Plural tokens

!Note! This section has a localized version in the Style Guides.

Plural tokens allow for more natural phrasing than constructions like "1 hour(s)". Plural tokens are used in strings that contain a number followed by a noun and allow authors to write one translatable string, and display different outputs at runtime: it can be “zero”, one (singular), two (dual), few (paucal), many, other. 

English, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Greek distinguish one singular form and one plural form:

·        I walked 1 kilometer

·        I walked 1.5 kilometers

·        I walked 0 kilometers

·        I walked 10 kilometers

Also French and Portuguese have one singular and one plural form, but with differences from English:

French:

• J’ai marché 1 kilomètre

• J’ai marché 1,5 kilomètre

• J’ai marché 0 kilomètre

• J’ai marché 10 kilomètres

Portuguese:

• Eu andei 1 quilômetro

• Eu andei 1,5 quilômetro

• Eu andei 0 quilômetro

• Eu andei 10 quilômetros

Many Asian languages (for example, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese), Turkish and Hungarian use only one form of the noun, regardless of the preceding number.

Hungarian:

• 1 kilométert mentem

• 1,5 kilométert mentem

•  0 kilométert mentem

• 10 kilométert mentem

Other languages use one singular form and multiple plural forms - three, four or more different forms of the noun, depending on the number: Arabic, Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovenian, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Latvian, Lithuanian, …)

Slovak:

• Prešiel som 1 kilometer.

• Prešiel som 1,5 kilometra.

• Prešiel som 0 kilometrov.

• Prešiel som 3 kilometre.

• Prešiel som 10 kilometrov.

How to translate plural tokens (cardinals)

❗Note: All the translatable parts will be in green for easier understanding.

Here is how strings with plural tokens look like in the translation kit. (The below examples follow the javascript pattern. Other programming language may differ.)

en-US: Due in {count, plural, one{# day} other {# days}}

or

en-US: “Update {XXXX_COUNT, number} {XXXX_COUNT, plural, one {key} other {keys}}”

XXXX represents item names, for example: PUBLISHED_ITEM_COUNT, ERROR_COUNT, ITEM_COUNT, KEY_COUNT, and others.

At runtime, 2 different strings will be generated:

•                 Update 1 key (if the variable KEY_COUNT equals to 1 – singular form)

•                 Update 3 keys (if the variable KEY_COUNT does not equal to singular form, the other option in this case)

In French: “Mettre à jour {KEY_COUNT, number} {KEY_COUNT, plural, one {clé} other {clés}}”

Runtime: Mettre à jour 1 clé

Runtime: Mettre à jour 3 clés

XXXX_COUNT is the token name: do not translate it

plural is the token type: do not translate it

one and other are selectors: do not translate them

number is the type for KeyCount: do not translate it

key and keys are the nouns that get combined with the number at runtime: do translate

Additional examples:

In this example, the token value is represented by #

en-US: You have {count, plural, one {# message} other {# messages}} in your inbox

At runtime, this message will display as:

You have 1 message in your inbox
You have 17 messages in your inbox

• 'count' is the token name. Do not translate it.

• 'plural' is the token type. Do not translate it.

• 'one' and 'other' are selectors. Do not translate them. Languages with multiple plurals need more selectors.

• '#' represents the token value. At runtime, '#' is replaced by a number.

• 'message' and 'messages' are the nouns combined with the number at runtime. Do translate them.

In the following example, numeric selectors are used in addition to textual selectors like ‘one’ and ‘another’.

en-US: This application uses {count, plural, =0 {no authentication methods at all} one {one authentication method} =2 {a couple of authentication methods} =12 {a dozen authentication methods} other {# authentication methods}} 

At runtime, this message will display as:

• This application uses no authentication methods at all.

• This application uses one authentication method.

• This application uses a couple of authentication methods.

• This application uses 4 authentication methods.

• This application uses a dozen authentication methods.

• This application uses 24 authentication methods.

❗Important!

Translators of languages that do not use the plural form for nouns combined with numbers can use the same noun form for both selectors – please raise a query in case of uncertainty.

Languages with multiple plurals need more selectors and more than 2 forms for plural – selectors to be provided by the client. Please contact your PM/LA if more selectors are needed for your language.

Gender and number concordance

English verb forms do not vary with the gender of the subject noun and some verb forms are identical for singular and plural.

English adjectives too do not vary with the gender of the noun and are identical for singular and plural.

Translating plural tokens can be challenging. However, to solve gender and number concordance issues, parts of the sentence can be moved inside the token.

Example – Adjective:

en-US: “Update {KEY_COUNT, number} public {KEY_COUNT, plural, one {key} other {keys}}”

• Runtime: Update 1 public key

• Runtime: Update 3 public keys

fr-FR: “Mettre à jour {KEY_COUNT, number} {KEY_COUNT, plural, one {clé publique} other {clés publiques}}”

• Runtime: “Mettre à jour 1 clé publique

• Runtime: “Mettre à jour 3 clés publiques”

In this example, not moving the adjective inside the token would generate a grammatically wrong sentence at runtime.

WRONG: “Mettre à jour {KEY_COUNT, number} {KEY_COUNT, plural, one {clé} other {clés}} publiques”

• Runtime: Mettre à jour 1 clé publiques

• Runtime: Mettre à jour 3 clés publiques

Example – Verb + Adjective:

en-US: “{KEY_COUNT, number} public {KEY_COUNT, plural, one {key} other {keys}} will be updated”

• Runtime: 1 public key will be updated

• Runtime 3 public keys will be updated

fr-FR: “{KEY_COUNT, number} {KEY_COUNT, plural, one {clé publique sera mise à jour} other {clés publiques seront mises à jour}}”

Runtime: 1 clé publique sera mise à jour

Runtime: 3 clés publiques seront mises à jour

Token value represented by #:

en-US: You don't have any expense reports in the past {NUM_MONTHS, plural, one {# month} other {# months}}.

Runtime:

• You don't have any expense reports in the past 1 month.

• You don't have any expense reports in the past 2 months.

it-IT: Non sono presenti note spese {NUM_MONTHS, plural, one {nell'ultimo mese} other {negli ultimi # mesi}}.

Negations

English can express negations by simply adding the word "no", without altering the sentence order. Other languages may need to change the sentence order or add more words. In those cases, you can move parts of the sentence inside the token.

How to translate plural tokens (ordinals)

English uses four different suffixes for ordinal numbers

·        This is your 1st message.

·        This is your 2nd message.

·        This is your 3rd message.

·        This is your 4th message.

Other languages may use fewer or more suffixes

Strings with ordinal tokens may look something like this:

en-US: This is your {position, selectordinal, one {#st} two {#nd} few {#rd} other {#th}} message.

If you find a token similar to selectordinal, please ask your PM/LA.

Here is a short video to show you how to display what will the string with plural token look like at runtime. Written instructions are below the video.