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. Grammar

2.1. Agreement

2.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person (for verbs)

In Spanish, the verb agrees with person and number with the subject, which can be either implicit or explicit. All verbs, except for existential haber follow this rule. However, there are many cases where agreement is broken in the spoken language, but these constructions must be avoided in written language.

Partitive subject agreement

Example

Source text: A lot of people has attended the event.

✘ Una gran cantidad de personas acudieron al evento.

✓ Una gran cantidad de personas acudió al evento.

Even if many individuals (una gran cantidad de personas) went to the event, the nucleus of the noun phrase is cantidad, and since it is a singular noun, the subject must agree with it in singular (acudió).

Ad sensum agreement

Example

Source text: All the Salvadoran population elected a new president.

✘ Todo el pueblo salvadoreño eligieron un nuevo presidente.

✓ Todo el pueblo salvadoreño eligió un nuevo presidente.

Same here, the subject noun phrase is a singular noun, even if it is a collective name, and it must agree with the verb in singular (eligió).

Spurious agreements of haber

Examples

Source text: In this group there are many people interested in football.

✘ En este grupo habemos muchos interesados en el futbol.

✓ En este grupo hay muchos interesados en el futbol.

Source text: There were many candies in that box.

✘ Habían muchos dulces en esa caja.

✓ Había muchos dulces en esa caja.

Source text: There can be very good reasons for them to fire him.

✘ Pueden haber motivos de peso para que lo despidan.

✓ Puede haber motivos de peso para que lo despidan.

Due to historical reasons, this use of haber does not agree with any of the arguments of the sentence, and it must be used always in the third person singular, despite the tense or mood, or the agreement shift to modal verbs.

Remember that US Spanish never uses the forms for vosotros (quisisteis, llegaréis, decíais, etc.), and that it uses the second singular person tuteo for informal register and ustedeo for formal register. The use of the pronoun vos, even if it is correct and frequent in many places of Latin America, is not used for translation purposes, unless it’s a requirement.

2.1.2. Gender and number (determiners and adjectives)

Nouns agree with determiners and adjectives in gender and number in the noun phrases they govern. However, there is a small set of nouns which show irregular agreement for determiners or adjectives, and editors must be especially cautious with them. Gender in pronouns is treated under the Pronouns section (section 2.4).

‘Masculine’ determiner for feminine nouns

Feminine nouns beginning with a stressed /a/ are preceded by el instead of la. This is not a gender agreement issue, it is just a phonotactic restriction of general Spanish, and should be regarded only when the noun and the determiner are contiguous.

Examples

Source text: The bald eagle is a very appreciated bird.

✘ La águila calva es un ave muy apreciada.

✓ El águila calva es un ave muy apreciada.

Source text: The water was very cold.

✘ La agua estaba muy fría.

✓ El agua estaba muy fría.

Source text: The sharp ax.

✘ El afilada hacha.

✓ La afilada hacha.

✘ La hacha afilada.

✓ El hacha afilada.

There are, as usual, exceptions to this rule, for example, the name of the letters a, hache, proper names and acronyms. In case of doubt, please follow the recommendations of DPD - Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas.

Ambiguous gender in nouns

There is a small set of nouns which have changed their gender due to historical reasons, but it is common in many places to hear the older forms. Also, there are nouns that change their gender when in singular or plural, and nouns that can be used indistinctly as masculine or feminine without any impact.

Examples

Source text: It has been very hot recently.

✘ Ha hecho mucha calor últimamente.

✓ Ha hecho mucho calor últimamente.

Source text: Modern art is for connoisseurs.

✘ La arte moderna es para conocedores.

✓ El arte moderno es para conocedores.

Source text: José has always been interested in the fine arts.

✘ A José siempre le interesaron los bellos artes.

✓ A José siempre le interesaron las bellas artes.

Source text: In that region they promoted the production of sugar.

✓ En esa región fomentaron la producción del azúcar.

✓ En esa región fomentaron la producción de la azúcar.

Source text: This recipe goes better with brown sugar.

✓ Esta receta queda mejor con azúcar morena.

✓ Esta receta queda mejor con azúcar moreno.

For cases like the first one, please avoid using archaisms and non standard forms; for cases like the second and third ones, please refer to common usage and dictionaries; for the two last cases, be consistent in the use of a gender throughout the text.

2.1.3. Pronoun agreement issues

Due to syntactic arrangement in American Spanish, sentences tend to mis- or overagree when indirect objects are involved. These phenomena are very common and natural in speech, but are incorrect in written language and should be avoided.

Lack of agreement in dative duplication

Indirect objects (datives) should be duplicated, i.e., in addition to the noun phrase, there should be a dative pronoun, typically before the verb, as shown below.

✓ Le entregaron las llaves de la ciudad al ministro.

This pronoun should agree in number with the noun phrase. However, it is very common for this agreement to be absent, and for the singular form to cover all cases. However, this is not grammatical and should be corrected.

✘ Le entregaron las llaves de la ciudad a los ministros”.

Examples

Source text: They gave the city keys to the ministers.

✘ Le entregaron las llaves de la ciudad a los ministros.

✓ Les entregaron las llaves de la ciudad a los ministros.

Source text: The professors gave gifts to the students.

✘ Los profesores le entregaron regalos a los alumnos.

✓ Los profesores les entregaron regalos a los alumnos.

Spurious plural in accusative pronouns

When both direct and indirect objects are expressed as pronouns in a sentence, dative pronouns le and les change to se, while accusative pronouns are kept as lo/la/los/las. Despite the fact that in these cases many speakers tend to add an -s to the accusative pronouns (to mark a plural indirect object, as it can’t be marked in se) this practice should be avoided.

Source text: The homework, I already sent it to you.

✘ La tarea, ya se las envié a ustedes.

✓ La tarea, ya se la envié a ustedes.

Be sure to check that all pronouns make the right agreement in gender and number. Cases of leísmo, laísmo and loísmo will be treated in Pronouns (section 2.4).

2.2. Determiners

Noun phrases in Spanish are usually preceded by a determiner, even when the referent is unspecified or undetermined.

Example

Source text: Apples are good for health.

✘ Manzanas son buenas para salud.

✓ Las manzanas son buenas para la salud.

The default determiner for unspecified nouns is the definite article (el, la, los, las). For specific but undetermined nouns, we should use the indefinite article (un, una, unos, unas) or no article at all.

Example

Source text: I saw boys inside the house.

✘ Vi a los niños en la casa.

✓ Vi a unos niños en la casa.

✓ Vi niños en la casa.

2.3. Prepositions

Wrong preposition

It is very common to hear and read sentences with the wrong preposition attached. In most cases, this misuse doesn’t produce a meaning change, but it is neither natural nor proper of written register or formal communication.

Examples

Source text: You should act according to your best interest.

✘ Debes actuar en función a tus intereses.

✓ Debes actuar en función de tus intereses.

Source text: According to what was mentioned before.

✘ De acuerdo a lo que se mencionó anteriormente.

✓ De acuerdo con lo que se mencionó anteriormente.

Source text: Based on the information presented.

✘ En base a la información presentada.

✓ Con base en la información presentada.

Dequeísmo

Dequeísmo is the extension of the de que structure in contexts that do not require it. Typically, if a verb requires a sentence as a complement, this is introduced by que alone.

Source text: The professor said that there was not going to be lesson on Tuesday.

✘ El profesor dijo de que no habría clase el martes.

✓ El profesor dijo que no habría clase el martes.

Source text: Mariana remembered that it was March 23

✘ Mariana recordó de que era 23 de marzo.

✓ Mariana recordó que era 23 de marzo.

Since this phenomenon is very common and instructors correct it constantly, there seems to be a hypercorrection effect on the other side, on verbs that actually need the de que structure.

Examples

Source text: José realized that he was about to lose.

✘ José se dio cuenta que estaba a punto de perder.

✓ José se dio cuenta de que estaba a punto de perder.

Source text: Pedro remembered that he didn’t deliver the documents.

✘ Pedro se acordó que no había entregado los documentos.

✓ Pedro se acordó de que no había entregado los documentos.

Knowing whether a verb should use de que or que alone is tricky, but some examples are:

Que: decir, recordar, oír, escuchar, leer, entender, comprender, ver, observar, declarar, informar.

De que: acordarse, darse cuenta, enterarse, informarse.

A por

This structure is very common in European Spanish, but it is very uncommon and should be avoided in US Spanish texts. Use por instead.

Examples

Source text: Angela got up and went for bread.

✘ Ángela se levantó y fue a por pan.

✓ Ángela se levantó y fue por pan.

Other double preposition structures are correct, like de entre or para con, and can be used without hesitation.

Mío vs de mí

Prepositional phrases like enfrente de, detrás de, al lado de, encima de, should always keep de, even in the presence of personal pronouns.

Examples

Source text: The building collapsed in front of me.

✘ El edificio se derrumbó enfrente mío.

✓ El edificio se derrumbó enfrente de mí.

Source text: There was a bird above you.

✘ Había un pájaro encima tuyo.

✓ Había un pájaro encima de ti.

The sequence de mí or de ti is not a possessive sequence, but a ‘preposition + pronoun’ sequence, and they should not be confused.

Del and al

There are only two possible contractions in Spanish: del (de + el) and al (a + el). These combinations should be always contracted, except if the article el is a part of an entity name.

Examples of contraction

Source text: The dog headed to the way.

✘ El perro se dirigió a el camino.

✓ El perro se dirigió al camino

Source text: He exited from the metro and went home.

✘ Salió de el metro y se dirigió a su casa.

✓ Salió del metro y se dirigió a su casa.

Examples of exception

Source text: You can check it in a publication by El Colegio de México.

✘ Lo puedes consultar en una publicación del Colegio de México.

✓ Lo puedes consultar en una publicación de El colegio de México.

Source text: You can send a complaint to El Corte Inglés.

✘ Puedes enviar una reclamación al Corte inglés.

✓ Puedes enviar una reclamación a El corte inglés.

2.4. Pronouns

In Spanish, if the verb form shows clearly the subject it agrees with, there is no need to use the personal pronoun in most cases. The use of subject pronouns in Spanish is limited to emphasis, speech turn change, disambiguation and other pragmatic functions. Hence, if the source texts repeat the pronoun, we shouldn’t do it in Spanish unless necessary.

Example

Source text: You can take these steps:

✘ Tύ puedes seguir estos pasos:

✓ Puedes seguir estos pasos:

Regarding the accusative and dative pronouns, you should be careful not to fall in any of the misuses described below:

Leísmo

Leísmo is the substitution of the accusative pronouns lo and los, and, to a minor extent, la and las, by the dative pronouns le and les. This is improper and should always be avoided in US Spanish.

Examples

Source text: The day before yesterday I saw him at breakfast time.

✘ Antier le vi a la hora del desayuno.

✓ Antier lo vi a la hora del desayuno.

Source text: The reports, send them to me later.

✘ Los informes, me les envías más tarde.

✓ Los informes, me los envías más tarde.

Laísmo and loísmo

These phenomena, on the other hand, consist of the substitution of the dative pronouns le and les by the accusative pronouns lo, la, los, las in the indirect object function. They are not as widespread as leísmo, but should be avoided too.

Examples

Source text: My mother, I gave a gift to her.

✘ A mi madre la entregué un regalo.

✓ A mi madre le entregué un regalo.

Source text: The students, we already told them that there won’t be lessons tomorrow.

✘ A los estudiantes ya los dijimos que no habrá clases mañana.

✓ A los estudiantes ya les dijimos que no habrá clases mañana.

2.5. Verbs

Although European and US Spanish share verb forms, there is a very important distinction in the use of some tenses, especially those related to the past. While European Spanish bases its tense system largely on recent vs remote past (time), US Spanish does it according to a perfect vs imperfect distinction (aspect).

Because of this, it is important to choose the adequate tense, in order to create texts that sound fluent and natural, and also to improve accuracy.

Simple vs composite past

Simple past can be used in all contexts where the action has been completed, is punctual, and there is no need to insist on iterations.

Examples

Source text: Yesterday I bought a pair of tennis shoes.

✘ Ayer me he comprado unos tenis.

✓ Ayer me compré unos tenis.

Source text: Past Thursday I checked the received info.

✘ El jueves pasado he revisado la información recibida.

✓ El jueves pasado revisé la información recibida.

Composite past, on the other hand, means that an action could be still being done, or that it has been done by repetition or iteration. Thus, adverbs like ayer and adverbial locutions like el jueves pasado or hace un año are incompatible with this tense in US Spanish. Its use can also change the meaning of the sentences in certain contexts.

Examples

Source text: This year I didn’t drink alcohol.

✓ Este año no tomé alcohol. [means that this year is over and I didn’t drink alcohol]

✓ Este año no he tomado alcohol. [means that this year isn’t over and I haven’t drink alcohol yet]

Source text: I checked your request

✓ Revisé tu solicitud. [means that I already checked your request]

✓ He revisado tu solicitud. [means that I have continuously checked your request]

Please be extremely careful when choosing the right tense for a sentence in order to avoid meaning change or unnatural sequences.

‘Estar + gerund’

In English, it is possible to talk about future events using the ‘to be + gerund’ structure (e.g. ‘Tomorrow I am running’; ‘Next year we are doing our best’). Translation systems sometimes translate these structures as ‘estar + gerund’ sequences, and this must be corrected.

Examples

Source text: I’m running tomorrow.

✘ Mañana estoy corriendo.

✓ Mañana voy a correr.

Source text: Next year we are going to do our best.

✘ El próximo año estamos haciendo nuestro mejor esfuerzo.

✓ El próximo año haremos nuestro mejor esfuerzo.

Gerund

Some sentences with the gerund form may be ambiguous, as there is no indication of person in this verb form. Special care should be taken to avoid the structures below.

Simultaneous gerund

Example

Source text: I saw you swimming.

✘ Te vi nadando.

In this example, the Spanish sentence is ambiguous as it is unclear who was swimming (me or you). Alternatives should be used, but it is necessary to understand who is the subject of the gerund:

✓ Te vi mientras nadaba (yo).

✓ Te vi mientras nadabas (tú).

Resultative or posterior gerund

Example

Source text: The water flooded the city, affecting a lot of people.

✘ El agua inundó la ciudad afectando a muchas personas.

✓ El agua inundó la ciudad y afectó a muchas personas.

Gerunds should not be used to express events that come after the main event of the sentence. The first example could be interpreted as “the water flooded the city WHILE affecting a lot of people”, like if those affectations were the cause of the flood, not a result.

Gerund as an adjective

Example

Source text: Juana lost her bag, containing makeup and jewelry.

✘ Juana perdió su bolsa conteniendo maquillaje y joyas.

✓ Juana perdió su bolsa, que contenía maquillaje y joyas.

This is a calque from an English structure and should be avoided.

3. Orthography

3.1. Abbreviations

Abbreviations always need a period at the end of each abbreviated word. In abbreviations composed of more than one element, there should be space after the period (“EE. UU.” and not “EE.UU”, “11 a. m”. and not “11 a.m”)

11 AM

✘ 11 AM

✘ 11 am

✘ 11 a.m.

✓ 11 a. m.

Señor

✘ sr

✓ sr.

Capital Federal

✘ Cap Fed

✓ Cap. Fed.

The plural of abbreviations depends on their formation. Truncated abbreviations add an -s in the plural form.

Página → pág.

Páginas → págs.

Contracted abbreviations add an -s or -es, according to the plural formation rules.

Señor → sr.

Señores → sres.

Departamento → depto.

Departamentos → deptos.

Abbreviations consisting of a single letter for each word, use a plural form by duplication.

Estados Unidos → EE. UU.

Ferrocarriles Nacionales → FF. NN.

Abbreviations keep the accent if they contain a vowel that is accented in the full word.

Página → pág.

Compañía → cía.

3.2. Capitalization

We always use a capital letter after a period, a closing interrogation or exclamation mark, and at the beginning of a text or a paragraph. In addition to capitalizing around punctuation, we should capitalized:

Proper names, including people’s names, brand names and animal names.
- José, Antonio, Juana, María
- Rocinante, Babieca
- Nimbus 2000
Divinity names
- Dios, Jehová, Alá
Family names
- Jiménez, Suárez, Johnson
- De los Santos, De las Mercedes. When the family name is used with a person name, only the nouns are capitalized (and not the prepositions or articles): María de las Mercedes.
Toponyms and geographic names
- América, África, Buenos Aires, Lima, Cartagena de Indias, Torreón, Managua.
- Ciudad de México, Río de la Plata. When the entity is named with the conjunction of a generic and a proper name, it should be capitalized only if this is a part of the official name. Hence, Ciudad de México should be capitalized, but we should keep ciudad de Bogotá.

In general, we should capitalize names of individualized, determined and specific entity names:

planets (Júpiter, Sol);
zodiac signs (Acuario, Géminis), streets (Quinta Avenida, Oxford Street), geographic areas (Hispanoamérica, Medio Oriente), events (las Olimpiadas, Navidad, Año Nuevo), etc.

However, we should avoid capital letters in the following cases:

Nationalities

Example

Source text: Mexicans are very kind.

✘ Los Mexicanos son muy amables.

✓ Los mexicanos son muy amables.

Work titles (only the first word is written with capital letter)

Example

Source text: Gabriel García Márquez wrote Cien Años de Soledad.

✘ Gabriel García Márquez escribió Cien Años de Soledad.

✓ Gabriel García Márquez escribió Cien años de soledad.

Chapter or section titles

Example

Source text: Check this document in the “FAQ” section.

✘ Revise este documento en la sección “Preguntas Frecuentes de Nuestros Usuarios”.

✓ Revise este documento en la sección “Preguntas frecuentes de nuestros usuarios”.

3.3. Compounds

Compound words follow different rules according to the nature of their parts.

Prefix + root

Prefixes are attached without any separation to the word.

Example

Source text: The former Treasury minister made a public statement.

✘ El ex secretario de Hacienda emitió un comunicado.

✓ El exsecretario de Hacienda emitió un comunicado.

However, this rule changes for words beginning with a capital letter, such as proper names and acronyms. In these cases, a hyphen is needed. This rule applies also for compounds where the main word is foreign.

Examples

Source text: This is the panorama of the post-Obama era.

✘ Este es el panorama de la época posObama.

✓ Este es el panorama de la época pos-Obama.

Source text: The anti-NAFTA policies have affected bilateral commerce.

✘ Las políticas antiTLC han perjudicado al comercio bilateral.

✓ Las políticas anti-TLC han perjudicado al comercio bilateral.

Also, if an entity has a multiword name, the prefix should be separated by a whitespace.

Example

Source text: The pre-2WW communication means were different.

✘ Las formas de comunicación pre-Segunda Guerra Mundial eran distintas.

✓ Las formas de comunicación pre Segunda Guerra Mundial eran distintas.

Root + root

When a word is formed by two full words, they are usually separated by a hyphen.

Examples

Source text: The essay has a historic-critical focus.

✘ El ensayo tiene un enfoque historicocrítico.

✓ El ensayo tiene un enfoque histórico-crítico.

Source text: The México-Toluca train was inaugurated.

✘ Se inauguró el tren México Toluca.

✓ Se inauguró el tren México-Toluca.

Plural of compounds

When a compound needs to be used in plural, we should inflect the word that indicates the noun class, typically the first one.

Examples

Source text: The train has sleeping cars.

✘ El tren cuenta con coche-camas.

✓ El tren cuenta con coches-cama.

Source text: The legislation prohibited the establishment of boutique hotels.

✘ La legislación prohibió el establecimiento de hoteles-boutiques.

✓ La legislación prohibió el establecimiento de hoteles-boutique.

In the first example, we talk about a type of car (coche), hence, this is the word that receives the plural form. In the second, we talk about a type of hotel, and the same rule applies.

3.4. Diacritics

There are only two diacritic signs in Spanish: accent (´) and dieresis (¨).

Dieresis

It is only used in the vowel u after g, if the u is to be pronounced.

Example

Source text: Penguins are an endemic species of the Southern Hemisphere.

✘ Los pinguinos son una especie endémica del Hemisferio sur.

✓ Los pingüinos son una especie endémica del Hemisferio sur.

Accent - General rules

Accent in Spanish follows the following rules for most words, with some exceptions that are listed below. Accent is ALWAYS over vowels. In diphthongs, it is written above the strong vowels (a, e, o): llegarán, mártir, brújula, cáustico.

Words having the tonic syllable in the last position (acute words) are to be accented ONLY when their last consonant is n or s, or when they end by vowel.
- ven.drás
- mar.cha.rán
- en.cen.dí
Words having the tonic syllable in the penultimate position (grave words) are to be accented ONLY if they do NOT end by n, s or any vowel.
- már.tir
- al.cá.zar
- ár.bol
Word having the tonic syllable in the antepenultimate position or further back (esdrújulas words) are to be accented ALWAYS.
- brú.ju.la
- his.pá.ni.co
- rá.pi.do

Hiatus

When two strong (a, e, o) or two weak vowels cooccur, a hiatus is formed and it is separated as two distinct syllables:

✘ ba.ra.jear

✓ ba.ra.je.ar

✘ ae.reo

✓ a.é.re.o

When a strong and a weak vowel cooccur, but the stress is on the weak one, we have a hiatus, and these later form of hiatus should ALWAYS be accented, despite the letters at its ending or the stress position.

✘ po.dria

✓ po.drí.a

✘ maiz

✓ ma.íz

✘ baul

✓ ba.úl

Diacritic accent

A special group of homophone words can be accented in order to distinguish one from the other. These accents, as the ones for hiatus, do not follow the general rules and are to be learnt separately. Some examples are:

1) Monosyllables.

el (article)

él (pronoun)

se (reflexive pronoun)

sé (‘I know’)

mas (‘but’)

más (‘plus’)

2) Interrogative words, in direct and indirect interrogations (Cuánto, cuál, qué, dónde, adónde, quién, cuándo, cómo).

Examples

Source text: When did you arrive to Rome?

✘ ¿Cuando llegaste a Roma?

✓ ¿Cuándo llegaste a Roma?

Source text: I would like to know how much that bus ticket was.

✘ Quisiera saber cuanto costó ese boleto de autobús.

✓ Quisiera saber cuánto costó ese boleto de autobús.

They should not be confused with their conjunction counterpart.

Examples

Source text: When your brother was born, all we were very happy.

✘ Cuándo nació tu hermano, todos nos alegramos mucho.

✓ Cuando nació tu hermano, todos nos alegramos mucho.

Source text: What happened when you opened the box?

✘ ¿Qué pasó cuándo abriste la caja?

✓ ¿Qué pasó cuando abriste la caja?

3) Other words

It is correct to write the adverb solo (only) with or without accent (solo/sólo), however, it is necessary to be consistent all along the length of the text.

Regarding adverbs in -mente, from a phonetic point of view, these , adverbs possess two stressed syllables (e.g. rá.pi.da.men.te, ve.loz.men.te). In this kind of adverbs, accent will be written in the first word if it complies with the conditions given by the general rules.

3.5. Foreign words

Foreign words in Spanish vary depending on their degree of adaptation and their historic origin. These variables influence the way they are written or adapted in the language. However, some useful guidelines can be given:

1) If there is a word in Spanish for the foreign term but we are using the foreign word, use italic letters to write it.

Examples

Source text: You should send your abstract no later than May 15.

✘ Deben enviar su abstract a más tardar el 15 de mayo.

✓ Deben enviar su abstract a más tardar el 15 de mayo.

Source text: Consulting services are usually pricey in this country.

✘ Los servicios de consulting suelen ser costosos en este país.

✓ Los servicios de consulting suelen ser costosos en este país.

We assume that ‘abstract’ and ‘consulting’ have correspondent terms in Spanish (resumen, consultoría), hence, they should be marked as foreign by use of italics.

2) If the foreign term has become widespread and it is now the regular way to say something (by neology or displacement), it can be left in their original orthography or it may be adapted. This depends a lot on the history of the loanword, and we should keep the most widespread form according to the client’s target demographic.

Examples

Source text: They sell donuts in this new shop.

✘ En esa tienda nueva venden donuts.

✓ En esa tienda nueva venden donas.

Source text: Yesterday I had only a sandwich for breakfast.

✘ Ayer solo desayuné un sandwich.

✓ Ayer sólo desayuné un sándwich.

Source text: She won a tupperware in the raffle.

✘ Se ganó un tóper en la rifa.

✓ Se ganó un tupper en la rifa.

In general, use your knowledge of writing conventions in written media. You can perform some research in order to make the best choice. Remember also that DLE - Diccionario de la Lengua Española isn’t up to date with the uses of US Spanish, so please refer to this source in the last place.

3.6. Language variety

The differences between European and US Spanish are not negligible. Even if a European text could be understood by US Spanish speakers and viceversa, it doesn’t sound natural and this outcome should be specially avoided.

Besides the differences shown in each section of this document, we should be especially careful not to use European words or phrases, like coger (‘to seize’, as this one can be obscene in the US), ordenador (US Spanish speakers use computadora as the standard), and so on. Also, the gender of a word could change, like in el Nintendo (US) or la Nintendo (Spain).

3.7. Numerals

Regarding the format of numerals (written in digits or words), you must always respect the source text: if they are written as digits in the source text, this should be maintained in the translation; on the other hand, if they are written as words, they should be translated to the target language.

Number separators

US Spanish prefers the comma to separate groups of thousands and the dot to separate decimals from units.

Examples

Source text: They gave her 2,500 dollars.

✘ Le entregaron 2.500 dólares.

✓ Le entregaron 2,500 dólares.

Source text: The candidate got a 46.9% of the votes.

✘ El candidato obtuvo el 46,9% de los votos.

✓ El candidato obtuvo el 46.9% de los votos.

Billion vs billón

In Spanish, a billón is a million of millions (1,000,000,000,000), while in English, a billion is one thousand millions (1,000,000,000). Please be extremely careful not to confuse these terms, since it could lead to critical misinterpretations.

3.8. Symbols

It is very important not to confuse abbreviations with symbols. Abbreviations are shortened forms of words, while symbols are abstract representations of entities or units.

Unlike abbreviations, symbols should not be followed by a period.

Example

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

✘ El meteorito tiene una masa de 25 kg. en total.

✓ El meteorito tiene una masa de 25 kg en total.

Also, they do not need plural forms.

Example

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

✘ De la playa a la casa debemos recorrer 25 kms.

✓ De la playa a la casa debemos recorrer 25 km.

Finally, they do not keep accents.

Example

Source text: The estate has an extension of 45 hectares.

✘ La hacienda tiene una extensión de 45 há.

✓ La hacienda tiene una extensión de 45 ha.

Source text: 54% of the electors didn’t show up to vote.

✘ Un 54% de los electores no se presentó a votar.

✓ Un 54 % de los electores no se presentó a votar.

They should be separated from the number they accompany, EXCEPT for symbols that represent degrees, which are written without separation.

Examples

Source text: The sum of the inner angles of a triangle is always 180º.

✘ La suma de los ángulos interiores de un triángulo siempre es de 180 º.

✓ La suma de los ángulos interiores de un triángulo siempre es de 180º.

Temperature degrees follow another convention. The degrees symbol is attached to the temperature unit symbol, and separated from the number by a whitespace.

Example

Source text: The average temperature in Cuernavaca is 26º C.

✕ La temperatura promedio en Cuernavaca es de 26º C.

✓ La temperatura promedio en Cuernavaca es de 26 ºC.

4. Punctuation

4.1. How to use punctuation marks

Comma

Commas have mainly three uses in Spanish:

1) Item separation in enumerations: José, Pedro, María, Laura, Antonio y Juan.

2) Verb suppression in anaphora: José compró manzanas, María, peras.

3) Separation of the vocative and parenthetical elements from the rest of the sentence: Laura, manda un correo electrónico.

We do NOT use commas to:

1) Make breathing pauses after long sentences.

Example

Source text: Mr. Martínez was detained because of arm trafficking and repeated violation of the USA immigration laws.

✘ El señor Martínez fue detenido por llevar a cabo tráfico de armas, y por violar repetidamente las leyes vigentes de inmigración de Estados Unidos.

✓ El señor Martínez fue detenido por llevar a cabo tráfico de armas y por violar repetidamente las leyes vigentes de inmigración de Estados Unidos.

2) Separate the subject and the verb of a sentence.

Example

Source text: Your sisters congratulated me at arrival.

✘ Tus hermanas, me felicitaron al llegar.

✓ Tus hermanas me felicitaron al llegar.

3) Separate the last element of an enumeration.

Example

Source text: José, Raúl, Pedro, Genaro, María, Antonieta, and Ernesto attended the party.

✘ A la fiesta asistieron José, Raúl, Pedro, Genaro, María, Antonieta, y Ernesto.

✓ A la fiesta asistieron José, Raúl, Pedro, Genaro, María, Antonieta y Ernesto.

Colon (dos puntos)

We use colons to introduce a sentence which explains a term or gives a definition of a word or a concept.

Examples

Source text: The students arrived to the party: Marco, Rafael, and Daniela.

✘ A la fiesta llegaron los estudiantes Marco, Rafael y Daniela.

✓ A la fiesta llegaron los estudiantes: Marco, Rafael y Daniela.

Source text: At that moment they understood what the life was: a disarranged group of experiences.

✘ En ese momento entendieron qué era la vida, un conjunto desordenado de experiencias.

✓ En ese momento entendieron qué era la vida: un conjunto desordenado de experiencias.

Semicolon (punto y coma)

Semicolon has very restricted uses in Spanish and it can be avoided in most cases. Its main use is to separate units not as big as a paragraph but containing long sentences, typically with commas inside.

Example

Durante el 2017 se entregaron apoyos a los participantes por un monto de 400,000 pesos. Además, se llevaron a cabo las siguientes acciones de mantenimiento: se remozó la fachada de los edificios, que ya estaba deteriorada por las lluvias; se diseñó un sistema de recolección de agua de lluvia, avalado por las autoridades correspondientes; se entregaron más de 300 cajas de material eléctrico a los beneficiarios, previa solicitud.

Period (punto)

Use periods:

1) At the end of a sentence.

2) At the end of a paragraph.

3) At the end of a text.

Do not use periods:

1) After exclamation and question marks.

Example

Source text: Do you want to eat?

✘ ¿Quieres comer?.

✓ ¿Quieres comer?

2) At the end of titles.

Example

Source text: One Hundred Years of Solitude

✘ 100 años de soledad.

✓ 100 años de soledad

3) In the middle of a sentence.

Example

Source text: José is a good boy.

✘ José. Es un buen muchacho.

✓ José es un buen muchacho.

The period comes always after quotation marks and parentheses.

Example

Source text: He lit the candles (there was no electricity).

✘ Encendió las velas (no había electricidad.)

✓ Encendió las velas (no había electricidad).

Source text: We always need to remember that “life is a dream”.

✘ Siempre debemos recordar que “la vida es un sueño.”

✓ Siempre debemos recordar que “la vida es un sueño”.

Question and exclamation marks

In Spanish, question and exclamation marks should always occur in the beginning and in the end of sentences. Regarding the first ones, they should only be used in direct questions, never in indirect ones.

Examples

Source text: Did you buy the bread I requested from you?

✘ Compraste el pan que te pedí?

✓ ¿Compraste el pan que te pedí?

Source text: I’d like to know why you didn’t do your homework.

✘ Me gustaría saber por qué no hiciste la tarea?

✓ Me gustaría saber por qué no hiciste la tarea.

Source text: Let’s live as if it were always a holiday!

✘ Vivamos como si fuera siempre día de fiesta!

✓ ¡Vivamos como si fuera siempre día de fiesta!

Quotation marks

When only a set of quotation marks is needed, we should use simple English quotation marks (“ ”). If a text has two or three levels of quotations, then we should use first French quotation marks (« »), then English (“ ”) and, finally, the simple (‘ ’).

Example

«La declaración del ministro fue muy desafortunada, mencionó que “en pocas ocasiones se había recurrido a medidas tan ‘desesperadas’ para rescatar al gobierno”».

Texts inside of a quotation keep their original punctuation, and no symbol should be extracted from the interior of a quote, except for the period as mentioned before.

Parentheses

Parentheses usually introduce additional information, and are separated from the main text by a whitespace. They can also indicate options or reconstruct a full word from an abbreviated form, and in this case, they are not separated by a whitespace.

Examples

Source text: The Government of Mexico City will be chaired by a woman.

✘ El gobierno de la CDMX(Ciudad de México) será presidido por una mujer.

✓ El gobierno de la CDMX (Ciudad de México) será presidido por una mujer.

Source text: We’re looking for waiters urgently.

✘ Se solicita mesero (a) urgentemente.

✓ Se solicita mesero(a) urgentemente.

Source text: In the cathedral there was a stone reading Ma(ría) Sant(ísima).

✘ En la catedral había una lápida que decía Ma (ría) Sant (ísima).

✓ En la catedral había una lápida que decía Ma(ría) Sant(ísima).

4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings

In greetings, there should always be a comma between the greeting words and the vocative, and usually a colon after the vocative.

Examples

Source text: Good afternoon Juan

✘ Buenas tardes Juan.

✘ Buenas tardes, Juan,

✓ Buenas tardes, Juan. [non-preferred]

✓ Buenas tardes, Juan:

Source text: Hi Mariana

✘ Hola Mariana.

✓ Hola, Mariana. [non-preferred]

✓ Hola, Mariana:

Source text: Hello,

✘ Hola,

✓ Hola. [non-preferred]

✓ Hola:

In informal register, there can be exclamation marks as well.

Example

Source text: Hi Mariana!

✓ ¡Hola, Mariana!

If the name of the sender is going to be after the closing, use a comma.

Example

Source text: Sincerely, the organizing committee.

✘ Atentamente.

El Comité Organizador.

✓ Atentamente,

el Comité Organizador.

5. Register

5.1. 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.

We make a first main distinction between grammatical and lexical register: the first one regards the 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 formal and informal, as shown below.

5.2. Formal Register

Formal register for US Spanish should be done by the use of usted forms. Usted is the preferred form to address unknown, older and degree-superior people in formal contexts, as well as people without intimate or frequent interaction, to establish pragmatic distance.

Category	Examples	Type of Register
Personal pronouns	Usted, lo, la, le (singular) Ustedes, los, las, les (plural)	Grammatical
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb)	Third person singular Second person plural	Grammatical
Possessive pronouns	Su, sus, de usted (singular) Su, sus, de ustedes (plural)	Grammatical
Abbreviations	Ud. (singular) Uds. (plural)	Grammatical
Greetings	Buen día (preferred) Buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches (to be used only when the source makes the time of day explicit) Estimado José Estimada María	Lexical
Closings	Un saludo, un cordial saludo, reciba un saludo Saludos cordiales	Lexical

5.3. Informal Register

Tú is the preferred form in informal contexts, with younger people and with those who are under our command or those with whom we want to establish a more intimate relationship.

Category	Examples	Type of Register
Personal pronouns	Tú, te, ti (singular) Ustedes, los, las, les (plural)	Grammatical
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb)	Second person singular Second person plural	Grammatical
Possessive pronouns	Tu, tus (singular) Su, sus, de ustedes (plural)	Grammatical
Greetings	Hola Buen día, Antonio	Lexical
Closings	Saludos, Hasta luego, Hasta pronto,	Lexical

6. Localization challenges

6.1. Proper nouns

Proper nouns refer to unique entities, such as persons, places, organizations, brands, events, etc. As foreign proper nouns are concerned, languages may adopt different rules regarding whether they should be translated or kept in the original language. When editing a text, you should follow your language’s rules for all different types of proper nouns listed below. However, please note that if there is a glossary provided by the client that includes these types of units, you should always apply the glossary items.

6.1.1. Persons

Anthroponyms should be kept untranslated, except for the names of royal families and popes.

Examples

Source text: I don’t like William Shakespeare’s works.

✘ No me gustan las tragedias de Guillermo Shakespeare.

✓ No me gustan las tragedias de William Shakespeare.

Source text: He used to brag about having the complete works of Karl Marx.

✘ Se jactaba de haber leído las obras completas de Carlos Marx.

✓ Se jactaba de haber leído las obras completas de Karl Marx.

Source text: Louis XIV was a very quirky ruler.

✘ Louis XIV fue un gobernante muy peculiar.

✓ Luis XIV fue un gobernante muy peculiar.

Source text: There are encountered opinions about the pontificate of Benedict XIV.

✘ Hay opiniones encontradas sobre el pontificado de Benedictus XIV.

✓ Hay opiniones encontradas sobre el pontificado de Benedicto XIV.

However, there are many names that have been used in their translated form since long ago and we can leave them translated if there is enough evidence of their use against the untranslated form. Hence, both forms are correct.

Examples

Source text: I was very amused with that novel by Jules Verne

✓ Me divertí mucho con esa novela de Jules Verne.

✓ Me divertí mucho con esa novela de Julio Verne.

Source text: Thomas Moore was an author ahead of his time.

✓ Tomás Moro fue un autor adelantado a su tiempo.

✓ Thomas Moore fue un autor adelantado a su tiempo.

6.1.2. Places

When there is a current Spanish name for a place, country or monument, we should use it, except for any names that are not used anymore.

Examples

Source text: Milan is distinguished for being one of the capitals of fashion.

✘ Milano se distingue por ser una de las capitales de la moda.

✓ Milán se distingue por ser una de las capitales de la moda.

Source text: There was a reduction of flights between Philadelphia and New York.

✘ Hubo una reducción de vuelos entre Philadelphia y New York.

✓ Hubo una reducción de vuelos entre Filadelfia y Nueva York.

Source: The capital of Turkey is not Istanbul, but Ankara.

✘ La capital de Turquía no es Estambul, sino Angora.

✓ La capital de Turquía no es Estambul, sino Ankara.

If there is no Spanish form, we should use the local form or a widespread form from another language.

Examples

Source text: The capital of the USA is Washington D.C.

✓ La capital de EE. UU. es Washington D. C.

Source text: Copenhagen is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

✓ Copenhague es una de las ciudades más bellas de Europa.

Source text: Saint Anselm wrote his works in a monastery in Canterbury.

✓ San Anselmo escribió su obra en un monasterio en Canterbury.

For toponyms from languages that do not use the Latin alphabet, the transliterated forms should be adapted to Spanish pronunciation and accent norms.

Example

Source text: Shanghai is a very important city in Asia.

✘ Shangai es una ciudad muy importante de Asia.

✓ Shangái es una ciudad muy importante de Asia.

Regarding Chinese toponyms transliterated using the pinyin standard, we should keep the Spanish traditional form.

Example

Source text: The Beijing Olympics were a magnificent example of technological display.

✘ Los juegos olímpicos de Beijing fueron un ejemplo magnífico de despliegue tecnológico.

✓ Los juegos olímpicos de Pekín fueron un ejemplo magnífico de despliegue tecnológico.

6.1.3. Organizations

Organization names are usually translated, at least for the top tier levels.

Example

Source text: Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles belongs to São Paulo University.

✘ La Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles pertenece a la Universidade de São Paulo.

✓ La Ciudad universitaria Armando de Salles pertenece a la Universidad de Sao Paulo.

Please look for current use in media and in official websites of these organizations if there are any official translations for these names.

6.1.4. Brands and products

Brands are never translated in US Spanish, and their names are kept without italics or any other special mark.

Examples

Source text: Sony made public his financial report days ago.

✓ Sony presentó su informe financiero hace unos días.

Source text: Mariana’s son is always attached to the Nintendo console.

✓ El hijo de Mariana no se despega del Nintendo.

Source text: You don’t need to buy more Kleenex.

✓ No es necesario que compres más Kleenex.

6.1.5. Other entities

If there is a widespread Spanish name for entities such as artworks, boat names, festival names, etc. we should use it instead of the original name. If there is no Spanish name or it is uncommon, we should keep the original.

Examples

Source text: The Starry Night is one of Van Gogh’s most famous artworks.

✘ De Sterrennacht es una de las obras más famosas de Vincent van Gogh.

✓ La noche estrellada es una de las obras más famosas de Vincent van Gogh.

Source text: A few days ago, they presented Titus Andronicus in the city theater.

✘ Hace unos días presentaron Titus Andronicus en el teatro de la ciudad.

✓ Hace unos días presentaron Tito Andrónico en el teatro de la ciudad.

Source text: The Four Seasons is my favorite piece by Vivaldi.

✘ Le quatto stagioni es mi obra favorita de Vivaldi.

✓ Las cuatro estaciones es mi obra favorita de Vivaldi.

Source text: The most known opera from Verdi is La Traviata.

✘ La ópera más conocida de Verdi es La extraviada.

✓ La ópera más conocida de Verdi es La Traviata.

Source text: The entries for the Electric Daisy Carnival festival are sold out.

✘ Ya se agotaron las entradas para el festival Carnaval de la Margarita Eléctrica.

✓ Ya se agotaron las entradas para el festival Electric Daisy Carnival.

6.2. Acronyms and initials

Acronyms should be written in capitals, but there are many that were absorbed by the language a long time ago and are used as common words.

Examples

Source text: A new president for UNO was elected.

✘ Fue elegido un nuevo presidente de la onu.

✓ Fue elegido un nuevo presidente de la ONU.

Source text: There used to be UFO sights in that mountain.

✘ En esa montaña suele haber apariciones de OVNIS.

✓ En esa montaña suele haber apariciones de ovnis.

If there is a Spanish correspondent for an acronym, we should use it.

Example

Source text: The NAFTA negotiations do not look very well.

✘ Las negociaciones del NAFTA no pintan muy bien.

✓ Las negociaciones del TLCAN no pintan muy bien.

6.3. Date format

Be extremely careful when translating dates from English to Spanish. English uses, in general, the format mm/dd/yy, while Spanish uses dd/mm/yy.

Example

Source text: Due date for this receipt is 12/03/18

✘ Este recibo se vence el 12/03/18.

✓ Este recibo se vence el 03/12/18.

6.4. Time format

Hour references can be written in either 12 or 24 hour format. eep the format used in the source.

Example

Source text: We wait for you from 14:00.

✘ Lo esperamos a partir de las 2:00 PM.

✓ Lo esperamos a partir de las 14:00.

If you're using the 12 hours format, please use a. m. and p. m., avoid AM and PM.

Example

Source text: The package left the office at 10:45 PM.

✘ El paquete salió de la bodega a las 10:45 PM.

✓ El paquete salió de la bodega a las 10:45 p. m.

6.5. Measures

Measures should always keep the format of the source text and should not be converted, unless it is specifically requested otherwise in the customer instructions.

You should only translate them when they have an equivalent term in your language. Measures should use symbols, not abbreviations, as stated in the corresponding section for Symbols (Section 3.8). If a measure is given in symbols, please do not write the full name of the unit, unless it has no translation in Spanish.

Examples

Source text: Cars should not be taller than 10 feet.

✘ La altura de los automóviles no debe rebasar los 304.8 centímetros.

✓ La altura de los automóviles no debe rebasar los 10 pies.

Source text: Apartment for rent, 968 ft2.

✘ Departamento en renta, 968 pies cuadrados.

✓ Departamento en renta, 968 ft2.

Source text: The total amount should not be less than 6 st.

✘ El total no debe ser menor de 6 st.

✓ El total no debe ser menor de 6 stones.

6.6. Currency

Currency values should not be converted (e.g., do not convert dollars to euros), but the currency name should be translated (dollars to dólares) and the currency format should respect the conventions of hispanic countries in Latin America.

Note: If the client specified their own conventions, these will prevail.

The ISO 4217 code (USD, EUR…) or symbol ($, €…) should precede the numeric value (e.g., $32, EUR 32).

Examples

Source text: Initial refund: Udemy credits for 10.99 €.

✘ Reembolso inicial: créditos de Udemy por 10.99 €.

✓ Reembolso inicial: créditos de Udemy por €10.99.

Source text: The amount to pay would be 45 EUR.

✘ La cantidad a pagar sería 45 EUR.

✓ La cantidad a pagar sería EUR 45.

A whitespace is required between the ISO 4217 code and the numeric value (e.g. USD 120), but not between the symbol and the numeric value (e.g. $120).

Examples

Source text: The remaining fund of EUR0.03 has been donated.

✘ El fondo restante de EUR0.03 ha sido donado.

✓ El fondo restante de EUR 0.03 ha sido donado.

Source text: Personal Subscription price: $ 62.00.

✘ Precio de suscripción personal: $ 62.00.

✓ Precio de suscripción personal: $62.00.

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

Examples

Source text: We have added MX$129 to your bank account.

✘ Hemos añadido MX$129 a tu cuenta bancaria.

✓ Hemos añadido MXN 129 a tu cuenta bancaria.

Source text: You are currently on the $19.99USD monthly subscription.

✘ Actualmente estás en la suscripción mensual de $19.99USD.

✓ Actualmente estás en la suscripción mensual de $19.99.

✓ Actualmente estás en la suscripción mensual de USD 19.99.

Source text: We have granted GTA$4,679,850 to your account.

✘ Hemos concedido GTA$4,679,850 a tu cuenta.

✓ Hemos concedido 4,679,850 dólares GTA a tu cuenta.

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 (yenes, euros...).

Examples

Source text: We can provide you with a 10 Eur discount.

✘ Podemos proporcionarle un descuento de Eur 10.

✘ Podemos proporcionarle un descuento de eur 10.

✓ Podemos proporcionarle un descuento de EUR 10.

Source text: I already paid 100 Euros.
✘ Ya pagué 100 Euros.

✓ Ya pagué 100 euros.

For decimal separators it is required the use of the period (e.g., $12.50). Using commas or whitespaces as separators is incorrect in this case.

Example

Source text: There are options to upgrade for 5,99 € per month or 29,99 € per year.

✘ Hay opciones para actualizar por €5,99 por mes o €29,99 por año.

✓ Hay opciones para actualizar por €5.99 por mes o €29.99 por año.

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 cantidad total es EUR .89.
✓ La cantidad total es EUR 0.89.

Use the comma to separate digits in groups of three for numbers over three digits (e.g., $1,699). Using periods or whitespaces as separators is incorrect in this case.

Example

Source text: You currently have a monetary balance of CLP 3000.

✘ Actualmente tienes un saldo monetario de CLP 3000.

✘ Actualmente tienes un saldo monetario de CLP 3.000.

✘ Actualmente tienes un saldo monetario de CLP 3 000.

✓ Actualmente tienes un saldo monetario de CLP 3,000.

When values are expressed with nouns like millón or millones, use the preposition de with the currency name, but not with the ISO 4217 code (e.g., 15 millones de euros and EUR 15 millones are both correct). Mixing millón or millones with symbols, like in €15 millones or 15 millones de €, is incorrect.

Example

Source text: We invested almost EUR 10 million last year.
✘ Invertimos casi 10 millones de EUR el año pasado.

✘ Invertimos casi €10 millones el año pasado.

✘ Invertimos casi 10 millones euros el año pasado.

✓ Invertimos casi EUR 10 millones el año pasado.

✓ Invertimos casi 10 millones de euros el año pasado.

You can only mix digits and words in numerals when the words are millar/millares, millón/millones, billón/billones (e.g., 1 millón de dólares, USD 100,000 millones, EUR 12 billones). Other combinations of digits and words in numerals are incorrect (e.g., EUR 120 mil or 120 mil euros is incorrect).

Example

Source text: How To Build a $120K per Month Ecommerce Brand.

✘ Cómo construir una marca de ecommerce de $120K al mes.

✘ Cómo construir una marca de ecommerce de 120K $ al mes.

✘ Cómo construir una marca de ecommerce de $120 mil al mes.

✘ Cómo construir una marca de ecommerce de 120 mil dólares al mes.

✓ Cómo construir una marca de ecommerce de $120,000 al mes.

✓ Cómo construir una marca de ecommerce de USD 120,000 al mes.

✓ Cómo construir una marca de ecommerce de 120,000 dólares al mes.

7. Most frequent errors

Overly literal translations

When translating from English to Spanish, it is very common to imitate the word order of the original sentence in literal transliteration, which creates unnatural and inaccurate translations.

Examples

Source text: At that moment I realized that the problem had no solution.

✘ En ese momento realicé que ese problema no tenía solución.

✓ En ese momento me di cuenta de que ese problema no tenía solución.

Source text: At the end of the day, I don’t know if I want to keep living here.

✘ Al final del día, no sé si quiera seguir viviendo aquí.

✓ Finalmente, no sé si quiera seguir viviendo aquí.

Please double check the translation of phrases involving some degree of idiomaticity, in order to avoid such issues.

Lexical selection

Words have different meanings according to their context. If a word is used in English in two different contexts, maybe there are two separate words in Spanish for it.

Example

Source text: Please check your email inbox. Check also that your earphones are plugged in.

✘ Por favor, comprueba tu bandeja de entrada. También comprueba que tus audífonos estén conectados.

✓ Por favor, revisa tu bandeja de entrada. También comprueba que tus audífonos estén conectados.

Sentences should be not only grammatical but also sound natural.

Gender agreement

When you can precise the gender of the addressee (because of his/her name, mainly), please ensure that all related words in the text agree with that gender, since gender reference is easily lost in machine translation.

Example

Source text: Dear Laura, I know you could be angry, so I am here to keep you updated.

✕ Estimada Laura, sé que puedes estar enojado, por eso estoy aquí para mantenerte informado.

✓ Estimada Laura, sé que puedes estar enojada, por eso estoy aquí para mantenerte informada.