The Alligator Translator
Translation and Validation Style Guide
Revision History
Date Author Version
Jan 2025 IFL 2.0
Introduction
The objective of this document is to provide guidelines that will help translators produce
translations that are consistent and in line with The Alligator Translator reviewer’s
expectations. This document is targeted towards translation of The Alligator Translator
requirements.
Part 1 General Guidelines
The first part of this guide lists a number of topics that commonly lead to uncertainty
and consequently inconsistent translations. These topics include items such as style,
capitalization, punctuation, etc.
Part 1 General Guidelines
Use everyday language and natural word order of your target language. Do not stay too
close to the source language structure to the last detail and general terminology.
Follow the formatting of the source text
As a general rule, you should apply the same formatting to your target text as is used in
the source text. If you can’t see the actual formatting, make sure to position layout tags
in your translation according to their position in the source text.
Style consistency
In general, style consistency in translation should be ensured.
Adhere to reference materials.
Translate similar/identical phrases and language constructs consistently.
Check company and product names by their respective websites and/or documents.
In translation omit the term "Por favor" in the beginning of the sentence if it is possible
and does not introduce rudeness.
Do not use repeated constructions unless you feel they are absolutely necessary to facilitate
reader’s understanding of the sentence.
Make sure to use the latest official spelling for your language.
Reference materials for Spanish:
REAL ACADEMIA ESPAÑOLA: DICCIONARIO DE LA LENGUA ESPAÑOLA
These reference materials are available on the Internet at [Link]
Make sure to always spell check your translation before delivering it back to The Alligator
Translator.
Capitalization
Use the capitalization conventions that apply in Spanish. Bear in mind that those are not
necessarily the same as in the source text. Do not use initial capitals for words in titles,
headings, etc. except for the first word.
Please use your best judgement to translate capitalization in bulleted lists, always
ensuring consistency throughout your translation.
Punctuation
Make sure that Spanish punctuation rules are followed. Avoid spaces where words are
separated by a slash. When possible replace the slash with proper prepositions or
conjunctions.
Leave spaces between figures and units of measurement. Also leave spaces between
figures and percentage symbol (Recommendation from the new "Ortografía de la RAE").
Quotation marks
Unless instructed otherwise, follow standard rules of Spanish typography. Pay special
attention when you need to use inserted quotation marks.
Avoid using exclamation marks, even if the source text has them.
Avoid dashes, when possible. Coordinate, subordinate or split sentences instead. Use extra
commas to clarify a sentence structure, if required.
Numbers and Measurements
The Alligator Translator does not want to leave imperial values in the Spanish documents.
Numbers
Make sure to follow Spanish rules of number formatting.
According to the RAE, four digit numbers (thousands) shouldn’t have a space or period, but
The Alligator Translator has spe cifically requested the use of a period as a separator. This
rule does not apply to numbers that define dates, pages, etc.
Traditionally, the decimal symbol in Spanish was the comma. In the new "Ortografía de la
Real Academia Española" the use of de cimal period is recommended for unification. The
Translator Alligator uses the comma as decimal symbol.
Use the following notation for measurements: measurements follow the numbers and are
separated from the number by a space.
Use a non-breaking space before the degree sign. This must be typed by means of Alt+0176
(°) and not the ordinal symbol (º).
Phone Numbers
Please follow Spanish phone number formatting standard. Make sure that it is clear for
Spanish readers how to dial the number. Do not forget international dialing codes, decipher
American alphanumerical format etc.
Foreign numbers: Phone numbers should be grouped in logical entities (country code, local
area code, local number and extension). Please add prefixes for international calls if not
present in the source text.