Update History
Compiled by David Russi, final version 8/8/2006
English / Spanish
Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española and Diccionario
panhispánico de dudas: http://www.rae.es/
American Heritage Dictionary (available on many sites, this is just one) http://www.bartleby.com/61/
Meteorology
EUMETCAL Glossary (4 languages, including EN & SP, very useful): http://www.eumetcal.org.uk/euromet/courses/english/navig/glossf.htm
American Meteorological Society Glossary of Meteorology (excellent EN reference) http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/browse
SatMet Glossary (EN) http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satmet/glossary/glossary.html
Aviation
Asociación Latinoamericana de Aeronáutica: http://www.ala.aero/ala2/diccionario/index_es.php
Glosario de aeronáutica (very useful SP glossary, lots of abbreviations and terms) http://www.proteccioncivil.org/vademecum/vdm02515.htm
Siglas de aeronáutica (very useful EN / SP acronym glossary) http://members.tripod.com/joanjosep/aprender/performance/abreviaciones.htm#A
Hydrology
International Glossary of Hydrology
(multilingual, including EN & SP, hard to navigate, but very useful): http://www.cig.ensmp.fr/~hubert/glu/HINDENT.HTM
Computers
Microsoft’s Glossary (multilingual, delete all languages except EN & SP to make the file smaller): http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/tools/MILSGlossary.mspx
Statistics
Data Mining Institute’s Glossary of Statistical Terms (bilingual, EN & SP): http://www.estadistico.com/dic.html
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Translation
Edit
Review
HTML files
Images and Graphics
General Considerations
Fonts and Point Sizes
Flash Files
Abbreviations
Accents and Other Diacritics
General Considerations
Differential Accent
Generating Accents and Other Special Characters
Agreement
Article
Attention Words
Bulleted Lists
Capitalization
Date and Time
Gender
Geographical References
Hyphenation
Number Conversions
Numerals
Organization/Systems/Instrument Names & Acronyms
Punctuation
Comma
Dashes
Ellipsis
Paired Punctuation Marks
Spaces
Sorting, alphabetizing, and glossary format
Spanish Spelling
Symbols
Titles and Headings
Verbs
Verb Forms and Usage
Passive Voice
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COMET ® (Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training) defines its mission as follows:
The COMET Program’s mission is to serve as a premier resource that supports, enhances, and stimulates the communication and application of scientific knowledge of the atmospheric and related sciences for the operational and educational communities.
COMET produces and delivers online, interactive professional development materials that also serve as readily available reference resources. The majority of these are available at no cost on our MetEd Website .
Because they are web-based, COMET educational modules and other materials are potentially accessible worldwide. For this reason, Spanish translations of COMET materias should strive to be as "neutral" as possible, free of regional usage and localisms, using terminology widely understood in the forecasting community and by
Spanish-speakers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
The aim of this style guide is to provide a general standard to follow when translating
COMET educational modules and other training materials into Spanish in order to insure consistency and correctness. Although in most respects this guide will deal with specific language-related issues, it will also touch on more technical aspects, such as formatting.
Feel free to email any comments or suggestions you may have regarding this document to David Russi at drussi@comet.ucar.edu
.
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Translation
When translating, please follow these general guidelines:
 Translate all text, including any localizable text in HTML code (keywords, error messages, prompts, etc.) and all relevant text in graphics, being consistent in terminology and style.
 Your audience is an educated, professional public; please translate in a clear, concise manner, at a level appropriate for professionals in their field, but still accessible to lay persons from Spanish-speaking countries.
 Choose terminology appropriate for the field and context. When more than one term is widely used in the field, it is acceptable to introduce both, at least on first mention.
 Choose computer terminology that is as “neutral” and “standard” as possible.
Follow Microsoft terminology for any Windows interface terms.
 Make sure to match the format of the original text: use the same font and point size, bolding, italics, color, etc.
 Use any glossary that may have been provided. Research new terminology, and keep a separate glossary of new terms for the current project.
 Translate interface items consistently. Many of these have been collected in available project glossaries.
 Make sure that repeated headings and section names are translated exactly the same.
 Make all necessary conversions to metric units.
 Ask questions. If something is not clear, you will not be able to translate it. At times, this may also help us make the English original clearer. Make a list numbering the questions and identifying the location of the suspect term or passage so the appropriate person at COMET may investigate and answer.
 Report any errors you find in the English original.
 Spell-check the text before delivering the translation.
Edit
When editing, please follow these general guidelines:
 Read the entire translated text against the original English.
 Check all terminology against the glossaries.
 Check that references to menus, commands, buttons and messages match
(including abbreviations).
 Check for stylistic accuracy and consistency.
 Check for correct grammar and spelling.
 Check punctuation and accent marks.
 Check proper use of capital letters (e.g.: only initial letter should be capitalized in titles)
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 Check acronym translations.
 Check charts, tables and figures for completeness and accuracy.
 Check proper localization/conversion of measurements (e.g. decimal commas).
 Check that US-specific statements have been localized (as much as possible).
 Update glossary with changes/corrections, and additional terms.
Review
When reviewing a translation, please follow these general guidelines:
 Proofread the running module by clicking sequentially through the entire menu structure.
 Check against English only when clarification is needed.
 Check for readability, punctuation, subscript/superscript, proper accents and special symbols.
 Check graphics in context (i.e.: correct graphic, terminology matches text), punctuation, subscript/superscript, proper accents and special symbols.
 Check that no bullets/paragraphs are missing (by counting).
 Check all links 1-level deep: click link, make sure it jumps to the correct page, then return to the original page.
 Check functionality of every button, dropdown, text field.
 Make sure external links work properly.
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When translating HTML files, please follow these guidelines:
 Translate all body text completely.
 Translate the <title> tag in each file. This appears at the beginning of the file header and contains the text that appears in the title bar of the browser. In
Dreamweaver, choose Code view, and near the top of the file you'll see:
<title> Title text to be translated </title>
<title> Título traducido </title>
Translate the Keywords and Description META tags in the files. Usually these tags appear at the beginning of the file and contain the keywords and description used by search engines to index the files. In Dreamweaver, choose Code view, and near the top of the file you'll see:
<META name=" Keywords " content=" keyword, indexing, search ">
<META name=" Keywords " content=" palabra clave, índice, búsqueda ">
<META name=" Description " content=" Translate this description of the module or file.
">
<META name=" Description " content=" Descripción traducida del módulo o archivo.
">
 Translate all Alt tags containing text to be localized. Each image should have a related Alt tag describing its content, which often matches the actual figure title. In Dreamweaver, choose Split view, click on an image, and you will see something like this:
<img src=" media/graphics/imagename.gif" width ="153" height ="240" align ="right" alt ="Text describing contents of image.gif
" />
<img src=" media/graphics/imagename.gif" width ="153" height ="240" align ="right" alt ="Descripción del contenido de image.gif
" />
 Don’t let the underlining corresponding to links spill onto adjacent spaces or punctuation, and make sure all words are part of the link. For example:
English: An example of the mean and standard deviation for
Incorrect: Un ejemplo de la media y la desviación típica del...
Correct: Un ejemplo de la media y la desviación típica del...
 If the keyword description appear "inappropriate" for the contents, please contact carlw@comet.ucar.edu
as there is a very good chance they were copied from an earlier module and never updated. COMET will need to provide the correct content for translation.
General Considerations
When translating the text in images and graphics files, please follow these guidelines:
 Work in the Photoshop (.psd) files whenever possible and save the image with layers. Then generate the .gif or .jpg files (Save for Web).
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 When Photoshop files are not available, generate a file with layers from the .gif or .jpg file (.jpg are already capable of storing layers, but .gifs have to be converted to RBG. In Photoshop, select Image>Mode>RGB Color), then save as a Photoshop file, make the changes and finally use File>Save for Web to save a .gif or .jpg version. Keep the Photoshop file, which will allow us to make changes later, if necessary. Try to duplicate as much as possible the original look.
 Translate following standard Spanish guidelines. Abbreviate when needed (but as little as possible).
 Make sure the terminology used in the images is consistent with what is used in the body text.
 Make sure image titles are consistent with the corresponding HTML Alt tags.
 Convert all measurements, unless they are embedded in the image background file and doing so would imply an inordinate amount of time.
 Translate the H and L indications in weather maps (this may not always be practical).
 Double check all work in graphics files. Errors are more cumbersome to fix in these files.
 Please deliver to COMET the Photoshop files, as well as the .gif or .jpg files.
Fonts and Point Sizes
 Try to duplicate the original look of the graphic (font, point size, bolding, etc.).
When this is not possible, maintain consistency across all translated graphics files.
 In general, follow these guidelines for font point sizes:
 Image titles:
or
 Other text:
Arial 10 point bold
or, sometimes,
Arial 10 point not bold
.
 Credit line is always
Arial 10 point bold
; the copyright symbol is 12 point bold:
The COMET Program
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Abbreviations:
 are always followed by a period;
 may have gender and number endings;
 follow standard rules for the plural (+s, +es, except for double abbreviations such as EE.UU.);
When necessary, please use the following abbreviations or words: capítulo
Estados Unidos figura libra millas número, números página, páginas pies por ejemplo pulgada señor
= cap., caps.
= EE.UU.
(not E.E.U.U.
or EE. UU.
)
= fig.
= lb., lbs.
= millas
= núm., núms. (however, when there are space constraints you may use “ n° ”; but NOT “ n.
o ”
= pág., págs. (or “ p.
” and “ pp.
”)
= pies
= p. ej.
= pda., pdas.
= Sr.
In general, you should not abbreviate, nor capitalize, chapter, page, or figure.
La sección 3 contiene una descripción...
Do not use the English symbols for inches (") or feet ('); use “pulgadas” (o the abbreviated form) and “pies”.
General Considerations
Three kinds of diacritic signs are used in Spanish:
1.
tilde over “n” to form the letter “ñ”
2.
diaeresis or umlaut, only over a vowel “u” preceded by a “g” and followed by
“e” or “i”
3.
acute accents that affect any of the five vowels: “á”, “é”, “í”, “ó”, and “ú.”
The “ñ” is a regular letter in the Spanish alphabet and should never be confused with the “n.” Eliminating the tilde will usually change the meaning: cana (gray hair) caña (reed/cane)
The diaeresis is required to force the “u” sound in the combinations “gue” and “gui.”
While uncommon, ignoring it is a spelling error. ambigüedad | antigüedad
Acute accents mark the dominant vowel in the syllable where the stress falls when pronouncing. Like diereses, they mainly affect phonetics, although in some situations
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they are also used to differentiate words that could otherwise be confused in written language (differential accent).
While general rules for accenting words in Spanish will not be reviewed here, we will mention some situations that can cause confusion.
When words are merged to form another word, all the component words except the last one lose their original accents, if any.
Incorrect: asímismo [así + mismo], décimoséptimo [décimo + séptimo]
Correct: asimismo (also), decimoséptimo (17th)
But they keep their accents if hyphenated instead of merged.
Incorrect: teorico-práctico
Correct: teórico-práctico
If the composite word is an adverb formed by adding “-mente” to an adjective, it will be accented if the original adjective was accented (the ending “-mente” is ignored for the accents). simultáneamente (simultaneously) [simultánea + mente] felizmente (happily) [feliz + mente]
Foreign words and nouns are usually accented following the rules of their respective language. Foreign words that have become common Spanish words without modification follow the rules of Spanish accenting. píxel, tóner, módem
When two forms of a word exist, one of them Hispanicized, the unmodified form is not submitted to the rules of Spanish accenting. estándar, standard fútbol, football
The Hispanicized form should always be preferred.
Differential Accent
In Spanish, acute accents also distinguish some words from other ones with a similar spelling. While rules do change, this list reflects the last recommendations of the
Real Academia Española. These words require an acute accent:
1.
Personal pronouns “él” (he), “tú” (you), “mí” (me), “sí” (himself), to distinguish them from the article “el” (the), the possessive adjectives “tu” (your), and “mi”
(my), the musical notes “mi” (E) and “si” (B). Note: the pronoun “ti” (to you) is never accented, as it can never be confused with another pronoun.
2.
“Sí” is also accented when it is an affirmative adverb (yes).
3.
The adverb “más” (more, most), to distinguish from the conjunction “mas” (but).
4.
The verbal forms “dé” (imperative and subjunctive of to give) and “sé” (both when it means 'I know,' and when it is the imperative of to be), in order to distinguish them from “de” (of) and “se” (self).
5.
The noun “té” (tea) to distinguish it from the indirect pronoun “te” (you).
6.
“cuál/cuáles” (which), “cuándo” (when), “cómo” (how), “dónde” (where), “qué”
(what), and “quién/quiénes” (who), if those adverbs are used to imply a question, search or exclamation.
7.
“aún” when it means 'yet, still' (that is, when it may be replaced by “todavía”), in order to distinguish it from “aun” (even, also, although).
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Other cases:
1. The adverb “sólo” (only) to distinguish it from the corresponding adjective (alone, single). While the Real Academia Española now considers this rule mandatory only in cases of ambiguity, we will prefer this usage for consistency.
2. The demonstrative pronouns “éste,” “ése,” and “aquél” (this, that), and their feminine and plural forms, to distinguish them from the corresponding demonstrative adjectives (but never accent “aquello” or “eso,” because they are always pronouns). While the Real Academia Española now considers this rule mandatory only in cases of ambiguity, we will prefer this usage for consistency.
3. The conjunction “o” (or), when printed between to numerals, to avoid it being mistaken for a zero. While with most modern fonts there is little chance of confusing an “o” for a “0,” we will prefer this usage:
12 ó 13
Other differential accents (such as the one sometimes written on 'mismo' when a pronoun, to distinguish it from the corresponding adjective) are now considered obsolete and should not be used.
Generating Accents and Other Special Characters
These are the codes used by Windows and HTML to generate the most common
Spanish extended characters, as well as some other characters common in COMET modules. To generate the characters in Windows programs (including HTML editors), make sure NumLock is on, then press ALT+[code].
Character Windows HTML
á
é
í
ó
ú
160 or 0225
130 or 0233
161 or 0237
162 or 0243
163 or 0250
&aacute;
&eacute;
&iacute;
&oacute;
&uacute;
Ñ
ü
Ü
¿
¡
Í
Ó
Ú
ñ
Á
É
164 or 0241
193 or 0193
0201
0205
0211
0218
165 or 0209
0252
0220
0191
0161
(m-dash)
º (o superscript)
ª (a superscript)
≤
0186
0170
8804
≥
±
µ
©
8805
0177
0181
0169 non-breaking space Shift+Ctrl+Space
&ntilde;
&Aacute;
&Eacute;
&Iacute;
&Oacute;
&Uacute;
&Ntilde;
&uuml;
&Uuml;
&iquest;
&iexcl;
&mdash;
&ordm;
&ordf;
&le;
&ge;
&plusmn;
&micro;
&copy;
&nbsp;
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Alternatively, you may use a Spanish keyboard or, of you are used to the English keyboard, the English-International layout.
Subject-verb
The subject and verb should agree in number.
Incorrect:
Se toma en cuenta los efectos del régimen del flujo actual
Correct:
Se toman en cuenta los efectos del régimen del flujo actual
Incorrect:
Al calcular la dispersión, se puede también tomar en cuenta los regímenes de flujo recientes.
Correct:
Al calcular la dispersión, se pueden también tomar en cuenta los regímenes de flujo recientes.
Use the definite article before the acronym of public organizations (la OMM, el SMN).
Usually, we do not use articles before the name of software programs, operating systems, companies, etc.
Please translate the following words as indicated:
Caution = Cuidado, Precaución (depends on context)
Danger = Peligro
Hint = Sugerencia
Important = Importante
Note = Nota
Notice = Aviso
Precaution = Precaución
Warning = Advertencia, Peligro, Atención (depends on context).
When including the attention messages, separate these words from the text that follows with a colon and a space, not with a hyphen or dash.
Incorrect:
Nota – Es importante...
Correct:
Nota: Es importante...
Generally, there are three cases for bulleted lists:
A) Bulleted items are phrases (incomplete sentences): Use lowercase with no punctuation at the end of each item.
Esta presentación abarcará:
 la formación de niebla o estratos delante de un frente cálido
 la formación de niebla o estratos detrás de un frente frío
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 los límites de los frentes estacionarios
B) Bulleted items are complete sentences: Use uppercase and a period at the end of each item.
A la hora de redactar un pronóstico de aeródromo:
 No conviene proporcionar gran cantidad de detalles acerca de aquellas expectativas que no son relevantes para las operaciones aéreas.
 Es buena idea tener presentes los criterios de enmienda al formular el pronóstico, pero no conviene formular un pronóstico meramente para satisfacer dichos criterios.
However, if the bulleted items are joined by a conjunction, use lowercase, separate with commas or semicolons and use a period only on the last item.
A menudo, estas regiones presentan las siguientes condiciones:
 niveles inferiores muy húmedos,
 algo de llovizna, y
 convergencia en los niveles inferiores.
C) Bulleted items are a mixture of complete and incomplete sentences: Use uppercase and a period at the end.
Entre dichas pautas se incluyen las siguientes:
 5 renglones por TAF como máximo.
 Evite los grupos PROB.
 Vincule las condiciones similares de visibilidad y techos de nubes en categorías similares (pronóstico de escenarios).
Whenever possible, it will be preferrable to unify the bulleted list to follow the same format (all complete or all incomplete sentences, all using verbs or nouns, etc.).
 In Spanish, capital letters are not used as freely as in English. Only names of persons and places need to be capitalized. In module names, chapter and section titles, headlines, etc., only the first letter should be uppercase.
Incorrect:
Funcionamiento de los Modelos Numéricos
Correct:
Funcionamiento de los modelos numéricos
 Capitalize Ud. (you), Sr. (Mr.), Dr. (Dr.) if abbreviated, but try not to abbreviate them. When spelled out, they should not be capitalized.
Incorrect:
Para que Usted pueda...
Correct:
Para que usted pueda...
 Do not capitalize the words Chapter, Section, Paragraph, Figure.
Incorrect:
Consulte la Sección Relaciones Nivel-Caudal de este módulo...
Correct:
Consulte la sección Relaciones nivel-caudal de este módulo...
 In SW or HTML pages, only the first letter in the names of commands, buttons, etc. should be capitalized.
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Incorrect:
Volver al Comienzo
Correct:
Volver al comienzo
 Capitalize the names of organizations, and departments, divisions, offices, and sections of an organization, but keep “department,” “division,” or “section” lowercase, unless the office is formally addressed or it is listed suggesting a postal address.
Examples:
Instituto Meteorológico Nacional de Costa Rica
Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología del Perú
Servicio Nacional de Meteorología (National Weather Service, o
NWS) de EE.UU.
 In Spanish never capitalize:
 Words that derivative from proper names that are now common nouns or adjectives: booleano, cartesiana, gaussiana .
 Names of languages and nationalities: “el modelo GEM canadiense,” “las normas europeas”.
 Names of months and days of the week: “el martes 18 de julio de 2006”.
However, see the note on date format for meteorological products, under Date and Time .

 Names of the seasons: “El verano pasado”.
After a colon, use:
 Lowercase if the colon is followed by a list of items, or by the explanation or conclusion of the previous phrase or word (probably the most common case.)
 Uppercase if the colon is part of a title and introduces a subtitle:
Meteorología satelital: Selección del canal del GOES
 Uppercase after attention words:
Nota: Es importante...
Cuidado: Nunca se debe...
 Uppercase if the colon is followed by a quote, or by an explanation composed of several paragraphs (see Bulleted Lists ).
Generally, the names of months, days of the week, and seasons of the year are not capitalized in Spanish.
Incorrect: El Martes 18 de Julio de 2006...
Correct: El martes 18 de julio de 2006...
Do not use the definite article before the year.
Incorrect: El Martes 18 de julio del 2006...
Correct: El martes 18 de julio de 2006...
However, for satellite images and meteorological products we will follow the format used by COMET, which is common for meteorological materials and forecast products and matches the Spanish standard (without prepositions):
English: 1245 UTC 10 Apr 1995
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Spanish: 1245 UTC 10 Abr 1995
This format required a minimum of manipulation (only a few of the months need to be changed), it conforms to COMET standards in English, and is readily understood in
Spanish.
In blue are the 3-letter month abbreviations that differ from English:
Jan / Feb / Mar / Apr / May / Jun / Jul / Ago / Sep / Oct / Nov / Dec
Ene / Feb / Mar / Abr / May / Jun / Jul / Ago / Sep / Oct / Nov / Dic
Please write them like this, avoid using all caps (use Ene , not ENE ). Use Septiembre , not Setiembre .
Use UTC for all time formats (don't use Z or hora Zulú ).
In Spanish, when used to refer to groups of people the masculine gender implicitly refers to people of both genders (for example, los pronosticadores del NWS encompasses in its meaning both male and female forcasters). However, for COMET module translations the effort will be made to ensure that the female presence in the professional community is explicitly acknowledged, or that the text is made gender neutral. We may do this in several ways:
Alternating genders in the text. For example, one mention may use the female noun, and the next the male equivalent, or viceversa. Avoid using both forms of the noun in the same sentence (such as “los pronosticadores y pronosticadoras”), which is awkward.
Eliminating gender from the text. Sometimes, instead of translating "forecaster" as
"pronosticador" or "pronosticadora", we can use "la persona a cargo del pronóstico", or even change the wording to something like "al generar un pronóstico, es necesario..." Avoid awkward sentences; look for constructions that will read well. For example:
English: To assist forecasters with interpretation of forecasts...
Spanish: Para ayudar a quienes deben hacer el pronóstico en la interpretación de los pronósticos...
Better Spanish: Para facilitar la interpretación de los pronósticos...
English: Hydrologists need to...
Spanish: Los hidrólogos y las hidrólogas necesitan...
Better Spanish: En hidrología es necesario...
Translate place names as appropriate in Spanish. For example:
Nueva York | Tenesí | Carolina del Sur | Nuevo México | Nueva
Inglaterra | Apalaches | Terranova | Columbia Británica | Nueva
Escocia
Many geographical references used in examples refer to geographical regions of the
US, and they should be translated, though sometimes they can be made more generic. For example:
East Coast = Costa del Atlántico
West Coast = Costa del Pacífico
For clarity, expand the two letter abbreviations used for the names of states:
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AK, MS, LA, and GA = Arkansas, Misisipí, Luisiana y Georgia
When more than one form of a geographical name exists, either will be considered acceptable, though if one form is preponderantly more common (check by doing an internet search), please use it.
Do not hyphenate files.
Do not hyphenate proper names at the end of lines.
To keep figures and their corresponding units or symbols on the same line, in
Windows type Shift+Ctrl+Space; in HTML files, the non-braking space will appear as
&nbsp;
While not always practical, especially in HTML files, try not to separate the parts of module names, command names, program names, company names, manual names, etc.
Convert all US measurements to metrics. If the numbers in question are examples that do not reflect any particular graphic and don’t otherwise affect the scope of the text, just use the metric value.
Convert numbers in graphics only if it is easily done (files with layers, not excessive numbers of values). When possible, it’s fine to leave the English values and add the metric, for example in a graphic with a scale. When not practical, leave the graphic in
US measurements, especially when it’s simply an example and it is not crucial that the reader understand the values. If these values are mentioned in the text, leave the US value and add the metric conversion in parenthesis.
While the use of the decimal period in Spanish technical and scientific documents is not uncommon, this reflects the US usage more than a norm of the Spanish language. For COMET, we will use the decimal comma in Spanish. Numbers are more often expressed as decimals, an integer and fraction being less common in Spanish.
English:
Spanish:
3.75 | 3¾
3,75
As a thousand separator, please use a period. Never use thousand separators in years.
English-US: 15,000 years ago | the year 1996
Spanish: hace 15.000 años | el año 1996
When converting numbers, consider the context to choose a degree of precision. For example, if the text talks about a distance of 500 feet, it is not necessary to specify
152.4 meters, 150 meters will suffice. On the other hand, specific examples might require much more precision in the result of calculations.
In most cases, no recognized Spanish equivalent exists for the names of US agencies and other organizations, and as a general rule, the official English name and
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acronym will be used.
However, because of the broad US-based Spanish-speaking population and the important influence of US meteorological organizations in the Spanish-speaking world, some organizations do have recognized, semi-official names in Spanish. Two examples are the National Weather Service, which refers to itself as "Servicio
Nacional de Meteorología" on its own Spanish web pages, and NOAA, which is widely known in Spanish as "Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica".
While the official name is the English name, and we will use the English acronyms
NWS and NOAA, we will provide the translation of the name in Spanish.
On first mention, provide the Spanish name, followed by the official name and acronym in parenthesis:
Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica ( National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration , o NOAA) de los EE.UU.
For these agencies and organizations, it will then be acceptable to use the Spanish name, followed by the official acronym and an indication of the country:
Servicio Nacional de Meteorología (NWS) de los EE.UU. or simply the acronym.
Other US, Canadian and other national agency/organization names should be checked on the web for official or semi-official Spanish equivalents, but the official name and acronym will prevail. For example, do not translate
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
The COMET Program
Use only the official names of organization in copyright statements.
When an organization has an internationally recognized Spanish name and acronym, that name and acronym will be used; for example:
English: World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Spanish: Organización Meteorológica Mundial (OMM)
When using the acronym, do use the appropriate article: el sitio web de la OMM ; las oficinas del NWS .
Often, COMET module texts are heavily geared toward a US audience. While it is not always practical (or desirable) to eliminate all references to US organizations, often the text can be expanded to include general references to “the national weather service in your country”, or something to that effect:
Coordinate with your nearby Central Weather Service Unit (CWSU),
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office (WFO), and aviation customers.
Coordine con las oficinas locales de su servicio meteorológico nacional [en EE.UU., con la Unidad de Servicio de Centro
Meteorológico ( Central Weather Service Unit , o CWSU) y la oficina de pronósticos (WFO) del Servicio Nacional de Meteorología (NWS)], y con los clientes de aviación.
Connectors such as “a fin de” or “con objeto de” may replace the preposition “para,” in order to prevent undesirable repetitions; please do not abuse the phrase “a fin de.”
“Afectar a” - Use the preposition “a” with the verb “afectar” when meaning “influir,”
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“tener efecto en,” for instance:
Afecta a la comunidad de aviación.
“Insistir en” - The verb “insistir” requires the preposition “en” before “que”:
Incorrect:
Es necesario insistir que se utilicen...
Correct:
Es necesario insistir en que se utilicen...
Use the comparatives with the correct prepositions. According to María Moliner:
"En cuanto a los comparativos orgánicos, cada uno tiene su régimen particular:
ANTERIOR [POSTERIOR] A
ANTES [DESPUÉS] DE QUE
INFERIOR [SUPERIOR] A
MAYOR [MENOR] DE, QUE
MEJOR [PEOR] QUE
PREFERIBLE A "
For example:
Incorrect: temperatura mínima mayor a 0°C
Correct: temperatura mínima mayor que 0°C
“Igual o mayor que” - When “igual” is used with “mayor” or “menor,” no preposition should be used:
Incorrect:
El valor debe ser igual a o menor que 10
Correct:
El valor debe ser igual o menor que 10
Comma
In Spanish , when a series of items is separated by commas and the last item is preceded by a conjunction, you should omit the last comma before the conjunction.
While this practice is optional in English, it is the rule in Spanish.
A comma may be added before the conjunction “o” only to emphasize that it means an exclusive disjunction. A comma may be added before the conjunction “y” only if omitting it would render the meaning ambiguous (for example, if the last item in the series also has the conjunction "and").
Incorrect:
Imágenes, caracteres, líneas, y símbolos.
Correct:
Imágenes, caracteres, líneas y símbolos.
But:
Seleccione Guardar y cerrar, y haga clic.
Sometimes you can avoid repeating two “y” conjunctions in one sentence:
Seleccione Guardar y cerrar; a continuación haga clic.
As a general rule, never separate subject and predicate with a comma. Of course, if
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the subject has parenthetical information between commas, this rule does not apply.
But a parenthetical using commas always requires two commas. To recognize parenthetical text, try to eliminate it. If there is information loss, but not an essential change in meaning, it is a parenthetical.
Incorrect:
El uso de modelos numéricos que emplean parametrización, puede afectar al pronóstico.
Correct:
El uso de modelos numéricos que emplean parametrización puede afectar al pronóstico.
NEVER separate with a comma the main subject from subordinate clauses that are intrinsic to the subject's definition:
Incorrect:
El uso de modelos numéricos, que emplean parametrización puede afectar al pronóstico.
Correct:
El uso de modelos numéricos que emplean parametrización puede afectar al pronóstico.
Conversely, an ADJECTIVE subordinate clause (one that extends the explanation, but is not an intrinsic part of the subject definition) should be placed between commas or other parenthetical marks:
Incorrect:
Una descarga eléctrica que puede ser producida por diversas causas puede afectar al rendimiento del istrumento.
Correct:
Una descarga eléctrica, que puede ser producida por diversas causas, puede afectar al rendimiento del istrumento.
Dashes
Two types of dashes are used in Spanish: the shorter guión (n-dash) and the longer
guión largo o raya (m-dash).
Most commonly, the guión is used to separate the elements in compound words
(e.g.: teórico-práctico ) and to hyphenate words. It is also used to indicate a number interval, and to separate the elements in date formats: en las páginas 23-45
1996-2003
12-5-99
The guión largo o raya (m-dash) is used to indicate a new speaker when transcribing dialogues (infrequent in technical materials), and to enclose parentheticals in the middle of a sentence, often for emphasis.
Las distribuciones de probabilidad se utilizan al menos de forma implícita en la mayoría -por no decir en todos- los aspectos del proceso de pronóstico.
When used in this way, the m-dash is used exactly as the parenthesis (see Paired
Punctuation Marks ).
Never use the dash in Spanish to mean something like “in short”; colons are used instead. The same applies when an explanatory paragraph follows the dash in
English—a colon should be used instead.
Dashes are not proper ellipsis marks in Spanish.
Often the dash is used in English to separate parts of a title, especially in the title
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line of a browser. In these cases the n-dash may be used, or it may be substituted with a colon.
Ellipsis
The ellipsis always uses three periods. When placed after a complete sentence normally ending in a period, the final period should be omitted (to be precise, it is part of the ellipsis). No spaces are used between the ellipsis points. It may be used at the beginning or at the end of a text, with no space between the text and the ellipsis.
If the ellipsis precedes the text, the first character of the text should not be capitalized. If the ellipsis is used inserted in the middle of a text, it should be enclosed in parentheses and considered a parenthetical.
El motivo por el cual se realiza este suavizado tiene poco que ver con las necesidades actuales (...) La rutina de suavizado nunca fue eliminada del postprocesamiento de AWIPS que realizan los Centros
Nacionales de Predicción Ambiental (NCEP) de EE.UU.
Paired Punctuation Marks
 Spanish paired punctuation marks include:
¿ ? question marks
¡ ! exclamation marks
“ ” quotation marks
— — parenthetical dashes
( ) parenthesis
[ ] square brackets
{ } curly brackets
 Question and exclamation marks have a right or closing form (identical to the
English), and a left or opening form (the right form turned upside down). You can enclose between question and exclamation marks single words, phrases or whole sentences, standing alone, inserted in the middle of a sentence, starting a sentence or ending a sentence.
English: Continue?
Spanish: ¿Desea continuar?
Interrogative or exclamative clauses in the middle of a sentence do not normally begin with uppercase. If the sentence continues after the closing mark, a comma usually follows the interrogation or exclamation. But if the interrogation or exclamation stands alone or is added at the end of a sentence, the period that should have finished the sentence is omitted.
La pregunta es, ¿cómo generar ese pronóstico?
Aunque puede pulsar ese botón, ¡cuidado!, podría perder todo su trabajo.
No ha contestado las preguntas. ¿Desea continuar?
The use of multiple question/exclamation marks for emphasis is not common in
Spanish and should be avoided. Should it be necessary to follow it, however, please match the number of opening and closing symbols.
English: WARNING!!!
Spanish: ¡¡¡ADVERTENCIA!!!
It is common not to use exclamation marks in cases where the English text might.
This happens often in software error messages:
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
English: Coming Soon!
Spanish: De próxima publicación...
As a general rule, the clauses between paired punctuation marks are separated from the rest of the text with one blank space before the opening mark and one blank space after the closing mark. Contrary to the US usage, this rule applies to parenthetical dashes:
English: For example, a band of precipitation 20 km wide-half of a full 40 km wave-would need at least a 10 km output grid according to our simple rule.
Spanish: Por ejemplo, según nuestra regla sencilla, una banda de precipitación de 20 km de ancho -la mitad de una onda de
40 km- necesitaría una malla de salida de al menos 10 km.
 When used, commas immediately follow the closing symbols, but never precede them. Contrary to the US usage, this also applies to quotation marks:
English: Although this is commonly referred to as "convective feedback," these forecast errors...
Spanish: Aunque este efecto suele denominarse "retroalimentación de la convección", en realidad estos errores de pronóstico...
Periods may be placed inside or (more often) outside quotation marks, parenthesis and brackets. Periods are included before the closing mark only if the whole sentence began within those signs:
English: (See the User's Manual for more information.)
Spanish: (Consulte el Manual del usuario para obtener más información.)
Conversely, if the quotes, parentheses or brackets began in the middle of another sentence, leaving it incomplete, the period must be positioned outside. This is the only possible situation for parenthetical dashes.
When periods follow a closing paired punctuation mark, no blank space is left between the period and the mark.
When paired punctuation marks are nested, no blank space is left between them:
Seleccione la otra opción (“Niebla”) para obtener información al respecto.
Spaces
Delete extra spaces between sentences. While the practice of using two spaces is common in English, it is not in Spanish, and in electronic files leads to strange spacing.
Do not use spaces before punctuation marks.
Use non-braking spaces (Shift+Ctrl+Space) between numbers and their symbols.
While in the past the “ch” and “ll” were considered individual letters of the Spanish alphabet, this is no longer the case, and these letter combinations should be sorted normally in indexes, glossaries and other sorted lists.
When translating glossaries or indexes, follow standard Spanish dictionary format for capitalization, using lowercase for the entries (use uppercase only for proper names, acronyms, etc.), followed by a period, and then the definition. For example:
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... albedo. Razón de la cantidad de radiación reflejada por un cuerpo...
Applications Technology Satellite (ATS). Satélite de aplicaciones tecnológicas,... atenuación. Cualquier proceso en el cual...
...
Lists that need to be in alphabetical order should not be alphabetized until the end of the project, since it is very difficult and time-consuming to edit a sorted list.
It is also a good idea to keep a copy of the file prior to alphabetization.
In order to maintain consistency:
 Please use “sustituir” rather than “substituir”.
 Please use “sustancia” rather than “substancia”.
 Please use the traditional form “septiembre” rather than the simplified form
“setiembre.”
 Please do not drop the “p” in words traditionally beginning with “ps.” (Exceptions: some compounds of “seudo”).
 In general terms, please do not drop the “n” in words that traditionally begin with
“trans”. (Exceptions: “trasladar”, “traspasar”, "trasplantar", “trastocar”,
“trastornar”.)
 Please keep the double “e” in “reemplazar,” “reembolsar,” “preestablecer” and related words. However, “sobrescribir” and “restablecer” have only one “e.”
 The verb “prohibir” has an accent in forms like: prohíbo, prohíbes, prohíbe:

Se prohíbe la reproducción no autorizada.
Even though both forms are correct, please use “en seguida” as two words, instead of “enseguida” as one word.
In contrast with abbreviations, symbols are never followed by a period, and are invariable (no gender or number). They always follow the number they specify, and are separated from the number by one space (Shift+Ctrl+Space), to avoid the number being separated from the symbol. It is a goodpractice to separate the units from the symbol with a non-reaking space Units of measurement are represented by symbols, as defined by the International System of Units: centímetros gramos hPa | mbar kilogramos kilómetros litros grados Celsius
= cm
= g
= use hPa for both.
= kg (lowercase “ k ”)
= km (lowercase “ k ”)
= l, L (prefer uppercase, for clarity)
= °C
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grados Farenheit = °F
A space should be used between the number and the degree symbol, e.g. 28 °C , but no space between the symbol ‘ ° ’ and the letter C . When the number appears with the degree symbol alone, without the letter C , the symbol attached to the number, without a space: 28° .
= m metros micrómetro (micra | micrón) = use micrómetro as standard term, but in most cases use the symbol μm , so readers can use the term they prefer
Examples:
Incorrect: 34 mm. / 418 KG / 32°C
Correct: 34 mm / 418 kg / 32 °C
A non-braking space should be used between a number and the percent symbol:
28 %
These symbols should be translated:
@ = en
& = y
# = almohadilla, número, núm.
Use the following to refer to these symbols:
@ = arroba
& = etcétera
# = almohadilla, número (depends on context and target country)
* = asterisco (use “ estrella ” only when referring to phone)
Please do not use the # sign in Spanish for numbering a list of terms.
Incorrect: Pregunta #1
Correct: Pregunta 1
Keep copyright information in the same format as the English:
Copyright © 2006 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
 As a general rule, translate module names, and chapter and section titles using nouns, following proper capitalization (i.e., initial uppercase only).
English: Writing Effective TAFs
Spanish: Redacción de pronósticos TAF eficaces
 If a noun is not available; if verbal nouns are not possible, infinitives should be used.. Avoid “Para...” and “Cómo...” constructions in titles and chapter headings.
 Be sure to translate cross references consistently.
 When other COMET modules are referenced, only translate the name if it has been previously published in Spanish. Otherwise, leave the name in English; only provide a parenthetical translation if needed to clarify some aspect of the text.
 When the title an external website or other work is mentioned, leave it in English; only add a parenthetical translation if necessary to clarify the meaning.
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Verb Forms and Usage
 Module names and chapter and section titles that in English begin with a gerund:
Use a noun; if verbal nouns are not possible, infinitives should be used. Do not use “Cómo” followed by the infinitive, unless the context clearly calls for it.
English: Using Numerical Models
Incorrect: Utilizando modelos numéricos
Correct: Uso de los modelos numéricos
 Paragraph and chapter heads that begin in English with an infinitive preceded by
“To”: always use forms like “Para” followed by the Spanish infinitive.
 Index: use always infinitives, when the English is a gerund.
 Commands, menu settings, options and buttons: infinitives.
Incorrect: el menú Busque
Correct: el menú Buscar
 Instructions and commands to the user in manuals, help and software: Use formal imperatives (not infinitives).
Incorrect: Contestar las preguntas y después pulsar Terminado.
Correct: Conteste las preguntas y después pulse Terminado.
Passive Voice
Please avoide passive constructions (ser+past participle) that follow the English structure. While the use of the passive form is common in English, its constant use in
Spanish is not advisable, especially when there is a clear subject that can actively take on the action of the verb. Although in Spanish the passive form is often used in legal texts, encyclopedias and other “learned” works, its constant use creates texts that are generally longer, and harder to read.
Examples of passive voice:
 Todos estos conceptos son utilizados por los sistemas de pronóstico...
 ...la distribución de probabilidad puede ser utilizada para...
 Los pronósticos que fueron hechos en ese período...
 Los eventos son colocados en columnas y filas.
Examples of preferred active form:
 Los sistemas de pronóstico utilizan todos estos conceptos...
 ...la distribución de probabilidad se puede utilizar para...
 Los pronósticos hechos en ese período...
 Los eventos se colocan en filas y columnas.
Be careful not to use the Spanish indefinite past instead of perfect tense when the action has been completed in the past and its effects are brought to the present.
Example:
Si la copia terminó y desea continuar...
Preferred form:
Si la copia ha terminado y desea continuar...
When possible, prefer subordinate clauses in subjunctive rather than their equivalent in indicative. The subjunctive is preferred to the indicative because it gives the idea of non-certainty. However, make sure that you do not abuse this usage.
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Example:
No hay preguntas que se refieren a...
Preferred form:
No hay preguntas que se refieran a...
Example:
Verifique que la impresora está encendida.
Preferred form:
Verifique que la impresora esté encendida.
“Impreso” and “imprimido” - The verb “imprimir” has two past participles: “impreso” and “imprimido.” While both forms are correct, always prefer “impreso.”
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