TeXipedia

babel-english

Provides comprehensive language support and hyphenation patterns for various English dialects in LaTeX documents.

Overview

Enables precise typesetting and hyphenation control for English-language documents, with specific support for regional variations and typographical conventions.

  • Automatically selects appropriate hyphenation patterns for different English variants (British, American, Australian, Canadian).
  • Ensures proper quotation marks, date formats, and other locale-specific formatting.
  • Integrates seamlessly with the babel system for multilingual document preparation.
  • Essential for academic publishing, international documentation, and professional typesetting where English language standards must be strictly maintained.

Getting Started

To use babel-english, include it in your document preamble with the appropriate English variant:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[british]{babel}  % For British English
% or
\usepackage[american]{babel}  % For American English (default)
% or
\usepackage[australian]{babel}  % For Australian English
% or
\usepackage[canadian]{babel}  % For Canadian English

The package will automatically select the appropriate hyphenation patterns for the English variant you choose.

Examples

Setting English as the main language with babel.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\begin{document}
This document uses English as its main language, which affects hyphenation patterns and other language-specific features.

Some words that demonstrate English hyphenation: extraordinary, classification, mathematics.
\end{document}

Using British English variant explicitly.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[british]{babel}
\begin{document}
This document uses British English, which affects hyphenation patterns and some typographical conventions.

Some words that demonstrate British English hyphenation: colour, organisation, centre, specialise.
\end{document}

Multiple languages with English as main language.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[english,spanish,french]{babel}
\begin{document}
This is the main text in English.

\begin{otherlanguage}{spanish}
Este texto está en español.
\end{otherlanguage}

\begin{otherlanguage}{french}
Ce texte est en français.
\end{otherlanguage}

\selectlanguage{english}
Back to English again.
\end{document}