Spanish (US) style guide

Use this page for Spanish written for readers in the United States. Use the shared Spanish guide for grammar, messages, punctuation, keyboard wording and literal syntax. A US audience includes different regional backgrounds; the locale does not make every reader’s vocabulary or preferred form of address identical.

Address and terminology

Use tú in ordinary product help unless the brief establishes usted. Use ustedes for several readers. Keep the related verb and possessive forms consistent; a business or technical subject does not automatically require a switch midway through a task. See address and agreement.

Prefer computadora in general prose where it names the device. La PC follows that noun’s gender. Preserve an existing label or more precise product term rather than rewriting every occurrence to match that preference. Equipo can be useful when the intended hardware is clear.

Use familiar terms such as costo, capacitación and video when they fit the meaning and audience. These preferences do not make every regional alternative incorrect. A dictionary entry or an old translation memory does not by itself approve an interface label; use the product glossary and current localized interface.

Choose a verb for the operation. Eliminar a file, extraer an archive’s contents and quitar an item from a list are not automatic equivalents of every English “remove”. Likewise, comprobar and verificar need their actual objects and purposes; neither guarantees absolute certainty. See shared word choices.

US context and formats

Preserve real US institutions, address components, legal names and currency references when translating them. A Spanish description does not turn a state into a different administrative unit or change the destination of an address. Use names and formats for the shared data rules.

In a US-targeted numeric display, follow the product’s verified locale formatting. Do not copy a Spain example’s decimal comma into a field that requires a decimal point. In prose, a named month such as 13 de septiembre de 2026 makes the month clear to readers accustomed to different date orders. Preserve a prescribed input format exactly.

Keep USD when a data field requires that currency code. In prose, identify US dollars when $ could be ambiguous. Localizing the currency’s presentation does not change a price, tax condition or conversion rate.

Messages and recordings

Use the shared message distinctions. A failed attempt is No se pudo guardar el archivo; a present limitation is No se puede guardar el archivo. Keep the reader among the people affected by a warning when the source includes them. Do not add a hardware cause, restart requirement or promised outcome.

Choose narration for the intended US Spanish audience without imitating a stereotyped accent. Keep the agreed form of address, recognizable product names and necessary characters in spoken identifiers. Use the shared speech guidance for the remaining decisions.