Abridged style guide for German

When translating, please do not copy the style of the source text. Please adhere to the style below and implement it consistently throughout the text even if the source is inconsistent or includes errors in style. The translation should read as naturally as possible—as if it were written in the target language.

Capitalization

Upper/lowercase letter after a colon:Uppercase, if followed by an independent clause
Term for figure in captions and text:Abbildung 1 (not Photo or Bild)
Labels in diagrams begin with upper/lowercase:Uppercase
Footnotes begin with upper/lowercase:Uppercase

Punctuation

Dash type (Gedankenstrich; with spaces):30 Ländern – ein Qualitätsstandard
Low and high quotation marks:„Unser‚100-Jahre‘-Signet“
Slashes without spaces:2020/2021; oder/und
Parentheses within parentheses:(Wasserstoff (H2) und Wasser)

Numbers

Thousand separator: 9.000; 260.000 m2
Decimal separator: 2,4 ml
Exponents are superscript:100 m2
Atomic numbers in compounds are subscript:CO2
En dash (Gedankenstrich) for number ranges: 30–75 kg​
Unit of measure with number ranges:115–130 °C; 5–10 % (not repeated)
En dash (Gedankenstrich) for minus signs: −52,2
No space between numbers and +: +14,2 % BUT: 10 + 4
Nonbreaking space between numbers and >/<:> 50 km
Nonbreaking space between numbers and °C:32 °C
Nonbreaking space between numbers and %:14,2 %
The abbreviation for approximately:ca.
The abbreviation for circa: ca.
Currency code before or after the number:+53,8 Mio. EUR
Short date [DD].[MM].[YYYY]:25.01.2021
Long date [DD]. [Month] [YYYY]:25. Januar 2021
Time of day [HH]:[mm]:21:30

Lists

In general, bulleted list items begin with a capital letter and do not end in a period, unless most form a complete sentence.

Note: Each list should be capitalized and punctuated consistently even if there is a mix of complete and incomplete sentences. If the list contains mostly incomplete sentences, then no item should end in a period.

Vorteile:

  • Zwei Geräte zur Auswahl
  • Konnektivität per Wi-Fi
  • App-Steuerung
  • Remote-Service
  • Großes Farbdisplay
  • Intuitive Benutzerführung