Spanish (Spain) style guide

Use this page for Spanish written for readers in Spain. The shared Spanish guide covers grammar, messages, punctuation, notation and literal syntax. The regional choices below take precedence where they differ.

Address and regional vocabulary

Use tú for one reader in ordinary product help unless the brief establishes usted. For an informal plural audience using vosotros, match the verb and possessive forms: podéis, vuestros. Ustedes remains appropriate for a formal audience or a regional convention that uses it. Do not ban it throughout Spain. Keep one treatment consistent within the task.

Prefer ordenador, el PC, ratón and vídeo for this edition when they identify the intended objects. Follow the actual localized interface and glossary for exact labels. A regional preference does not justify claiming that another word is never used elsewhere.

Both -ra and -se imperfect-subjunctive forms are available. Choose the natural form in context; there is no house requirement to change every estuviera to estuviese. Preserve the shared distinctions of tense and mood.

Claims and instructions

A natural marketing rewrite must keep product conditions. Un dispositivo de confianza is not cualquier dispositivo; large files are not files of unlimited size. Keep requirements such as a browser and identify whose device or connection is required. A claim of reliability must not become a claim of security without evidence.

Use an imperative for a direct step and an infinitive for a compact action label where appropriate. Preserve accents and the spelling of exact labels, including an ellipsis that belongs to a command. Follow capitalization and abbreviations.

Retain the operation and relevant object in an error or recovery instruction. No se pudo guardar reports a failed attempt; no se puede guardar can describe a present limitation. A sequence of events does not establish its cause. Use the shared message guidance, including its restrictions on changing placeholders and named arguments.

Numbers and recordings

A decimal comma is customary in Spanish prose for this locale: 12,5 mm. Follow the application’s verified formatter for dynamic data. Preserve a decimal point in code or input where the specified syntax requires it. A date such as 13 de septiembre de 2026 makes the month explicit.

Keep a space between a value and its unit or percent sign, as in 25 %. Preserve the value, currency and conditions of a price. Do not rewrite a version identifier to match a decimal convention. See numbers and formats.

Choose pronunciation for the intended audience in Spain, with recognizable product names and consistent treatment. Do not impose one accent as a condition of correct Spanish. Preserve the necessary characters in spoken identifiers and follow the shared audiovisual guidance.