Guidance for Spanish (Latin America)

Style Guides Spanish (Latin America)
1

Last update: February 9, 2023

If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or need for an arbitration, create a topic in the Style Guide section, the Language Lead will get back to you.

Here you will find the guidance for Spanish (LATAM), but you should also consider the guidance for all languages.

1. Capitalization

  • Capitalize only the first letter of a sentence and the names of people, products or places ; unless you capitalize a whole word or sentence for emphasis.
  • Always apply your language conventions rather than adhering to the English source.

Capitalize

  • Proper names
    :point_right: Proton Mail
    :point_right: Proton VPN
    :point_right: NetShield
  • Command/Folder names and keywords (first word only):
    :point_right: Cancelar
    :point_right: Aceptar
    :point_right: Guardar cambios
  • First word of a sentence, title or subtitle
    :point_right: Los descuentos varían según la cuota mensual.
  • In UI items made up of 2 alternative commands separated by a slash, both are capitalized
    :point_right: Importar/Exportar archivo
  • In bulleted lists, where sentences end with a period or colon.
    :point_right:Normas de puntuación:
    • Cuando los elementos de una lista no son oraciones, usamos.
    • Si los elementos son oraciones completas, se puntúa como corresponda.
    • Cuando la introducción a la lista es una oración incompleta, esta se termina con dos.
  • After salutation in an Email:
    :point_right: Estimado usuario:
    :point_right: Gracias por…

Do not capitalize

  • Words in a list introduced by a sentence and ending with a semicolon or a comma, and also in lists of elements (unless these elements are full sentences):
    • A la hora de montar listas, hay que tener en cuenta varios puntos:
      • la continuidad y coherencia gramatical;
      • la puntuación tras la introducción;
      • la puntuación tras los elementos;
      • la mayúscula o la minúscula al comienzo de cada ítem.
    • Solo se pueden usar estos signos:
      • asterisco
      • almohadilla
      • guion bajo
  • Words after colon when in the same line (except when the line is introduced by Note, Warning or any similar call to attention)
    :point_right: Se confirma la noticia: la nueva versión de Proton Mail ya está disponible.
  • Nationalities and languages
    :point_right: El usuario es español. Habla francés.
  • Names of days, months, and seasons
    :point_right: lunes, febrero, verano

2. Gender

  • We want to be as inclusive as possible, so we try to be neutral, but we use gender-specific nouns and verbs if remaining neutral goes against the writing best practices for a specific language.
  • Each noun has a gender that is either masculine or feminine. The neuter gender does not exist. In general, all variable parts of speech should agree in gender (and number) with the noun they refer to.
  • Basic principles:
    • When possible, avoid the use of masculine singular form to refer to someone whose gender is unknown.
    • Don’t suggest the reader’s gender using a specific grammatical forms. If you cannot use forms that are gender-free, rephrase the sentence.
English We avoid We prefer
I am happy to help you. Estoy contenta de poder ayudarle. Me alegra poder ayudarle.
If you are interested in Proton Mail… Si está interesado en Proton Mail… Si le interesa Proton Mail…
I am not used to this tool. No estoy acostumbrado a trabajar con esta herramienta. Esta herramienta no me resulta familiar.
  • You can use passive language to avoid gender-specific verbs, but only if it doesn’t hurt readability and/or make the sentence sound unnatural.
  • Apply the masculine form when an adjective, verb, or another part of speech refers to multiple nouns with different genders.
  • Rephrase when you are unable to find a gender-neutral way.

:warning: The gender and number of the acronym are determined by the gender and number of the translation for the governing noun of the extended form. Here is an example: VPN (Virtual Personal Network) is feminine because the translation of “network” (“red”) is feminine…

3. Abbreviations

Whenever possible, avoid using abbreviations.

Abbreviate the text only when you lack space (mainly buttons, option names or strings with specific character limitations) or when you need to ease the text readibility. Instead of abbreviating (e.g., 4 or 5 consecutive words), summarize a term or a phrase in 2 or 3 words that can be written in full.

General criteria for shortening words:

  • Omit at least two letters
  • Truncate a word so that it ends with a consonant and place a period after it
  • When a word is gender-specific, the abbreviation needs to end with the vowel that determines the gender
  • Follow existing rules for common abbreviations:
    Abreviación :point_right: Abrev.
    Señora :point_right: Sra.
    Departamento :point_right: Dpto.

Days abbreviations (in calendars, agendas, timetables… the names of days are written without a period for visual purposes):

English Translation Abbreviation
Monday lunes lun
Tuesday martes mar
Wednesday miércoles mié
Thursday jueves jue
Friday viernes vie
Saturday sábado sáb
Sunday domingo dom

Months abbreviations (in calendars, agendas, timetables… the names of months are written without a period for visual purposes):

English Translation Abbreviation
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

4. Acronyms

  • Common examples are VPN (Virtual Personal Network), DNS (Domain Name Server), HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), etc.
  • The most common acronyms and their translations are included in the glossary. Always refer to the glossary when localizing acronyms.
  • The gender and number of the acronym are determined by the gender and number of the translation for the main noun of the extended form.
    :point_right: API (Application Programming Interface) is feminine because the translation of “interface” (“interfaz”) is feminine.
  • To choose the appropriate article to use in front of an acronym, consider the gender and the euphonic effect.
    :point_right: The API is La API.
  • When the exact meaning of the governing noun of the acronym is known, you can add the translation in brackets right after the acronym.
    :point_right: La API (interfaz de programación de aplicaciones)
  • When an acronym is repeated several times in the same section, include its extended form in parentheses only for its first occurrence.

5. Pronouns

  • English, especially technical English, is more redundant than some other languages.
  • When translating, you often need to reduce the redundancy of the source text using pronouns. This may otherwise affect the text readability. However, this must not affect accuracy.
  • When translating technical and complex strings, ensure users can associate pronouns to the noun they refer to.
  • Avoid the use of possessive pronouns when possible.
    Make sure to save your edits once you’re done :point_right: No olvide guardar los cambios cuando haya terminado
  • Omit pronoun subjects such as “we” and “you".

6. Gerunds (“ing” ending)

  • Gerunds are used in English, such as in “Creating a report”.
  • When paragraph and chapter heads begin in English with a gerund, as a general rule please use an infinitive, translating it as the equivalent of “Create a report”.
English We avoid We prefer
Generating keys Generando claves Generar claves

7. Punctuation

The general rule is to follow your language standard grammar rules. If you need help, consult the resources below:

7.1 Period

  • For the period at the end of a sentence (subject + verb), adapt the source to your language usage. When the English source does not put a period at the end of the sentence but you should in your language, add it in your translation. In this case, make sure that the text you are translating is not a part of a longer sentence (this is usually specified in the context).
  • Include a period at the end of each extended sentence in a bullet list if this sentence has a full meaning by itself.
  • Unless the item includes more than one sentence, do not place any period at the end of titles, links, buttons and checkboxes.

7.2 Exclamation mark

Exclamation marks are used to give emphasis. As their use is less common than in English, you should use them sparingly: feel free to change an exclamation mark into a period if it is more natural, but please don’t change a period into an exclamation mark.

English We avoid We prefer
Done! Redirecting… ¡Hecho! Redirigiendo… Hecho. Redirigiendo…
Importing contacts complete! ¡Contactos importados! Contactos importados

7.3 Parentheses

Parentheses are used to clarify statements or provide additional information. If a sentence in parentheses clarifies the context, it usually starts in lower case and its ending period is put outside the closing parenthesis. Also, a sentence in parentheses providing additional information separated from the context may start in upper case and have its ending period after the closing parenthesis.

English We avoid We prefer
Please choose a display name to finish setting up your account. (Other people will see this.) Elija un nombre que mostrar para terminar de configurar su cuenta. (Otras personas verán esto.) Elija un nombre que mostrar para terminar de configurar su cuenta. (Otras personas verán esto).
We also support importing vCard. (UTF-8 encoding) También admitimos la importación de vCard 4.0. (codificación UTF-8) También admitimos la importación de vCard 4.0. (codificación UTF-8).

7.4 Comma

Do not place commas before “y” and “o” when the conjunction is used to link two related terms.

English We avoid We prefer
You can also add, delete, and edit them by clicking… También puede agregarlos, eliminarlos, y editarlos haciendo clic en… También puede agregarlos, eliminarlos y editarlos haciendo clic en…
Assign permissions to users, or groups Asigne permisos a usuarios, o grupos. Asigne permisos a usuarios o grupos.

7.5 Colon and semicolon

Colons and semicolons come immediately after the preceding word, with no space in between, and the following word should not be capitalized.
Date: Old to new :point_right: Fecha: de más antiguo a más reciente

7.6 Em dash (—), en dash (–), hyphen (-)

  • In English, an Em or En dash is used to demarcate an isolated element, to introduce an item that is not essential to the sentence’s meaning, to emphasize a sudden change in thought or to bring focus to a list.
  • It is often more appropriate to use a full stop or parenthesis instead.
  • Also, the Em dash is not used for date ranges, therefore you should use a hyphen instead, but make sure the hyphen is not preceded nor followed by any space.
    September 10 - 20 :point_right: 10-20 de septiembre

7.7 Quotation marks

  • Use angular quotation marks :point_right: «example»
  • Place the period or the brackets outside the closing quotation mark.
    :point_right: Consulte la guía «Introducción a Proton Mail».

7.8 Ampersand (&)

Generally speaking, replace “&” with “y” unless it is part of a company/product name or a registered trademark.

8 Spacing and non-breaking spaces

  • Never insert blank spaces before punctuation. Only use a single space between words or after punctuation.
  • Use non-breaking spaces to prevent improper division of elements such as product names, part numbers, numbers, dates, etc.
  • When using units of measurement, include a non-breaking space between number and sign.
    :point_right: 2 m, 23 °C, etc.
  • To insert a non-breaking space using your keyboard:
    • On Windows, hold down the “Alt” key while typing the number “255”.
    • On Apple, Ctrl + Option⌥ + Space bar.

9 Numbers

  • Replace the period that stands for the decimal point in American English with a comma in your translations.
    3.75 :point_right: 3,75
  • For numbers smaller than 1, always put a zero before the decimal comma.
    .5 :point_right: 0,5
  • The period in app/software version numbers remains unchanged.
    :point_right: Proton Mail v.3
  • As a thousand separator, use a non-breaking space. Never use thousand separators in years.
    15,000 and year 2015 :point_right: 15 000, año 2015
  • Time and date:
    • Hours and minutes are separated by a colon. Use the 12 hour format, but note the non-breaking space in a. m. and p. m.
      at 9:25 P.M :point_right: a las 9:25 p. m.
    • The date format is “dd/mm/yy”.
      01-31-22 (mm/dd/yy):point_right: 31/01/22.

10 Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers may be written with numerals and letter suffixes, where the suffix acts as an ordinal indicator.

English Singular M Singular F Plural M Plural F
1st 1.º 1.ª 1.os 1.as
2nd 2.º 2.ª 2.os 2.as
3rd 3.º 3.ª 3.os 3.as
4th 4.º 4.ª 4.os 4.as
5th 5.º 5.ª 5.os 5.as
6th 6.º 6.ª 6.os 6.as
7th 7.º 7.ª 7.os 7.as
8th 8.º 8.ª 8.os 8.as
9th 9.º 9.ª 9.os 9.as
10th 10.º 10.ª 10.os 10.as

Note: actual graphical rendition of the suffix depends on the font, some fonts have a little dash below the suffix, some do not.

11 Currencies

  • Do not convert USD ($) or EUR (€) amounts to any local currency.
  • Place the USD or EUR code before the number and separate them with a non-breaking space.
    Amount of USD 30 :point_right: Un importe de USD 30
  • Place the $ or € symbol before the number with no separation from the number.
    • Amount of €30 :point_right: Un importe de $30

12 Units of measurement

  • Use the metric system.
  • Insert a non-breaking space between a number and the relevant unit.
  • Convert imperial units into metric units.
    6 feet :point_right: 1,83 m
Category Measurement Unit Translation Abbreviation
LINEAR Kilometer
Meter
Centimeter
Millimeter		 Kilómetro
Metro
Centímetro
Milímetro		 km
m
cm
mm
MASS Ton
Kilogram
Pound		 Tonelada
Kilogramo
Libra		 t
kg
lb
IMPERIAL Inch
Feet
Mile
Gallon		 Pulgada
Pie
Milla
Galón		 in
ft
mi
gal
COMPUTING Byte (B)
Megabyte (MB)
Gigabyte (GB)
Terabyte (TB)
 Byte
Megabyte
Gigabyte
Terabyte		 B
MB
GB
TB

13 Form of address

  • Use the formal form of address (“usted”).
    Open navigation :point_right: Abra la navegación

14 English “please”

  • In English, it is very common to use the word “please” to introduce an instruction (“Please fill out the field Name in the form”). The translation does not contain the equivalent to “please”. Instead of a literal translation, do not translate it to keep the sentences short and the style lighter.
    Please try again later :point_right: Inténtelo de nuevo más tarde

15 Foreign words

  • The decision about the use of foreign words (keeping it in English) instead of the equivalent terms in your language is based on how widespread the use of the word is. An English term might be recommended when its use has become very common.
  • To find out how common a word is, you can use internet search engines. Search for the English word and for the corresponding translation in your language on your preferred search engine. The number of occurrences in each case will be an indication of how popular the use of each word is. If in doubt for an important term, ask Proton Localization team to make an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) check.
  • Foreign words might be accompanied by quotation marks or italics when their use is not widely spread. However, English words that are widely accepted for use are kept as they are in the original but do not take the ending “s” in the plural case.
  • When foreign words are common and well understood, they can be left in the source language. Where necessary, add an explanation in the target language.
  • Avoid using too many anglicisms.

16 Localizing person names

  • Localize fictitious person names used for explanatory purposes, choosing a name that is generic but not stereotypical.
    Please enter your display name (e.g. Julia Smith) :point_right: Introduzca el nombre que desea mostrar (p. ej., Ana García)
  • Do not localize real persons’ names.
    Bart Butler is a senior engineer at Proton Mail :point_right: Bart Butler es ingeniero sénior en Proton Mail

17 Localizing domains and email addresses

Localize fictitious domain names and e-mail addresses used for explanatory purposes:

English Translation
Proton Mail allows you to keep your business email address (you@yourcompany.us) Proton Mail le permite conservar la dirección de correo electrónico del trabajo (sunombre@suempresa.com)
Receive all email sent to addresses in your domain that do not exist (e.g., Mistake@yourdomain.de) Reciba todos los correos electrónicos que se envíen a direcciones con su dominio que no existan (p. ej., error@sudominio.com)

However, do not localize any real email addresses or domain names.
To reset your mailbox password, please use the web version of Proton Mail at proton.me
:point_right: Para restablecer la contraseña de su bandeja de entrada, diríjase a la versión web de Proton Mail: proton.me

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