Timed Text Style Guide

English to Spanish

Contenido
1. Abbreviations....................................................................................................... 2
2. Acronyms ............................................................................................................ 2
3. Character Limitation ............................................................................................ 2
4. Character Names ................................................................................................ 2
5. Continuity ............................................................................................................ 2
7. Dual Speakers ..................................................................................................... 3
10. Foreign Dialogue ............................................................................................... 4
11. Italics ................................................................................................................. 5
12. Line Treatment .................................................................................................. 5
13. Numbers ............................................................................................................ 5
14. Punctuation ....................................................................................................... 5
15. Quotes ............................................................................................................... 6
16. Reading Speed .................................................................................................. 7
17. Repetitions ........................................................................................................ 7
18. Songs ................................................................................................................ 7
19. Titles .................................................................................................................. 7
20. Special Instructions ........................................................................................... 8
21. Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) Guidelines ........................... 8
1. Abbreviations
• The use of abbreviations should be avoided unless there are space
limitations.
• Some of the most common abbreviations are the following: Sr., Sra., Srta.,
Dr., Dra., Ud., Uds., km, cm, m.
• Abbreviations of personal titles (e.g., Sr., Dra.) should only be used if they
precede a proper noun: Sr. González, Dra. Juana.
• The proper abbreviation for Estados Unidos is EE. UU. The acronym EUA is
also accepted (as per RAE).
• For a more detailed clarification on abbreviation rules:
http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=abreviatura
• For a complete list of abbreviations: http://www.rae.es/diccionario-
panhispanico-de-dudas/apendices/abreviaturas

2. Acronyms
• Acronyms (siglas) are written without periods or spaces: ONU, FBI
• Do not use accents if they are written in all caps: CIA, OTAN
• Some acronyms are written in lowercase as they are common nouns and
have become part of the daily lexicon (e.g., ovni, sida); if this is the case,
they need accents following the Spanish accent rules (e.g., láser).
• For a more detailed clarification on acronyms:
http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=siglas

3. Character Limitation
• 42 characters per line

4. Character Names
• Do not translate proper names (e.g., Peter, Suzanne), unless Netflix
provides approved translations.
• Nicknames should only be translated if they convey a specific meaning.
• Use language-specific translations for historical/mythical characters (e.g.,
Papá Noel, San Nicolás).

5. Continuity
• Do not use ellipses or dashes when an ongoing sentence is split between
two or more continuous subtitles.

Subtitle 1 Algunos tenemos que pensar

Subtitle 1 en esas cosas.

• Use an ellipsis to indicate a pause or an abrupt interruption. In the case of a

pause, if the sentence continues in the next subtitle, use an ellipsis at the
beginning of the second subtitle.

Subtitle 1 Me pasa algo raro...

Subtitle 2 ...pero no puedo decirte nada.

Subtitle 1 - Te iba a decir que...

Subtitle 2 - ¡No quiero saberlo!

• Use an ellipsis without a space to indicate that a subtitle is starting mid-

sentence.

...pero tienes que venir ahora.

6. Documentary/Unscripted

• Speaker’s title: only translate the title. Do not include the speaker’s name,
company name or character name as these are redundant.
• Only translate a speaker’s title once, the first time the speaker appears.
• When ongoing dialogue is interrupted by a speaker’s title, use ellipses at the
end of the sentence in the subtitle that precedes it and at the beginning of
the sentence in the subtitle that follows it.

Subtitle 1 He trabajado en esta película…

Subtitle 2 (FN) DIRECTOR

Subtitle 3 …por seis meses.

• Dialogue in TV/Movie clips should only be subtitled if plot-pertinent and if the

rights have been granted.
• News tickers/banners from archive clips do not require subtitles unless plot
pertinent.
• Avoid going back and forth between italicized and non-italicized subtitles
when the speaker is on and off screen. If the speaker is on-camera for at
least part of the scene, do not italicize. Leave italics for off-screen narrators.

7. Dual Speakers
• Use a hyphen followed by a space to indicate two speakers in one subtitle,
with a maximum of one speaker per line.
- ¿No te gusta?

- No, no me gusta.

8. Font Information

• Font style: Arial as a generic placeholder for proportionalSansSerif

• Font size: relative to video resolution and ability to fit 42 characters across
the screen
• Font color: White

9. On-screen Text

• Forced narrative titles for on-screen text should only be included if plot
pertinent.
• When on-screen text and dialogue overlap, precedence should be given to
the most plot pertinent message. Avoid over truncating or severely reducing
reading speed in order to include both dialogue and on-screen text.
• The duration of the FN subtitle should as much as possible mimic the
duration of the on-screen text, except for cases where reading speed and/or
surrounding dialogue takes precedence.
• Forced narratives that are redundant (e.g., identical to onscreen text or
covered in the dialogue) must be deleted.
• Forced narratives for on-screen text should be in ALL CAPS, except for
long passages of on-screen text (e.g. prologue or epilogue), which should
use sentence case to improve readability.
• Never combine a forced narrative with dialogue in the same subtitle.
• When a forced narrative interrupts dialogue, use an ellipsis at the end of the
sentence in the subtitle that precedes it and at the beginning of the sentence
in the subtitle that follows it.

Subtitle 1 Creo que no deberíamos…

Subtitle 2 (FN) PROHIBIDA LA ENTRADA

Subtitle 3 …seguir avanzando.

10. Foreign Dialogue

• Foreign dialogue should only be translated if the viewer was meant to
understand it (i.e., if it was subtitled in the original version).
• When using foreign words, always verify spelling, accents and punctuation,
if applicable.
• Foreign words should be italicized, unless they have become part of regular
usage (e.g., in English, the following no longer need to be italicized: bon
 appétit, rendezvous, doppelgänger, zeitgeist, persona non grata) and unless
they are proper names (e.g., a company name).

11. Italics
• Italicize the following:
o Album, book, film and program titles (use quotes for song titles)
o Foreign words (unless they are part of regular usage)
o Dialogue that is heard through electronic media, such as a phone,
television, or computer
o Only use italics when the speaker is not in the scene(s), not merely
off screen or off camera
o Song lyrics (if rights have been granted)
o Voice-overs
• Do not use italics to indicate emphasis on specific words.

12. Line Treatment

• Maximum two lines.

13. Numbers
• From 1 to 10, numbers should be written out: uno, dos, tres, etc.
• Above 10, numbers should be written numerically: 11, 12, 13, etc.
• When a number begins a sentence, it should always be spelled out.
• Note that the above rules may be broken due to space limitations or reading
speed concerns, as well as for consistency when listing multiple quantities,
for example.
• Four digits numbers should not use spaces or separators: 2000 dólares.
• Five digit numbers should be written out with a non-breaking space: 50 000.
• In cases that require a decimal separator:
o For Castilian Spanish, use a comma: 2,50
o For Latin American Spanish, use a period as a decimal separator:
2.50
• Measurements should be converted to the metric system, unless the original
unit of measurement is plot relevant.

14. Punctuation
• Do not use semicolons, punto y coma (;).
• Do not use exclamation and question marks together (?!), please pick the
one that suits the intonation or the meaning best.

¡¿Cómo dices?! SHOULD BE ¿Cómo dices? OR ¡Cómo dices!

 • A period should never follow a closing question/exclamation mark.
• For vocatives and dependent sentences/clauses, please follow the RAE
recommendation:

o Vocatives:

Raquel, ¿sabes ya cuándo vendrás?

OR

¿Sabes ya cuándo vendrás, Raquel?

o Dependent clauses/sentences:

Para que te enteres, ¡no pienso cambiar de opinión!

OR

¡No pienso cambiar de opinión, para que te enteres!

• No comma is necessary when pero precedes an exclamatory or

interrogative sentence following the RAE recommendation:

Pero ¿dónde vas a estas horas?

Pero ¡qué barbaridad!

• For specific details on punctuation, please check:

http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=signos%20ortogr%C3%A1ficos

15. Quotes
• Use double quotation marks (" ") without spaces for regular quotations:

Él me dijo: "Regresa mañana".

• Single quotation marks (' ') for quotes within quotes:

Él dijo: "'La Bamba' es mi canción favorita”.

• In Spanish, the period at the end of a sentence always comes after the
closing quotes:

"A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda".

 • When a sentence includes a quoted sentence, which ends with a question
or an exclamation mark, a period must be added after the quotation mark:

Me preguntó: "¿Me quieres?".

• Quotes should be used at the start and end of every line of applicable
dialogue and not at the start of every subtitle.
• Song titles should be in quotes.

16. Reading Speed

• Adult programs: 17 characters per second
• Children’s programs: 13 characters per second

17. Repetitions
• Do not translate words or phrases repeated more than once by the same
speaker.
• If the repeated word or phrase is said twice in a row, time subtitle to the
audio but translate only once.

18. Songs
• Only subtitle plot-pertinent songs if the rights have been granted.
• Opening and ending theme songs should only be subtitled if clearly plot
pertinent (e.g. for children’s content when the lyrics tell a story) or if
instructed by Netflix. Normally, adult programs should not have the opening
songs subtitled, except for SDH.
• Italicize lyrics.
• Use an uppercase letter at the beginning of each line.
• Use ellipses when a song continues in the background but is no longer
subtitled to give precedence to dialogue.
• Punctuation: only question marks and exclamation marks should be used at
the end of a line – no commas or periods. Commas can be used within the
lyric line, if necessary.
• Album titles should be in italics.
• Song titles should be in quotes.

19. Titles
• Main titles: do not subtitle the on-screen main title card.
• Episode titles: do not subtitle episode titles if they do not appear on
screen/are not voiced-over. If on-screen (either as part of the principal
 photography or burned into video) or voiced-over, please reference the KNP
tool for approved translations.
• Titles of published works, existing movies and TV shows: use official or well-
known translations. If none are available, leave titles in the original
language.

20. Special Instructions

• Dialogue must never be censored. Expletives should be rendered as
faithfully as possible.
• Plot-pertinent dialogue always takes precedence over background dialogue.
• Deliberate misspellings and mispronunciations should not be reproduced in
the translation unless plot-pertinent.

21. Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) Guidelines
• Include as much of the original content as possible.
• Do not simplify or water down the original dialogue.
• Reading speed can be increased to:
o Adult programs: 20 characters per second
o Children’s programs: 17 characters per second
• Truncating the original dialogue should be limited to instances where
reading speed and synchronicity to the audio are an issue.
• For TV/Movie clips, all audible lines should be transcribed, if possible. If the
audio interferes with dialogue, please give precedence to most plot-pertinent
content.
• All same-language audible songs that do not interfere with dialogue should
be titled, if the rights have been granted.
• Use song title identifiers when applicable - song titles should be in quotes:
["Forever Your Girl" playing]
• Song lyrics should be enclosed with a music note (♪) at the beginning and
the end of each subtitle.
•
• Use brackets [ ] to enclose speaker IDs or sound effects.
• Identifiers/sound effects should be all lowercase, except for proper nouns.
• Only use speaker IDs or sound effects when they cannot be visually
identified.
• When a speaker ID is required for a character who has yet to be identified
by name, use [man] or [woman], or [male voice] or [female voice], so as not
to provide information that is not yet present in the narrative.
• Use a generic ID to indicate and describe ambient music (e.g., rock music
playing over a stereo).
• Sound effects should be plot-pertinent.
• Sound effects that interrupt dialogue should be treated as follows:
 Subtitle 1: However, lately, I've been...
[coughs, sniffs]

Subtitle 2: ...seeing a lot more of this.

• Never italicize speaker IDs or sound effects, even when the spoken
information is italicized, such as in a voice-over:

[narrator]
Once upon a time, there was…

• In instances of foreign dialogue being spoken:

o If foreign dialogue is translated, use [in language], for example [in
German]
o If foreign dialogue is not meant to be understood, use [speaking
language], for example [speaking German]
o Always research the language being spoken – [speaking foreign
language] should never be used