Translate whole sentences

How to do it

Give each sentence one key, and put values in named placeholders such as {name}, so translators can move them. Use ICU MessageFormat or gettext, which handle plurals inside the sentence. Never join strings such as "Booked by " plus a name, because word order differs between languages. Add a short note for translators to each key. Choose counts as Get plurals right in every language says.

Examples

JavaScript example

import { IntlMessageFormat } from 'intl-messageformat';
const booked = new IntlMessageFormat('{name} booked {count, plural, one {# room} other {# rooms}}.', 'en');
booked.format({ name: 'Ana', count: 2 }); // "Ana booked 2 rooms."

Python example

import gettext
translation = gettext.translation("messages", localedir="locale", languages=["sv"], fallback=True)
count = 2
text = translation.ngettext("{name} booked one room.", "{name} booked {count} rooms.", count)
print(text.format(name="Ana", count=count))

How to check

A lint rule finds no text in templates outside the message calls. A test finds no message that is joined to another with + or string formatting.

Sources

• Unicode LDML Part 9 (MessageFormat)

Related rules

• LOC-12 Get plurals right in every language in Localization
• LOC-18 Extract messages from the code with a tool in Localization
• LOC-34 Give every error a code that clients can translate in Localization