Which spelling variant
At Q-Park, when writing in English, we use UK spelling with S (-ise) not Z (American). If in doubt, consult the online Collins English dictionary (free access).
For your reference, here are some preferred spelling examples of commonly used words to write with S and not Z:
Download dataDo | Don’t |
digitalisation | digitalization |
organisation | organization |
maximise | maximise |
monetised | monetized |
optimised | optimized |
optimising | optimizing |
realised | realized |
recognised | recognized |
utilisation | utilization |
Here are some other common UK-US spelling variants to note:
Download dataDo (UK spelling) | Don’t (US spelling) |
colour neighbourhood travelled | color neighborhood traveled |
One or two Ss, Ts?
Words where the letter may be doubled before the ending – both forms are correct, but at Q-Park we use the variant with a single letter:
Download dataDo | Don’t |
focused/focusing | focussed, focussing |
benefited/benefiting | benefitted/benefitting |
bus, buses | busses |
Units of measure
We always use metric units – metre, kilometre, Celsius or ºC, kWh, MWh, GWh
When combining with a number leave a (non-breaking) space between the number and the unit, except for temperature and percentages
When writing a range do not repeat the unit, and use ‘to’ in running text
Always use a subscript 2 in the abbreviation for carbon dioxide
Do | Don’t | |
5 m 25 km | 5m 25km | |
25°C 96% | 25 °C 96 % | |
In text In tables | 5 to 10°C 20 to 25 metres 20-25 m | 5°C to 10°C 20 metres to 25 metres 20 m – 25 m |
CO2 tCO2 | CO2 tCO2 |
Using numbers
Write numbers one to ten as words, use numerals for numbers 11 and greater.
Avoid starting sentences with numbers; most can be spelled out, so try to write the sentence a different way.
Year as this must be written in numerals.
Money is always expressed in numerals.
For numbers above one thousand, except dates, use the correct separators: 12,456.98.
Negative numbers: prefix with a minus sign.
Percentages:
no space between the number and the % sign
use either digits and symbol or all words, do not mix
Units of measure: place a space between the number and the unit of measure abbreviation
Do | Don’t |
one in five 120 people attended the meeting an increase of 5% an increase of five percent a decrease of 61% EV charging points consumed 5.4 GWh | 1 in 5 one hundred and twenty people attended the meeting an increase of 5 % an increase of five % an increase of 5 percent a decrease of 61 percent EV charging points consumed 5.4GWh |
Dates and times
To avoid any confusion always write the date in full in running text. Write the month in words and always put the month in the middle. This is the European way of writing dates.
Do not use superscripts with the day number. If the day of the week is included, there’s no comma after the day.
When referring to a decade, write the 1990s, no apostrophe, never write ‘the nineties’.
Download dataDo | Don’t | |
Date styles | 5 Jan 2024 5 January 2024 05-01-2024 05/01/2024 Monday 5 January 2024 1990s | Jan 1, 2024 1st Jan 2024 January 1st 2024 05/01/24 Monday, 5 January 2024 Monday, 5 January, 2024 Monday 5, January 2024 Monday 5 January, 2024 Monday 5 January ‘24 1990’s the nineties |
Time styles | 09:30 14:00 12 noon 24:00 | 9.30 a.m. 2 p.m. |