Spanish Language Style Guide & Glossaries:
Dates & Numbers
Dates
In Spanish, dates are expressed in this order: day, month, year (DDMMYYYY).
- 26 de octubre de 2004
- 26 octubre 2004
- 26/10/04
We recommend using the first two forms in the United States to avoid confusion with the American mode for reflecting dates.
Numbers
After much discussion, it was decided at a roundtable on The Use of Spanish in the U.S. Media, [hosted by InTradES–Apuntes (now Apuntesonline.org), October 2004, New York, NY], that the notation for decimals and fractions in Spanish text published in the United States will follow the English model. Nine Latin American countries also follow this model. The decision was based on the nomenclature used in the United States by banks, on financial documents, for supermarket prices, etc., which is what people living in the country are accustomed to see.
Correct use in EE. UU.: $1,276.50
Incorrect use in EE. UU.: $1.276,59
Ordinal numbers
Abbreviated ordinal numbers: 1.º, 2.º, 3.º…. 25.º… 100.º
Feminine gender case: 1. a, 2. a, 3. a …. 25. a … 100. a
Billions and Trillions
Much has been debated about these two terms and how to translate them into Spanish in the United States. To avoid confusion for Spanish speakers in the United States, a literal translation from English is recommended.
Translation in the United States
Billion = Billón (1,000,000,000)
Trillion = Trillón (1,000,000,000,000)
Translation for other countries or International Spanish
Billion (US English) = Mil millones (unidad seguida de nueve ceros)
Trillion (US English) = Billón (unidad seguida de doce ceros)
Meaning of these terms in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE) – www.rae.es:
Billón = Un millón de millones, que se expresa por la
unidad seguida de doce ceros. (DRAE)Trillón = Un millón de billones, que se expresa por la
unidad seguida de 18 ceros. (DRAE)
