A basic practical guide in Spanish punctuation marks for English speakers
In this post, I will try to clarify ‘some’ of the main differences these two languages present in punctuation, to try to make easier the task of translation and drafting in Spanish. Hope it helps!
Writing in a different language or translating from your mother tongue to another language is a very complete work: it does not only involve having a good level in the second language but also knowledge about its cultural aspects and its respective grammatical and orthographic rules. The first one, learning languages, can be easily solved in a respectable language school and hand work. The second one, by traveling or living abroad and keeping report of what is happening in the different countries (and it is easier today thanks to social media, the news, and also cultural studies carried out by professionals and universities). The last one, through linguistic studies, reading and practicing your writing skills, and being very observant while reading.
One of the main differences between English and Spanish writing (the first Germanic and the second Italic) that makes possible to achieve quality drafting is punctuation (leaving aside the linguistic and pragmatic aspects of language). And although there is some accordance in the use of some punctuation marks in both languages, others are used in a very different way, so it might turn a little tricky to get them all right.
English uses the period far more times than Spanish, that relies much more heavily on subordination and conjunctions to link phrases, and mostly using commas. We spanish like to write long phrases with lots of explanations and details, and this can sometimes be kind of shocking and excessive for others.
The use of the period in numbers is also different: while English uses it to separate the whole part from the decimal part (e.g., 180.65), Spanish uses the comma (e.g., 180,35) although it is starting to accept the period.
Another difference: Spanish places this punctuation mark outside the quotation marks at the end of a sentence (e.g., G. A. Béquer: “Volverán las oscuras golondrinas en tu balcón sus nidos a colgar”. ), whereas in English it must always be placed inside quotation marks. E.g., Shakespeare: “If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not.” (from Macbeth 1.3.)
Spanish never uses a comma before the copulative ‘y’ and the disjunctive ‘o’ if they link independent clauses, or at the end of an enumeration (before ‘y’). E.g., Cogí las llaves, el bolso, el paraguas y la cartera.
It also includes a comma before ‘pero’ (but), ‘porque’ (because), ‘si’ (if), and ‘aunque’ (although), what does not usually occur in English.
Spanish usually uses the comma to separate adverbial phrases from the rest of the sentence, while English dispenses with the comma in these situations. E.g., Gracias al esfuerzo del equipo, pudo llegar a la meta sin complicaciones.
In Spanish, it is more common to link adjectives with ‘y’ (and), whereas in English the use of the comma is more extended.
Both Spanish and English use them in enumerations, listing, and to provide examples. Spanish uses them before and after the main sentence (e.g., Mangas, cuerpo y capucha: esto debe tener una sudadera básica) although in English it must follow a complete sentence (e.g., This is what a basic sweatshirt should have: sleeves, body, and a hood.)
Spanish also uses them in letter headings. E.g., Querido Eduardo:.
Far more used in Spanish than in English (it is usually superseded by commas, or periods) although it is also dropping because of its subjective use. In Spanish, it is used in sentences with an adversative, concessive, or consecutive sense when the preceding sentences are long. E.g., Los jugadores se entrenaron intensamente durante todo el mes; sin embargo, los resultados no fueron buenos. I personally linke to use semi-colons and find it enriching, but many people have never used one nor are planning to do so. So, it is up to you.
When a list of items (or sentences) is written on different lines, Spanish uses semi-colons as a link between them, while in English you should use periods in the case of long sentences.
Spanish always uses two and they are always followed by capital letter because they end sentences (e.g., ¡Me encanta tu casa! Un día te invito yo a la mía.), while English uses only the last one and it can be placed in the middle of the sentence (e.g., Alas! the worst happened.)
English uses the double and single quotation marks while Spanish prefers the use of angular quotation marks (« ») before using double and single quotation marks (in that order). This is something that is starting to get lost in day-a-day written language, but I would still encourage you to use them in your texts.
Spanish encourages the use of italics to draw attention to particular words, better than quotation marks, if possible.
Spanish does not place periods inside brackets, even if it contains a complete sentence. E.g., Por favor, lea el análisis (se quedará asombrado).
In English, this would happen: Please, read the analysis. (You will be amazed.)
In Spanish it is commonly used to divide words in different lines and the rules are very basic (if you want to see more about it, you can check RAE section 2). English hardly uses this mark because of the complexity it involves, but it is quite common in Spanish ortography and it is learned at school.
In Spanish, it replaces brackets (it is the preferred used). It is also used in dialogues and it must be followed by capital letter if the verb that follows is not a speech verb. E.g., –Yo te quiero más –Sonrió y se cruzó de brazos.
Do not use it in Spanish as an ellipsis or colon, as it only replaces certain commas and brackets, and place one at the beginning and another one at the end of the sentence. E.g., Me gustaría conseguir la beca –probablemente mucho más que a él–.
The use of this punctuation mark in Spanish is completely different. It reflects the suppression of sounds at some levels of the spoken language (e.g., ven pa’ca m’ija) and in proper names that come from other languages (e.g., O’Connor, L’Hopstitaled de Llobregat). It is also used to indicate the final vowel elision in old text (especially poetic ones).
Although it is not a punctuation mark in essence, I would like to craw attention to it just for a second (á é í ó ú). Many Spanish words use it, so I would recommend you to check some basic rules before you start writing, and also to search for the correct spelling in the dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish language (RAE) if you are not sure about some word. Without them, the pronuncitation can easily change and some words may change their grammatical category, so don’t be afraid to take look if you have any doubt.
References and consultation websites
Cambridge Dictionary, Punctuation.
César Dávila Perez, Diferencias ortotipográficas entre el inglés y el español.
Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (RAE), Signos ortográficos.
Galván and Trujillo, Tratamiento de las discrepancias ortotipográficas inglés-español.
Jane Strauss, The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (highly recommended to review all the English grammar and punctuation rules, even if English is your mother tongue).
Translation-traducción, Diferencias y similitudes entre la puntuación en inglés y en español.
