Translate an XLIFF file into Russian

What Russian changes in your strings

Russian nouns decline: their endings change with their role in the sentence. A string such as Delete %@? is straightforward (Удалить %@?), but Sent by %@ or %@'s folder would require declining a name that your code inserts unchanged, in the nominative. Translators usually work around this with a neutral construction such as Отправитель: %@ (‘Sender: %@’).

Gender causes the same issue in the past tense: %@ shared a file becomes %@ поделился файлом for a man and %@ поделилась файлом for a woman. Without information about the person, the translation picks one form or rephrases, so these strings deserve a review.

Russian text runs longer than English and its words are long: Настройки for ‘Settings’, Сохранить изменения for ‘Save changes’. Fixed-width buttons and tabs may truncate. Interfaces normally address the user formally, with lower-case «вы»; capitalised «Вы» belongs to personal correspondence. Russian quotation marks are «ёлочки» guillemets rather than English quotes.

Plurals: four Russian forms, one XLIFF structure

CLDR rules give Russian four categories: one (1, 21, 31…), few (2–4, 22–24…), many (0, 5–20, 25…) and other (decimals). For example: 1 файл, 2 файла, 5 файлов, 11 файлов, 1,5 файла.

XLIFF has no plural model of its own: each form is either a separate translation unit or an ICU block inside the text. Two common cases:

• One unit per form (typical of mobile app exports): depending on the tool, the exported file contains the target language's categories or only the source's. If you see only one and other, the few and many forms will be missing and need to exist before export.
• ICU messages: the block {count, plural, one {…} other {…}} sits in the text. Check that the Russian version has one, few, many and other branches.

Manuce translates the units present in the file and does not add new ones, so complete plural sets are something to sort out in your project.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

• XLIFF 1.2 and 2.0: the source is translated into the target and the state attribute is updated, so you can filter units in your tool.
• Inline tags (<g>, <x/>, <ph>…) stay in the same order: Нажмите <g id="1">Сохранить</g>. A string that would lose them is rejected and flagged.
• Every translated value is checked against its source for variables and tags. If a %d or {count} goes missing and the mismatch persists, the source value is kept and the report says so.
• translate="no" is honoured; notes in the file are used as context by the translator.
• The file comes back identical in structure: indentation, order, quotes, comments, line endings, encoding and BOM preserved.
• Not translated: keys, IDs, empty values, URLs, email addresses, numbers, colours, date formats.

You also receive a report listing translated strings and those left unchanged, with the reason. Manuce does not know your users' gender, does not add plural units and does not take glossaries or terminology instructions. It does not produce sworn or certified translations. Pricing covers words in values only, excluding keys and tags, with a ×1.25 coefficient for Russian.

Preparing the file and checking the result

Before uploading

• Make sure the target language is declared: target-language="ru" on <file> in XLIFF 1.2, trgLang="ru" on <xliff> in 2.0.
• Export in UTF-8. Because the encoding is preserved, a file declared as ISO-8859-1 cannot hold Cyrillic properly.
• Add notes to short, ambiguous strings: ‘Open’ is Открыто (status) or Открыть (action); ‘New’ agrees with the implied noun (Новый, Новая, Новое).
• Mark brand and product names that must stay in Latin script with translate="no".

After delivery

• Review the free sample before paying to judge register and a key term.
• Read the report: any string kept in the source language needs manual attention.
• Test plurals with 1, 2, 5, 11, 21 and 0.
• Confirm your app's font includes Cyrillic glyphs; otherwise text shows as boxes.
• Look for truncated labels and sentences where %@ no longer agrees.

In practice

1. Export the XLIFF in UTF-8 with target language ru declared and the few and many forms present.
2. Upload the file: the quote counts words in values only, excluding keys and tags.
3. Check the free sample, then choose a level and pay.
4. Download the file and report, re-import it and test the Russian interface.