Translate a CSV string table into Spanish

What Spanish changes in a string table

Spanish uses the Latin alphabet and runs left to right, yet it raises specific issues in a string file.

• Length: Spanish runs longer than English. Save becomes Guardar, and Settings becomes Configuración. Leave room in buttons and dialogue boxes.
• Inverted punctuation: questions open with ¿ and exclamations with ¡. For example, Save changes? becomes ¿Guardar cambios?. A sentence split across two keys can end up with an orphaned opening mark.
• Accented characters: ñ á é í ó ú ü ¿ ¡ must exist in your UI font. Game bitmap fonts often miss them.
• Word order: placeholders move. {count} files deleted becomes Se eliminaron {count} archivos.
• Gender agreement: Welcome, {name} may need Bienvenido or Bienvenida. One value cannot cover both.

Plurals, regional variants and register

Spanish has three CLDR plural categories: one, many and other. many covers large compact numbers, as in 1 millón de archivos. If your library expects an items_many key and your CSV only has items_one and items_other, add the row yourself before uploading. Manuce keeps your keys and their order; it does not create new ones.

Spanish from Spain and Latin American Spanish differ in vocabulary: ordenador or computadora, móvil or celular. They also differ in the plural "you": vosotros or ustedes. Register matters too: informal tú is common in games and consumer apps, while formal usted is common in business software. Use the free extract to check that the variant and tone suit your audience.

What Manuce returns, and what it doesn't do

The expected input is a developer-style CSV: a key column (key, id…) plus language columns (en, fr, es…), as used by Unity or Godot.

• The Spanish column is filled if it exists; otherwise it is added as the last column.
• A comment or context column is used as context for the translation.
• You get the same file back: indentation, key order, quotes, comments, line endings, encoding and BOM are all preserved.
• Each translated value is checked against the source for placeholders and tags. If a mismatch persists, the source value is kept and the report says so, so a dropped %s or <b> won't break your build.
• Not translated: keys, empty values, URLs, email addresses, numbers, colours, date formats, identifiers and anything marked as non-translatable.

What Manuce does not do: add missing plural keys, resize your UI or produce sworn (certified) translations. A CSV with no key column is not treated as a language file; it is translated as plain text. Pricing counts only the words in values, excluding keys and tags.

Preparing the file

• Name the target column with the code your engine expects (es, es_ES…). Create it empty if you want it filled in a specific position rather than appended at the end.
• Use the context column for ambiguous words. Play is Jugar in a game menu but Reproducir in a media player. A short note such as "main menu button" settles it.
• Avoid sentences split across keys. Spanish word order and the ¿ ¡ pair handle them badly.
• Don't round-trip the file through a spreadsheet before uploading. A spreadsheet may change the delimiter, encoding or BOM, whereas Manuce preserves whatever you send.

Checking the Spanish column

1. Read the report. It lists translated strings and strings kept in the source language, with the reason (placeholder mismatch, non-translatable value…).
2. Open the file in a text editor to confirm that ñ and accented letters display correctly in the original encoding.
3. Run the build in Spanish. Look for truncated labels, missing glyphs and gender agreement around placeholders.
4. Confirm that brand names and terms meant to stay unchanged have stayed unchanged.

In practice

1. Make sure the CSV has a key column and name the Spanish column with your engine's code.
2. Upload the file: the quote is based on the words in the values.
3. Read the free extract to check the Spanish variant and register.
4. Download the translated CSV and the report of untouched strings.
5. Test the UI in Spanish: lengths, fonts, placeholders.