Czech¶
Write Czech that helps the reader act without guessing. Use natural syntax and precise product terms. Keep the source’s actor, conditions, scope, timing and uncertainty even when the sentence structure changes.
This page adds Czech conventions to the house guide and localization review. Examples illustrate language decisions; verify labels and behavior against the product before publishing them.
Voice and address¶
Use friendly formal address in technical instructions: Otevřete soubor. Keep that choice consistent across a workflow. A campaign may use a different register when its audience and brief support it; do not carry campaign enthusiasm into an error or warning.
Prefer everyday wording when it expresses the same thing. Ale can often replace avšak, and už can often replace již. These are editorial choices, not banned-word rules. Keep a necessary technical distinction even when its term is longer. Access permission and ordinary use are different concepts.
Both moci and moct are standard infinitives. Mohu/mohou and the more conversational můžu/můžou differ in register; choose for the surface, not through automatic replacement. See the Internetová jazyková příručka on these verb forms.
Formal address does not make every sentence gender-neutral. When addressing one person politely, the finite verb is plural but past participles and adjectives can still agree with that person’s gender. An imperative or a statement about the object often avoids unnecessary personal agreement: Zkontrolujte, že jsou všechny soubory zavřené. Do not change a completed action to an ongoing one merely to avoid a gendered form. See CzechEncy on vykání. Where an interface message must address the reader in the past tense, Czech macOS and Windows use the masculine animate plural, Vybrali jste také systémová písma Apple., and never a double ending such as vybral(a) jste.
Use lowercase vy and váš in general interface and help text as the house convention. Follow the appropriate correspondence convention in a personally addressed letter. Usually omit an explicit pronoun when the verb already identifies the reader.
Meaning and user actions¶
Translate the task, including every required step. An instruction in running text needs the imperative: Zapněte automatické ukládání. A noun phrase naming that setting does not tell the reader to enable it. The label of a menu command or button is different: it takes the infinitive (see Interface labels). Refer to the actual setting label when one exists.
Keep these distinctions through revision:
- If synchronization requires email verification, retain that requirement: Sdílená nastavení nelze synchronizovat, dokud neověříte svou e-mailovou adresu. Supplying unspecified account information is a different task.
- If one tap both stops and sends a recording, retain both results: Dalším klepnutím nahrávání zastavíte a nahrávku odešlete. Do not make sending optional or imply a separate action.
- If a restart is needed for an update, name the update and explain when work can resume. Do not claim the whole operating system cannot function unless that is the actual condition.
- If canceling is followed by editing and saving, keep all three actions. For a verified button labeled Zrušit: Vyberte Zrušit, dokončete úpravy a uložte soubor. Canceling is not deleting.
- Retain warnings about other people’s unsaved work and the possibility of loss. Do not turn a possible consequence into a certainty or soften it away.
Permission controls must describe authorization and its scope. Povolit aplikaci přístup k poloze describes granting location access. A statement that an application can do something does not necessarily ask for that permission. Preserve which application, which data and whose data are involved; do not replace “and” with “or.”
Distinguish hovering, clicking, tapping and dragging. Do not turn an automatic result of a gesture into a suggestion that the reader could do something next. In promotions, retain the supported benefit without inventing a broader capability.
Grammar and ownership¶
Inflect Czech nouns and adjectives together. Case depends on the whole construction, including the verb or preposition; translating a noun in isolation is insufficient.
| Construction | Czech example |
|---|---|
| A new file | nový soubor |
| Without a new file | bez nového souboru |
| Toward a new file | k novému souboru |
| In a new file | v novém souboru |
| With a new file | s novým souborem |
| New files | nové soubory |
| In new files | v nových souborech |
Czech has no articles corresponding directly to English a and the. Recast the sentence naturally, but preserve whether it concerns a particular item, any item or every item. Word order alone may not make that scope clear. Do not add jeden or nějaký mechanically for every indefinite article.
Use reflexive svůj for possession referring to the grammatical subject: Uložte svůj soubor. With a different subject, another possessive may be needed: Server odmítl vaše uživatelské jméno. Do not substitute svůj there and assign the username to the server. Omit an unnecessary possessive only when ownership remains clear.
Short and long participial forms have different uses. Instalace byla zrušena. reports a past event; replacing it with Instalace je zrušená. changes the tense and presents a state. Choose the construction that matches the message, rather than banning short participles or passive voice.
Break up a difficult chain of genitives when readers could misidentify what modifies what. There is no universal maximum number of genitives. English “split infinitive” advice does not define a Czech word-order rule.
Counts¶
For a simple count display, use 1 soubor, 2 soubory, 3 soubory, 4 soubory, 5 souborů, 0 souborů and 21 souborů. These examples do not license a last-digit-only rule. Inflected sentences need forms appropriate to their case; decimal quantities need separate review.
In ordinary prose, compound numerals ending in one through four can allow more than one agreement pattern. The preferred general form after a decimal is genitive singular, for example 2,5 metru. See the Internetová jazyková příručka on counted nouns. Test complete messages using the application’s actual plural system, including zero, one, two through four, five, eleven, twenty-one and larger values.
People and inclusion¶
Do not infer a person’s gender from a name or username. Use a neutral construction where it preserves the meaning; use complete, reviewed variants where personal agreement is necessary and the relevant information is available. A string such as {name} aktualizoval(a) does not solve every identity or agreement problem. Keep the actor visible when attribution matters, for example in a separate actor field beside an event description.
Avoid changing singular to plural solely to avoid gender if it changes who is involved. Likewise, a supposedly neutral role word must name the same role: the person chairing a meeting is not necessarily the organization’s chair.
Preserve a person’s supplied name. Czech has established patterns for feminine surnames, but automatically adding -ová to every foreign surname disregards the person’s usage and the construction. Rephrase with an appropriate descriptor when needed. See the Internetová jazyková příručka on feminine surnames.
Use accessible, respectful descriptions. Do not equate a disability with an inability to use the product, or rely on color, position or a gesture alone to identify an action. Apply the shared accessible-content guidance.
Names, terms and placeholders¶
Check terminology in the actual Czech product. Different products may use different labels for a similar control. A translation memory is evidence to review, not authority to override the current interface.
Keep product names recognizable and apply their naming rules. A descriptor often supplies the needed Czech inflection: v aplikaci FontLab, soubor ve formátu PDF. Do not attach a case ending to an unknown substituted name. For a placeholder contract that supplies an application name, Chcete soubor otevřít v aplikaci {app}? keeps that value intact. Check real substitutions, including multiword names and versions, before accepting the sentence.
Preserve placeholder identifiers, markup, escapes, filenames, paths, URLs and code exactly. Do not delete an actor token or invent a replacement token to fix grammar. If an optional value can be absent, the resource needs a valid complete message for that supported case.
Abbreviate when the audience recognizes the abbreviation and space or repetition justifies it. Explain unfamiliar acronyms where useful. Follow established Czech word forms rather than treating all acronyms as either inflected or uninflected. A descriptive noun often avoids an awkward form in product prose.
Distinguish a format name such as OTF from a literal extension such as .otf. Write soubor s příponou .otf when discussing the extension. Preserve .OTF if that exact spelling is part of a filename or technical example; a lowercase prose preference must not modify literal data.
Interface labels¶
Czech macOS, Windows, Qt and Glyphs name a command with the infinitive, not the imperative: Uložit, Otevřít…, Přidat komponent… Aspect carries meaning: a one-time action is perfective (Zobrazit), an option that stays on is imperfective (Zobrazovat, Ponechávat alternativy u sebe). A panel, dialog or group title is a noun in the nominative: Zarovnání, Vrstvy. A progress line is a verbal noun with the source ellipsis: Ověřování písem… Put the object before the verb in a short message: Sbírku nelze přejmenovat. Confirm with Opravdu chcete…?, not the calque Jste si jisti, že…
A Qt catalog gives Czech three count forms, selected by the whole number: exactly 1 (%n soubor), 2 to 4 (%n soubory), and everything else, including 0, 12, 22 and 101 (%n souborů). A verb agrees with each form: Byla nalezena %n chyba, Byly nalezeny %n chyby, Bylo nalezeno %n chyb.
Put an access-key ampersand before a letter without diacritics, unique among its siblings: &Uložit, &Zrušit. Key names stay as on the keycap (Shift, Ctrl, Enter, Esc); Space is Mezerník and the arrows are Šipka nahoru, dolů, vlevo, vpravo. The Czech localization guide gives the form of every element type and the rules for placeholders.
Messages and feedback¶
Match the verb to the real operation state. The following are distinct messages, not stylistic alternatives:
| Meaning | Czech example |
|---|---|
| Instruction | Uložte soubor. |
| In progress | Soubor se ukládá. |
| In progress, status line | Ukládání souboru… |
| Completed | Soubor byl uložen. |
| Attempt failed | Soubor se nepodařilo uložit. |
| Currently unavailable | Soubor nelze uložit. |
| Sent successfully | Zpráva byla odeslána. |
A passive completion message is useful when the object and result matter. If the actor matters too, retain that information elsewhere in the message or surrounding record. Do not translate a sent message as one still being sent.
State the problem and a supported next step without blame. Před uložením přidejte do formuláře otázku. gives an action without asserting that the reader forgot it. Distinguish missing properties from invalid values. Distinguish Nedostatek paměti. from a shortage of disk space. Do not infer a cause that the application has not established.
An application can perform operations; it does not need feelings or a human personality. Use “we” when it refers to actual people responsible for the message. Avoid comic interjections, cheerful apologies and unnecessary exclamation marks in failures or loss warnings.
Typography and notation¶
Use sentence case for headings and ordinary labels. Preserve proper names and exact interface labels. Keep Czech diacritics in capitals: PŘÍLIŠ ŽLUŤOUČKÝ KŮŇ. Check accents and letter shapes in the actual font, including at small sizes.
Use Czech double quotation marks „{filename}“ in prose, with no spaces against the enclosed text; nested quotations normally use ‚…‘. The opening double mark is U+201E and the closing mark U+201C. Preserve literal code punctuation. Punctuation placement depends on whether the quotation is a whole sentence or part of one; do not apply an English inside-quotes rule. See the Internetová jazyková příručka on quotation marks.
Write complete instructional sentences with their punctuation. Short labels and headings usually need no final period. Make list items parallel; sentence items can take capitals and periods, while short standalone items can omit end punctuation. Keep comparable lists consistent. Czech permits several list styles, including semicolons where appropriate; see the Internetová jazyková příručka on lists.
Use a colon after a complete label, such as Počet účastníků: {count}. Do not leave a preposition stranded before it. Use Czech comma rules, not English comma placement. Parentheses, slashes and ellipses have legitimate uses; prefer an explicit conjunction when a slash would obscure whether both alternatives apply. Keep an ellipsis in an exact control label when the product uses it. The Czech dash is an en dash with a space on each side, Poslední krok – nastavení prostředí, and without spaces in a range of single words or numbers, 10–20; do not copy the English em dash. See the Internetová jazyková příručka on the dash.
Use a decimal comma and readable digit grouping in Czech prose: 10 250,75. Keep values and unit symbols together with a nonbreaking space: 12,5 mm and 1250 Kč. ČSN 01 6910 also keeps the one-letter prepositions and conjunctions k, s, v, z, o, u, a, i on the same line as the next word: use a nonbreaking space after them in any text that can wrap. See the Internetová jazyková příručka on line ends. Preserve machine-readable syntax in code and data examples.
Percentage spacing changes the reading: sleva 50 % expresses a percentage amount, while 50% sleva uses an adjectival expression. A spelled-out numeric compound can be 50procentní; do not insert -ti-. Use −18 °C with a true minus sign attached to the number, and 12 × 14 × 24 cm with the multiplication sign. These conventions follow the Internetová jazyková příručka on symbols and numbers.
In prose, dates can be 13. září 2026 or 13. 9. 2026. Preserve required storage or interchange formats separately. See the Internetová jazyková příručka on dates. Use digits when readers need exact values, comparisons or interface matches; do not force every number below eleven into words.
Interaction, speech and review¶
Copy shortcut keys from the current product and test them on the supported Czech keyboard layouts. An English shortcut table does not establish Czech assignments. Check duplicates within the actual context, conflicts with text entry, and whether access keys are supported. Do not turn a “go to” action into “back,” or assume a deletion shortcut works everywhere.
For screen-reader instructions, quote the announcement only after checking the actual localized output. If the wording varies by platform or version, describe what the reader should recognize instead of inventing an exact quotation. Keep essential information available in text.
For narration and video, use natural Czech pronunciation and a register suited to the task. Check unfamiliar names and acronyms individually; a fixed catalog of English pronunciation does not cover every context. Read filenames and URLs clearly enough to recover their meaningful parts. Do not universally omit dots, schemes or other characters. Keep spoken instructions, captions and demonstrated actions in the same order.
Review in context with a proficient Czech reviewer. Test real substituted values, count variants, diacritics, quotation marks, nonbreaking spaces, narrow layouts, text expansion and assistive output. Check that every recovery step remains possible and every warning retains its scope. A rendered page check cannot establish that an application’s behavior matches an illustrative example.
Easy-to-read and plain writing¶
Plain writing applies to all FontLab help: short sentences, one term for one concept and the main fact first. Easy-to-read goes further. Use it for readers who need the simplest possible text, such as onboarding, error recovery, accessibility notes and a support reply to a reader who needs it. The Czech edition of the Inclusion Europe rules calls such information snadno srozumitelné and the style jednoduché čtení. It allows either ty or vy; this page's lowercase vy still governs FontLab help, and the terminology above stands.
The edition adds Czech examples to the shared rules. Prefer the everyday word: rozesílat rather than distribuovat, dobrý rather than pozitivní. If a text uses zaměstnání, it does not switch to práce later. Explain with examples from everyday life, avoid figures of speech such as lije jako z konve, and expand EU as Evropská unie. Put one idea in each sentence and start each sentence on a new line, ending it with a full stop rather than a comma or a. Never split a word across two lines. Avoid např. and atd.
Its rules for Czech numbers take inflection into account:
- Write an ordinal that has to be declined as a word: sedmá schůzka, not 7. schůzka.
- Write other numbers as digits, 1, 2, and never use Roman numerals.
- Replace 3x with třikrát.
- Give dates in full: úterý 13. října 2026, not 13/10/2026.
These rules do not conflict with the advice above against forcing small numbers into words. Use digits for exact values and interface matches; spell out only the forms that a reader would otherwise have to decline in their head.
In dedicated easy-to-read pages, mark interface labels with house highlight (==Apply==), or bold where highlight is unavailable, but never italics. Align text left and replace a series separated by commas with a list. The nonbreaking spaces after one-letter prepositions still apply.
Based on Inclusion Europe: Information for all.
Sources¶
Adapted from Microsoft’s Czech localization guidance and Mozilla’s Czech community guide, with source notices and adaptation terms recorded in credits. The interface-label forms follow the Czech catalogs of Glyphs 3, Font Book and Qt (qtbase_cs); the count forms follow the Czech rule in Qt Linguist. The adaptation consolidates their advice, corrects meaning changes and unsupported absolutes, and applies house terminology. Primary Czech references linked above support selected grammatical and typographic distinctions. See credits for shared attribution.
FontLab terminology decisions (2026-10-04)¶
Follow the canonical FontLab glossary, including its approval status and contextual notes. The current choices are:
| Concept | Wording |
|---|---|
| OpenType lookup | procedura |
| Fusion, using the fallback Welder | Svářeč |
| FontAudit, visible name | FontAudit |
| Pin, a named point in an element | špendlík |
For OpenType lookup, the default is the translation of procedure. Retain a different term only with strong OpenType-specific evidence; the explicit German, French, Polish and Russian decisions take precedence. Ordinary search, dictionary lookup and code keywords are separate senses. Preserve literal lookup, lookupflag, LookupList and identifiers in code. Keep individual rules distinct from the procedures that group them.
Use the FontAudit name above in visible interface text and prose; preserve FontAudit in code and identifiers. In non-Latin scripts it is a phonetic transliteration, including Chinese. A proposed glossary entry remains proposed; this table does not confer native-team approval.
Keep marked and unmarked menu labels consistent after accounting for Qt mnemonic & and appended shortcuts. In Dimensions and Glyph Window preferences, aim for labels no longer than 120% of the source; preserve meaning when that target is impractical. Omit redundant font or colour wording when context supplies it. TTH options may omit the verb “use” and abbreviate TrueType hinting as TTH. Help may be longer, but quoted interface labels must match the final UI.
FontLab Rapid tool¶
FontLab names this tool Rapid. The name stays recognizable in the interface and Quick Help; it does not mean an ordinary fast or quick action. Use the canonical TS spelling and translate the surrounding grammar, as in Kreslení nástrojem Rapid. The contrast classifications containing English rapid use the ordinary adjective instead. See the localization guide for the current terminology and source-version checks.
Control context in Czech Quick Help¶
Use the translation of the actual control. The Stem tool is Dřík
in legacy help that calls it Thickness; a thickness value remains tloušťka.
The Metrics Line menu command is Řádek metrik, and Live Metrics is
Průběžné metriky. Preserve literal metric formulas such as width("spec").
Expand differs by control: Brush Properties uses Rozšířit štětec, the Elements panel uses Zapsat filtr prvku, and the Element menu uses Použít filtry natrvalo. A definition of an element filter uses the singular filtr prvku; the Gallery filter that selects elements is a different sense.
Do not translate runtime values by analogy with catalog examples. The Add Glyphs category list uses ICU names such as Uppercase letter, Math symbol and Other letter. Preserve those displayed names in help. Text-shape size is measured in jednotky fontu; UPM names the number of units per em.
The Font window’s Latin Simple category is translated as Jednoduchá latinka. It uses a translated catalog label, unlike the ICU category names in Add Glyphs. Preserve literal style names such as Regular in examples. Keep UPM and PPM recognizable in control labels, while retaining accurate expanded explanations in prose.
GitHub controls also differ by dialog. The font-project commit button is Potvrdit změny and its message field is Zpráva k potvrzení. The glyph commit button is Zapsat and its message field is Zpráva k revizi. Quote the control the reader will use instead of imposing one label everywhere.
In Features, Zahrnovat kerningové třídy, Zahrnovat třídy OpenType,
Přidat štítky and Přidat virtuální štítky toggle class inclusion during
compilation. Glyph tags produce glyph classes; they are distinct from
literal OpenType feature tags such as kern. Do not describe these options
as commands that insert placeholders at the cursor.
The Navrhnout submenu and Navrhovat vodítka option have different canonical forms. Keep Přehled výsledků for Scoreboard and Pro for the coordinate display selector. Canvas coordinates use font units.
Font naming commands act on selected fonts and can change their metadata. Rodiny podle názvu PostScript derives family and style names from the PostScript name. Zrušit propojení řezů changes style linking; it does not split a style name into components. Zobrazit fonty opens the font chooser. Describe these effects from the handlers, rather than treating the commands as visual grouping controls. Preserve English naming values populated from font data, including Regular, Thin, Light, Bold, Black, Plain, Italic and Normal.
Do not transfer color-flag command labels between panels without checking the context. For example, a Classes panel command does not establish the label of a Font window control. Preserve an accurate flag description when a matching canonical label is absent.
The file-format selector displays the literal FontLab JSON. The clipboard property label JSON FontLab does not rename that format. Likewise, a custom layers popup can be described as a vyskakovací okno vrstev; the Inspector’s Nabídka vrstev label does not establish a Font window label.
In the Glyph window, Automaticky and Výchozí are translated choices, but script names such as Latin come directly from ICU. OpenType glyph classes in the Glyph inspector use translated choices: Jednoduchý, Ligatura and Znaménko. Check how each list is populated.
The Axes page uses Kontrolovat geometrii masterů and Řadit obrysy a počáteční uzly in its ongoing auto-matching options. The Location panel uses the distinct command forms Zkontrolovat and Seřadit. In Family Dimensions, the UPM field is Jednotky na čtverčík; keep that field name. Use Bezpečný horní okraj and Bezpečný dolní okraj for Safe top/bottom.
Check units and object types against the implementation. Frame text-size presets are in points. Pin-position expressions define X/Y positions in the glyph, not variation-space locations. Old inspector help may describe inactive controls or contain designer placeholder labels; those strings require a behaviour check before their wording becomes terminology guidance.
The project commit dialog is Potvrzení změn na GitHub; committing selected glyphs opens Zapsat změny. Keep these titles distinct from their buttons. The grid preference is Řídit se úhlem kurzívy fontu, while the Coordinates command omits fontu. The MainWindow reference command uses Zrušit odkaz; do not borrow Odpojit from the element toolbar. Dynamic layer-recipe help must distinguish Upravit recepturu from Obnovit recepturu.
The main menu uses Sloučit kerning do tříd and Rozložit kerning tříd na páry. The Kerning panel has its own Komprimovat na kerning tříd and Rozložit kerning tříd labels. Preserve those control-specific forms. Font-window caption sizes use the runtime choices automaticky, malé, střední and velké. The caption labelled Age is Datum.
Preferences describe the cousin stack as sestava příbuzenstva. Retain accurate expanded UPM explanations in prose. Do not infer that export flattening only removes overlaps. The main-window Rectangle sticker is Obdélník; other sticker toolbars retain their own Square labels.
The Zoom tool tooltip is Lupa; the menu heading is Zvětšení. Preview controls use Zobrazovat kerning, Zobrazovat prostrkání, Vyplňovat náhled and Vodopád glyfů. Do not derive tool names from menu headings.
ShapesPanel uses Obnovit živé otočení a zkosení, while Bar_Shape omits živé. For hinting, preserve the local labels: TTHPanel has Koncová delta (F), TthDlgFinalDelta has Konečná delta, and WidgetTTH has Mezilehlá delta (M). The dialog label Střední delta does not rename that tool.
Check copied descriptions against their actions. Create Reference shares contour data for eligible contour elements; it does not always create independent copies. A legacy stroke-cap or dash control must describe the stroke operation, even when its old tooltip incorrectly names a colour panel.
The Features selector also gets script names directly from ICU: its example is Latin, not Latinka. Keep the translated OpenType class choices Ligatura, Znaménko and Jednoduchý in both the label and selector help. Other-style fields use Ostatní in FontInfoPanel and Info_Names, but Jiné in Info_Masters. Match the field label and its editor within each page.