is
connected with the previous predicate and not the last of the coordinated items:
Example:
Pagó el traje, el bolso y los zapatos, y salió de la tienda
No sé si ir de vacaciones a Francia o Italia, o quedarme en casa.
Although permitted, in some cases it is better to avoid repeating the same
conjunction in the same sentence by rephrasing:
Example:
Seleccione Cortar y alargar, y haga clic.
Seleccione Cortar y alargar; a continuación haga clic.

 Contrasting phrases:
In general use a comma before coordinated sentences starting with the adversative
conjunctions pero, mas, aunque, sino (que) and structures that have a contrasting
content.
Example:
Hazlo si quieres, pero lo no digas que no te lo advertí.
Todos fueron a la fiesta, excepto ella.
 Salutations:
In letters and documents, use a colon after salutations, not a comma.
Example:
Querida Raquel:
However, in emails separate the name and the initial greeting with a comma:
Example:
Hola, Raquel or Buenos días, Antonio.
 Decimal separator (Spain):

See section on Numbers above.
 Conjunctive or adverbial expressions:
For instance de hecho, efectivamente, en cambio, en ese caso, en fin, en realidad, es
decir, no obstante, o sea, por ejemplo, por fin, sin embargo, etc. that give additional
meaning to a statement are usually followed with a comma when appearing at the
beginning of a sentence or enclosed within commas when they appear in the middle
of a sentence.
Example:
No puede negarse a ayudarnos; a fin de cuentas, es la primera vez que le
pedimos un favor.
Se graduó en junio de este año. Fue la única vez, dicho sea de paso, que su padre
demostró admiración hacia él.
A comma is used when a verb is suppressed, i.e. when it is implied but not stated
directly.
Example:
Su hijo mayor es rubio; el pequeño, moreno.
Use a comma if the sentence begins by directly addressing someone.
Example:
Jorge, tienes que acabar tu tarea.
Never place a comma between the subject and the predicate.
Colon
 The colon (:) is often used for introducing lists or procedures, or before a quotation.
Regarding the use of upper or lower case letter after colon in lists, see section
Numbered and Bulleted Lists.
 The colon is used after salutations in letters and documents. The word that follows
the colon is written in uppercase and on a separate line.
Example:
Muy señor mío:
Le agradeceré que en el plazo más breve posible...
Querido Javier:
¿Qué tal las vacaciones?
However, in emails separate the name and the initial greeting with a comma.
Example:
Hola, Raquel or Buenos días, Antonio.
 Colon can be used in technical texts to indicate times.
Example: 17:20. See also the section on Time above.
Question Marks and Exclamation Points

 Question marks and exclamation points are used in the same way in Spanish. They
both have a right or closing form (!?) and a left or opening form (¡¿).
 Question and exclamation marks can enclose single words, phrases or whole
sentences, standing alone, inserted in the middle of a sentence, starting a sentence
or ending a sentence.
Example:
English: Continue?
Spanish: ¿Desea continuar?
 When interrogative or exclamatory clauses are in the middle of a sentence, they do
not normally begin with uppercase. If the sentence continues after the closing
mark, a comma usually follows the interrogation or exclamation. But if the
interrogation or exclamation stands alone or is added at the end of a sentence, the
period that should have finished the sentence is omitted.
Example:
La cuestión es, ¿cómo reproducir ese gráfico?
Se puede pulsar ese botón pero ¡cuidado!, todo su trabajo podría borrarse.
Este proceso ha terminado. ¿Desea continuar?
 The multiplication of question/exclamation marks to increase emphasis is a
procedure that should not be encouraged in Spanish. However, if you must do so,
please pay attention to the rule that the opening and closing symbols must be
always matched. If you open with three, you must also close with three, etc.
Example:
English: WARNING!!
Spanish: ¡¡ADVERTENCIA!!
 Omission of exclamation marks:

It is common though, not to use exclamation marks in cases where the English text
does use them. This happens often in software error messages:
Example:
English: An error occurred while transferring!
Spanish: Se ha producido un error durante la transferencia.
Spacing before and after Punctuation

Use one space only after the end punctuation. Do not mimic double sentence spacing in
English source documentation if present.
Capitalization after Punctuation

Capitalize words after periods, hard carriage returns, and exclamation/question marks if
they are complete sentences.
For capitalization after colons and semicolons, please see the corresponding sections
above.
Compound Words, Hyphenated Words and Prefixes
 Prefixes:
The new Spanish spelling rules give explicit indications regarding the spelling of the
expressions with prefixes, including “ex-“, which is now handled in the same way as
other prefixes: exmarido, ex primer ministro. Below please find the basic guidelines:
 One word:
Prefixes must always be written together with the nucleus it modifies, when the
nucleus consists of a single word. In this case, it is incorrect to use a hyphen to separate
the prefix from the base or to separate the prefix from the base with a white space.
Correct spelling Incorrect hyphen Incorrect white space

anticancerígeno anti-cancerígeno anti cancerígeno
exministro ex-ministro ex ministro
posventa pos-venta pos venta
prepago pre-pago pre pago
antimafia anti-mafia anti mafia

If various prefixes are used, they must also be written together without a hyphen:
Example:
antiposmodernista
requetesuperguapo.
 Hyphens:
Acronyms and proper names in one word
The prefix is joined with the nucleus using a hyphen, when the nucleus starts with a
letter in uppercase.
anti-ALCA
mini-USB
pos-Gorbachov
pro-Obama.
Numbers
It is also necessary to use a hyphen when the base is a number in order to separate
the sequence of letters from the sequence of numbers:
sub-21
super-8.
 White space:
Prefixes must be written separate from the nucleus when the nucleus consists of
various words, such as
pre Segunda Guerra Mundial

super en forma
vice primer ministro
Some prefixes such as ex-, anti- or pro-, have a higher tendency to form compound
words and in the Spanish grammar they are called separable prefixes:
anti pena de muerte

pro derechos humanos
The same prefix can therefore be written together with the nucleus, it can be
joined to the nucleus with a hyphen, or it can be completely separated with a white
space according to the above mentioned criteria:
Prefix One word Hyphen White space

anti antimafia anti-OTAN anti ácido láctico
pro provida pro-OLP pro derechos humanos
super supercansado super-8 super en forma
Also see the section on Hyphen, En Dash, Em Dash above.
F. Accenting Rules
The new spelling rules have revised the use of accent marks in monosyllabic words
with orthographic diphthongs or triphthongs. Please follow the guidelines below:
 No accent mark:
Correct Incorrect
guion guión
truhan truhán
fie fié
liais liáis
In order to apply the rules for accenting words in Spanish, you need first to
determine how the words are divided into syllables. For this purpose you must
know how the vowels are pronounced within the same syllable – as diphthongs or
triphthongs or in distinct syllables.
 Diphthongs:
The following are considered to be diphthongs for spelling purposes:
Open vowels (/a/, /e/, /o/) followed or preceeded by an unstressed closed vowel (/i/,
/u/): estabais, confiar, diario, afeitar, viento, pie, guion, aunar, acuario, actuado,
reunir, sueño, estadounidense, antiguo.
Two different closed vowels (/i/, /u/): triunfo, incluido, diurno, huir, viuda, ruido.
 Triphthongs:
For orthographic purposes, triphthongs are defined as sequences of one open
vowel between two closed, unstressed vowels: confiáis, actuáis, puntuéis, guau.
As a result of applying the new rules, a limited group of words that traditionally
have been written with an accent mark - i.e. two-syllable words ending in -n, -s or a
vowel and in which the last syllable is stressed – will now be considered
monosyllables as regards the graphic accent. Monosyllabic words do not need an
accent mark. However, a diacritical accent mark is used to distinguish words which
have the same spelling but carry different meaning.
The words affected by this change are verbal forms such as crie, crio, criais, crieis;
nouns such as guion, ion, muon, pion, prion, ruan y truhan; and some proper names
such as Ruan and Sion.

 Omission of diacritical accent mark:
The word “solo”
The word solo, both as an adverb, i.e. when it is equivalent to solamente and when
it is an adjective, should not carry the diacritical accent mark. Except where
confusion is possible: “Fui solo al cine” >< “Fui sólo al cine” (I went alone to the
movies >< I only went to the movies”
 Demonstrative adjectives:
The demonstrative adjectives este, ese and aquel, in their feminine and plural
forms, in their function as pronouns (Este es tonto; Quiero aquella) or determiners
(aquellos tipos, la chica esa), should not carry the diacritical accent mark according
to the general accenting rules, even in the case of possible ambiguity.
 The conjunction “o”:

The conjunction o (or) shall always be written without an accent mark whether it
appears between letters, numbers or signs.
G. Formatting
Bold, Italics
Be careful to respect the formatting of the original document (fonts, font sizes, style,
etc.) unless specified otherwise.
Note that quotation marks in English can sometimes be replaced with italics in Spanish.
See the section on Quotation marks above.
Spacing
Symbols are always placed after their accompanying number and are separated by a
space from the number. Example: 50 $.
This also applies to the percentage symbol. Example: 50 %.
Avoid separating the number and the symbol on separate lines by using non-breaking
spaces.
The exception to this rule is the symbols for degrees, which are written together with
the number. Example: 30º.
In the case of temperature, when the temperature scale is specified, the symbol is
written after the number leaving a space. If the scale has not been defined, then the
symbol is written together with the number. Example: 30 ºC and 30 ºF but 30º.
H. New Spelling
In December 2010, the Real Academia Española published new spelling guidelines for
all countries where Spanish is the official language.
Please follow the rules below, unless otherwise instructed.
Replacing the letter “q”
Replace the “q” in loan words and words of Latin origin that have been adapted to
Spanish and where it can be replaced with a “c”.
Correct Incorrect
cuórum quórum
cuark quark
cuásar quásar
execuátur exequátur
However, if the etymological spelling forms with “q” are maintained, the words should
be considered loan words that have not been adapted and should therefore be written
in italics and without an accent.
Correct Incorrect
quorum quórum
quark cuark
quasar quásar
exequatur exequátur
Replace the letter “q” with a “c” or a “k” in a limited number of proper nouns:
Correct Incorrect
Catar Qatar
Irak Iraq
Marrakech Marraquech
Graphic variants of words containing the sound /k/ -

Before the new spelling reform, a number of foreign words containing the sound /k/ had
two admitted spellings. Now, the Academy has published a list of preferred and
deprecated forms based on the criteria of frequency of usage.
Preferred spelling Deprecated spelling

bikini biquini
euskera eusquera
póker póquer

Names of the letters: “V” –“B” – “W” –“Y” –“I”
Some letters in the alphabet have various names in the different areas where Spanish is
spoken. The academies therefore propose that Spanish speakers start using the same
names. It is important to note that the use of any of the variants is not considered
incorrect.
Letter Recommended name Discouraged name

v uve ve
ve corta
ve chica
ve chiquita
ve pequeña
ve baja
b be be larga
be grande
be alta
w uve doble ve doble
doble uve
doble ve
doble u
y ye i griega
i i i latina
I. Special Symbols
It is not uncommon in English to see characters such as #, & or @.

In Spanish, use instead of the equivalent words, “número”, “y”, “e”, and “en”,
respectively unless they form part of a name or an email address.
J. Common Standard Abbreviations
In Spanish abbreviations always end with a period except: c/ for calle (street) and c/c for
cuenta corriente (current account).
When the abbreviation is a group of words in the plural, a period is added at the end of
each part which are separated with a space.
Example: EE. UU. for Estados Unidos (the United States).
Common Spanish abbreviations are:
ej. ejemplo
fig. figura
incl. inclusive
máx. máximo
mín. mínimo

núm. número, also n.º
p. página, also pág. and pg.
The Real Academia has published a list of the most frequent abbreviations in Spanish.
Please see http://www.fundeu.es/escribireninternet/abreviamientos-y-abreviaturasen-
espanol/
III. References
A. Client Style Guides
Please refer to the specific instructions of the project, which should contain information
on how to obtain client-specific style guides for the target language.
B. Platform Glossaries
Standard online glossaries for IT reference are available from the Microsoft Language
Portal:
http://www.microsoft.com/language/en-us/default.aspx
C. Other Reference Material

Real Academia Española: Ortografía de la lengua española, Espasa Libros, S.L.U., 2010.
www.rae.es
Real Academia Española: Diccionario panhispánico de dudas: http://lema.rae.es/dpd/
Real Academia Española: Ortografía de la lengua española (2010):
http://aplica.rae.es/orweb/cgi-bin/buscar.cgi
Fundéu BBVA. Fundación del español urgente: http://www.fundeu.es/.

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Lionbridge Style Guide

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 1

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 2

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 5

English Correct Spanish Incorrect Spanish

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 6

Use and Spelling of Foreign Words

Use of foreign loan words Use of loan words adapted

Phrases in languages other than Spanish

Use of “por favor”

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 8

English Correct Spanish Incorrect Spanish

 Gerunds are not used in Spanish as attributive adjectives:

Numbered and Bulleted Lists

 Phrases (incomplete sentences):

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 9

La entrada 9 se puede configurar para:

It is equally correct not to use any punctuation:

Las funciones del lenguaje, según Jacobson, son seis:

English Correct Spanish Incorrect Spanish

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 10

English Correct Spanish Incorrect Spanish

 Future tense versus present tense:

Names of Menus, Commands and Keys

Proper Form of Verb/noun

C. Translation of Help and Documentation

Style for Manuals

 Do not use complex sentences.

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 11

User Interface References

English Correct Spanish Incorrect Spanish

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 12

II. Language Rules

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 13

C. Numbers, Date and Address Formats

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 14

 Billion and million:

Internationalization of the Spanish Numbering System

Monday lunes lun L

Tuesday martes mar M

Wednesday miércoles mié X

Thursday jueves jue J

Friday viernes vie V

Saturday sábado sáb S

Sunday domingo dom D

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 16

January enero ene

February febrero feb

March marzo mar

April abril abr

May mayo may

June junio jun

July julio jul

August agosto ago

September septiembre sep

October octubre oct

November noviembre nov

December diciembre dic

© 2016 Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - CONFIDENTIAL 17

Standard Phone Number Format

Standard Address Format

D. Currency and Units of Measurement

NOTE: The use of hybrid symbols such as US$ is discouraged.

Parentheses and Brackets