Czech localization guide¶
Use these rules with the localization principles, Qt interface rules and Czech language guide.
Locale and register¶
Czech for Czechia, Qt locale cs_CZ. Address the reader with vykání: second
person plural, lowercase vy and váš, never ty. Usually omit the pronoun;
the verb ending carries the person: Chcete změny uložit? (Save changes?).
The tone is plain and impersonal: no first person for the application, no
exclamation marks, prosím only in Počkejte prosím… Use sentence case:
Informace o fontu (Font Info).
Grammar of interface strings¶
Localized macOS, Windows, Qt and Glyphs name a command with the infinitive, never the imperative. A one-time action is perfective (Zobrazit); an option that stays on is imperfective (Zobrazovat).
| Element | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Menu command | infinitive | Přidat komponent… (Add Component…) |
| Button | infinitive | Uložit (Save), Zrušit (Cancel) |
| Checkbox, lasting option | imperfective infinitive or noun phrase | Ponechávat alternativy u sebe (Keep Alternates Together) |
| Panel, dialog or group title | noun, nominative | Zarovnání (Alignment) |
| Status, in progress | verbal noun and ellipsis | Ověřování písem… (Validating fonts…) |
| Success | byl + short passive participle | Font %1 byl úspěšně exportován. (font exported) |
| Failed attempt | se nepodařilo + infinitive | Příkaz se nepodařilo provést. (Unable to execute statement.) |
| Present inability | nelze + infinitive | Atributy cesty nelze uložit do formátu 2. (can’t save) |
| Confirmation | Opravdu chcete…? | Opravdu chcete modul „%1“ nainstalovat? (Are you sure…?) |
| Tooltip that describes | third person, perfective | Zkopíruje vybrané položky do nového umístění. (Copies the selected items.) |
| Tooltip or step that instructs | imperative, vy form | Sem přetáhněte soubor s licencí (Drag license file here) |
Examples: Glyphs 3, Font Book, Qt's qtbase_cs and the Microsoft style
guide, with Qt placeholders. A tooltip that only names its command repeats
the infinitive. Keep one form per element type.
- In a message the object comes first and the verb or nelze after it: Sbírku nelze přejmenovat, not Nelze přejmenovat sbírku.
- An object of a command takes the accusative (Přidat kotvu); a label names its object in the nominative (Kotva).
- A result uses the short participle (uložen), not the long adjective (uložený), which names a state. A status-bar result may drop the auxiliary: Uloženo (constructed).
- Past tense addressed to the reader is masculine animate plural, as in Font Book: Vybrali jste…, never vybral(a) jste. An impersonal sentence is better: Je otevřeno několik souborů, not Máte otevřeno…
Compact labels¶
Shorten by dropping what the screen already says, by choosing the shorter synonym, and by label and value (Počet glyfů: %1). Never drop a case ending, a preposition or the reflexive se: a label stays a grammatical phrase. Avoid chains of more than two genitives.
Do not abbreviate in a menu command or a button. In a narrow field use only established forms: min., max., č., např. A unit symbol takes no period: px, pt, mm. Never abbreviate a glossary term or a command verb.
Plurals and placeholders¶
A Qt numerus string has three forms. Fill all three, each with %n:
| Form | Selected by | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | exactly 1 | %n soubor |
| 2 | exactly 2, 3 or 4 | %n soubory |
| 3 | every other number: 0, 5, 12, 22, 25, 101 | %n souborů |
Qt's Czech rule tests the whole number, not its last digit: 21, 22 and 101
select form 3, unlike Polish and Russian. Form 3 is the genitive plural, and
its verb is neuter singular: Byla nalezena %n chyba, Byly nalezeny %n
chyby, Bylo nalezeno %n chyb (pattern from Font Book). An adjective
follows the noun: %n vybraný glyf, %n vybrané glyfy, %n vybraných glyfů
(constructed). Test 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 22, 25 and 101. Qt has no form
for fractions (1,5 souboru). When a count arrives in a plain %1, no form
fits every number: write Počet glyfů: %1.
A placeholder that stands for a name or a noun has unknown gender, number and case, and Czech past-tense verbs, participles and adjectives agree: %1 byl odstraněn fails for a feminine, neuter or plural value. Never attach an ending to a placeholder. Use one of two constructions:
- A generic noun before the placeholder carries case and agreement, and the value stays in the nominative: Vrstva „%1“ byla odstraněna (constructed), Smazat sbírku %1…, v glyfu „%1“ (not v %1).
- Label, colon, value with a neuter form: Odstraněno: %1 (constructed).
The prepositions v, s, k, z become ve, se, ke, ze before some consonant clusters, so none may stand directly before a placeholder.
Numbers, punctuation and spacing¶
- Decimal comma:
1,5. Thousands are separated by a no-break space (U+00A0):12 345; a four-digit value such as a UPM stays2048. Numbers formatted at runtime stay as the application supplies them. - A no-break space stands between a number and its unit or
%:12 pt,25 %. Without the space the expression is an adjective: 25% zvětšení (a 25-percent enlargement). An angle takes no space:45°. - ČSN 01 6910 forbids a line break after the one-letter words k, s, v, z, o, u, a, i. Put a no-break space after them in every string that can wrap: messages, tooltips, help. A one-line label may keep an ordinary space.
- Quotation marks are „…“ (U+201E, U+201C), with ‚…‘ inside. The closing mark is “, not the Polish and English ”.
- The dash is an en dash with a space on each side, the first one no-break,
never an em dash: Poslední krok – nastavení prostředí. A range takes an
en dash without spaces,
10–20; a negative number the minus sign−. - Keep the source ellipsis as it is, attached to the word. No space before a colon. A label has no final period; a complete sentence has one.
- Type accented letters precomposed (NFC) and keep them on capitals: ÚPRAVY.
Mnemonics and key names¶
Windows and Qt's own Czech catalog put the ampersand before a letter of the
translation: &Uložit, &Otevřít, &Zrušit. Never append a letter in
parentheses. Use one & per label where the source has one, on a letter
unique within the menu or dialog. Standard commands keep the platform's
letter. Avoid letters with diacritics (á č ě í ř š ů ý ž and the rest): on
a US layout, which many Czech users keep, Alt cannot reach them. Use one only
when every plain letter is taken. macOS shows no mnemonics.
Key names stay as the keycaps and Qt print them: Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Cmd, Option, Esc, Tab, Enter, Backspace, Delete. Space is Mezerník; the arrows are Šipka nahoru, dolů, vlevo, vpravo. Join keys with a plus sign and no spaces: Ctrl+Shift+S. In a sentence the word klávesa carries the case: Podržte klávesu Shift.
Names and loans¶
Product names, OpenType tags, table and format names, glyph names, file extensions and code stay unchanged and undeclined (not ve FontLabu): put a generic Czech noun before the name and let the noun decline. The name follows its noun, never precedes it as in English: křivky TrueType, not TrueType křivky; soubor AFM, tabulka OS/2, v aplikaci FontLab. Write a number compound closed: 32bitový.
False friends and traps¶
- Machine errors: an imperative on a command or checkbox (Uložte, Vždy zarovnejte); a first-person status (Stahuji…); the calque Jste si jisti, že…; capitals copied from English (Přidat Master); prosím for every please; váš for every your.
- An English noun stack reverses: Export Options is Možnosti exportu, not Export možností.
- Read each short label by its control. Script is písmo (a writing system) or skript (a program); Close is Zavřít for a window and Uzavřít for a path.
- Reject the office senses of type terms: a character is znak, never charakter; a glyph is glyf, never znak; a counter is not počítadlo, leading not vedoucí, tracking not sledování, a hint not nápověda, case not případ.
- Písmo means a script, a typeface and lettering. The term table fixes the word for font; do not alternate font, písmo and řez.
- Cancel (Zrušit) and Undo (Zpět) must stay two different labels.
- Aktuální means current, not actual (skutečný); kontrolovat means to check, not to control (ovládat); billion is miliarda. Write upravit, not editovat.
Review¶
Check first: all three numerus forms against the test numbers; infinitive and aspect on every command and option; agreement around each placeholder; the closing “; no-break spaces; mnemonics unique and without diacritics; sentence case; then terminology and length.
FontLab terminology and compact labels¶
Preserve deliberately uppercase source labels using the language’s case rules. Keep numeric controls compact with UPM, PPM and LSB/RSB (French AG/AD); explain the full terms in help. The Family Dimensions “Units Per eM:” label is an intentional expanded exception.
Use the current core memory and its approval status. OpenType lookup defaults to the translation of procedure, with a different term only when strong OpenType-specific evidence supports it. Explicit choices are German Lookup, French lookup, Polish procedura and Russian процедура. Ordinary searches, individual rules and OpenType features are separate concepts. Preserve literal code keywords and identifiers.
Translate Fusion with the fallback Welder. Use the core's phonetic FontAudit transliteration in non-Latin scripts, including Chinese; preserve FontAudit in code. Proposed spellings remain proposed. Before rebuilding a QPH, recover team edits and import their terms and notes into the core memory.
Compare mnemonic-split terms with unmarked labels. Keep labels compact, aiming for 120% of the English length in Dimensions and Glyph Window preferences without losing meaning. Omit redundant font, color or command wording when context supplies it. TTH labels can omit “use” and abbreviate TrueType hinting; help can explain more. A full harmonization requires three complete catalog reviews, then reconciliation of help with the final UI and verification of generated resources.
Current terminology¶
The Czech term table, generated from localization/cs-core.tmx, is the
terminology authority. Use its definitions to select the right concept and its notes for grammar and
usage. Check each entry’s status: team-approved decisions and proposed translations are distinct.
A proposed term still stays consistent across the interface and help; consistency does not confer approval.
For a missing term, translate the fallback original term and record the proposal with its reason.
The terms that other strings are built from:
| English | Czech |
|---|---|
| glyph | glyf |
| character | znak |
| family dimensions | rozměry rodiny |
| master | master |
| instance | instance |
| interpolation | interpolace |
| axis | osa |
| variable font | variabilní font |
| kerning | kerning |
| kerning pair | kerningový pár |
| kerning class | kerningová třída |
| tracking | prostrkání |
| metrics | metriky |
| sidebearing | boční odstup |
| left sidebearing | levý odstup |
| right sidebearing | pravý odstup |
| advance width | šířka glyfu |
| UPM | jednotky na čtverčík |
| font unit | jednotka fontu |
| baseline | účaří |
| x-height | střední výška |
| cap height | výška verzálek |
| ascender | horní dotah |
| descender | dolní dotah |
| overshoot | přetah |
| stem | dřík |
| counter | vnitřní prostor |
| serif | serif |
| terminal | výběh |
| contour | obrys |
| node | uzel |
| handle | táhlo |
| segment | segment |
| extremum | extrém |
| element | prvek |
| component | komponent |
| reference | odkaz |
| layer | vrstva |
| anchor | kotva |
| guide | vodítko |
| hint | hint |
| hinting | hinting |
| autohinting | autohinting |
| feature | funkce |
| lookup | procedura |
| OpenType class | třída OpenType |
| mark | znaménko |
| ligature | ligatura |
| smart | chytrý |
| Smart Corner | chytrý roh |
| Power Brush | superštětec |
| Power Guide | supervodítko |
| Power Nudge | superšťouch |
| Power Stroke | supertah |
| Nudge | šťouch |
| Servant node | uzel následovník |
| Genius node | geniální uzel |
| Tunni line | Tunniho čára |
| cousins | příbuzenstvo |
| Sketchboard | skicák |
| Skin | slupka |
| Matchmaker | dohazovač |
| match | sladit |
| True Fill | výplň naostro |
| Dream Up | vykouzlit |
| Remove Overlap | odstranit překryv |
| decompose | rozložit |
| panel | panel |
| property bar | lišta vlastností |
Rapid tool and Quick Help references¶
The tool name is Rapid. Use Kreslení nástrojem Rapid for Rapid draw and Úprava nástrojem Rapid for Rapid edit. Keep the name distinct from ordinary descriptions of speed and from the Vertical rapid and Horizontal rapid contrast classifications. Do not use Rapidograph as the tool name.
Keep Rapid in Latin letters; inflect the surrounding tool or action wording.
For Quick Help, match tool, panel, option and command references to the current
TS catalog in the same control context. Keep inflection natural in sentences.
If a core entry differs, reconcile it with the catalog before regenerating
phrasebooks. A compact UI label and its full prose explanation can differ.
Check the current English conditions and consequences: disabling Cloud also
disables mark/mkmk generation, and mark generation requires Cloud. Preserve
mark and mkmk as literal OpenType feature tags.
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.