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English Style Guide English Style Guide English Style Guide A handbook for authors and translators in the European Commission Eighth edition: January 2016 Last updated: July 2021 Latest PDF version: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/styleguide_english_dgt_en.pdf Companion Volume – Country Compendium: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/styleguide_english_dgt_country_compendium_en.pdf What’s new: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/whats_new_style_guide_en.pdf 29 July 2021 i Translation English Style Guide © European Union, 2016, 2021. The reproduction and reuse of this document is authorised, provided the sources and authors are acknowledged and the original meaning or message of the texts are not distorted. The right holders and authors shall not be liable for any consequences stemming from the reuse. ii 29 July 2021 English Style Guide CONTENTS English Style Guide ............................................................... i Introduction ...............................................................................4 Part I Writing English ....................................................................7 1. General .............................................................................................................. 8 2. Punctuation ....................................................................................................... 8 Full stop ............................................................................................................. 8 Colon ................................................................................................................. 9 Semicolon .......................................................................................................... 9 Comma ............................................................................................................ 10 Dashes ............................................................................................................. 13 Brackets ........................................................................................................... 13 Question mark ................................................................................................. 14 Exclamation mark ........................................................................................... 14 Quotation marks .............................................................................................. 15 Forward slash .................................................................................................. 16 Apostrophe ...................................................................................................... 17 3. Spelling ............................................................................................................ 18 Conventions..................................................................................................... 18 Interference effects .......................................................................................... 21 Compound words and hyphens ....................................................................... 22 4. Capitalisation .................................................................................................. 24 5. Names and titles .............................................................................................. 30 Personal names and titles ................................................................................ 30 Names of bodies .............................................................................................. 31 Names of ships, aircraft and other vehicles .................................................... 33 Geographical names ........................................................................................ 33 6. Numbers .......................................................................................................... 36 Writing out numbers ....................................................................................... 36 Serial numbers ................................................................................................. 38 Fractions and percentages ............................................................................... 39 Ranges ............................................................................................................. 40 Dates and times ............................................................................................... 40 7. Abbreviations, symbols and units of measurement ......................................... 43 Abbreviations .................................................................................................. 43 Mathematical symbols .................................................................................... 46 Scientific symbols and units of measurement ................................................. 47 29 July 2021 i English Style Guide 8. Currencies ....................................................................................................... 48 9. Foreign imports ............................................................................................... 49 Foreign words and phrases in English text ..................................................... 49 Romanisation systems ..................................................................................... 50 10. Parts of speech ................................................................................................ 51 Adjectives and adverbs ................................................................................... 51 Nouns: singular or plural ................................................................................. 53 Verbs: present perfect/simple past .................................................................. 55 Verbs: tenses in minutes ................................................................................. 55 Verbs: usage in legislation, contracts and the like .......................................... 56 Verbs: split infinitive ...................................................................................... 58 Verbs: the -ing form and the possessive ......................................................... 59 Conjunctions ................................................................................................... 59 11. Lists ................................................................................................................. 60 12. Legal language ................................................................................................ 61 13. Footnotes, citations and references ................................................................ 62 14. Correspondence .............................................................................................. 64 15. Inclusive language .......................................................................................... 66 16. Science guide ................................................................................................... 69 Part II About the European Union .................................................. 73 17. The European Union ....................................................................................... 74 18. Primary legislation ......................................................................................... 75 The treaties – an overview .............................................................................. 75 The treaties in detail ........................................................................................ 76 Treaty citations ................................................................................................ 79 19. Secondary legislation ...................................................................................... 80 Legislative procedures .................................................................................... 80 Titles and numbering ...................................................................................... 81 Structure of acts .............................................................................................. 85 Referring to subdivisions of acts ..................................................................... 87 20. The EU institutions .......................................................................................... 87 Commission .................................................................................................... 87 Council ............................................................................................................ 89 European Council ............................................................................................ 90 European Parliament ....................................................................................... 90 Court of Justice of the European Union .......................................................... 91 European Court of Auditors ............................................................................ 94 European Economic and Social Committee .................................................... 94 Committee of the Regions ............................................................................... 94 ii 29 July 2021 English Style Guide European Central Bank ................................................................................... 95 Other financial institutions .............................................................................. 95 Interinstitutional bodies ..................................................................................
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