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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Culture & Society

FundéuRAE: “in fraganti” Needs Neither Quotation Marks nor Italics

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Explainer Named sources Context piece
  • FundéuRAE advises Spanish-language media to write “in fraganti” without quotation marks or italics.
  • The expression means “at the very moment a crime or other blameworthy act is committed” and has become part of Spanish usage rather than remaining a Latin phrase.
  • FundéuRAE also accepts “infraganti” as a single word while rejecting “en fraganti,” “in fragante,” “in fragranti” and “infragantis.”

FundéuRAE has clarified that the Spanish expression “in fraganti” should be written plainly, without quotation marks or italics.

The language foundation, promoted by the EFE news agency and the Royal Spanish Academy, said the expression means being caught at the moment a crime is committed, or while another censurable act is taking place. Although it derives from the legal Latin phrase “in flagranti (delicto),” the expression is now considered Spanish and does not require special formatting.

The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas also recognizes “infraganti,” written as one word, and says that form is even preferable. It rejects the spellings “en fraganti,” “in fragante,” “in fragranti” and “infragantis.” As a result, headlines such as “Cazan ‘in fraganti’ a un butronero en Moratalaz” should omit the quotation marks, while “infraganti” could also be used as a single word.

About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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