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