Italics or Inverted Commas?

The name of a book, newspaper, magazine, television programme or film should be written in italics:

♦ «Война и мир» Л.В. Толстого: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

4. Dates, times and numbers

Dates and Times

Choose one form for writing dates, and be consistent: either British: 8 October 1996 (note no comma) or American: October 8, 1996

It is incorrect to write "the 8th of October" at the top of a letter or contract, even though this is how it is pronounced.

However, for obvious reasons British people always say September 11th when referring to that day in 2001. 9/11 (pronounced "nine eleven"), which sounds very American, is also popular in the spoken language.

Decades are known as the 90s (nineties), etc., not "90th". There is no hyphen here (Russians often write "90-s") and no apostrophe (English speakers often incorrectly write "90's"), but always the definite article.

• в 20-х года прошлого века: in the 1920s

• в начале 90-х прошедшего века: in the early 1990s

Also note:

• 17 марта сего года: on 17 March 2001 (or whatever the year is).

• В начале 1991 года: In early 1991, or At the beginning of 1991

• осенью 1999 г.: in autumn 1999 (or, more rarely, in the autumn of 1999, but not "in autumn of 1999")

• в середине октября: in mid-October

Centuries are not written in Roman numerals in English:

• XXI век: the 21st century

• III - II вв. до н.э.: (the) 3rd-2nd centuries ВС (Am. ВСЕ)

• конец XIX, начало XX века: (the) late 19th-early 20th century

• Джон Раскин, английский писатель и философ XIX века: John Ruskin, the 19th-century English writer and philosopher

(Roman numerals are used in names of kings and queens, as in Russian: Elizabeth II, etc.)

When leaving a space for dates, no inverted commas are used in English: Russian: " " 199 English: _____ 199_

Times in the 24-hour clock should be converted into the less logical 12-hour clock:

♦ 14:35: 2.35 p.m.

Here are the most confusing times in the 12-hour clock: 12:00 12.00 noon

12:30 12.30 p.m.

24:00 12.00 midnight

24:30 12.30 a.m. (many native English speakers find this strange too!)

All about Numbers

The abbreviation for "Number" is not "N" or "№". In British English it is No. (from the French). It should be followed by a space. The plural form is Nos. In American English, the hash (#) is used, and is not followed by a space.

♦ Указ Президента Республики Узбекистан № 157 от 30 сентября 1996 г.: Decree No. 157 of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 30 September 1996 (Am.: Decree #157... dated September 30, 1996)

The word "thousand" is not written in full in combination with figures:

♦ 58,4 тыс.: 58,400 (not 58.4 thousand or thou.)

In combination with figures, million is abbreviated to m (not "mln.") and billion to bn:

♦ 8 млн. долларов США: US$8m

Banks use MM (US$8 MM), but this should not be used in most cases as non-bankers may not understand it.

And remember, always 20 million, never "20 of millions".

You can talk about half a dozen or half a million, but not half a thousand or hundred:

♦ более двух с половиной сотен банков: over 250 banks (not "two and a half hundred")

In English the decimal separator is a full stop (period) and the thousand separator is a comma, the opposite of Russian and other European languages:

• 6,9% (Rus.): 6.9% (Eng.)

• 15.000 (Rus.): 15,000 (Eng.)

Numbers below 12 should be written in words:

♦ в течение 3-5 лет: within three to five years

When amounts of money are given in dollars and cents (or even pounds and pence), remember that there are 100 cents in a dollar, so the amount in cents must consist of two figures:

♦ 8.5 долларов: $8.50 (not $8.5)

Where numbers occur in a contract, Russian expresses them in figures first and words second in brackets; English puts them the other way round:

♦ 10% (десять процентов): ten percent (or per cent)

Пункт 6 статьи 7 is best rendered Article 7.6 (rather than "clause 6 of Article 7").

Cases where ordinals are used in Russian but not English:

• первый этап: phase 1

• 31 (тридцать первый) канал: Channel 31 (thirty-one)

• шестой автобус: bus No. 6; the No. 6 bus

A noun in an adjectival phrase is part of that phrase and therefore does not have a plural ending. The whole phrase should be joined together with hyphens:

• a nine-month-old girl

• a five-star hotel

• a five-pound note; a five-dollar bill

(Many native speakers of English get these hyphens wrong!)

Generally the words штука and единица should be left out rather than translated as "piece" and "unit":

♦ 3a 9 месяцев 2002 года количество вновь установленных телефонов составило 156 760 единиц.: 156,760 new telephones were installed during the first nine months of 2002 (not "the number of newly installed telephones made up 156,760 units").

And finally…

♦ Гостинице «Казахстан» 25 лет: The Hotel Kazakhstan celebrates its 25th anniversary (or celebrates 25 years in business).

"The Hotel Kazakhstan is 25 years old" is a bald statement of fact, like "was built 25 years ago"; and "The Hotel Kazakhstan is 25" is incomprehensible.