# Abstract article references

Clause9 allows you to easily create automatic [cross-references](https://help.clause9.com/clauses/cross-references) to other parts of your document. However, there are a few situations when you want to refer in an abstract way to an “article” or “section” of your document. Examples:

*The buyer shall buy the assets in the manner set forth in the articles above.*

or

*The articles of this contract shall be construed in accordance with …*

You may be tempted to hard-code the word “articles” here. However, this may impede reusability, as some lawyers will want to use the word “section”, “paragraph”, or perhaps an abbreviation such as “art.”, or perhaps a word that always has a starting capital.

Clause9 allows you to instead use a special expression, that will output in accordance with the styling settings found under “References”.

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The special expression essentially consists of the word “article” (for singular) or “articles” (for plural), but actually depends on the language:

| Language   | Singular       | Plural          |
| ---------- | -------------- | --------------- |
| Bulgarian  | \_`_клауза_`   | \_`_клаузи_`    |
| Czech      | `_bod_`        | `_body_`        |
| Danish     | `_klausul_`    | `_klausuler_`   |
| Dutch      | `_artikel_`    | `_artikels_`    |
| English    | `_article_`    | `_articles_`    |
| Estonian   | `_klausel_`    | `_klauslid_`    |
| Finnish    | `_lauseke_`    | `_lausekkeet_`  |
| French     | `_article_`    | `_articles_`    |
| German     | `_artikel_`    | `_artikeln_`    |
| Hungarian  | `_záradék_`    | `_záradékok_`   |
| Italian    | `_clausola_`   | `_clausole_`    |
| Latvian    | `_klauzula_`   | `_klauzulas_`   |
| Lithuanian | `_straipsnis_` | `_straipsniai_` |
| Norwegian  | `_klausulen_`  | `_klausulene_`  |
| Polish     | `_klauzula_`   | `_klauzule_`    |
| Portuguese | `_cláusula_`   | `_cláusulas_`   |
| Romanian   | `_clauza_`     | `_clauzele_`    |
| Russian    | `_пункт_`      | `_пункты_`      |
| Slovak     | `_doložka_`    | `_doložky_`     |
| Slovenian  | `_klavzula_`   | `_klavzuli_`    |
| Spanish    | `_cláusula_`   | `_cláusulas_`   |
| Swedish    | `_klausul_`    | `_klausulerna_` |

By default, the word will be outputted with a defined article (no pun intended), but this can be modulated in the same way as concepts. For example, for English, assuming the styling setting is set to “Section”:

* **default:** `_article_` is outputted as “the section”, while `_articles_` is outputted as “the sections”
* **omitting**: `_-article_` is outputted as “section”, while `_-articles_` is outputted as “sections”
* **undefined**: `_?article_` is outputted as “a section”, while `_?articles°_` is outputted as “sections”
* **this**: `_°article_` is outputted as “this section”, while `_°articles_` is outputted as “these sections”

{% hint style="info" %}
For the sake of consistency or clarity, you can also use `_+article_` or `_+articles_`, but it will have exactly the same output as the default `_article_` / `_articles_`.
{% endhint %}

## Caveat

The `_article_` expression can be useful in a few very specific circumstances. However, its use cases are actually fairly limited:

* Please do not use it to hard-code references to other parts of your document — e.g. when you would be tempted to write `... as set forth in _-article_ 13.5` to refer to some article 13.5 in your document, you will almost certainly want to use [real cross-references](https://help.clause9.com/clauses/cross-references) instead.<br>
* Please do not use it to refer to articles/sections/clauses of external material, such as legislation, as the word that will be outputted will then change in accordance with a user’s styling preferences.

  For example, European Directives and Regulations are typically numbered as “articles”. If you need to refer to the part of the EU General Data Protection Regulation that lists all the definition, please do not say `... as defined in _-article 4_ of the GPDR ...`, as this could get outputted as “… as defined in Section 4 of the GDPR”, depending on a user’s styling preferences. This is one of the few areas where you really need to hard-code your reference, by simply stating `.... as defined in article 4 of the GDPR...`