Personal names and titles

6.8

Personal names. In general, the Continental practice of uppercasing throughout should not be followed (e.g. Mr Bangemann, not Mr BANGEMANN); however, common sense must apply if the same text is to appear in several languages or if it is impossible to reinstate accents.

Similarly, avoid alignment on the non-English practice of using the initial for the first name. As a general rule, wherever possible spell out the first name the first time round and contract thereafter. Thus:

Gro Harlem Brundtland (first mention)

Ms Brundtland (thereafter)

Tony Blair (first mention)

Mr Blair (thereafter)

If it is impossible to track down the first name, then drop the initial.

Beware of interference effects when translating from French and of different transliteration systems.

6.9

Ms — Mme — Mlle. As a matter of courtesy use Ms in English unless you have reason to think the person concerned prefers otherwise. Note that the French Mme and German Frau are likewise courtesy titles; a Mme is not necessarily a Mrs (i.e. married). See also 7.7 and 7.8.

6.10

Foreign-language titles. Avoid titles not customary in English, but note that if you use Mr or Ms you may have to find out the gender of the person in question.

6.11

Doctor. The title Dr should be given when it appears in the original (except in combined titles, as above), regardless of whether the holder is a doctor of medicine or not.

6.12

This is more than a matter of political correctness. The Commission wholeheartedly endorses equal opportunities, promoting this principle in its various projects and programmes, and its language should reflect this. Using the generic “he” looks increasingly incongruous now that project proposals or policies are just as likely to be addressed to women.

6.13

He/she. Avoid the clumsy he/she or s/he, except perhaps in translating non-running texts such as application forms. The best solution is often to use the plural, which in any case is more commonly used in English for the generic form as it does not require the definite article. For example, in draft legislation or calls for tenders, translate l'exportateur/le soumissionaire ... il by exporters/tenderers ... they. It is also becoming more acceptable to use forms such as everyone has their own views on this (see e.g. usage note for they in COD). Note that in some cases la personne concernée, der Beteiligte or die Antragstellerin is clearly a firm, not a person, so translate accordingly.

6.14

In some texts, e.g. manuals or sets of instructions, it is more natural in English to address the reader directly using the second-person form or even the imperative:

You should first turn on your computer

or

First turn on your computer

instead of

The user should first turn on his/her computer

6.15

Noun forms. Use your judgment in choosing noun forms to emphasise or de-emphasise gender. The policewoman has arrived, the dustwoman has not, and we will no doubt go on using fisherman until the culture of fishing communities changes. Pilot and the like no longer have variants with woman tacked on the front. In some cases a substitute is available, e.g. firefighters instead of firemen. For Chairman, Chairwoman and Chair use your discretion, but note that Parliament now uses Chair for its own committees.

7.

FOREIGN IMPORTS