Translate a .NET app into German

What German does to a .NET interface

German text typically runs 20 to 35 % longer than English, and short labels suffer most. German builds compound nouns where English uses several words: Account settings becomes Kontoeinstellungen, Password reset becomes Kennwortzurücksetzung. A button sized for Submit may need to fit Übermitteln, and a column header can easily double in width.

• WinForms: fixed-size controls clip text silently. Turn on AutoSize or leave generous padding.
• WPF and MAUI: auto-width grid columns cope better; TextWrapping or TextTrimming prevents overflow in narrow cells.
• Capitalisation: every noun takes a capital letter (Datei speichern, Save file). Calling ToLower() on a label in code breaks this rule and produces a visible spelling error.

Register matters too. Business software addresses the user formally with Sie: Möchten Sie die Änderungen speichern? A consumer app may opt for du, but the choice must stay consistent across every screen.

Placeholders, word order and plurals

German often pushes the verb to the end of the clause. Delete {0}? becomes {0} löschen? or Möchten Sie {0} wirklich löschen?, so the placeholder moves. If your code builds sentences by concatenation ("Delete " + name + "?"), no translation can ever read correctly. Keep the whole sentence in one .resx value and use string.Format with numbered placeholders the translation can reposition.

German has two plural categories, one and other, like English, and zero falls under other: 0 Dateien, 1 Datei, 2 Dateien. The .resx format has no plural mechanism, so provide two keys, for example FileCount_One and FileCount_Other, and pick the right one in code.

Numbers and dates should not live in the .resx. German writes 1.234,56 and 31.12.2025: let CultureInfo("de-DE") format them. A date pattern hard-coded in a value, such as MM/dd/yyyy, is not translated and will stay in US order; use standard formats like d instead. German quotation marks are written „…“, so check they do not break any escaped string in your code.

Exactly what Manuce returns

In a .resx file, Manuce translates the content of the data/value elements. Comments are read as context, so notes such as 'button, 15 characters max' or 'formal Sie' are taken into account. Non-text resources (images, icons, size and position properties of a localisable WinForms form) are left intact.

The file you get back is the same file: indentation, key order, quotation marks, comments, line endings, encoding and BOM are preserved; only the values change. Not translated: keys, empty values, URLs, email addresses, numbers, colours, date formats, identifiers and anything you have marked as non-translatable.

Each translated value is checked against the source: if {0}, {1:N2} or a tag is missing or altered and the mismatch persists, the source value is kept and the report flags it. You know exactly which strings still need manual attention.

What Manuce does not do: it does not build your project or test the layout, so it cannot spot a clipped button. Strings hard-coded in C# or XAML are not in the .resx and will not be translated. And if the app ships terms and conditions (AGB) or a privacy notice (Datenschutzerklärung), note that Manuce does not produce sworn or certified translations.

Preparing the files and checking the result

Before uploading:

• Move every visible string out of code and XAML into .resx files; that is the only content translated.
• Comment ambiguous strings. Open can be Öffnen (verb, button) or Offen (status of a ticket); without context, the engine has to guess.
• State the length limit of tight labels and the register you want (Sie or du).
• Mark product and module names as non-translatable.

After delivery:

1. Save the file as Resources.de.resx next to the neutral file. The build produces the satellite assembly de\YourApp.resources.dll.
2. Run the app with CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("de-DE") and walk through every screen looking for clipped text.
3. Check WinForms access keys: &File becomes &Datei, and two commands in the same menu should not share a letter.
4. Read the report and deal with any strings kept in the source language.

In practice

1. Gather your neutral .resx files and comment ambiguous or length-limited strings.
2. Upload them: the quote appears at once, based on the words in the values, and a free extract lets you judge the register.
3. Download the translated file and the report, then save it as Resources.de.resx.
4. Build, run the app under the de-DE culture and fix clipped labels and flagged strings.