At Unbabel we have a unique approach to translation: each text submitted by a customer is translated by our Machine Translation system, and then corrected by our community of editors in an online platform. By editing the output of the software, the editors ensure the quality of the translations and confirm that the message is accurate (i.e., has the same meaning as the original), fluent (i.e., can be easily understood and sounds natural) and is in line with the style requested by the clients (i.e. respects their register and terminology). In order to help editors do the best job possible, we provide various types of information:

Customer instructions, which include the identification of the client and his requests to personalize the translation, such as the register that must be used to address the recipient of the message. Following these instructions is vital to deliver translations that match the client’s expectations.
Glossaries, which correspond to specific vocabulary and expressions used by the client, and that must be respected by the editors.
Translation Memories, which correspond to stored segments (expressions, sentences or paragraphs) that have previously been translated and accepted for customer usage. They are useful for ensuring consistency across translations.

We also have Smartcheck, which is an application that checks the grammar, morphology, orthography and style of the translations while being edited. By using a large set of rules, Smartcheck flags words or groups of words that may present some kind of issue.

Finally, in order to deliver the best possible translation, we also provide these guidelines about your language specifications. Please, read them carefully and always follow these instructions in your editions.

2. Register

2.1. Grammatical and lexical registers

Register refers to the level of formality used in the text. It shows how our clients address their customers and contributes to the voice of the brand itself. Register may vary depending on the company, the brand, the service they offer, the customers, and the target language.

Unless it is particularly specified by the client’s instructions, at Unbabel we will use the informal register for Catalan as default.

We make a first main distinction between grammatical and lexical register: the first one regards the use of pronouns and verb person (for the languages to which this morphological feature is applied), while the latter is related to lexical choices, since some words and expressions also have a degree of formality or colloquialism.

Both these registers are also divided into informal and formal, as shown below.

2.2. Informal register

The informal register requires the use of the personal pronoun tu/vosaltres, the possessive el teu/la teva, els teus/les teves, el vostre/la vostra, els vostres/les vostres, and the corresponding verbal conjugation (the second person). Please remember that the personal pronoun tu doesn’t have an accent in Catalan.

Category	Examples	Type of register
Personal pronouns	tu vosaltres	Grammatical
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb: second person)	tu cantes/vius/dorms vosaltres canteu/viviu/dormiu	Grammatical
Possessive pronouns	el teu/la teva els teus/les teves el vostre/la vostra els vostres/les vostres	Grammatical
Greetings	Hola, Bon dia, Joan	Lexical
Closings	Fins després, Fins aviat,	Lexical

2.3. Formal register

We will only use the formal register if it’s specifically requested by the client.

In Catalan, the formal register requires the use of the personal pronoun vostè(s), the possessive el seu/la seva, els seus/les seves and the corresponding verbal conjugation (the third person).

Category	Examples	Type of register
Personal pronouns	vostè vostès	Grammatical
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb: third person)	vostè canta/viu/dorm vostès canten/viuen/dormen	Grammatical
Possessive pronouns	el seu/la seva els seus/les seves	Grammatical
Greetings	Bon dia, bona tarda, bona nit, Estimat/Benvolgut Joan Estimada/Benvolguda Maria	Lexical
Closings	Atentament Salutacions, salutacions cordials	Lexical

2.4. Use of Please

It is very common in English to find the word please starting every imperative sentence. However, we don’t use it that often in Catalan. Its use is not incorrect but it is to be avoided, except in the formal register.

Examples

Source text: Please let us know if you agree with this solution.

✘ Si us plau, fes-nos saber si estàs d’acord amb aquesta solució.

✓ Fes-nos saber si estàs d’acord amb aquesta solució.

Source text: Please check the settings.

✘ Si us plau, comprova la configuració.

✓ Comprova la configuració.

3. Grammar

3.1. Agreement

In Catalan there needs to be an agreement on number and person between the subject and the verb:

La cancel·lació s’efectuarà demà.

(3rd person singular) (3rd person singular)

Els missatges s’han enviat.

(3rd person plural) (3rd person plural)

However, unlike English, in Catalan we don’t always need to express the subject, which is omitted from the sentence and understood thanks to the verb form:

Accepto les condicions d’ús. (jo)

S’està iniciant. (la funció)

Agraïm la teva resposta. (nosaltres)

3.1.1. Subject-verb agreement

Locutions

If the subject includes syntactic constructions such as tant __ com __, the verb must occur in the plural form.

Example

Source text: Both the supplier and the client agree to respect the agreement.

✘ Tant el proveïdor com el client es compromet a respectar l’acord.

✓ Tant el proveïdor com el client es comprometen a respectar l’acord.

Coordinated subjects

When the subject of a sentence is formed by two or more nouns coordinated by the conjunction i, the verb agrees in the plural:

Example

Source text: The company, its partners and its collaborators welcome you onboard.

✘ L’empresa, els seus socis i els seus col·laboradors et dóna la benvinguda.

✓ L’empresa, els seus socis i els seus col·laboradors et donen la benvinguda.

However, if the subject is formed by coordinated sentences, the agreement is in the singular form:

Example

Source text: The fact that the delivery was delayed and that you weren’t notified about it is a serious carrier infringement.

✘ Que l’enviament hagi arribat tard i que no t’ho hagin notificat són una falta greu de l’empresa de transport.

✓ Que l’enviament hagi arribat tard i que no t’ho hagin notificat és una falta greu de l’empresa de transport.

Partitive subjects

When the subject is a partitive construction where the core of the sintagma is a collective noun or a fractional noun (una part de, la majoria de, el doble de, un gran nombre de, un tant per cent de, etc.), the verb can agree in singular or plural:

Example

Source text: Most of the users agree on this subject.

✓ La majoria dels usuaris està d’acord en aquest tema.

✓ La majoria dels usuaris estan d’acord en aquest tema.

However, when the sentence has an adjective that complements the subject, the agreement must be plural:

Example

Source text: Most of the users are disappointed.

✘ La majoria dels usuaris està decebut.

✓ La majoria dels usuaris estan decebuts.

Collective nouns

If the subject of a sentence is a collective noun, the verb usually agrees in singular:

Examples

Source text: People are getting used to using this feature.

✘ La gent s’estan acostumant a fer servir aquesta funció.

✓ La gent s’està acostumant a fer servir aquesta funció.

Source text: The team struggle to get results.

✘ L’equip tenen problemes per aconseguir resultats.

✓ L’equip té problemes per aconseguir resultats.

However, if the sentence is longer and includes more verbs that refer to the same collective subject, the first verb should be in singular, as it is close to the collective subject, but the rest of the verbs can be in plural:

Example

Source text: People are getting used to using this feature. First they didn’t want it, but now they can’t live without it.

✓ La gent s’està acostumant a fer servir aquesta funció. Primer no la volien, però ara no en poden viure sense.

Impersonal verbs

Impersonal verbs are those that form sentences without a subject. They can be:

Meteorological verbs:

It rains cats and dogs. (Plou a bots i barrals.)

It is sunny. (Fa sol.)

Constructions with the pronoun es:

It feels good here. (S’està bé aquí.)

The house down the street is for rent. (Es lloga la casa del final del carrer.)

Verbs like caldre, soler, convenir…:

It needs to be darker to see the northern lights. (Cal que sigui més fosc per veure aurores boreals.)

It used to be colder years ago. (Solia fer més fred anys enrere.)

It is convenient to work harder. (Convé treballar més.)

These verbs tend to be expressed with the pronoun it in English, so in Catalan we need to look for the most appropriate subject/structure to convey the same meaning.

The verb haver-hi

This verb is the translation for the English forms there is and there are, both for singular and plural, so it is invariable and should not be used in plural constructions:

Examples

Source text: There are several options for paying for your reservation.

✘ Hi han diverses opcions per pagar la reserva.

✓ Hi ha diverses opcions per pagar la reserva.

Source text: There were many bugs on the previous version.

✘ Hi havien molts errors en la versió anterior.

✓ Hi havia molts errors en la versió anterior.

3.1.2. Nominal agreement

Gender and number (nouns and adjectives)

When an adjective complements two or more nouns in singular with the same gender, the adjective is used in plural and in the same gender as the nouns:

Example

Source text: They presented an innovative project and report.

✘ Han presentat un projecte i un informe innovador.

✓ Han presentat un projecte i un informe innovadors.

If the adjective complements two or more nouns of different gender, it us used in masculine plural:

Example

Source text: He has the knowledge and skill needed to perform this task.

✘ Té el coneixement i l’habilitat necessària per dur a terme aquesta tasca.

✓ Té el coneixement i l’habilitat necessaris per dur a terme aquesta tasca.

In those cases where having a feminine noun right next to a masculine adjective may sound awkward, it is possible to change the order of the nouns and write the masculine noun closer to the adjective, or the adjective can be repeated after each noun:

Example

Source text: He has the knowledge and skill needed to perform this task.

✓ Té l’habilitat i el coneixement necessaris per dur a terme aquesta tasca.

✓ Té l’habilitat necessària i el coneixement necessari per dur a terme aquesta tasca.

However, if the adjective comes before the nouns, it only agrees in gender and number with the first element:

Example

Source text: You have made very good contributions and suggestions.

✘ Heu fet molt bons contribucions i suggeriments.

✓ Heu fet molt bones contribucions i suggeriments.

Determiner and noun

Personal nouns

In Catalan, personal nouns can be preceded by personal articles (en/na) or definite articles (el/la), depending on the region where the language is spoken. We will take the central dialect as reference and use the definite articles in all cases to keep consistency, so we will say el Tomàs and la Maria, for example. It is not recommended to omit the article before a personal noun:

Example

Source text: Today I met Tomàs and Maria at the office.

✘ Avui m’he trobat Tomàs i Maria a l’oficina.

✓ Avui m’he trobat el Tomàs i la Maria a l’oficina.

These articles have to be apostrophized before personal nouns starting with vowel or h:

Example

Source text: Oriol and Alícia have started working today.

✘ El Oriol i la Anna han començat a treballar avui.

✓ L’Oriol i l’Anna han començat a treballar avui.

However, the feminine form, just like the article la, cannot be apostrophized before feminine nouns starting with unstressed i, u, hi, hu: Irene, la Isabel

Example

Source text: Irene and Isabel are good friends.

✘ L’Irene i l’Isabel són bones amigues.

✓ La Irene i la Isabel són bones amigues.

Determiner and professions

Unlike English, Catalan does not use the determiner un/una when a name referring to a profession appears after the verb ésser.

Example

Source text: His name is Joan and he's a doctor.

✘ Es diu Joan i és un metge.

✓ Es diu Joan i és metge.

However, we use the determiner un/una if an adjective or a similar construction occurs after the name referring to a profession.

Example

Source text: His name is Juan, and he is a very famous doctor.

✘ Es diu Joan i és metge molt famós.

✓ Es diu Joan i és un metge molt famós.

3.2. Verbs

The verb is the core of the clause and represents the action or state in a sentence.

Any clause with a verb is a full sentence, thus it should always end with a full stop, even if it’s just one word (Plou.).

3.2.1 Verbs ser and estar

In Catalan, the distinction between these two verbs has caused great controversy along the story of the language and among many grammarians. They are both translations of the English verb to be, so which one to use can be tricky. To make it simple and consistent, at Unbabel we will use the following rules:

Verb ser

To express location, without specifying duration or anything else, we use the verb ser + place complement (to be in a place at that moment).

Example

Source text: The dogs are in the garden.

✘ Els gossos estan al jardí.

✓ Els gossos són al jardí.

To express permanent or defining qualities.

Example

Source text: The snow is cold.

✘ La neu està freda.

✓ La neu és freda.

To express the time when an event has to happen / happened / will happen.

Example

Source text: The meeting was yesterday at 12, but on Monday it’ll be at 11.

✓ La reunió va ser ahir a les 12, però dilluns serà a les onze.

Verb estar

When we add a nuance of duration or continuity to the location (to reside, work, stay at a place), we use the verb estar.

Example

Source text: When you were in Switzerland, you earned more money.

✘ Quan eres a Suïssa, guanyaves més diners.

✓ Quan estaves a Suïssa, guanyaves més diners. (vivies).

To express transitional qualities (states that are true at a specific time).

Example

Source text: Maria is sick today.

✘ Avui la Maria és malalta.

✓ Avui la Maria està malalta.

To express the time that we dedicate to doing something.

Example

Source text: I’ve been studying all day.

✓ M’he estat tot el dia estudiant.

Before prepositions that express state or situation.

Example

Source text: The meeting is about to start.

✘ La reunió és a punt de començar.

✓ La reunió està a punt de començar.

Note that, just like this expression, the following ones are also wrong:

* ser a l'abast de tothom > estar a l'abast de tothom

* ser a la venda > estar a la venda

* ser a disposició > estar a disposició

* ser de vacances > estar de vacances

For more information on these verbs, see here.

3.2.2 Use of active/passive voice

The passive voice is formed by the verb ésser + verb in participle (+ per). The agent (who or what makes the action) introduced by the preposition per is optional if it’s not relevant.

In English, the passive voice is very frequently used in all language registers. In Catalan, on the contrary, it is mostly only used in the formal register and sounds awkward in the informal register. Thus, we should try to change the order structure to convey the same meaning in the active voice. We do that by moving the passive agent to the subject of the sentence and writing the verb in active.

Example

Source text: The account has been opened by the user.

✘ El compte ha estat obert per l’usuari.

✓ L’usuari ha obert el compte.

Another very frequent way to avoid the use of passive in Catalan is to use the type of sentence called pronominal passive. This is formed with the pronoun es and the verb in 3rd person, and the verb agrees with the noun of the sentence. These sentences are particularly useful when the agent who makes the action is not relevant (or unknown).

Examples

Source text: The message has been sent.

✘ El missatge ha estat enviat.

✓ El missatge s’ha enviat. / S’ha enviat el missatge.

Source text: A new version will be released next week.

✘ Una nova versió serà publicada la setmana que ve.

✓ Es publicarà una nova versió la setmana que ve.

3.2.3. Use of infinitive

The infinitive is an impersonal verb form, which means it is not conjugated, it’s not related to gender or number and it doesn’t indicate person or verb tense. Verbs in infinitive fall under 3 conjugations: those ending in -ar, ending in -er and ending in -ir.

Note: Infinitive forms of the 3rd conjugation verbs ending in vowel after -ir, are not written with dieresis: reduir, conduir, traduir…

Note: Infinitives ending in -guer are not correct: *poguer (poder), *sapiguer (saber), *volguer (voler)…

Passat perifràstic

The infinitive is also used in the past verb form called passat perifràstic (vau cantar, vam perdre…). The simple past form (cantàreu, perdérem…) is mostly used in formal registers, so it is not recommended to use it in Unbabel texts unless specifically indicated by the client.

Example

Source text: We lost contact with our old colleagues.

✘ Perdérem el contacte amb els antics col·legues.

✓ Vam perdre el contacte amb els antics col·legues.

3.2.4. Use of gerund

The impersonal verb form called gerund expresses duration or continuity (Estic llegint.; He estat llegint tot el matí.)

Gerund may never express consequence or an action that happens after the main verb. Therefore, we should try to change the sentence structure and use alternatives based on the context. We can use connectors like which (cosa que, fet que), or use the conjunction i with a copulative sentence, as can be seen in the following examples:

Examples

Source text: The meeting was cancelled in the last minute, leaving the attendees confused.

✘ La reunió es va anul·lar, deixant els assistents desorientats.

✓ La reunió es va anul·lar, cosa que va deixar els assistents desorientats.

✓ La reunió es va anul·lar i va deixar els assistents desorientats.

Source text: The driver fell asleep, causing a serious accident.

✘ El conductor es va adormir al volant, causant un accident greu.

✓ El conductor es va adormir al volant, fet que va causar un accident greu.

✓ El conductor es va adormir al volant i va causar un accident greu.

3.2.5. Use of participle

The participle is the last of the impersonal verb forms. It is used together with the verb haver to form compound tenses (he cantat, havíeu dormit, has begut…).

Note: Participle forms of the 3rd-conjugation verbs ending in vowel after -ir, are always written with dieresis: reduït, conduït, traduït…

Note: There are some participle forms of the 2nd-conjugation verbs that we tend to write wrongly, for example: *capigut (cabut), *empenyut (empès), *estrenyut (estret), *fongut (fos), *incluït (inclòs), *molgut (mòlt), *posat (post), *prengut (pres), *sapigut (sabut), *vengut (venut)…

Participle agreement

The participle agreement is optional, not compulsory. It adapts the participle form to the gender and number of the direct object:

Example

Source text: Where did you leave the papers? We haven’t seen them.

✓ On heu deixat els papers? No els hem vist.

✓ On heu deixat els papers? No els hem vistos.

For more information on the impersonal verb forms, please see here:

3.2.6. Use of imperative

The imperative form is used to give orders, instructions or advice. It is normally used with the 2nd person singular (tu) and 2nd person plural (vosaltres), but it uses different verb forms in positive or negative sentences:

Positive sentences: the verb form used for the 2nd person singular is the 3rd person singular in present. For example:

jo parlo, tu parles, ell parla > Parla! (tu)
jo llegeixo, tu llegeixes, ell llegeix > Llegeix! (tu)

nosaltres parlem, vosaltres parleu, ells parlen > Parleu! (vosaltres)
nosaltres llegim, vosaltres llegiu, ells llegeixen > Llegiu! (vosaltres)

Negative sentences: the verb form used is the subjunctive in their respective person and number forms. For example:

No segueixis pel passeig, que hi ha molta gent.

No facis cas dels seus consells.

No sigueu egoistes i ajudeu els companys.

No vingueu sols, com més serem, més riurem.

For more information on the imperative forms, please see here.

3.2.7. Imperative vs infinitive

To express orders or recommendations, we use the imperative form, not infinitive.

Examples

Source text: No smoking here.

✘ No fumar aquí.

✓ No fumeu aquí.

Source text: See Privacy Policy attached.

✘ Veure la política de privacitat adjunta.

✓ Vegeu la política de privacitat adjunta.

3.3. Pronouns

3.3.1. Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are usually omitted in Catalan, as the conjugated verb already indicates the person and number of the verb. Personal pronouns can be used in case of ambiguity or to emphasize the subject.

Examples

Source text: We are working on a team.

✓ Treballem en equip. (No possible ambiguity, as “treballem” refers to “nosaltres”.)

✓ Nosaltres treballem en equip. (Correct but unnecessary.)

Source text: She left her computer on.

✓ Es va deixar l’ordinador encès. (Correct but we don’t know if the subject is a man or a woman.)

✓ Ella es va deixar l’ordinador encès. (Used to clarify ambiguity.)

3.3.2. Pronouns en and hi

When we want to mention a part of the sentence that we have already talked about, we can use these pronouns to replace it.

The pronoun hi refers to a place or location, while the pronoun en refers to an indefinite complement, where we don’t say any amount or refer to a specific thing.

Examples

Source text: Are you still working at Marta’s office? No, I don’t work there anymore.

✓ Encara treballes a l’oficina de la Marta? No, ja no hi treballo.

Source text: Do you have any siblings? No, I don’t have any.

✓ Tens germans? No, no en tinc cap.

3.3.3. Prepositional verbs

When a verb is linked with a preposition, we can replace a complement in a sentence with these pronouns.

The pronoun hi is used for complements starting with prepositions amb, en, a, per.

On the other hand, the pronoun en is used for complements starting with the preposition de.

We should avoid the use of preposition + ell, ella, ells, elles to refer to inanimated things.

Examples

Source text: She’s insterested in the new job. She’s interested in it.

✘ S’interessa per la nova feina. S’interessa per ella.

✓ S’interessa per la nova feina. S’hi interessa.

Source text: Think about what I told you. Think about it.

✘ Pensa en el document. Pensa en ell.

✓ Pensa en el document. Pensa-hi.

Source text: Joan will take care of the music. He will take care of it.

✘ En Joan s'encarregarà de la música. Ell s’encarregarà d’ella.

✓ En Joan s'encarregarà de la música. Ell se n’encarregarà.

For more information on pronoms febles and their combinations, see here and here.

3.4 Possessives

In English possessives are used a lot more than in Catalan. In Catalan, if the context makes it clear what the possessive refers to, it can be omitted. So we should avoid the excessive use of possessives when they’re not necessary and use the determiner instead.

Examples

Source text: Please make sure your computer is on.

✘ Comprova que el teu ordinador està enegegat.

✓ Comprova que l’ordinador està enegegat.

Source text: Adding a device to your account.

✘ Com afegir un dispositiu al teu compte.

✓ Com afegir un dispositiu al compte.

For more information on possessives, see here.

3.5 Prepositions

3.5.1. Prepositions to express future

It is a common mistranslation to translate the preposition to express future in English in + time as en + time or dintre de + time in Catalan. Instead we should use d’aquí a + time.

Examples

Source text: I have a meeting in a few minutes.

✘ Tinc una reunió en uns minuts.

✓ Tinc una reunió d’aquí a uns minuts.

Source text: Maria will be back in 2 days.

✘ La Maria tornarà dintre de dos dies.

✓ La Maria tornarà d’aquí a dos dies.

3.5.2 Prepositions per and per a

There is a lot of controversy with the use of per and per a before infinitive. To make things easier and keep consistency within all texts, at Unbabel we will follow these rules:

Before infinitive we should always use: per

Example

Source text: Many people have come to meet the directors.

✘ Ha vingut molta gent per a conèixer els directors.

✓ Ha vingut molta gent per conèixer els directors.

Before a noun expressing purpose or destination we should use: per a. This would be the translation of the Spanish para.

Example

Source text: I have something for you.

✘ Tinc una cosa per tu.

✓ Tinc una cosa per a tu.

Before a noun expressing the reason for the action or who did the action, we should use: per. This would be the translation for the Spanish por.

Example

Source text: The document was approved by the director.

✘ El document va ser aprovat per al director.

✓ El document va ser aprovat pel director. (per + el)

3.5.3. Prepositions per què and perquè

We use per què as a translation of why in interrogative questions, both direct and indirect.

Examples

Source text: Why haven’t you told me before?

✘ Perquè no m’ho has dit abans?

✓ Per què no m’ho has dit abans.

Source text: Tell me why you haven’t paid this invoice yet.

✘ Digues perquè encara no has pagat aquesta factura.

✓ Digues per què encara no has pagat aquesta factura.

We use perquè as a translation for because to express a cause.

Example

Source text: I haven’t paid the invoice because I don’t have any money.

✘ No he pagat la factura per què no tinc diners.

✓ No he pagat la factura perquè no tinc diners.

3.5.4. Mistakes with locutions

Igual que is a prepositional locution to express equality. The Spanish-influenced locution *a l’igual que is wrong in Catalan.

Example

Source text: Just like other European languages, Catalan has an important community of speakers.

✘ A l’igual que altres llengües europees, el català compta amb una important comunitat de parlants.

✓ Igual que altres llengües europees, el català compta amb una important comunitat de parlants.

Arran de has a causal meaning. The form *(a) arrel de is wrong in Catalan.

Example

Source text: The meeting was cancelled following the director’s resignation.

✘ La reunió es va cancel·lar a arrel de la dimissió del director.

✓ La reunió es va cancel·lar arran de la dimissió del director.

*En base a shouldn’t be used to express the meaning of “having as a basis or reference element”. Instead we should use d'acord amb, a partir de / partint de or segons.

Example

Source text: We’ll make a decision based on the survey results.

✘ Prendrem una decisió en base als resultats de l’enquesta.

✓ Prendrem una decisió a partir dels resultats de l’enquesta.

✓ Prendrem una decisió d’acord amb els resultats de l’enquesta.

*En relació a is not correct. Instead we should use en relació amb or amb relació a.

Example

Source text: The attendees made their questions in relation to the current policies.

✘ Els assistents van fer preguntes en relació a les polítiques actuals.

✓ Els assistents van fer preguntes en relació amb les polítiques actuals.

✓ Els assistents van fer preguntes amb relació a les polítiques actuals

For more information on prepositions, see here.

3.6 Obligation

In English, the verbs need and must / have to are used to express obligation. However, in Catalan, the verb necessitar doesn’t sound very natural, as we have other more fluent alternative verbs like haver de, caldre, fer falta or ser necessari. The Spanish-influenced verbs like *tenir que, *haver-hi que, *deure or *ser precís are not correct in Catalan.

Examples

Source text: We must send this presentation before Monday.

✘ Devem enviar aquesta presentació abans de dilluns.

✘ Tenim que enviar aquesta presentació abans de dilluns.

✓ Hem d’enviar aquesta presentació abans de dilluns.

✓ Cal que enviem aquesta presentació abans de dilluns.

Source text: You don’t need to do everything at the same time.

✘ No necessites fer-ho tot alhora.

✘ No hi ha que fer-ho tot alhora.

✓ No fa falta fer-ho tot alhora.

✓ No és necessari fer-ho tot alhora.

3.7 Probability

To express probability in present and past we use the verb deure + infinitive in present and past respectively.

We shouldn’t use the future form to express probability in present.

Example

Source text: As you may know, he left the company 2 days ago.

✘ Com ja sabràs, va marxar de l’empresa fa dos dies.

✓ Com ja deus saber, va marxar de l’empresa fa dos dies.

We shouldn’t use the conditional form to express probability in past.

Example

Source text: It must have been 10 o’clock when the meeting ended.

✘ Serien les 10 quan es va acabar la reunió.

✓ Devien ser les 10 quan es va acabar la reunió.

3.8 Conjunctions and locutions to express cause

Please check this page to see a list of conjunctions and locutions to express cause, as well as the expressions that are not correct in Catalan.

4. Orthography

4.1. Accent rules

Here’s a simple table on the accent mark rules for Catalan:

For more detailed explanations and remarks on these rules, see here.

4.2. Diacritic accents

Following the new grammar from 2016, currently there are only 15 diacritic accents:

Other words that were traditionally written with diacritic accent, no longer have it, regardless of the meaning: bota, dona (dones), feu (desfeu), fora, molt, mora, net (besnet, rebesnet), os, sec, soc, vens (venen), ves, etc.

4.3. Apostrophe

The masculine article el, the feminine article la and the preposition de need to be apostrophized before words starting with vowel or h: l’avi, l’home, l’estudiant / l’eina, l’àvia, l’hora / d’hora, d’avui, d’història…

BUT the feminine article la may not be apostrophized before words starting with unstressed i and u, with or without h: la infermera, la universitat, la història, la humanitat, la humitat, la Immaculada (but l’Imma), la Ignàsia (but l’Ignasi)…

Pronouns also need to be apostrophized with each other and with the verb. Both before and after the verb, the apostrophe always needs to be placed at the most-right possible position of the combination: me’n vaig, te l’han duta, dona-me’ls…

We should also need to apostrophize before words or signs that are pronounced with a starting vowel: l’1, l’11a fila, l’Stephan, d’1.000.000…

For more examples and exceptions on the apostrophe, see here.

4.4. Abbreviations

Abbreviations are shortened graphic forms which can be classified into: abreviatures, sigles i símbols.

Please refer to this this page to learn about the general criteria of use for abbreviations.

4.4.1. Abreviatures

Abreviatures are shortened words formed by only a few letters of the word. In Catalan they’re always written with a dot, although some of them allow to replace the dot with a slash.

Examples

Source text: pàgina

✘ pag

✓ pàg. or p.

Source text: avinguda

✘ av

✓ av.

Source text: carrer

✘ c

✓ c/

Source text: adreça electrònica

✘ a e

✓ a/e

To form the plural, an s can be added in abreviatures that include the final part of a whole word:

Examples:

   senyor: Sr.
   senyora: Sra.
   senyors: Srs.
   senyores: Sres.

Otherwise they just stay invariable:

Examples:

número: núm. o n.

números: núm. o n.

4.4.2. Initials (sigles)

Initials are groups of letters that shorten names of companies, products, associations, etc.

They are written in upper case and without dots or spaces: IPC, ONG, UE…

Examples

Source text: USA

✘ E.U.A

✘ E. U. A.

✓ EUA

When they become an every-day word, they are written in lower case:

Examples:

uns ovnis (objectes voladors no identificats)

les pimes (petites i mitjanes empreses)

Initials don’t have plural form, but the article that precedes them does.

Examples:

els CAP, els centres d’atenció primària

Unlike Spanish, initials that represent plural names do not duplicate their letters in Catalan.

Examples

Source text: Jocs Olímpics

✘ JJOO

✘ JJ.OO

✓ JO

Source text: xarxes socials

✘ XXSS

✘ XX.SS

✓ XS

4.4.3. Symbols

Symbols are letters or signs that represent a concept.

They are standard internationally, so they are written the same way in all the languages.

Symbols do not end with a dot, do not have plural form and do not have any accent.

We use symbols for the unit in the international unit system, for chemical formulae and for currencies.

Examples:

gram: g mil·ligram: mg

metre: m quilòmetre: km

litres: l o L monòxid de carboni: CO

milions d'euros: MEUR o M€

Note: When the symbols are preceded by numbers, we must write a non-breaking space between the number and the unit represented by the symbol.

Examples

✘ 30km

✓ 30 km

Source text: xarxes socials

✘ 24h

✓ 24 h

For a list with examples and remarks on all types of abbreviations, see here.

4.5. Capitalization

English tends to make use of capital letters to emphasize a word within a sentence. However, in Catalan we shouldn’t take this too far and we should only use them when it’s strictly necessary.

Capital letters must follow the normal accent rules just like any other words.

Below you will find a table that summarizes when to use upper case or lower case.

Aside from the rules mentioned in the table, we should also pay attention to the following:

Cardinal points are written in lower case, as long as they are not represented by the international symbols and are not part of the name of a place.

Examples:

nord

oest

NNE

Oest americà

països de l'Est

Àfrica del Sud

Please remember that days of the week and months of the year, unlike English, are written in lower case in Catalan.

The article in foreign toponyms is written in upper case and it remains invariable even in cases where, if they were Catalan, they would be contracted with the preceding article or preposition.

Example

a Las Bárdenas

de La Rioja

per Los Angeles

des de Le Havre

d'El Bierzo

a El Cobre

However, if they have been adapted into Catalan, this rule doesn’t apply: l'Havana, el Caire…

After interrogation or exclamation marks we don’t write a full stop, as these signs already act as a full stop at the end of a sentence. Therefore, they need to be followed by upper case.

Examples

Source text: Do you still have time? I’d like to ask you something.

✘ Encara tens temps? vull preguntar-te una cosa.

✓ Encara tens temps? Vull preguntar-te una cosa.

4.5.1 Capitalization and brackets/quotes

When a full sentence between brackets is written after a sentence ending with a full stop, it should be capitalized and end with a full stop inside of the brackets.

Example

Source text: The new department will be up and running very soon. (It has been placed on the top floor.)

✘ La nova secció estarà a punt molt aviat. (s’ha situat al pis de dalt de tot).

✓ La nova secció estarà a punt molt aviat. (S’ha situat al pis de dalt de tot.)

However, if it’s just a fragment (not a full sentence) and not very long, they should be written in lower case.

Examples

Source text: The former director (who still comes to the office sometimes) was quite famous.

✘ L’antiga directora (Que encara ve a l’oficina a vegades) era bastant famosa.

✓ L’antiga directora (que encara ve a l’oficina a vegades) era bastant famosa.

Source text: She said she wanted a “proper farewell party” before she left.

✘ Va dir que volia una “Festa de comiat com cal” abans de marxar.

✓ Va dir que volia una “festa de comiat com cal” abans de marxar.

4.6. Compounds

Compound words are two words joined together as one single word. They can be categorized in different ways; for example, if they are separated or not with a hyphen, or if they are formed by prefix, suffix, or union of 2 existing words. We have chosen the latter categorization for this guide.

4.6.1. Compounds with prefix

In general, we don’t write a hyphen in compounds formed with prefixes.

If the prefix ends in vowel and the other word starts with r- or s-, the consonant is not duplicated (unlike Spanish).

Examples

✘ pre-inscripció

✓ preinscripció

✘ ex-marit

✓ exmarit

✘ vice-rector

✘ vicerrector

✓ vicerector

✘ vice-secretari

✘ vicessecretari

✓ vicesecretari

However, in some cases we do need to write a hyphen between the words.

When the prefix comes before upper case, numbers or symbols:

✘ anti Barça

✘ antiBarça

✓ anti-Barça

✘ selecció sub 21

✘ selecció sub21

✓ selecció sub-21

✘ ex URSS

✘ exURSS

✓ ex-URSS

When a name has two elements, we should write a hyphen between the prefix and the first element:

✘ ex director general

✘ exdirector general

✓ ex-director general

✘ vice primer ministre

✘ viceprimer ministre

✓ vice-primer ministre

4.6.1.1. The prefix no-

The prefix no- must be written with a hyphen when it comes before a noun, and without hyphen when it comes before an adjective:

✘ la no violència

✘ la noviolència

✓ la no-violència

✘ el pacte de no agressió

✘ el pacte de noagressió tre

✓ el pacte de no-agressió

✘ els països no-alineats

✘ els països noalineats

✓ els països no alineats

✘ els grups no-violents

✘ els grups noviolents

✓ els grups no violents

For more information and examples about prefixes, see here and here.

4.6.2. Compounds with sufix

Suffixes are always written at the end of a word without any hyphen or space in between.

There are many different types of suffixes and they have several meanings and can also change the syntactic category of words.

Examples

esferoide (noun) > esferoidal (adjective)

aforar (verb) > aforament (noun)

instal·lar (verb) > instal·lació (noun)

For more examples and lists of suffixes, see here.

4.6.3. Compounds formed by 2 existing words

When the compound is formed by two Catalan words, it’s usually written all together without hyphen: ratapinyada, pocavergonya, filferro, sordmut, setciències, portaveu, vistiplau, etc.

However, they are separated with a hyphen when the first element ends with a vowel and the second starts with r-, s- or x-:

✘ penjarobes

✘ penjarrobes

✓ penja-robes

✘ pocasolta

✘ pocassolta

✓ poca-solta

Also in compounds where the first element is a cardinal point:

✘ nordamericà

✘ nord americà

✓ nord-americà

For more examples and exceptions on these compounds, see here. Besides, the super useful website Optimot has many articles on different compound situations and doubts.

4.7. Foreign words

In recent times and with the increase of technology, which favored access to global content, the English language has influenced Catalan considerably.

Many foreign words have been adapted to the Catalan orthography, so they follow the accent rules, such as currículum, vídeo, màrqueting, càrdigan, eslògan, flaix, xou, zàping, etc.

There are some foreign words, though, that haven’t been adapted and there is no Catalan equivalent (or it would need a descriptive periphrasis). These words must be written in their original spelling and in italics to show that it’s not a Catalan word.

Example

Source text: She prepared a delicious fondue.

✘ Va preparar una fondue deliciosa.

✓ Va preparar una fondue deliciosa.

Note: many people use English words even though there is a perfectly-known and widespread Catalan equivalent. We should try to avoid that unnecessary use at all costs to keep the genuine Catalan language.

Examples

✘ Me’n vaig al gym, vols venir?

✓ Me’n vaig al gimnàs, vols venir?

✘ A la xerrada van donar tips molt útils sobre aquest tema.

✓ A la xerrada van donar consells molt útils sobre aquest tema.

5. Punctuation

5.1. How to use punctuation marks

5.1.1. Comma (,)

A comma is the most complex punctuation mark and the one that is used the most. It usually represents a brief pause in oral speech, but not all oral pauses need to be marked with a comma, as punctuation must comply with the syntax’s rules. For example, we cannot write a comma between the subject and the verb, or between the verb and the direct/indirect complement. We will talk about this further below.

It is also important not to abuse the use of the comma in order not to compromise text fluency. Typographically, comma is written without any space right before the preceding word and with a space before the following word.

These are the main uses of commas:

To separate vocatives, that is, the names used to draw someone’s attention. This is especially important with Unbabel’s customer service texts/emails, where the first line is always a greeting addressed to the customer.

Examples:

Source text: Hi David, thanks for your email.

✘ Hola David, gràcies per escriure’ns.

✓ Hola, David, gràcies per escriure’ns.

Source text: Laura, come with me!

✘ Laura vine amb mi!

✓ Laura, vine amb mi!

To separate the elements of an enumeration, which need to be divided by a comma except for the last element before the conjunctions i,o, ni. Note that this differs from English.

Example:

Source text: It’s an innovative project, leading edge, and respectful with the environment.

✘ És un producte innovador, capdavanter, i respectuós amb el medi ambient.

✓ És un producte innovador, capdavanter i respectuós amb el medi ambient.

To separate remarks, that is, explanations, clarifications and inserts placed in the middle or at the end of a sentence, even if it’s before the conjunctions i, o, ni.

Example:

Source text: The director concluded his speech and, visibly affected, thanked all attendees.

✘ El director va concloure el seu discurs i visiblement afectat va donar les gràcies als assistents.

✓ El director va concloure el seu discurs i, visiblement afectat, va donar les gràcies als assistents.

To replace an elided verb in order to avoid duplication and lose fluency.

Example:

Source text: Quality is our objective and cooperation, our mean.

✘ La qualitat és el nostre objectiu i la cooperació el nostre mitjà.

✓ La qualitat és el nostre objectiu i la cooperació, el nostre mitjà. (és was elided)

To separate a displaced complement that is not placed in the logical sentence order (subject, verb and complements) to emphasize it.

Example:

Source text: At 9, they said they would arrive.

✘ A les nou van dir que arribarien.

✓ A les nou, van dir que arribarien

To mark a pause between copulative or adversative sentences, especially if they’re long and complex, or if we want to indicate contrast. For this, we use conjunctions like però, sinó, tanmateix, altrament, mentre que, tot i això, etc., and alike conjunctions introducing consequences or results.

Example:

Source text: We promise to deliver the product as soon as possible, but we can’t guarantee a specific date.

✘ Ens comprometem a entregar el producte el més aviat possible però no podem garantir una data concreta.

✓ Ens comprometem a entregar el producte el més aviat possible, però no podem garantir una data concreta.

To separate connectors placed at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence: és a dir, doncs bé, ara bé, en primer lloc, d’una/altra banda, per una/altra part, en fi, per últim, a més, en aquest cas, tot i això, no obstant això, al contrari, en canvi, etc.

Example

Source text: To start with, these words are synonyms, in other words, they mean the same; the antonyms, however, have opposite meanings.

✘ En primer lloc aquestes paraules són sinònimes, és a dir signifiquen el mateix; els antònims en canvi tenen significats oposats.

✓ En primer lloc, aquestes paraules són sinònimes, és a dir, signifiquen el mateix; els antònims, en canvi, tenen significats oposats.

To separate the locution no només ___, sinó (també) ___.

Example

Source text: He left his job not only because of the salary, but also because of his workmates.

✘ Va deixar la seva feina no només pel sou sinó també pel seu companys.

✓ Va deixar la seva feina no només pel sou, sinó també pel seu companys.

To separate adverbial complements preceding the verb. Note though that a comma should not be used when the construction is very short.

Examples

Source text: In those first hot summer days, the coexistence between residents was idyllic.

✘ En aquells dies calorosos de principis d’estiu la convivència entre els residens era idíl·lica.

✓ En aquells dies calorosos de principis d’estiu, la convivència entre els residens era idíl·lica.

Source text: In our company we don’t sell this kind of products.

✘ A la nostra empresa, no venem aquest tipus de productes.

✓ A la nostra empresa no venem aquest tipus de productes.

To separate a subordinate clause preceding the main clause. Note though that a comma should not be used when the clause is very short.

Examples

Source text: If you think you’re going to be late, warn me.

✘ Si creus que arribaràs tard avisa’m.

✓ Si creus que arribaràs tard, avisa’m.

Source text: I wouldn’t have come if I had known.

✘ Si ho arribo a saber, no vinc.

✓ Si ho arribo a saber no vinc.

To separate the location from the date in a letter, for example.

Example

Source text: London, 6th of October 2023.

✘ Londres 6 d’octubre de 2023.

✓ Londres, 6 d’octubre de 2023.

To separate the name of the street from the house number and floor.

Example

✘ Passeig de Gràcia 103 2n 1a

✓ Passeig de Gràcia, 103, 2n 1a

DO NOT include a comma between the subject and the verb.

Example

Source text: The students that haven’t turned in the essay will fail the subject.

✘ Els alumnes que no hagin entregat el treball, suspendran l’assignatura.

✓ Els alumnes que no hagin entregat el treball suspendran l’assignatura.

However, there are two exceptions for this rule:

When the subject is an enumeration ending with etcétera.

Example

Source text: Providers, clients, partners, etc., use to be satisfied.

✘ Els proveïdors, els clients, els socis, etc. solien quedar satisfets.

✓ Els proveïdors, els clients, els socis, etc., solien quedar satisfets.

When the subject is followed by a remark or by any other element which should enclosed in commas:

Example

Source text: The company, as you know, is growing.

✘ L’empresa com ja sabeu es troba en període de creixement.

✓ L’empresa, com ja sabeu, es troba en període de creixement.

5.1.2. Period (.)

The period, also known as dot or full stop, represents a strong pause in the speech and separates different sentences within the same concept. It is written without any space right before the preceding word and with a space before the following word, which starts in upper case, as it’s a new sentence.

These are the period’s main uses:

To end full sentences with periods, regardless of the lack of periods in English sentences. A full sentence is considered to be grammatically independent, have full meaning and have, at least, one conjugated verb. So a sentence with just one verb (for example, “Plou.”, “Vine.”), is a full sentence and must end with a period.

Example

Source text: The password needs to be updated

✘ S’ha d’actualitzar la contrasenya

✓ S’ha d’actualitzar la contrasenya.

To indicate that a word has been abbreviated (etc.), but it shouldn’t be used after symbols (kg).

On the other hand, the period may not be used in the following situations:

When the sentence ends with abbreviations, ellipses, interrogation or exclamation marks, as they act as periods.

Example

Source text: What a temperament!

✘ ¡Quin geni que té!.

✓ ¡ Quin geni que té!

However, a period must be added if the exclamation/question mark is followed by quotes or brackets.

Example

Source text: Suddenly, he started yelling (what a temperament!)

✘ De cop es va posar a cridar (¡quin geni que té!)

✓ De cop es va posar a cridar (¡quin geni que té!).

In banners or signs that inform or give instructions.

Example

Source text: No smoking

✘ No fumeu.

✓ No fumeu

At the end of marketing slogans or page/news headers.

Example

Source text: Thousands of people demonstrated against the government today

✘ Milers de persones s’han manifestat avui contra el govern.

✓ Milers de persones s’han manifestat avui contra el govern (as in a newspaper header)

5.1.3. Semicolon (;)

The semicolon represents a longer pause than the comma, but a shorter pause than the period. Just like the comma, the semicolon is written without any space right before the preceding word and with a space before the following word, which should be written in lower case.

The main uses of the semicolon are the following:

To separate long clauses that are meaning-related within the sentence and that are already subdivided by commas.

Example

Source text: All of them gathered: the executive president, Gabriel Sellarès; the managing director, Joan Aguilar, and the general secretary, Ignasi Dalmau.

✘ Es van reunir el president executiu, Gabriel Sellarès; el director executiu, Joan Aguilar, i el secreteri general, Ignasi Dalmau.

✓ Milers de persones s’han manifestat contra el govern (as in a newspaper header)

To separate adversative conjunctions (però, sinó, tanmateix, altrament, mentre que, tot i això, etc.) in long sentences that contain other commas.

Example

Source text: We worked hard during all the campaign in order to meet the objectives; however, the results weren’t as good as expected.

✘ Vam treballar molt durant tota la campanya per assolir els objectius, tot i això, els resultats no van ser com esperàvem.

✓ Vam treballar molt durant tota la campanya per assolir els objectius; tot i això, els resultats no van ser com esperàvem.

5.1.4. Colon (:)

The colon is a graphic sign used to introduce information. Just like the comma and the semicolon, the colon is written without any space right before the preceding word and with a space before the following word. As a general rule, the words after the colon should be written in lower case, unless they introduce a direct quotation.

The main uses of the colon are the following:

To introduce an enumeration of elements, both for horizontal and vertical enumerations.

Examples

Source text: To set up the new office we’ll need: tables, chairs, computers, etc.

✘ Per muntar l’oficina nova necessitarem, taules, cadires, ordinadors, etc.

✓ Per muntar l’oficina nova necessitarem: taules, cadires, ordinadors, etc.

Source text: To set up the new office we’ll need:

— tables

chairs
computers

✓ Per muntar l’oficina nova necessitarem:

— taules

cadires
ordinadors

To introduce an example, a conclusion, an explanation, causes or consequences.

Examples

Source text: Let us know if you have any problem with the delivery. For example, if it arrives late or damaged.

✘ Avisa’ns si tens algun problema amb l’enviament. Per exemple si arriba tard o fet malbé.

✓ Avisa’ns si tens algun problema amb l’enviament. Per exemple: si arriba tard o fet malbé.

To introduce a quotation of what someone else said. In that case, because the quotation is a new sentence, it should start with upper case.

Examples

Source text: The general manager said: “I’m proud of our team”.

✘ La directora general va dir, “estic molt orgullosa del nostre equip.”

✓ La directora general va dir: “Estic molt orgullosa del nostre equip.”

5.1.5. Quotation marks (“”)

Quotation marks, or quotes, can be written in three different ways: low quotes (« »), high quotes (" ") and simple quotes (' ').

Low and high quotes have the same meaning; the use of one or the other depends on stylistic conventions. At Unbabel, to make things easier and consistent, we will use the high quotes (" ") in our translations.

Note: when quotes are required several times in a sentence, we will first use slow quotes, then high quotes, and last, single quotes.

Example

Source text: “The actress refuses to film a second-line western”.

✓ «L'actriu es nega a filmar "un 'western' de segona fila".»

The main uses of the quotes are:

To indicate a quotation, that is, to reproduce in a direct and literal way the words pronounced by someone else.

Examples

Source text: The mayor said: “We’ll get through this crisis”.

✘ L’alcalde va dir, “superarem aquesta crisi”.

✓ L’alcalde va dir: “Superarem aquesta crisi.”

Note that the full stop should be included within the quotes and that no other full stop needs to be written afterwards.

To pinpoint the special use of a word: irony, foreign word, etc.

Example

Source text: The board management was so “excellent” that all the investors left.

✓ La gestió de la junta va resultar tan “excel·lent” que tots els inversors van marxar.

In novels and other narrative text, quotes have other specific uses that we are not likely to translate at Unbabel, and thus are not included in this guide. For more information about this, see here.

5.1.6. Exclamation and interrogation marks (!) (?)

Exclamation (!) and interrogation (?) marks are used to mark the exclamatory and interrogative intonation of a sentence respectively.

Unlike Spanish, in Catalan we don’t write the opening marks to indicate the start of a question/exclamation, so we should only use the closing marks.

We shouldn’t write a period after the exclamation and interrogation marks, as they already act as a period at the end of the sentence.

Examples

Source text: What a nice day!

✘ ¡Quin dia més maco!

✓ Quin dia més maco!

Source text: What time are you coming?

✘ ¿A quina hora vens?

✓ A quina hora vens?

5.1.7. Hyphen (-)

The hyphen, known as guionet in Catalan, is a graphic sign represented by a short dash. It covers the use of both the English hyphen and en-dash, as there is no equivalent to the en-dash in Catalan.

The main uses of the hyphen in Catalan are:

To split a word that doesn’t fit as a whole at the end of a line. In Catalan, words are mainly separated by syllables.

Example

Source text: According to our data, this account is being used by an-

other customer.

✘ Segons les nostres dades, aquest compte ja l’està fent servir un a-

ltre client.

✓ Segons les nostres dades, aquest compte ja l’està fent servir un al-

tre client.

To join words that are related to each other. If the hyphen connects single words, no space should be left in between. However, if it connects elements formed by more than one word, a space should be left between them.

Examples

Source text: cause-effect relationship

✘ relació causa - efecte

✓ relació causa-efecte

Source text: The train doesn’t stop during the Sants - passeig de la Bonanova journey.

✘ El tren no s’atura durant el trajecte de Sants-passeig de la Bonanova.

✓ El tren no s’atura durant el trajecte de Sants - passeig de la Bonanova

To join two or more correlative numbers or numbers that form a unit. No space should be left in between.

Examples

Source text: pages 21-43

✘ pàgines 21 - 43

✓ pàgines 21-43

Source text: school year 2022-2023

✘ curs 2022-2023

✓ curs 2022-2023

For other uses, exceptions and examples about the hyphen, see here.

5.1.8. Em-dash or guió (—)

The em-dash is equivalent to guió (not guionet) in Catalan and to raya in Spanish. It is three times longer than the hyphen and it has different uses, so it is important not to use them wrongly or mix them up.

The shortcut keys to trigger the em-dash in standard Spanish keyboards is Ctrl Alt - (minus sign).

The main uses of the m-dash that are relevant to the texts at Unbabel are the following:

To introduce remarks (explanations, clarifications, writer’s opinion, etc.) in a sentence.

This can also be done with the comma and the brackets, but they represent different degrees of relationship between the remark and the rest of the sentence, being the comma the closest, the m-dash the middle one and the brackets the farthest in relationship.

When the remark is in the middle of the sentence, the em-dash is written just before the commas or semicolons with no space in between. However, if the remark is at the end of the sentence, it’s not necessary to write the ending em-dash, just the period.

Examples

Source text: The solution to the problem has nothing to do with the equipment —although this is also an important matter—, but with the employers’ capabilities.

✓ La solució del problema no té a veure amb l’equipament —tot i que aquesta és també una qüestió important—, sinó amb les habilitats dels treballadors.

Source text: I saw she was very sad —I bet she had already spoken with the doctor.

✓ La vaig veure molt trista —ja devia haver parlat amb el metge.

To introduce vertical (column) enumerations. A space should be left between the em-dash and the enumeration elements.

Example

Source text: The goal of the department was to:

increase the number of sales;
establish good relationships with clients.

✘ The goal of the department was to:

increase the number of sales;
establish good relationships with clients.

✓ The goal of the department was to:

increase the number of sales;
establish good relationships with clients.

For more information and examples on the use of em-dash, see here.

5.1.9. Brackets ( )

The brackets consist of an opening and a closing sign. As mentioned before, they are used to introduce remarks (clarifications, extra information to help the reader or additional references) which have a larger degree of distance from the speech than the em-dash. However, the choice of one resource or the other is subjective to the writer.

Example

Source text: Please press the start button (located at the right-hand side of your device).

✓ Preméu el botó d’inici (situat a la part dreta del dispositiu).

Note: if the remark is a full sentence, the period is written before the closing bracket.

Examples

Source text: This movie has had an overwhelming success. (You can read the review on page 32).

✘ Aquesta pel·lícula ha tingut un èxit aclaparador. (Llegiu-ne la crítica a la pàgina 32).

✓ Aquesta pel·lícula ha tingut un èxit aclaparador. (Llegiu-ne la crítica a la pàgina 32.)

5.1.10. Ellipses (…)

The ellipses are three consecutive dots that indicate interruption of the speech.

No space should be left between each other and no other dot should be added, just three.

They are written right after the preceding word and with a space before the following word.

The following word can be written in upper case if a new sentence starts, or in lower case if the sentence continues after the interruption. In that case, we should write a comma after the ellipses.

The ellipses replace the abbreviation etc., so they should never be used together (* etc…).

The main uses of the ellipses are:

To indicate that an enumeration might be incomplete.

Examples

Source text: There were all kind of beverages: water, juice, beer, wine...

✓ Hi havia tot tipus de begudes: aigua, suc, cervesa, vi…

To indicate an incomplete thought.

Examples

Source text: Do you think that I…? I’m not sure about it.

✓ Creus que jo…? No n’estic segura.

To indicate a fear or doubt.

Examples

Source text: Today… hmm… I think I can’t…

✓ Avui…, mmm…, crec que no puc…

5.1.11. White space ( )

The white space, also known as non-breaking space, is used to connect two elements that should not be divided by external reasons like a line break or other formatting issues.

In standard Spanish keyboards is triggered with the combination Alt+255.

It should be written between numbers and symbols: 1000 €, 250 mg, 24 h, etc.

Examples

Source text: 23km

✘ 23km

✓ 23 km

For more examples and remarks on the use of punctuation (the whole section), see here.

5.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings

In Catalan, we must use a comma before and after the name, as it’s a vocative. The use of colon to end the greeting is also accepted, but at Unbabel we will always use the comma in greetings to keep consistency.

5.2.1. Informal greetings and closings

In greetings of letters or emails —like customer service messages—, we have chosen to use the informal register to show a closer relationship with the customer. Therefore, most of the greetings will be following the format “Hello [name]”. Depending on the context, the informal greeting can also end with an exclamation mark; in that case, there’s no need to write the comma.

Examples

Source text: Hi Laura,

✘ Hola Laura,

✓ Hola, Laura:

✓ Hola, Laura (preferred)

Source text: Good morning Toni!

✘ Bon dia Toni!

✘ Bon dia, Toni!,

✓ Bon dia, Toni!

The first word on the next line has to be capitalized.

As for the closing, it should also end with a coma, followed by a new line with the name of the sender. We have several options as informal greetings, for example:

Salutacions,

Gràcies,

Fins aviat,

Que vagi bé,

Que tinguis un bon dia,

Que tinguis una bona setmana,

Bon cap de setmana,

Avoid being excessively close to the customer in these expressions (Calorosament, Una forta abraçada…).

5.2.2. Formal greetings and closings

In formal register, the greeting and closing structure is the same as in informal register —ending with a comma—, so the only difference lies in the lexical choice.

Examples

Source text: Dear Laura,

✓ Estimada Laura:

Examples

Source text: Dear sir,

✓ Benvolgut senyor

As for the closing, we have several options:

Salutacions cordials,

Atentament,

Sincerament,

Cordialment,

6. Localization challenges

Most of these challenges refer to unique entities, such as persons, places, organizations, brands... or the specific format of dates, addresses and so on. Languages may adopt different rules regarding whether those units should be translated, reformatted or kept as in the original language. When editing a text, you should follow your language's rules for all different types of units listed below. However, please note that if there is a glossary provided by the client that includes some of them, you should always apply the glossary items.

6.1. Proper nouns

Optimot has many articles explaining each specific case of translations of personal names and names of places. Please check this search to find more examples about it.

6.1.1. Personal names

Normally, people's names shouldn’t be translated in Catalan. You should write the name as the customer wrote it —including/omitting any accents—, and not translate it even if there is an equivalent of the name in Catalan.

Examples

Source text: Hi John,

✘ Hola Joan,

✓ Hola, John,

Source text: Dear Oscar,

✘ Estimat Òscar,

✓ Estimat Oscar,

However, some names have been traditionally translated, like names of historical or biblical characters, saints, popes, dynasties, royal family names, and mythological or literary characters. In that case, they adopt the specific translated form in Catalan.

Examples

Aristòtil

Àrtemis

Dant

Joan XXIII

Carles III

Juli Cèsar

sant Francesc d'Assís

la Ventafocs

Note: some names haven’t been traditionally translated (Leonardo da Vinci, Robin Hood, etc.), so we should look up if there is any existing reference of translating/not translating the name.

6.1.2. Places

As a general rule, names of cities, towns, states, nations, regional divisions and landforms (rivers, seas, mountains…) have to be translated if they have been traditionally translated. For example:

Traditionally translated Tradicionally untranslated

Londres Washington

Milà Buenos Aires

Osca Ohio

Mèxic Frankfurt

Japó Amsterdam

Castella la Sierra Nevada

el Danubi platja d’El Sardinero

la mar Càspia illa de Madeira

la serralada dels Carpats Las Alpujarras

When translating names of public streets and roads, we should keep the official name and only translate the generic part, that is, words like street, square or avenue. For example: la plaça Mayor, el passeig de Recoletos.

Note: this only applies to generic texts, not to the actual address on a letter envelope; in that case the address needs to be written as in the original language so that it gets to the destination.

6.1.3. Organizations

Names of official and cultural organizations —museums, libraries, universities, etc.— that include toponyms have to be translated if they han a traditional form in Catalan. For example:

Junta d'Andalusia
Banc d'Espanya
Universitat de Virgínia

Òpera de Sydney

Galeria dels Uffizi

Biblioteca Pública de Nova York

If the name already has a particular tradition of its original name in Catalan, we don’t have to translate it:

National Gallery

Tate Modern

Royal Opera House

We don’t need to comply with this criterion if the toponym is written as a brand logo or any other graphic image. In those cases, it can appear in its official form.

6.1.4. Brands and products

Brands and products are usually kept untranslated, unless specifically requested by the client or if it has traditionally been translated.

Example

Source text: I bought an Apple computer.

✘ M’he comprat un ordinador Poma.

✓ M’he comprat un ordinador Apple.

6.1.5. Titles

Titles of cultural works vary considerably case by case. Some of them, such as book or painting names, are translated (Nit estrellada, de Van Gogh), whereas most events and movie titles are kept untranslated. However, this depends on the context of the entity, as nowadays foreign names (especially in English) have more popularity amongst young people.

Examples

✘ Mundo jurásico

✓ Jurassic World

✘ La guerra de las galaxias

✓ Star Wars

6.2. Acronyms and initials

As a general rule, acronyms and initials formed in a foreign language that have not been translated should be respected and left untranslated.

Initials representing names of organizations, entities, political parties and companies that are commonly used should not be translated. However, their complete denomination can be translated to help the user understand better.

RENFE, creada a partir de Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (Xarxa Nacional dels Ferrocarrils Espanyols)

DIN, creada a partir de Deutsches Institut für Normung (Institut Alemany per a la Normalització)

IRA, creada a partir de Irish Republican Army (Exèrcit Republicà Irlandès)

For more information on uses and typographical issues (upper/lower case or punctuation…) for abbreviations, see section 4.4. above, under Ortography.

6.3. Software lexicon and expressions

According to Softcatalà’s style guide, which has been a reference for software translation into Catalan for the past couple of decades, the recommendation when translating software is the following:

Form of address tu:

When the user “commands” to the software, the imperative form in second person singular (tu) should be used.

Form of address vós:

When the software “talks” to the user, the imperative form in second person plural (vós) should be used.

However, because of lack of context provided by the client, strings being used in more than one place, ambiguous sentences and several other technical handicaps, sometimes it is extremely difficult to tell if the user is talking to the software or or the other way around.

This can lead to major inconsistencies not only within the different products in a company, but also within the same software section, as shown in the following screenshot.

In this example, the same menu contains verbs in imperative singular, imperative plural and infinitive.

For this reason, the safest bet to keep consistency is to write all action verbs in infinitive (like Spanish does) for the sake of a better understanding. This approach has been adopted by several big companies like Whatsapp for their versions into Catalan.

Therefore, we should, where possible, translate software using action verbs in infinitive.

6.4. Address format

As a general rule, it is recommended to write the types of public streets in full (not abbreviated) and in lower case, unless they are preceded by a period or at the start of a line, in which case they should start in upper case.

However, if it’s a concise text, such as a list, a business card, a printing or a letter envelope, they are usually written abbreviated.

This is a list of the most common abbreviations for public streets:

avinguda: av.
carrer: c., c/
carreró: cró.
carretera: ctra.
passatge: ptge.
passeig: pg.
plaça: pl.
rambla: rbla.
ronda: rda.
travessera: trav.

6.5. Date format

While the international ISO convention uses the format yyyy-mm-dd (és a dir, any-mes-dia), the format dd/mm/yyyy (dia/mes/any) is the most widely used and preferred for Catalan.

The numbers of the date can be separated by a slash (/), a hyphen (-) or a period (.):

Example

✘ 2015/08/18

✓ 18/08/2015

✓ 18-08-2015

✓ 18.08.2015

Inside of a text, however, it is recommended to write the date in full, that is, with a combination of numbers and words. Remember that months in Catalan are written in lowercase, unlike English.

✘ 18 d’Agost de 2015

✓ 18 d’agost de 2015

In graphs, tables, statistics, advertisements or other formats where space is limited, the months of the year can also be abbreviated, ending with a period like all shortenings:

gener: gen.

febrer: febr.

març: març

abril: abr.

maig: maig

juny: juny

juliol: jul.

agost: ag.

setembre: set.

octubre: oct.

novembre: nov.

desembre: des.

Note that the months març, maig and juny are not abbreviated as they are one-syllable words.

6.6. Week days

Just like the months of the year, the days of the week are also written in lower case, unlike English.

In general text we should always try to write the days of the week in full, unless they appear in graphs, tables, etc., in which case they can be abbreviated too, ending in period:

dilluns: dl.

dimarts: dt.

dimecres: dc.

dijous: dj.

divendres: dv.

dissabte: ds.

diumenge: dg.

6.7. Time format

English, in general, uses a 12-hour (am/pm) format to refer to time. In Catalan the 24-hour format is preferred and thus references to time should be adapted into such a format.

References to time in hours and minutes may be expressed with a hh:mm format (e.g. 07:00) or a h:mm format (e.g. 7:00), and can be separated with a colon or a period (07.00), but never with a comma (* 07,00). However, when eliding the reference to minutes, the symbol should be included after the hour itself (e.g. 7 h).

The hour symbol (h) or the word hores can follow the time. The number and the symbol should be separated by a non-breaking space whenever possible.

Finally, bear in mind that the former indications are meant for time references and are not valid when time is a magnitude (eg.: El vol va durar 2 h 13 min.)

Example

✘ 7:00 am

✘ 7 del matí

✘ 7

✓ 07:00

✓ 07.00

✓ 07:00 h

✓ 07.00 h

✓ 07:00 hores

✓ 7:00

✓ 7.00

✓ 7:00 h

✓ 7.00 hores

✓ 7 h

6.8. Numeric expressions

Regarding numerals format (written in number or words), the recommendation for Catalan is to write the numbers in words whenever possible when they appear in the middle of a sentence (unless they appear in a scientific text where precision matters). However, if they are too long and affect readability (more than 3 words), then they can be written in numbers.

Examples:

Source text: They thieves took 5 laptops and 2 consoles.

✘ Els lladres es van emportar 5 portàtils i 2 consoles.

✓ Els lladres es van emportar cinc portàtils i dues consoles.

Source text: The congress was a total success: there were 24389 attendees.

✘ El congrés va ser un èxit rotund: hi van assistir vint-i-quatre mil tres-centes vuitanta-nou persones.

✓ El congrés va ser un èxit rotund: hi van assistir 24 389 persones.

6.8.1. Cardinal numbers

Cardinal numbers represent a figure and also express amounts. The amount usually matches the figure, but some times the figure and the quantifier don’t match. For example, when numbers 1, 2 and hundred express an amount, they can have a feminine form (una, dues, set-centes).

Example

Source text: He drank 2 glasses of water and 2 beers.

✘ Va beure dos dots d’aigua i dos cerveses.

✓ Va beure dos dots d’aigua i dues cerveses.

Cardinals above 20 are written with a hyphen to separate the numbers that form the figure. There is a rule known as D-U-C (desenes-unitats-centenes) to make it easier to remember when a hyphen is needed:

quaranta-dos, vuitanta-tres… (desena + unitat: D-U)

dos-cents, set-centes… (unitat + centena: U-C)

un milió dos-cents trenta-quatre mil sis-cents (U-C, D-U, U-C)

Between the numbers 21 and 29, we add the letter i between the ten figure and the units, so these numerals are written with hyphen:

vint-i-u, vint-i-quatre, vint-i-nou…

6.8.2. Thousand separator

In Catalan we use the international ISO convention in regards to the thousand separator:

The numbers form groups of 3 and are separated from each other with a non-breaking space (Alt+255) to avoid being split because of typhography reasons.

Traditionally the period has been used as thousand separator. It is still correct to use it but not recommended. Therefore, we will use the space as thousand separator to keep consistency.

Recommended Not recommended

9 000 (9.000)

90 000 (90.000)

900 000 (900.000)

9 000 000 (9.000.000)

9 000 000 000 (9.000.000.000)

Numbers that form a series are not separated by any type of space or punctuation mark (years, pages, identity numbers, post codes, street numbers, etc.).

Examples:

Source text: Year 2018

✘ l’any 1.987

✓ l’any 1987

Source text: Page 1150

✘ página 1.150

✓ página 1150

Source text: 08080 Barcelona

✘ 08.080 Barcelona

✓ 08080 Barcelona

6.8.3. Milliard and billion

In Catalan, the term miliard designates the value of mil milions. This concept is equivalent to the North American term billion. However, the term bilió in Catalan means un milió de milions. So please be very careful no to mix up the English billion with the Catalan bilió.

6.8.4. Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers are used to express the order, appearance or priority within a numeric series.

They have masculine, feminine, singular and plural forms.

The first 4 forms of the ordinals are irregular:

primer – primera – primers – primers

segon – segona – segons – segones

tercer – tercera – tercers – terceres

quart – quarta – quarts – quartes

From thr 5th onwards, masculine ordinal is formed by adding -è after the cardinal number, and the feminine form adds -na.

15 → 15è: quinzè / 15a: quinzena

22 → 22è: vint-i-dosè / 22a: vint-i-dosena

54 → 54è: cinquanta-quatrè / 54a: cinquanta-quatrena

353 → 353è: tres-cents cinquanta-tresè / 353a: tres-cents cinquanta-tresena

To shorten ordinal numbers, we can optionally add a period.

Singular

1r, 1r. (primer)

1a, 1a. (primera)

2n, 2n. (segon)

2a, 2a. (segona)

3r, 3r. (tercer)

3a, 3a. (tercera)

4t, 4t. (quart)

4a, 4a. (quarta)

5è, 5è. (cinquè)

5a, 5a. (cinquena)

Plural

1rs, 1rs. (primers)

1es, 1es. (primeres)

2ns, 2ns. (segons)

2es, 2es. (segones)

3rs, 3rs. (tercers)

3es, 3es. (terceres)

4ts, 4ts. (quarts)

4es, 4es. (quartes)

5ns, 5ns. (cinquens)

5es, 5es. (cinquenes)

6.8.5. Decimals

Decimals are written exclusively with numbers, not words. They are separated with a comma and no space. It is not correct to use any other sign or to omit the comma.

Examples

Source text: The number pi is approximately equal to 3,14.

✘ El valor de pi és d’aproximadamente 3’14

✘ El valor de pi és d’aproximadamente 3.14

✓ El valor de pi és d’aproximadamente 3,14

Source text: This needs to be heated to 32.8 ºC.

✘ S’ha d’escalfar a 32’8 ºC

✘ S’ha d’escalfar a 32.8 ºC

✓ S’ha d’escalfar a 32,8 ºC

6.8.6. Percentages

Percentages are followed by the symbol %. A non-breaking space must be added between the number and the symbol to avoid being split. The definite or indefinite article is usually preceded by the percentage.

Example

Source text: Only 12% of the employees answered the poll.

✘ Només un 12% dels treballadors va respondre l’enquesta.

✓ Només un 12 % dels treballadors va respondre l’enquesta

✓ Només el 12 % dels treballadors va respondre l’enquesta

6.8.7. Phone numbers

Telephone numbers form groups of 3 for better readability. No period or hyphen needs to be added.

935 671 000

625 333 147

6.9. Measures

Measures tend to keep the format of the source text and are not usually converted. If the text is only informative and doesn’t need to be very precise, it can be adapted to the closest equivalent in Catalan.

A non-breaking space needs to be added between the number and the unit (e.g., 12 mg).

Example

Source text: The plane flies at 30000 feet high.

✘ L’avió vola a 9148 metres d’altura.

✓ L’avió vola a 30 000 peus d’altura.

✓ L’avió vola a uns 10 km d’altura.

When not written in their full form, measures should never have a final period.

Example

Source text: The meteorite has a total mass of 25 kg.

✘ El meteorit té una massa de 25 kg. en total.

✓ El meteorit té una massa de 25 kg en total.

Also, they never occur in the plural form.

Example

Source text: From the beach to the house we need to travel 25 km.

✘ De la platja a casa hem de recórrer 25 kms.

✓ De la platja a casa hem de recórrer 25 km.

6.10. Currency

Currency values should not be converted (e.g., do not convert the amount of dollars to euros), but the currency name should be translated (dollars to dòlars) and the currency format should respect the conventions of Catalan. (If the client specified their own conventions, these will prevail.)

A non-breaking space needs to be added between the number and the currency (e.g., 32 $).

The code or symbol should be written after the number, not before like in English.

Example:

Source text: You’ll have to pay $20/month.

✘ Hauràs de pagar $20/mes.

✘ Hauràs de pagar 20$/mes.

✓ Hauràs de pagar 20 $/mes.

Do not mix ISO 4217 codes (USD, EUR...) and symbols ($, €...). For example: do not write $12 USD; use either 12 USD or 12 $, and be consistent throughout the text.

Example:

Source text: I have applied for a refund, totalling $87 USD.

✘ He sol·licitat un reemborsament per un total de $87 USD.

✓ He sol·licitat un reemborsament per un total de 87 USD.

✓ He sol·licitat un reemborsament per un total de 87 $.

The currency ISO 4217 code should be written in uppercase (JPY, EUR...), but the currency name is a common name and should be written all in lowercase (iens, euros...).

Examples:

Source text: I'll provide you with a 5 Eur discount code.

✘ Et donaré un codi de descompte de 5 Eur.

✘ Et donaré un codi de descompte de 5 eur.

✓ Et donaré un codi de descompte de 5 EUR.

Source text: I already paid 100 Euros.
✘ Ja he pagat 100 Euros.

✓ Ja he pagat 100 euros.

Do not omit the 0 before the decimal separator (e.g., do not use .05 € for 0.05 €).

Example:

Source text: The total amount is EUR .89.
✘ La quantitat total és .89 EUR.
✓ La quantitat total és 0,89 EUR.

You can find a very good summary of all the rules of formats for numerals, addresses, time, dates, measures, currency, etc. in this article.

7. Most frequent errors

Performing machine translation post-edition (MTPE) can be tricky, and sometimes it takes more time to fix the translation than to retranslate it from scratch.

The most important things that should be taken into account when post-editing are the following:

Machine translation tends to mix up verbs conjugated in second person singular (tu) and second person plural (vós). At Unbabel we use the informal tu form of address, so please make sure the text is consistent.

Example

Source text: Unfortunately, we can’t give out a discount on your current plan. Let me know if there’s anything else I can assist you with.

✘ Malauradament, no us podem oferir un descompte al vostre pla actual. Avisa'm si puc ajudar-te en alguna cosa més.

✓ Malauradament, no et podem oferir un descompte en el teu pla actual. Avisa'm si puc ajudar-te en alguna altra cosa.

Punctuation in greetings

Pay special attention to greetings and make sure you use the correct punctuation. (See section 5.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings in these Guidelines for a more detailed explanation).

Examples:

✘ Hola Joan:

✘ Bon dia Joan,

✓ Hola, Joan.

✓ Bon dia, Joan.

Possessives:

As mentioned above, English uses a lot more possessives than Catalan. Please only leave the ones that are necessary.

Example

Source text: I fell and I can’t get up. Give me your hand and lift me, please.

✘ He caigut i no em puc posar dreta. Dona’m la teva mà i ajuda’m a aixecar-me.

✓ He caigut i no em puc posar dreta. Dona’m la mà i ajuda’m a aixecar-me.

Wrong constructions

Please check this list to read about constructions that are frequently used wrongly in Catalan, mainly because of Spanish influence.

Example

Source text: You have to finish this before tomorrow.

✘ Tens que acabar això abans de demà.

✓ Has d’acabar això abans de demà.

False friends

Please pay attention to some words that may not convey the meaning of the source text in a given context. False friends would make a never-ending list, but here’s a page that has plenty of examples. Here are a couple:

Examples

Source text: support

✘ suport

✓ assistència

Source text: discuss

✘ discutir

✓ parlar-ne

Literal and unnatural translations

Machine translation usually provides too literal translation that sound awkward and unnatural in Catalan, especially when it comes to idioms. There are plenty of these, but here are a couple of examples:

Examples

Source text: Thanks for your message. It made my day.

✘ Gràcies pel teu missatge. M’ha fet el dia.

✓ Gràcies pel teu missatge. M’ha alegrat el dia.

Source text: It’s a tricky issue. I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes.

✘ És un tema complicat. No m’agradaria estar a les teves sabates.

✓ És un tema complicat. No m’agradaria estar a la teva situació.

Source text: Try to get the best of your holiday to unwind.

✘ Procura obtenir el millor de les vacances per relaxar-te.

✓ Procura aprofitar al màxim les vacances per relaxar-te.

Gender-neutral wording

In the specific case of customer service emails, the same strings will be stored in the translation memory and re-used several times, but the customer service agent may be a man or a woman. So try to use gender-neutral adjectives whenever possible to make sure it suits all cases.

Examples

Source text: I’m happy to see the solution worked out.

✘ Estic contenta de veure que la solució ha funcionat.

✓ M’alegro de veure que la solució ha funcionat.

Source text: If you’re tired of doing always the same, it’s time to try something new.

✘ Si estàs cansat de fer sempre el mateix, és hora de provar coses noves.

✓ Si et cansa fer sempre el mateix, és hora de provar coses noves.

Mistranslations

Examples

Source text: I’ve learned from the sales department that you’re interested in our product.

✘ He après del departament de vendes que t’interessa el nostre producte.

✓ M’han informat des del departament de vendes que t’interessa el nostre producte.

Source text: Thank you for your query, we’re always happy to fill in the blanks on our products and services.

✘ Gràcies per la teva consulta, sempre ens complau omplir els buits dels nostres productes i serveis.

✓ Gràcies per la teva consulta, sempre ens agrada ajudar a entendre millor els nostres productes i serveis.

8. Non-assimilated words

Because of the geographical coexistence between Spanish and Catalan, our language is heavy influenced by Spanish words and sentence structures that are not native to Catalan and thus are not correct.

The following resources are very helpful for solving doubts and refresh your knowledge on the issue.