Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
2GB, 5kg, 33Ghz ...(together or separate?)
English answer:
leave a space
Added to glossary by
George Rabel
Jun 2, 2004 18:13
19 yrs ago
English term
TRANSLATIONS THAT READ LIKE ORIGINALS
Native in: Spanish
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish, Spanish to English, and 1 more.
2GB, 5kg, 33Ghz ...(together or separate?)
English
Tech/Engineering
Computers (general)
usage
In the original English texts I receive for translation, the units are always written without spaces between the amount and the unit abbreviature (40GB, 33cm, etc.)
I am quite sure that when it comes to MB, GB and other IT terms, it is written with no spaces. But outside the realm of IT, I have also seen spaces (10 m, 65 kg, etc.)
Is there a clearly established rule about this?
10 m or 10m ?
I am quite sure that when it comes to MB, GB and other IT terms, it is written with no spaces. But outside the realm of IT, I have also seen spaces (10 m, 65 kg, etc.)
Is there a clearly established rule about this?
10 m or 10m ?
Responses
| 5 +16 | leave a space |
Julia Gal
|
Responses
+16
13 mins
Selected
leave a space
In correct English, you should leave a space between the number and the abbreviation.
See the following explanation from the Websters site:
"Terms of mathematical units: 15 in., 15 ft, 15 kg, 15 m, 15 lb
Generally, you would use these abbreviations only in technical writing. There is a space between the number and the abbreviation. Notice that we do not put an s after such abbreviations even when the plural is indicated. Also, we do not use a period with such abbreviations except for in. when it might be confused with the preposition in."
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/abbreviations.htm
See the following explanation from the Websters site:
"Terms of mathematical units: 15 in., 15 ft, 15 kg, 15 m, 15 lb
Generally, you would use these abbreviations only in technical writing. There is a space between the number and the abbreviation. Notice that we do not put an s after such abbreviations even when the plural is indicated. Also, we do not use a period with such abbreviations except for in. when it might be confused with the preposition in."
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/abbreviations.htm
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Gabo Pena
1 min
|
| agree |
Vicky Papaprodromou
2 mins
|
| agree |
Julie Roy
: Yes. When the symbol consist entirely of letters, include a space (5 kg not 5kg); when the symbol includes a non-letter character as well as a letter, leave no space (32°C not 32° C or 32 °C). Source: The Canadian Style
10 mins
|
| agree |
pike
13 mins
|
| agree |
IanW (X)
13 mins
|
| agree |
Attila Piróth
18 mins
|
| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
34 mins
|
| agree |
Hacene
51 mins
|
| agree |
David Russi
59 mins
|
| agree |
PAS
: In order to avoid having a number on one line and the unit carry over to the next, put a non-breaking space between the number and the unit (ctrl+shift space)
1 hr
|
|
Yes. It's called a "hard space", I believe.
|
|
| agree |
vixen
1 hr
|
| agree |
jccantrell
2 hrs
|
| agree |
pidzej
: leave a space - unless 15m means 15 million
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Eva Karpouzi
5 hrs
|
| agree |
Tony M
: Yes, this is the SI preferred way of doing it, and yes, the hard space is the best option for DTP; I go further and use a hd sp in a smaller font size (say 6pt) to give a slim but visible space...
5 hrs
|
| agree |
Rajan Chopra
6 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Quite overwhelming.
Thank you very much!"
Discussion
A Google search for "32MB" gives me 2,270,000 hits
The "32 MB" option gives 5,950,000 hits.
Even so, the option with no space appears to be quite extended.
In the company I work for, it is always written without spaces.
I posted a similiar question in SPANISH, regarding the same subject. This is a separate question regarding the ENGLISH usage. They will be both useful to me, thanks. I just wonder if you realize that you are using the DRAE in an question posted as ENGLISH.