Latest revision as of 12:15, 20 December 2023

© englishtalk 2023

The englishtalk approach to style, writing conventions, etc.

Everyone is free to refer to this style guide, customers and non-customers, but please do ask englishtalk before copying, reproducing or quoting this website.

And why did we set this style guide up? Because few things are drummed into you in UK or US schools in the way they are in other countries, and few things in the English language are black and white. Or is that Black & White, or B&W, or black-and-white... ?

englishtalk conventions

Formal rules (grammar, punctuation, proofreading points, editing conventions)

Age
- Hyphens throughout: a 31-year-old woman (who is younger than her brother, who is 32 years old)
All
- All and All of are acceptable with nouns and the, my, this etc. "All (of) my friends like riding". US English tends more towards all of
Capitals
- master's thesis but Master of Business (fixed title)
- CD-ROM rather than CD-Rom (though neither is wrong)
- North/South/East/West (useful: [1])
  - western Germany (historically: West Germany)
  - north England (but upper case with set names like South Korea, the Middle East etc)
  - the north-east, mid-west etc
Colons
- After the colon: lower case letter in the first word (UK usage)
- Upper case in a list: Sometimes (UK usage)
- US usage: Colons are primarily used to introduce a list or place emphasis on an item.
  - Introduce a list. He promised this: The company will reimburse for all the losses. AND - There were three considerations: time, expense and feasibility. Note: Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a complete sentence (as in the first example.)
  - Emphasis. He had only one hobby: eating.
Company names
- Avoid inverted commas and possessive with company names (eg: IBM's). Use 'The Siemens solution was to ...' rather than 'Siemens's solution was to...'
- GmbH/AG, etc: only put in if the context is more formal. 'The product launched by Siemens' is preferable to 'The product launched by Siemens AG'
- Do not replace GmbH with Ltd. If necessary do this: Wolfgang und Michael Schmidtlein Gmbh (Ltd)
- AG without dots, unless the name of the company would make this confusing: PTV AG is probably better as PTV A.G.
E-Learning
- At the start of a sentence, otherwise e-learning
Email
- UK: email, not E-Mail or e-mail
- US: now also email
- UK: things are sent by email. US: things are sent via email.
Etc
- Without a dot afterwards in UK usage. "Red, blue, green etc, including standard...."
- At end of list delete if preceded by "such as/for example ..... "
For example/that is
- e.g. and i.e. only in formal documents
- In more modern contexts
  - eg: this way (ie: after a colon)
  - or eg, this way (ie, after a comma)
  - In American English: ALWAYS this way: e.g., then give the example after the comma
  - In American English: same goes for i.e.: i.e., then provide list (note the comma)
Foreign languages: accents
- Cafe not café, similarly: creche, fete, clientele
German addresses
- Paul-Schäfer-Strasse (not Paul-Schäfer-Straße)
- 70173 Stuttgart, Germany (not D-70173 Stuttgart)
Headers
- UK: First word only capitalised (so not First Word Only)
- US: Nearly All Words in Title Capitalized
- Hyphenated words (like e-commerce or flight-or-fight response): the word following the hyphen is capitalised unless it is an article, preposition, or coordinating conjunction - The E-Commerce Trap, Flight-or-Fight Responses)
Italics
- Used with foreign words that are not yet widely recognized, but not if most people are au fait with them (eg, cafe, and now even zeitgeist)
- Scientific names such as Homo sapiens
- Used with company names or proper nouns that could be confused with content ("The rock scene giant rock rebel struck the right chord","'Fixing a hole' is one of the best tracks on The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album")
- Depending on context, used sometimes for book, newspaper, magazine or journal titles if not clear (which Der Spiegel is in English, but Time may not be, especially at the beginning of a sentence. Solution: Time magazine)
Links/email addresses/websites
- Web: englishtalk.net (without www before address, not introduced as website/homepage/internet)
- If a url is complex then at the end of a line drop off the full stop otherwise it looks like the address should have a '.' at the end: www.complex.address.like-this.net
- If a url is simple, put the dot at the end of the sentence, www.likethis.net.
- Internet is only spelt with a capital I (Internet) in formal texts (and US English), otherwise (especially in UK English) like The Telegraph/Orange: internet
- Website is one word and lower case (see also UK/US differences below), "the net" without '
- People order things over the Internet (US: preferable, although through and via are not wrong) but also "on" the internet (UK usage). If unsure, consider rephrasing with 'online'
- Content is found or posted on the internet
Lists
- Usually without a dot at the end of each line. Unless line contains sentences.
- Preferably with 1) 2) 3) and not not 1. 2. 3.
Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr
- Mr. with dot after title only in formal titles and addresses (UK)
- In the middle of sentences write Mr Smith without dots (UK)
- UK English standard: Dear Mr Smith (NO COMMA at end of line) then starting first line of letter with an upper case letter
- UK English formal: Dear Mr Smith, (COMMA at end of line) then starting first line of letter with an upper case letter
- American English always uses a period/dot: Dear Mr. Smith, (standard opener)
Per cent / Percent
- UK: per cent
- US: percent
Punctuation/inverted commas
- The ’ symbol is like a comma, curved to the LEFT not to the right …‘
- Apostrophe: use ’ wherever possible, or ' in many online texts, but do not mix
- Quotation marks (off-line) should look like “ ” (66 ... 99)
p.s.
- UK: At the end of a letter, both the p and the s are lower case, with dots
- In American English, this is written P.S. (both letters upper case)
Quotations
- He said, "This is reported speech." With the dot inside the quote.
- Adding, "But I then quoted someone as saying, 'Look, single inverted commas within the quote'. Which finish with a dot."
- John Smith: "Straight into the sentence." Dot inside the quote.
- "You can start like this too," he added, with a comma in the quotation marks. "But then start again with a capital letter if it's a new sentence."
- Not reported speech: put things in 'single quotation marks' in UK English. Note the dot outside single quotation marks. See also US/UK below.
- Call attention to a specific term in British English: It's the typical ‘you get what you pay for’ scenario.
- Call attention to a specific term in American English: It's the typical “you get what you pay for” scenario.
- Used for book chapters, magazine/journal articles, research studies (The article "A Heady Time for Muni Bonds," printed in Businessweek, takes a look at...)
Slash
- In most cases with just two words no gap between/after the slash and following word (so not like / this)
- If numbers and currencies are involved, sometimes with a gap for clarity, eg £54 / €81
St - saints' names
- Without a period - eg St George, St Swithin, St Magnus
Tel:
- Without dot, or Fax: (not Tel.: with added .)

Hyphens, one word, two words...

Note! Before nouns, many compound adjectives use a hyphen: 'This real-time solution is amazing'. After nouns, do not use a hyphen: 'This amazing solution delivers in real time'.

A 31-year-old woman
20th-century man
After sales support
Apps - lower case, two p's
Brand new
- UK English: brand new (without hyphen)
- US English: brand-new (with hyphen, see The Associated Press Stylebook)
Bullseye (like bulldog, bulldozer, etc)
Business related, without hyphen if after the noun, a business-related issue if before noun
On a case-by-case basis (hyphenated throughout)
Centre stage/center stage, withouth hyphen
Cleanroom technology involves technology in clean rooms
Compound adjectives, eg the ever-shrinking ozone layer, above-average performance
Cooperation, only in extremely formal contexts: co-operation
Cross-selling
Day-trippers go on day trips
Decision makers without hyphen, decision-making (process)
Do's and don'ts. Although the ' is not indicating possession and is not being used in a contraction, it is needed for clarity, as in "The number of also's in his graffiti"
Ecosystem (rather than eco-system)
Energy-efficient processes offer energy efficiency
Experience business first hand - not hyphenated, unlike first-hand experience
Eye-catching
Far-reaching with hyphen
The follow-up (hyphenated) / "I need to follow up with you" (not hyphenated)
Front-runner, formal: front runner
Frontline (no hyphen)
Full-time, part-time: both with hyphen
German-speaking, English-speaking, etc
Grown-ups, rather than grownups
Half year results, no hyphen
High-end technology
High-speed processes, which run at high speed
Talk about something in depth, especially in-depth analysis
In-house seminars are organised to take place in house
Large-scale/medium-scale with hyphen
Like-for-like, not to be confused with 'Comparing like with like'
Login pages are where you log in
Long-term thinking, not to be confused with 'in the long term'
As early as the mid 19th century (noun); they discovered a mid-19th century novel (as adjective)
Midterm, midweek, midsize all without hyphen
Mission-critical
Mouth-watering
Nail-biting
Night-time (as an adjective)
Near field communication (NFC); no hyphen
Non-stop
No one (no hyphen)
One-stop/one-step/one-day event
Ongoing without a hyphen
On-site (although onsite is becoming more common due to 'online')
Problem solvers without hyphen
Product life cycle (as in PLC) but sometimes lifecycle is one word
Re- only hyphenate if next word starts with a vowel (re-use, re-educate but remastered and rekindled)
Run-up (as in: "in the run-up to")
Real-time
Ringtone
Self-explanatory
Set-ups can be set up in a day, US often setup for the noun
Smartphone (lower case, one word)
Stand-alone
Startup, startups (US no hyphen), UK tendency towards start-up
Sub-projects rather than subprojects as it is easier to read
Sweetcorn (one word)
A state-of-the-art system (before noun) which was state of the art (no hyphen after noun), same applies to up-to-the-minute
T-shirt - capital T, hyphenated
Tenfold not ten-fold
Third party - companies work with third parties on a third-party basis
Time to market
"This is up-to-date technology", but "this technology is up to date"
To date, there are...
To-ing and fro-ing
Top-line results written on the top line
Torchlit (not torch-lit)
Touchscreen
Up-selling (especially when in conjunction with cross-selling)
Value added, also as a noun (no longer value-added)
Weblinks (although web links is NOT wrong) - note also US/UK differences below on Web/web
Well
- A well-known man is well known, a very well known man is too
A wholly-owned business is wholly owned
Work-Life Balance
World-class (solutions, etc)

Stylistic preferences and conventions

Abbreviations
- Where common, omit dots, eg USA not U.S.A.
- Write plurals like this in normal cases: SLAs (and not SLA's). In upper case headlines use apostrophe, as in SELL MORE BY EXTENDING YOUR PLC's (so it doesn't look like PLCS)
- PDF, or lower in a bracket: Portable Document File (pdf)
- PoS (point-of-sale) not POS
- United States: careful with US vs U.S. - if not clear from context always go for U.S. (ie, with dots)
Acronyms
- Spell the name out in full followed by the acronym in brackets - eg, National Savings and Investments (NS&I) - the first time it appears in copy. Then the acronym can be used, if that's the preference, in the rest of copy.
Aging
- Preferable to ageing in US
Among
- Preferable to amongst in more modern texts
And/or
- Where possible rather than "Take a ferry and/or plane", use: "Take a ferry, plane, or both"
Business-to-business/consumer
- B2B, B2C B2G
Cheese names
- ...are written with a capital letter (Edam, Brie, Wensleydale cheese etc) (since place names)
Commas
- In modern UK texts commas are sometimes added to create a speaker's pause. eg, "The man's house, and also his home". This is especially the case with advertising. Strictly speaking (especially in more formal texts), the comma would be left out here.
- With sentences including crucial thoughts, however, although the pause may not be spoken, it is indicated with commas (around "however")
- In US lists there is often a comma before the last item:
  - US: The ingredients include milk, butter, cheese, salt, and raisins.
  - UK: The ingredients include milk, butter, cheese, salt and raisins.
Competence
- Modern management (slightly alienating): competency, plural: competencies
- Formal or more traditional/UK competence, plural: competences
- To avoid: use skills
Countries
- Großbritannien > usually United Kingdom/UK
- USA > US, or the States
Digitalise or digitise?
- Digitalise means turn an analogue (non-computerised/non-digital) system into a digital solution (smart manufacturing, software introduced to analogue systems, link up computers to machines/equipment, etc)
- Digitise is very different - it is the process of changing information into digits/numbers
Disc or disk?
- Depends on which media: optical (disc) or magnetic (disk). Read what Apple has to say here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302152
englishtalk
- always written small. englishtalk GbR (without dot) in formal uses
Focused preferably with one S (although focussed with two S's is not wrong)
H with nouns/adjectives after "A"
- If the H is aspirated in modern spoken English (as in hotel), then "a hotel", "a holistic solution", "a historical event"
- US: herb is unaspirated, so "an herb"
He or she
- In German it is common to use the masculine form of a word then follow this up with "er/ihm/ihn" (eg, The reader can skip to page 5 and enter his name there). In modern English usage "he" is often avoided as this could be deemed 'sexist'. Solutions:
  - The reader can skip to page 5 and enter his or her name there.
  - The reader can skip to page 5 and enter their name there. (see also they below)
  - [Best solution] Readers can skip to page 5 and enter their name there.
Healthcare in modern UK usage rather than health care with a gap. US: health care
Homoeopathy
- Preferably as above in UK English, but homeopathy permissible with younger audiences
Impressum (German word)
- NEVER Imprint on a website. Instead: about, legals, statutory details, about this website. More: here.
- Magazines and printed media: Publishing details. Or no header at all above the publishing details.
Job titles
- lower case - particularly when the title is more general, eg, football player, manager, director etc
- upper case when they are a salutation eg, Dr, Prof etc
Like versus Such as
- Often interchangeable, but in formal texts a distinction may be made:
  - John laughs when he hears words such as “halibut”, “guppy” and “hake” (= fish included in what makes John laugh)
  - When John hears fish names like “halibut”, “guppy” and “hake”, he has to laugh (= fish names "similar/comparable to")
Market
- On the market for a product (being sold, like a house is 'on the market') rather than in the market (sometimes for a company)
None
- Can be "none is" or "none are" but englishtalk prefers "none are" as more modern and US/UK neutral
Nordic walking
- With a capital letter on Nordic but not walking
Plurals
- One prospectus, two prospectuses
- One radius, two radii
- Data: The data clearly indicates... OR The data clearly indicate... [Data and datum are used on a case-by-case basis. See The Merriam Webster Dictionary for a concise yet informative explanation: [2]]
- Latin plurals: depends on context! You'll find technically correct Latin plurals more often in academic and scientific contexts and the anglicized plurals more often in daily or informal
  - Formula ::: formulae (academic/scientific)
  - Formula ::: formulas (informal use)
  - Stadium ::: stadia (academic/scientific)
  - Stadium ::: stadiums (informal use)
They (singular and plural)
- In UK English it is common to see single nouns used as a plural, eg "Blair's Government are introducing a new law.", "IBM are launching their latest server." Sometimes this also happens in reverse, "Freezing fog and mist is common in late winter".
- They is also sometimes used in UK English to mean "one" or "someone". eg: "Someone left the light on. Could they please take more care next time.", "The javelin stabbed an athlete in the back but they are expected to make a full recovery."
- See also what the following has to say about the use of "they" in British English - wikipedia, Guide to Learning English and MacMillan Dictionary
Versus
- England vs Germany without dot after vs. Now shifting in usage towards England v Germany
Web/web
- Web (US): use upper-case when it stands alone (watch it on the Web), forms part of a hyphenated compound (Web-based software, the system is Web-enabled), or forms part of a compound written as two words (Web page)
- web: use lower-case in UK English (always) and in US English when it forms part of a compound written as one word (webcam, webzine, website)

Numbers/currency/dates/weight

Single digit numbers written out, "four million". Otherwise as digits, "10 million"
Texts sometimes use decimal points when unnecessary: €345.00 is no more useful than €345
£10.00: UK. $10.00 US. Or £10 / $10 in less formal context
£100.00: UK. $100.00 US. Or £100 / $100 in less formal context
£1000.00: UK. $1000.00 US. Or £1000 / $1000 in less formal context
£10,000.00: UK. $10,000.00 US. Or £10,000 / $10,000 in less formal context
1000 - 9999: UK (without comma, unless formal text)
1,000 - 9,999: US (with comma)
10,000 + with comma
- With multilingual texts (refering to the same numbers) a useful trick may be a minimal gap in the middle: 340 000
£2 million or £2m or £2 mill. in tight spaces
euros, dollars and pounds always plural and written small (eg, he lost 50 euros, except in Irish English: he lost 50 euro)
eurozone lower case and one word
The Deutschmark (upper case) but the German mark (lower)
- Official descriptions (more formal/finance): EUR 50, GBP 50, USD 50
Percentages (see also [3])
- 98% of the time: without gap between number and %
- Also possible: 10pc of time
- Some 58 per cent of words (US: some 58 percent of words)
Area/volume
- 34 sq m in flowing copy. If there is lots of space it can be written out in full in copy ie, 34 square metres or 34 metres squared. Only write 34m² if it is within a numerical context.
- 34 sq ft in flowing copy. If there is lots of space it can be written out in full in copy ie, 34 square feet or 34 feet squared. Only write 34ft² if it is within a numerical context.
- 34 cu m in flowing copy. If there is lots of space it can be written out in full in copy ie, 34 cubic metres. Only write 34m³ if it is within a numerical context.
Dates
- February 28, 2007 (US)
- Saturday, December 5, 2007 (US)
- 09/13/2008 (Sept 13, 2008) (US)
- 28 February 2007 (UK)
- Saturday, 5 December 2007 (UK)
- 13/09/2008 (13 Sept 2008) (UK)
- Formal: Saturday, 5th December 2007 (UK)
- Ordinal numbers: no "th" or "rd" in dates specifying a month or day of the week; August 23 or My birthday is on the 23rd.
- 43 BC (with gap). Note increasing use of less religious 43 BCE, although many audiences are unfamiliar with the abbreviation.
- 5th/fifth century AD. Note increasing use of less religious 5th century CE, although many audiences are unfamiliar with the abbreviation.
- The 1960s, or the 60s (and not the '60s)
Degrees
- Temperature: 34°C - no gaps, capital C, ditto fahrenheit. Write celsius and fahrenheit small [4]
- Angles: write out full as '350 degrees' in sentences, 350° if in among figures
Number
- UK: No. 34 usually with the dot, sometimes ok to write No34
- US: #34 with no space
Time - usually 12-hour clock, no space after time, no dots
- UK: 10.40am, 10.40pm
- US: 10:40am. 10:40pm (colon)
- Technical texts 2300 UTC (="23 hundred hours")
- 6 min 35 secs
Fractions: where it would be spoken as "2 and a half": 2½ [= Alt 0189; ¼ = 0188, ¾ = Alt 0190], otherwise 2.5
- Two thirds of all cats eat fish (no hyphen, eat is singular) (UK)
- A two-thirds majority over the next candidate
- Three and a quarter billion (no hyphens). See also [5]
Distances
- 34km without gap
- Careful with m that it's clear if miles or metres are meant
- 3200m without gap (metres, US: meters)
- 16.41m without gap
- 327cm without gap
- 55nm without gap (55 nautical miles)
- 28,000m if clearly in MILES context
People
- A 5-strong team (not a five-strong team)
Speed
- 110mph without gap
- 54kmh, sometimes 54km/h for sports/technical texts
- A yacht doing 8kts
Wattage, power, etc
- 40W (no gap, cap W) not 40 watt ([6])
- 380/220kV
- kWh for kilowatt-hour
Weight
- ton for both British and American English generic copy (ton in all American copy - generic or technical)
- (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1435326/Telegraph-Style-Book-T.html)
- BUT when a piece of text is technical or specific in British English use:
  - tonne when referring to a metric tonne
  - ton when referring to an imperial ton
- 100tn (abbreviation)
- g/qm (Grammatur)
  - gsm (paper weight/thickness)
dBA
- Preferably written out: 65 decibels

US vs UK usage differences at englishtalk

Grammar/syntax/morphology

Aftersales: US. After sales: UK
Anymore: US. Any more: UK. This is only when used as an adverb: "I don't like sprouts anymore/any more". When used as a determiner it's "Tell me if you find any more books"
Apart from: UK. Aside from: US
Asking someone to do something: UK: Ask them to do xxx. US: Have them do xxx.
Classic/Classical: very little difference in meaning, although classical tends to relate more to Greek/Roman/arts/music/architecture contexts
Consulting is an activity (UK and US) provided in the UK by a consultancy (eg management consultancy, which does management consulting), but also a consulting company (UK/US). Increasingly UK companies are providing "consultancy" but the preferred englishtalk term is consulting
Effect
- UK: come into effect
- US: go into effect
Email: UK: things are sent by email. US: things are sent via email.
Fewer: can be counted, as in "fewer reasons", less cannot be counted as in "less wine"
Future: US: in the future, UK often: in future
Help
- UK: This pen helps you write more clearly (more common than: helps you to write)
Historic = so major, it's unique. Historical = from/in the past
Like
- UK: They like playing football (more common than: they like to play football)
Lists and commas
- UK: Ingredients include milk, honey, butter and flour
- US: Ingredients include milk, honey, butter, and flour
- UK: 1000 (no comma)
- US: 1,000 (comma)
Insight
- US: gain insight (gain some insight also in use)
- UK: gain an insight
Mecca
- US: Uppercase M when talking about the city, lowercase M when talking about a place/hotspot/hub
- UK: Uppercase M in both instances
Orient(at)ed
- UK: orientated in some formal texts, but increasingly now same as US: oriented
People as percentages, singular vs plural
- US: 100 people walk into a store and 98% buys something
- UK: 100 people walk into a store and 98% buy something
- These may vary due to context. Is the subject a singular, plural, or collective? "The majority of companies reports that..." (Singular) "65% of companies report that..." (Plural) "65% of the population reports that..." (Collective singular)
Query/Enquiry: UK (meaning what somebody asks to know, eg Press Enquiry). Inquiry: US/UK (meaning an investigation)
Quotation marks
- UK: He wrote an article called 'A Heady Time for Muni Bonds'. Full stop/period outside quote, single quotation marks
- US: He wrote an article called "A Heady Time for Muni Bonds." Full stop/period inside quote, double quotation marks
Staff
- UK: Our friendly staff are always ready to answer your questions
- US: Our friendly staff is always ready to answer your questions
Stop
- UK: this shoe stops your feet getting wet (though "stops your feet from getting wet" is not wrong)
- US: this stops your feet from getting wet
  - If in doubt, try "prevents your feet from" (US/UK)
Telephone
- UK: please ring on 0123 782136
- US: call at this number
toward: more common in the US, towards: more common in the UK
Web/web
- US: upper case when it stands alone or is hyphenated (Web-based software). Lower case in a compound written as one word (webcam, webzine)
- UK: lower case
Weekend
- UK: at the weekend. although the US convention is now more common
- US: on the weekend
While in most documents. Whilst in very formal UK usage
In the UK you write to someone, in the US you write someone

Spelling/terminology

adaptor: UK. adapter: US (although adapter also permissible in UK)
ageing: UK. aging: US.
brackets: UK. parenthesis: US. = (xxx)
brackets: US = [xxx] (UK: square brackets)
car park: UK. parking lot/parking garage: US.
colour: UK. color: US.
cotton wool: UK. cotton: US.
defence UK. defense: US.
diary: UK, planner: US.
envisage: UK. envision: US.
estate car: UK. station wagon: US.
full stop: UK. period: US.
grey: UK. gray: US.
helping hand: US. helpful hand: UK.
judgement: UK. judgment: US.
labour: UK. labor: US.
licence as a noun in UK, (to) license as a verb in the UK. US: both spelt "licence"
lynchpin: UK. linchpin: US.
metre: UK. meter: US.
mobile phone: UK. cell phone: US.
nail varnish: UK. nail polish: US.
open day: UK. open house: US.
plaster: UK. Band Aid: US:
practice as a noun in UK, (to) practise as a verb in the UK. US: both spelt "practice"
public transport: UK. public transportation: US.
roundabout: UK. traffic circle: US
saloon (car): UK. sedan: US.
speciality: UK. specialty: US.
tidbits: US. titbits: UK (alternative: tasty morsels)
tyre: UK. tire: US.
until -> till: spelling of preposition (from x till y)
visiting card: UK. business card: US.
within 6 working days: UK, within 6 business days: US

-ization: US. -isation: UK. If text should be neutral than the use of words such as organize with a z is possible, because even in traditional UK texts in the early 1900s editors used z more than s. It was only after American adoption of words such as color for colour that UK writers changed after deciding that it was essential to play up the UK/US differences and words with the s started to dominate. In other words: "organization" is not necessarily "American", but it is considered old-fashioned.

General for both UK/US:
- RFM: Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value

See also External references

Place names and German terms

If a place has a common English name then use it, like Munich and not München, Cologne, Gothenburg for Göteburg. If place names are not common then sometimes add the foreign accent (this helps mix-ups between places like Munster and Münster). German personal names are often left without umlauts unless they are also used with an e in German (German football manager Joachim Low, players Andre Schurrle and Mario Goetze).

The Alps with a capital A, alpine furniture with a small A
Baden-Wuerttemberg if it's general text about lots of things or places. If the text goes into more detail about Germany: Baden-Württemberg
Basle for Basel (exception: Messe Basel)
Berne for Bern
Brunswick, Germany for more formal texts, otherwise Braunschweig
Dusseldorf without umlaut
Hanover with one N
Nurburgring without umlaut
Nuremberg for Nürnberg
Zurich for Zürich

Switzerland and parts of Austria and Italy (Tyrol): English veers more towards French or Italian names than traditional German names, eg Bolzano not Bozen, San Candido not Innichen.

Neue/Alte Bundesländer - in formal texts use "New Länder" for the old east, otherwise: "former (states of) East Germany". For the old west: "former West Germany"
Autobahn can be left in German in many cases. Plural: autobahns. See [7]

Tricky translations and false friends

Authentifikation = authentication, not authentification, which is creeping into technical texts and is believed by many non-native speakers to be the more technical word. Avoid authentification – some people use authentification with the f to signal that something was 'effed up' (went very wrong)
Wissenschaft = can mean either academia or science, but in practice, almost always mean academia when used alone and science when part of a compound (eg. Wirtschaftswissenschaft). If in doubt, follow this rule.
Fachkräfte = generally used to simply mean "employees" and is very often used together with or in contrast to managers/executives (eg. "Fach- und Führungskräfte", which is best translated as "managers and employees"). Anyone exercising a profession is a Fachkraft. Avoid "specialist" as implies too much expertise: Fachkraft is a more general term referring to employees (ie. company staff who aren't managers. Anyone doing a job they've trained for professionally is a Fachkraft, from the lowliest clerks or secretary to higher positions. So not necessarily "specialists" as such; Fach is misleading in this context)
kompetent = depends on context; is often used in the same way "professional" is in English, and can therefore be translated as such ("Kompetente Beratung" = professional consulting). Other options: reliable. When talking about an individual: skilled, professional, expert, highly skilled, highly able, highly competent...
Kompetenz = again, also often best translated as "professional". "Kompetenz im Verkauf" = Professional sales, professional sales expertise or similar. In other contexts: skills, competence, expertise, take your pick. Whatever best matches the intended meaning.
Komfort, komfortabel, bequem = convenience/convenient
Qualifizieren = train, when about providing people with qualifications. Sometimes means verify or validate in technical contexts.

Useful guide: here.

Links & external style guides

Wikipedia US vs UK guides:
- US vs UK meanings [8]
- UK words not common in the US [9]
- US words not common in the UK [10]
- US vs UK spelling [11]
- Different usages of grammar, verbs and more in US and UK English [12]
US vs UK insights:
- English (British) - American Dictionary [13]
Style guides:
- http://www.economist.com/research/StyleGuide/
- http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
- http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/guides.htm
- http://www.askoxford.com/
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/ (basic grammar)
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/course/jargon/a.shtml (web jargon buster)
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/style-book/ (more formal, slightly conservative UK newspaper)
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide (more liberal UK newspaper)
- http://www.marketingpower.com/mg-dictionary.php (American Marketing Association online dictionary)
- http://www.worldwidewords.org/
- http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/contents.html (grammar)
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A896231 (proofreading / typesetting tips)

The englishtalk list of glossaries, translation resources and vocab:
- Glossaries, vocab and useful resources

Difference between revisions of "The englishtalk style guide"

Latest revision as of 12:15, 20 December 2023

Contents

englishtalk conventions

Formal rules (grammar, punctuation, proofreading points, editing conventions)

Hyphens, one word, two words...

Stylistic preferences and conventions

Numbers/currency/dates/weight

US vs UK usage differences at englishtalk

Grammar/syntax/morphology

Spelling/terminology

Place names and German terms

Tricky translations and false friends

Links & external style guides

Navigation menu

Views

Personal tools

Navigation

Search

Toolbox

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''© englishtalk 2013'''
+'''© englishtalk 2023'''
 The englishtalk approach to style, writing conventions, etc.
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 == Formal rules (grammar, punctuation, proofreading points, editing conventions) ==
 * '''Age'''
-** Hyphens throughout: a 31'''-'''year'''-'''old woman
+** Hyphens throughout: a 31'''-'''year'''-'''old woman (who is younger than her brother, who is 32 years old)
 * '''All'''
 ** ''All'' and ''All of'' are acceptable with nouns and ''the, my, this'' etc. "All (of) my friends like riding". US English tends more towards ''all of''
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 *** the north-east, mid-west etc
 * '''Colons'''
-** After the colon: lower case letter in the first word
+** After the colon: lower case letter in the first word (UK usage)
-** Upper case in a list: Sometimes
+** Upper case in a list: Sometimes (UK usage)
 ** US usage: Colons are primarily used to introduce a list or place emphasis on an item.
 *** '''Introduce a list.''' He promised this: The company will reimburse for all the losses. AND - There were three considerations: time, expense and feasibility. Note: Capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a complete sentence (as in the first example.)
 *** '''Emphasis.''' He had only one hobby: eating.
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 * '''Email'''
 ** UK: email, not E-Mail or e-mail
-** US: e-mail (hyphenated, not capitalized)
+** US: now also email
 ** UK: things are sent by email. US: things are sent via email.
 * '''Etc'''
-** Without a dot afterwards. "Red, blue, green etc, including standard...."
+** Without a dot afterwards in UK usage. "Red, blue, green etc, including standard...."
 ** At end of list delete if preceded by "such as/for example ..... "
 * '''For example/that is'''
@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 ** 70173 Stuttgart, Germany (not D-70173 Stuttgart)
 * '''Headers'''
-** UK: First word only capitalized (so not First Word Only)
+** UK: First word only capitalised (so not First Word Only)
 ** US: Nearly All Words in Title Capitalized
+** Hyphenated words (like e-commerce or flight-or-fight response): the word following the hyphen is capitalised unless it is an article, preposition, or coordinating conjunction - The E-Commerce Trap, Flight-or-Fight Responses)
 * '''Italics'''
-** Used with foreign words that are not yet part of the ''Zeitgeist'', but not if most people are au fait with them (eg, cafe)
+** Used with foreign words that are not yet widely recognized, but not if most people are au fait with them (eg, cafe, and now even zeitgeist)
 ** Scientific names such as ''Homo sapiens''
 ** Used with company names or proper nouns that could be confused with content ("The rock scene giant ''rock rebel'' struck the right chord","'Fixing a hole' is one of the best tracks on The Beatles' ''Sgt Pepper'' album")
-** Used for book, newspaper, magazine, and journal titles (The article "A Heady Time for Muni Bonds," printed in ''Businessweek'', takes a look at...)
+** Depending on context, used sometimes for book, newspaper, magazine or journal titles if not clear (which Der Spiegel is in English, but Time may not be, especially at the beginning of a sentence. Solution: Time magazine)
 * '''Links/email addresses/websites'''
 ** Web: englishtalk.net (without www before address, not introduced as website/homepage/internet)
@@ Line 70: / Line 71: @@
 ** Internet is only spelt with a capital I (Internet) in formal texts (and US English), otherwise (especially in UK English) like The Telegraph/Orange: internet
 ** Website is one word and lower case (see also UK/US differences below), "the net" without '
-** People order things ''over'' the internet (preferable, although ''through'' and ''via'' are not wrong)
+** People order things ''over'' the Internet (US: preferable, although ''through'' and ''via'' are not wrong) but also "on" the internet (UK usage). If unsure, consider rephrasing with 'online'
 ** Content is found or posted ''on'' the internet
 * '''Lists'''
@@ Line 76: / Line 77: @@
 ** Preferably with 1) 2) 3) and not not 1. 2. 3.
 * '''Mr'''/Mrs/Ms/Dr
-** Mr. with dot after title only in formal titles and addresses
+** Mr. with dot after title only in formal titles and addresses (UK)
-** In the middle of sentences write Mr Smith without dots
+** In the middle of sentences write Mr Smith without dots (UK)
 ** UK English standard: Dear Mr Smith (NO COMMA at end of line) then starting first line of letter with an upper case letter
 ** UK English formal: Dear Mr Smith''',''' (COMMA at end of line) then starting first line of letter with an upper case letter
@@ Line 95: / Line 96: @@
 ** Adding, "But I then quoted someone as saying, 'Look, single inverted commas within the quote'. Which finish with a dot."
 ** John Smith: "Straight into the sentence." Dot inside the quote.
-** "You can start like this too," he added, with a comma in the quotation marks. "But then start again with a capital letter."
+** "You can start like this too," he added, with a comma in the quotation marks. "But then start again with a capital letter if it's a new sentence."
-** Not reported speech: put things in 'single quotation marks'. Note the dot outside single quotation marks.
+** Not reported speech: put things in 'single quotation marks' in UK English. Note the dot outside single quotation marks. See also US/UK below.
 ** Call attention to a specific term in British English: It's the typical ‘you get what you pay for’ scenario.
 ** Call attention to a specific term in American English: It's the typical “you get what you pay for” scenario.
@@ Line 109: / Line 110: @@
 == Hyphens, one word, two words... ==
+Note! Before nouns, many compound adjectives use a hyphen: 'This real-time solution is amazing'. After nouns, do not use a hyphen: 'This amazing solution delivers in real time'.
 * A 31-year-old woman
 * 20th-century man
@@ Line 117: / Line 121: @@
 ** US English: brand-new (with hyphen, see The Associated Press Stylebook)
 * Bullseye (like bulldog, bulldozer, etc)
-* Business related, without hyphen
+* Business related, without hyphen if after the noun, a business-related issue if before noun
 * On a case-by-case basis (hyphenated throughout)
 * Centre stage/center stage, withouth hyphen
@@ Line 142: / Line 146: @@
 * High-speed processes, which run at high speed
 * Talk about something in depth, especially in-depth analysis
-* In-house
+* In-house seminars are organised to take place in house
 * Large-scale/medium-scale with hyphen
 * Like-for-like, not to be confused with 'Comparing like with like'
@@ Line 152: / Line 156: @@
 * Mouth-watering
 * Nail-biting
-* Night-time
+* Night-time (as an adjective)
 * Near field communication (NFC); '''no''' hyphen
 * Non-stop
@@ Line 158: / Line 162: @@
 * One-stop/one-step/one-day event
 * Ongoing without a hyphen
+* On-site (although onsite is becoming more common due to 'online')
 * Problem solvers without hyphen
+* Product life cycle (as in PLC) but sometimes lifecycle is one word
 * Re- only hyphenate if next word starts with a vowel (re-use, re-educate but remastered and rekindled)
 * Run-up (as in: "in the run-up to")
@@ Line 164: / Line 170: @@
 * Ringtone
 * Self-explanatory
-* Set-ups can be set up in a day
+* Set-ups can be set up in a day, US often setup for the noun
 * Smartphone (lower case, one word)
 * Stand-alone
-* Startup, startups (no hyphen)
+* Startup, startups (US no hyphen), UK tendency towards start-up
 * Sub-projects rather than subprojects as it is easier to read
 * Sweetcorn (one word)
@@ Line 180: / Line 186: @@
 * Top-line results written on the top line
 * Torchlit (not torch-lit)
-* Touch-screen
+* Touchscreen
 * Up-selling (especially when in conjunction with cross-selling)
 * Value added, also as a noun (no longer value-added)
-* Weblinks (although web links is NOT wrong) - not also US/UK differences below
+* Weblinks (although web links is NOT wrong) - note also US/UK differences below on Web/web
 * Well
 ** A well-known man is well known, a very well known man is too
@@ Line 194: / Line 200: @@
 * '''Abbreviations'''
 ** Where common, omit dots, eg USA not U.S.A.
-** Write plurals like this: SLAs (and not SLA's)
+** Write plurals like this in normal cases: SLAs (and not SLA's). In upper case headlines use apostrophe, as in SELL MORE BY EXTENDING YOUR PLC's (so it doesn't look like PLCS)
 ** PDF, or lower in a bracket: Portable Document File (pdf)
 ** PoS (point-of-sale) not POS
@@ Line 201: / Line 207: @@
 ** Spell the name out in full followed by the acronym in brackets - eg, National Savings and Investments (NS&I) - the first time it appears in copy. Then the acronym can be used, if that's the preference, in the rest of copy.
 * '''Aging'''
-** Preferable to ageing
+** Preferable to ageing in US
 * '''Among'''
 ** Preferable to amongst in more modern texts
@@ Line 223: / Line 229: @@
 ** Großbritannien > usually United Kingdom/UK
 ** USA > US, or the States
+* '''Digitalise or digitise?'''
+** Digitalise means turn an analogue (non-computerised/non-digital) system into a digital solution (smart manufacturing, software introduced to analogue systems, link up computers to machines/equipment, etc)
+** Digitise is very different - it is the process of changing information into digits/numbers
 * '''Disc or disk?'''
 ** Depends on which media: optical (disc) or magnetic (disk). Read what Apple has to say here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302152
@@ Line 240: / Line 249: @@
 ** Preferably as above in UK English, but homeopathy permissible with younger audiences
 * ''' Impressum ''' (German word)
-** NEVER Imprint on a website. Instead: About, legals, statutory details, about this website. More: [[Impressum_-_getting_it_right|here]].
+** NEVER Imprint on a website. Instead: about, legals, statutory details, about this website. More: [[Impressum_-_getting_it_right|here]].
+** Magazines and printed media: Publishing details. Or no header at all above the publishing details.
 * '''Job titles'''
 ** lower case - particularly when the title is more general, eg, football player, manager, director etc
 ** upper case when they are a salutation eg, Dr, Prof etc
-** Magazines and printed media: Publishing details
 * '''Like''' versus '''Such as'''
 ** Often interchangeable, but in formal texts a distinction may be made:
@@ Line 250: / Line 259: @@
 *** When John hears fish names like “halibut”, “guppy” and “hake”, he has to laugh (= fish names "similar/comparable to")
 * '''Market'''
-** On the market for a product rather than in the market (sometimes for a company)
+** On the market for a product (being sold, like a house is 'on the market') rather than in the market (sometimes for a company)
 * '''None'''
 ** Can be "none is" or "none are" but englishtalk prefers "none are" as more modern and US/UK neutral
@@ Line 269: / Line 278: @@
 ** See also what the following has to say about the use of "they" in British English - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_pronoun wikipedia], [http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/easy/gender.htm Guide to Learning English] and [http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/them MacMillan Dictionary]
 * '''Versus'''
-** England vs Germany without dot after vs
+** England vs Germany without dot after vs. Now shifting in usage towards England v Germany
 * '''Web/web'''
-** Web: Use upper-case when it stands alone (watch it on the Web), forms part of a hyphenated compound (Web-based software, the system is Web-enabled), or forms part of a compound written as two words (Web page, Web site)
+** Web (US): use upper-case when it stands alone (watch it on the Web), forms part of a hyphenated compound (Web-based software, the system is Web-enabled), or forms part of a compound written as two words (Web page)
-** web: Use lower-case when it forms part of a compound written as one word (webcam, webzine)
+** web: use lower-case in UK English (always) and in US English when it forms part of a compound written as one word (webcam, webzine, website)
 = Numbers/currency/dates/weight =
 * '''Single digit numbers''' written out, "four million". Otherwise as digits, "10 million"
+* Texts sometimes use decimal points when unnecessary: €345.00 is no more useful than €345
 * '''£10.00''': UK. $10.00 US. Or £10 / $10 in less formal context
 * '''£100.00''': UK. $100.00 US. Or £100 / $100 in less formal context
 * '''£1000.00''': UK. $1000.00 US. Or £1000 / $1000 in less formal context
 * '''£10,000.00''': UK. $10,000.00 US. Or £10,000 / $10,000 in less formal context
-* '''1000 - 9999''': UK (without comma)
+* '''1000 - 9999''': UK (without comma, unless formal text)
 * '''1,000 - 9,999''': US (with comma)
 * '''10,000''' + with comma
-** With multilingual texts (refering to the same numbers) a useful trick is a minimal gap in the middle: 340 000
+** With multilingual texts (refering to the same numbers) a useful trick may be a minimal gap in the middle: 340 000
 * '''£2 million''' or £2m or £2 mill. in tight spaces
 * '''euros''', '''dollars''' and '''pounds''' always plural and written small (eg, he lost 50 euros, except in Irish English: he lost 50 euro)
-* '''eurozone'''  lower case and one word
+* '''eurozone''' lower case and one word
 * The '''Deutschmark''' (upper case) but the German '''mark''' (lower)
 ** Official descriptions (more formal/finance): EUR 50, GBP 50, USD 50
@@ Line 292: / Line 302: @@
 ** 98% of the time: without gap between number and %
 ** Also possible: 10pc of time
-** Some 58 per cent of words
+** Some 58 per cent of words (US: some 58 percent of words)
-* '''Area / volume'''
+* '''Area/volume'''
 ** 34 sq m in flowing copy. If there is lots of space it can be written out in full in copy ie, 34 square metres or 34 metres squared. Only write 34m² if it is within a numerical context.
 ** 34 sq ft in flowing copy.  If there is lots of space it can be written out in full in copy ie, 34 square feet or 34 feet squared. Only write 34ft² if it is within a numerical context.
@@ Line 300: / Line 310: @@
 ** February 28, 2007 '''(US)'''
 ** Saturday, December 5, 2007 '''(US)'''
-** 09/13/2008 (Sept 13, 2007) '''(US)'''
+** 09/13/2008 (Sept 13, 2008) '''(US)'''
 ** 28 February 2007 '''(UK)'''
 ** Saturday, 5 December 2007 '''(UK)'''
-** 13/09/2008 (13 Sept 2007) '''(UK)'''
+** 13/09/2008 (13 Sept 2008) '''(UK)'''
 ** Formal: Saturday, 5th December 2007 '''(UK)'''
-** 43 BC (with gap)
+** Ordinal numbers: no "th" or "rd" in dates specifying a month or day of the week; August 23 or My birthday is on the 23rd.
-** 5th/fifth century AD
+** 43 BC (with gap). Note increasing use of less religious 43 BCE, although many audiences are unfamiliar with the abbreviation.
+** 5th/fifth century AD. Note increasing use of less religious 5th century CE, although many audiences are unfamiliar with the abbreviation.
 ** The 1960s, or the 60s (and not the '60s)
 * '''Degrees'''
@@ Line 312: / Line 323: @@
 ** Angles: write out full as '350 degrees' in sentences, 350° if in among figures
 * '''Number'''
-** UK: No. 34 usually with the dot
+** UK: No. 34 usually with the dot, sometimes ok to write No34
 ** US: #34 with no space
-* '''Time''' - 12-hour clock, no space after time, no dots
+* '''Time''' - usually 12-hour clock, no space after time, no dots
 ** UK: 10.40am, 10.40pm
 ** US: 10:40am. 10:40pm (colon)
+** Technical texts 2300 UTC (="23 hundred hours")
 ** 6 min 35 secs
 * '''Fractions''': where it would be spoken as "2 and a half": 2½ [= Alt 0189; ¼ = 0188, ¾ = Alt 0190], otherwise 2.5
@@ Line 324: / Line 336: @@
 * '''Distances'''
 ** 34km without gap
+** Careful with m that it's clear if miles or metres are meant
 ** 3200m without gap (metres, US: meters)
 ** 16.41m without gap
@@ Line 333: / Line 346: @@
 * '''Speed'''
 ** 110mph '''without''' gap
-** 54kmh, sometimes 54km/h for sports
+** 54kmh, sometimes 54km/h for sports/technical texts
 ** A yacht doing 8kts
 * '''Wattage, power, etc'''
 ** 40W (no gap, cap W) not 40 watt ([http://www.johnlewis.com/Electrical/Small+Appliances/Category.aspx])
-** 380/220 kV
+** 380/220kV
 ** kWh for kilowatt-hour
 * '''Weight'''
 ** '''ton''' for both British and American English generic copy (ton in all American copy - generic or technical)
-** (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1435326/Telegraph-Style-Book-T.html) (For further refs see - C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\default\Eigene Dateien\Project files S Thomson\Admin\ton_styleguide refs )
+** (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1435326/Telegraph-Style-Book-T.html)
 ** BUT when a piece of text is technical or specific in British English use:
 *** '''tonne''' when referring to a metric tonne
@@ Line 348: / Line 361: @@
 ** '''g/qm''' (Grammatur)
 *** gsm (paper weight/thickness)
 * '''dBA'''
 ** Preferably written out: 65 decibels
@@ Line 355: / Line 367: @@
 == Grammar/syntax/morphology ==
 * '''Aftersales''': US. After sales: UK
+* '''Anymore''': US. Any more: UK. This is only when used as an adverb: "I don't like sprouts anymore/any more". When used as a determiner it's "Tell me if you find any more books"
 * '''Apart from''': UK. Aside from: US
-* '''Asking someone to do something''': UK:Ask them to do xxx. US: Have them do xxx.
+* '''Asking someone to do something''': UK: Ask them to do xxx. US: Have them do xxx.
 * '''Classic/Classical''': very little difference in meaning, although classical tends to relate more to Greek/Roman/arts/music/architecture contexts
 * '''Consulting''' is an activity (UK and US) provided in the UK by a consultancy (eg management consultancy, which does management consulting), but also a consulting company (UK/US). Increasingly UK companies are providing "consultancy" but the preferred englishtalk term is consulting
@@ Line 363: / Line 376: @@
 ** US: go into effect
 * '''Email''': UK: things are sent by email. US: things are sent via email.
+* '''Fewer''': can be counted, as in "fewer reasons", less cannot be counted as in "less wine"
 * '''Future''': US: in the future, UK often: in future
 * '''Help'''
 ** UK: This pen helps you write more clearly (more common than: helps you ''to'' write)
+* '''Historic''' = so major, it's unique. '''Historical''' = from/in the past
 * '''Like'''
 ** UK: They like playing football (more common than: they like ''to play'' football)
@@ Line 380: / Line 395: @@
 ** UK: Uppercase M in both instances
 * '''Orient(at)ed'''
-** UK: orientated, US: oriented
+** UK: orientated in some formal texts, but increasingly now same as US: oriented
 * '''People as percentages''', singular vs plural
 ** US: 100 people walk into a store and 98% buys something
 ** UK: 100 people walk into a store and 98% buy something
-** Please remember these may vary due to context. Is the subject a singular, plural, or collective? "The majority of companies reports that..." (Singular) "65% of companies report that..." (Plural) "65% of the population reports that..." (Collective singular)
+** These may vary due to context. Is the subject a singular, plural, or collective? "The majority of companies reports that..." (Singular) "65% of companies report that..." (Plural) "65% of the population reports that..." (Collective singular)
 * '''Query/Enquiry''': UK (meaning what somebody asks to know, eg Press Enquiry). Inquiry: US/UK (meaning an investigation)
+* '''Quotation marks'''
+** UK: He wrote an article called 'A Heady Time for Muni Bonds'. Full stop/period outside quote, single quotation marks
+** US: He wrote an article called "A Heady Time for Muni Bonds." Full stop/period inside quote, double quotation marks
+* '''Staff'''
+** UK: Our friendly staff are always ready to answer your questions
+** US: Our friendly staff is always ready to answer your questions
 * '''Stop'''
-** UK: this shoe stops your feet getting wet (though "stops your feet from getting wet" is not wrong=
+** UK: this shoe stops your feet getting wet (though "stops your feet from getting wet" is not wrong)
 ** US: this stops your feet from getting wet
 *** If in doubt, try "prevents your feet from" (US/UK)
@@ Line 394: / Line 415: @@
 ** US: call ''at'' this number
 * '''toward''': more common in the US, '''towards''': more common in the UK
+* '''Web/web'''
+** US: upper case when it stands alone or is hyphenated (Web-based software). Lower case in a compound written as one word (webcam, webzine)
+** UK: lower case
 * '''Weekend'''
-** UK: ''at'' the weekend
+** UK: ''at'' the weekend. although the US convention is now more common
 ** US: ''on'' the weekend
 * '''While''' in most documents. Whilst in very formal UK usage
@@ Line 403: / Line 427: @@
 * '''adaptor''': UK. adapter: US (although adapter also permissible in UK)
+* '''ageing''': UK. aging: US.
 * '''brackets''': UK. parenthesis: US. = (xxx)
 * '''brackets''': US = [xxx] (UK: square brackets)
@@ Line 417: / Line 442: @@
 * '''judgement''': UK. judgment: US.
 * '''labour''': UK. labor: US.
-* * '''licence''' as a noun in UK, (to) '''license''' as a verb in the UK. US: both spelt "licence"
+* '''licence''' as a noun in UK, (to) '''license''' as a verb in the UK. US: both spelt "licence"
 * '''lynchpin''': UK. linchpin: US.
 * '''metre''': UK. meter: US.
@@ Line 436: / Line 461: @@
-* '''-ization''': US. -isation: UK. If text should be neutral than the use of words such as organize with a z is possible as even in traditional UK texts in the early 1900s editors used z more than s. It was only after American adoption of words such as color for colour that UK writers decided that it was essential to play up the UK/US differences and words with the s started to dominate. In other words: "organization" is not necessarily "American".
+* '''-ization''': US. -isation: UK. If text should be neutral than the use of words such as organize with a z is possible, because even in traditional UK texts in the early 1900s editors used z more than s. It was only after American adoption of words such as color for colour that UK writers changed after deciding that it was essential to play up the UK/US differences and words with the s started to dominate. In other words: "organization" is not necessarily "American", but it is considered old-fashioned.
@@ Line 447: / Line 472: @@
 = Place names and German terms =
+If a place has a common English name then use it, like Munich and not München, Cologne, Gothenburg for Göteburg. If place names are not common then sometimes add the foreign accent (this helps mix-ups between places like Munster and Münster). German personal names are often left without umlauts unless they are also used with an e in German (German football manager Joachim Low, players Andre Schurrle and Mario Goetze).
 * The '''Alps''' with a capital A, alpine furniture with a small A
+* '''Baden-Wuerttemberg''' if it's general text about lots of things or places. If the text goes into more detail about Germany: Baden-Württemberg
 * '''Basle''' for Basel (exception: Messe Basel)
 * '''Berne''' for Bern
@@ Line 463: / Line 490: @@
 = Tricky translations and false friends =
+* '''Authentifikation''' = authentication, not authentification, which is creeping into technical texts and is believed by many non-native speakers to be the more technical word. Avoid authentification – some people use authentification with the f to signal that something was 'effed up' (went very wrong)
 * '''Wissenschaft''' = can mean either academia or science, but in practice, almost always mean academia when used alone and science when part of a compound (eg. Wirtschaftswissenschaft). If in doubt, follow this rule.
 * '''Fachkräfte''' = generally used to simply mean "employees" and is very often used together with or in contrast to managers/executives (eg. "Fach- und Führungskräfte", which is best translated as "managers and employees"). Anyone exercising a profession is a Fachkraft. Avoid "specialist" as implies too much expertise: Fachkraft is a more general term referring to employees (ie. company staff who aren't managers. Anyone doing a job they've trained for professionally is a Fachkraft, from the lowliest clerks or secretary to higher positions. So not necessarily "specialists" as such; Fach is misleading in this context)
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 * '''Kompetenz''' = again, also often best translated as "professional". "Kompetenz im Verkauf" = Professional sales, professional sales expertise or similar. In other contexts: skills, competence, expertise, take your pick. Whatever best matches the intended meaning.
 * '''Komfort, komfortabel, bequem''' = convenience/convenient
+* '''Qualifizieren''' = train, when about providing people with qualifications. Sometimes means verify or validate in technical contexts.
+Useful guide: [http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words/false_friends.htm here].
 = Links & external style guides =