Writing guide Style Style in writing is a very individual thing but all writers should aim at clarity and consistency when writing. This section is intended to be a guide to the conventions governing spelling and punctuation in the English language. It also contains guidelines on the preferred usage concerning bibliographical references – an important component in ETF publications. Adhering to these house style conventions will help to ensure consistency in style across all ETF written texts. The following two documents form the basis of the language style choices of the ETF: The Interinstitutional Style Guide produced by the Office of Official Publications of the European Communities (also available in the other official EU languages). You can download a PDF copy of it here.The English Style Guide produced by the Translation Service of the European Commission. If you cannot find what you are looking for in any of these two guides, the Guardian and Observer Style Guide is also a great tool. It is important to understand that in English there is not always a right or wrong. The spelling of most big languages is arbitrated by a language commission. English is not. Therefore, you should use the resources in the order indicated above. If you can find your answer in the Interinstitutional Style Guide, use that. If not, check the style guide of the Translation Service. If you still have no answer, the Guardian and Observer Style Guide is a very good place to look. What follows is only a fraction of what you can find in these documents. Use them. They are incredibly useful. ArticlesUK English vs US English Words to use and words to avoid Nouns and Verbs Capitalisation Hyphens Compound words Singular and plural Digital dialect Numbers and dates Abbreviations and acronyms Countries and currencies Signatures and names Punctuation
