Style

Abbreviations

Capitalization

Type

Numbers

Lists, tables and figures

Criteria for translations into English

Differences between British and American English

Gender

Names and forms of address

Bibliographical references

Introduction

This site offers an overview of the UOC's preferences on a range of English-language style issues. It provides authors, translators, editors and proofreaders working in English with guidelines on the UOC's house style in order to maximize linguistic and stylistic consistency within and across the texts produced in connection with the university.

Here you will find information on the UOC's approach to some of the most common style issues to come up in UOC-related texts. You will also find explicit examples of points on which English and Catalan style or usage differ. For more in-depth explanations of specific grammatical points in English, particularly in terms of how it compares to Catalan, see the UOC's Practical Guide to English Usage: Comparing and Contrasting English and Catalan. Likewise, for information on style issues not addressed here, see the Interuniversity Style Guide for Writing Institutional Texts in English published by the Vives Network of universities, of which the UOC is a member.

For ease of reference and use, the information on this site is presented as questions and answers, which can be consulted individually or read straight through. We have taken care to choose examples from UOC texts to illustrate the types of situations language professionals working with the UOC may encounter and how they have been resolved in the past.

A final word of warning: while the following sections lay out the UOC's general preferences, the overriding criteria for any given text must always be consistency, clarity, respect for the author's intentions and overall readability. Language professionals should thus use their best judgement when deciding whether to make exceptions to these rules.

Key

Words in bold (e.g. learning) are either key points or examples of correct usage.

Words and phrases that have been crossed out (e.g. ours friends) show erroneous use of the language.

Catalan translations used to illustrate examples are in italics (e.g. punt).

Finally, the following abbreviations are used:
 

  • BrE: British English
  • AmE: American English