Translate a JSON i18n file into Polish

Polish plurals: four forms where English has two

An English source usually reads {count, plural, one {# file} other {# files}}. Polish needs four categories:

• one: 1 → 1 plik
• few: 2–4, 22–24, 32–34… but not 12–14 → 3 pliki
• many: 0, 5–21, 25–31… → 5 plików, 12 plików
• other: decimals → 1,5 pliku

In ICU messages, Manuce adds the missing categories, so the value comes back as {count, plural, one {# plik} few {# pliki} many {# plików} other {# pliku}}. Exact matches such as =0 are kept.

i18next suffix plurals are another matter. Your source has files_one and files_other, but Polish also expects files_few and files_many. Manuce never translates or creates keys; only values change. Add those keys to the source before uploading, or move those strings to ICU syntax.

Cases, gender and strings glued together in code

Polish nouns change form with their role in the sentence. A standalone value is translated in the nominative, which breaks strings assembled at runtime. If item.copy is kopia and the template is Delete {item}, the result is Usuń kopia instead of the correct accusative Usuń kopię.

Past tense verbs agree with gender: {name} added a comment becomes {name} dodał komentarz for a man and dodała for a woman. A gender select already in your source is checked and kept; without one, review the form chosen.

String arrays need care too. A month array translates to styczeń, right on its own, but a written date requires the genitive: 1 stycznia. If your code builds dates from that array, keep two lists or let your date library handle it.

Length, diacritics and Polish typography

Polish UI text often runs longer than English: Sign in becomes Zaloguj się, Save changes becomes Zapisz zmiany. Leave room for buttons and tabs to grow.

• Diacritics: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż must exist in your web font, bold weights included. The file’s encoding and BOM are preserved exactly.
• Quotation marks: Polish uses „ ”; these are not straight quotes, so they need no escaping inside JSON strings.
• Capitals: no title case in headings (Ustawienia konta), and days and months are lower case.
• Numbers and dates: decimal comma, space as thousands separator, DD.MM.YYYY. Date formats and numbers are not translated, so a MM/DD/YYYY value stays as it is; adapt it in code or through Intl.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not do

You get the same file back: indentation, key order, quote style, comments, line endings, encoding and BOM all preserved. Each translated value is compared with the source, so {name}, {{count}} or %s must appear the same number of times. If a mismatch persists, the source value is kept and the report says so.

Left untouched: keys, empty values, URLs, email addresses, numbers, colours, date formats, identifiers and anything marked as non-translatable.

Manuce does not add keys (the i18next _few and _many keys are yours to prepare), does not rewrite your date formats, and takes no glossary or terminology instructions. To keep a product name in English, check the free sample, then the translation. Pricing counts words in values only, keys and tags excluded, with the ×1.25 coefficient that applies to Polish.

Preparing the file and checking the result

1. Validate the JSON: one trailing comma blocks processing.
2. Add _few and _many keys if you use i18next suffixes.
3. Find strings concatenated in code and replace them with full sentences using placeholders.
4. After delivery, read the report, then test with count set to 1, 2, 5, 12, 22, 25 and 1.5: each must show the right form.
5. Walk through your densest screens for truncated labels and badly rendered diacritics.

In practice

1. Validate your JSON and add i18next _few and _many keys if needed.
2. Upload the file and choose Polish: the quote counts words in values only.
3. Read the free sample to judge register and terms to keep as they are.
4. Download the translated file and report, then test plurals with 1, 2, 5, 12 and 22.