English Style Guide 
                                                                              
                                                                              
                                                                              
                                                                              
                                                                              
                                                                              
                                                                              
                                                                              
                                                                              
                                                                    English 
                                                              Style Guide 
                                  A handbook for authors and translators in the European Commission 
                                                                                              Eighth edition: January 2016 
                                                                                            Last updated: September 2022 
                            
                            
                           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       
                           9 September 2022                                                                                    i 
                                                                      Translation 
       English Style Guide 
       © European  Union,  2016,  2022.  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                                      9 September 2022 
                                                                                                                             English Style Guide 
                                                                               CONTENTS 
                                       English Style Guide ............................................................... i 
                              Introduction ...............................................................................4 
                              Part I  Writing English ....................................................................6 
                                     1.     General .............................................................................................................. 7 
                                     2.     Punctuation ....................................................................................................... 7 
                                            Full stop ............................................................................................................. 7 
                                            Colon ................................................................................................................. 8 
                                            Semicolon .......................................................................................................... 8 
                                            Comma .............................................................................................................. 9 
                                            Dashes ............................................................................................................. 12 
                                            Brackets ........................................................................................................... 12 
                                            Question mark ................................................................................................. 13 
                                            Exclamation mark ........................................................................................... 13 
                                            Quotation marks .............................................................................................. 14 
                                            Forward slash .................................................................................................. 15 
                                            Apostrophe ...................................................................................................... 16 
                                     3.     Spelling ............................................................................................................ 17 
                                            Conventions..................................................................................................... 17 
                                            Interference effects .......................................................................................... 20 
                                            Compound words and hyphens ....................................................................... 21 
                                     4.     Capitalisation .................................................................................................. 24 
                                     5.     Names and titles .............................................................................................. 30 
                                            Personal names and titles ................................................................................ 30 
                                            Names of bodies .............................................................................................. 32 
                                            Names of ships, aircraft and other vehicles .................................................... 33 
                                            Geographical names ........................................................................................ 33 
                                     6.     Numbers .......................................................................................................... 36 
                                            Writing out numbers ....................................................................................... 36 
                                            Serial numbers ................................................................................................. 39 
                                            Fractions and percentages ............................................................................... 40 
                                            Ranges ............................................................................................................. 40 
                                            Dates and times ............................................................................................... 41 
                                     7.     Abbreviations, symbols and units of measurement ......................................... 43 
                                            Abbreviations .................................................................................................. 43 
                                            Mathematical symbols .................................................................................... 47 
                                            Scientific symbols and units of measurement ................................................. 48 
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               English Style Guide 
                      8.     Currencies ....................................................................................................... 50 
                      9.     Foreign imports ............................................................................................... 51 
                             Foreign words and phrases in English text ..................................................... 51 
                             Romanisation systems ..................................................................................... 51 
                      10.    Parts of speech ................................................................................................ 53 
                             Adjectives and adverbs ................................................................................... 53 
                             Nouns: singular or plural ................................................................................. 55 
                             Nouns: people or persons ................................................................................ 56 
                             Verbs: present perfect/simple past .................................................................. 57 
                             Verbs: tenses in minutes ................................................................................. 57 
                             Verbs: usage in legislation, contracts and the like .......................................... 58 
                             Verbs: split infinitive ...................................................................................... 60 
                             Verbs: the -ing form and the possessive ......................................................... 61 
                             Conjunctions ................................................................................................... 61 
                      11.    Lists ................................................................................................................. 62 
                      12.    Legal language ................................................................................................ 63 
                      13.    Footnotes, citations and references ................................................................ 64 
                      14.    Correspondence .............................................................................................. 66 
                      15.    Inclusive language .......................................................................................... 68 
                      16.    Science guide ................................................................................................... 71 
               Part II  About the European Union .................................................. 75 
                      17.    The European Union ....................................................................................... 76 
                      18.    Primary legislation ......................................................................................... 77 
                             The treaties – an overview .............................................................................. 77 
                             The treaties in detail ........................................................................................ 78 
                             Treaty citations ................................................................................................ 81 
                      19.    Secondary legislation ...................................................................................... 82 
                             Legislative procedures .................................................................................... 82 
                             Titles and numbering ...................................................................................... 83 
                             Structure of acts .............................................................................................. 87 
                             Referring to subdivisions of acts ..................................................................... 89 
                      20.    The EU institutions .......................................................................................... 89 
                             Commission .................................................................................................... 89 
                             Council ............................................................................................................ 91 
                             European Council ............................................................................................ 92 
                             European Parliament ....................................................................................... 92 
                             Court of Justice of the European Union .......................................................... 93 
                             European Court of Auditors ............................................................................ 96 
                             European Economic and Social Committee .................................................... 96 
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