Last update: Octber 2, 2023
If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or need for an arbitration, create a topic in the Style Guide section, the Language Lead will get back to you.
Here you will find the guidance for Belarusian, but you should also consider the guidance for all languages.
1. Capitalization
- Capitalize only the first letter of a sentence and the names of people, products or places.
- Always apply the Belarusian conventions rather than adhering to the English source.
- When the writing of a word is tolerated with and without capitalization, choose its version without capitalization (examples: page web, site internet).
Capitalize
- Proper names
Proton Mail
Proton VPN
NetShield - Command/Folder names and keywords (first word only)
Адкрыць
Захаваць
Захаваць як - First word of a sentence, title or subtitle
Спачатку неабходна актываваць ключ арганізацыі - In UI items made up of 2 alternative commands separated by a slash, both are capitalized
Імпартаванне/Экспартаванне файла - In bulleted lists introduced by a sentence and ending with a colon
→ Выканайце наступныя крокі:
Стварыце тэкставы файл
Скапіюйце вылучаны тэкст у створаны файл
Захавайце змены ў файле
Do not capitalize
- First words in lists introduced by a sentence and ending with a semicolon or a comma
→ Пасля стварэння ўліковага запісу вы атрымаеце:
1 бясплатнае злучэнне з VPN;
Скразное шыфраванне;
Палітыка строгай адсутнасці журналаў актыўнасці; - Nationalities and languages
беларуская
украінская
польская
эсперанта - Names of days, months and seasons
нядзеля
травень
вясна - Words after colon when in the same line
Нататка: пасля націску кнопкі “Ужыць” сэрвіс перазагрузіцца.
2. Gender
- We want to be as inclusive as possible, so we try to be neutral, but we use gender-specific nouns and verbs if remaining neutral goes against the writing best practices for a specific language.
- Basic principles:
- When possible, avoid the use of masculine singular form to refer to someone whose gender is unknown.
- Don’t suggest the reader’s gender using a specific grammatical forms. If you cannot use forms that are gender-free, rephrase the sentence.
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| I am happy to help you. | Я рады вам дапамагчы. | Мне было прыемна вам дапамагчы. |
| If you are interested in Proton Mail… | Я зацікавіўся(-лась) сэрвісам Proton Mail… | Мяне зацікавіў сэрвіс Proton Mail… |
| I am not used to this tool. | Я не карыстаюся гэтым інструментам. | Неабходна выкарыстоўваць гэты інструмент. |
The gender and number of the acronym are determined by the gender and number of the translation for the governing noun of the extended form. However, it is more natural to use a descriptor in such cases. Exception for the acronym VPN, to be used in masculine:
- free VPN → бясплатны VPN
- unlimited VPN → неабмежаваны VPN
3. Abbreviations
Whenever possible, avoid using abbreviations.
Abbreviate the text only when you lack space (mainly buttons, option names or strings with specific character limitations) or when you need to ease the text readability. Instead of abbreviating (e.g., 4 or 5 consecutive words), summarize a term or a phrase in 2 or 3 words that can be written in full.
General criteria for shortening words:
- Omit at least two letters
- Truncate a word so that it ends with a consonant and place a period after it
- Examples:
- Малюнак Мал.
- Глядзіце Гл.
- Малюнак
In Belarusian there are abbreviations “і г. д.”, “і інш.” which are widely used. They should not be used in the middle of a sentence. Add non-breaking spaces between all parts of these abbreviations. If you can replace them, feel free to do this.
| We avoid | We can use | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| Магутнасць камп’ютараў, сервераў і г. д. расце кожны год | Кожны год расце магутнасць камп’ютараў, сервераў і г. д. | Магутнасць камп’ютараў, сервераў і іншай вылічальнай тэхнікі расце кожны год. |
Days abbreviations (in calendars, agendas, timetables… the names of days are written without a period for visual purposes):
| English | Belarusian | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | панядзелак | пн |
| Tuesday | аўторак | аў |
| Wednesday | серада | ср |
| Thursday | чацвер | чц |
| Friday | пятніца | пт |
| Saturday | субота | сб |
| Sunday | нядзеля | нд |
Months abbreviations (in calendars, agendas, timetables… the names of months are written without a period for visual purposes):
| English | Belarusian | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| January | студзень | сту |
| February | люты | лют |
| March | сакавік | сак |
| April | красавік | кра |
| May | травень | тра |
| June | чэрвень | чэр |
| July | ліпень | ліп |
| August | жнівень | жні |
| September | верасень | вер |
| October | кастрычнік | кас |
| November | лістапад | ліс |
| December | снежань | сне |
4. Acronyms
- Common examples are VPN (Virtual Personal Network), DNS (Domain Name Server), HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), etc.
- The most common acronyms and their translations are included in the glossary. Always refer to the glossary when localizing acronyms.
- The gender and number of the acronym are determined by the gender and number of the translation for the main noun of the extended form, but an exception applies to acronyms with the consonant at the end (e.g. VPN, NAT, etc.) which take the masculine gender by default (e.g. бясплатны VPN, неабмежаваны VPN). It is also more natural to use a descriptor in such cases.
- For fluency reasons, and when the exact meaning of the governing noun of the acronym is known, you can use the translation of the defining noun of the acronym in front of it.
- Globally used acronyms do not need explanations (DVD, LED, TV…).
- When an acronym is repeated several times in the same section, include its extended form in parentheses only for its first occurrence.
- The API is Інтэрфейс API in Belarusian.
5. Pronouns
- English, especially technical English, is more redundant than Belarusian.
- When translating, you often need to reduce the redundancy of the source text using pronouns. This may otherwise affect the text readability. However, this must not affect accuracy.
- When translating technical and complex strings, ensure users can associate pronouns to the noun they refer to.
- Avoid the use of possessive pronouns when possible.
- Omit pronoun subjects such as “we” and “you".
6. Gerunds (“ing” ending)
- Gerunds are used in English, such as in “Creating a report”.
- When paragraph and chapter heads begin in English with a gerund or it appears in UI to show the action in process, it is recommended in Belarusian to use a noun, translating it as the equivalent of “Creation of a report”.
- In case of action in process in UI string use first person plural present tense verb if noun sounds unnatural.
- Generating keys… Генерацыя ключоў…
7. Punctuation
- Punctuation must fully comply with Belarusian grammar. Don’t copy the punctuation of the source — in most cases, this will result in a grammatical error.
- Avoid long and clumsy sentences and don’t use literal translation. Always use short and intelligible wording that clearly conveys the meaning of the source.
- The general rule is to follow standard Belarusian grammar rules. As a reference, the below resources can be consulted:
7.1 Period
- For the period at the end of a sentence (subject + verb), adapt the translation to Belarusian: when the English source does not put a period at the end of the sentence (subject + verb), but should in Belarusian, add it in your translation. In this case, make sure the text you are translating is not a part of a longer sentence (this is usually specified in the context).
- Include a period at the end of each extended sentence in a bullet list if this sentence has a full meaning by itself.
- Unless the item includes more than one sentence, do not place any periods at the end of titles, links, nominative phrases, buttons and checkboxes.
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| This footer is added after your signature | Гэты ніжні калонтытул дадаецца пасля вашага подпісу | Гэты ніжні калонтытул дадаецца пасля вашага подпісу. |
| Impossible to load content. Please enable Chrome | Немагчыма загрузіць змесціва. Уключыце Chrome | Немагчыма загрузіць змесціва. Уключыце Chrome. |
| This message will expire in %s | Тэрмін дзеяння гэтага паведамлення міне праз %s | Тэрмін дзеяння гэтага паведамлення міне праз %s. |
| Signature verification error. | Памылка праверкі подпісу. | Памылка праверкі подпісу |
| Unknown error. | Невядомая памылка. | Невядомая памылка |
7.2 Exclamation mark
Exclamation marks are used in Belarusian to give emphasis. As their use is less common than in English, you should use them sparingly: feel free to change an exclamation mark into a period if it is more natural, but please don’t change a period into an exclamation mark.
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| Importing contacts complete! | Імпартаванне кантактаў завершана! | Кантакты імпартаваны. |
7.3 Parentheses
- Parentheses are used to clarify statements or provide additional information.
- Avoid parentheses as much as possible and adapt to the context.
- If a sentence in parentheses clarifies the context, it usually starts in lower case and its ending period is put outside the closing parenthesis. However, a sentence in parentheses providing additional information separated from the context may start in upper case and have its ending period before the closing parenthesis.
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| Please enter a name to finish setting up. (Other people will see this.) | Каб завяршыць наладу, пазначце назву. (Яе будуць бачыць іншыя карыстальнікі). | Каб завяршыць наладу, пазначце назву. Яе будуць бачыць іншыя карыстальнікі. |
| We support importing different image files. (JPEG, PNG, BMP) | Вы можаце імпартаваць кантакты розных фарматаў. (JPEG, PNG, BMP) | Вы можаце імпартаваць кантакты розных фарматаў, напрыклад, JPEG, PNG, BMP. |
7.4 Colon and semicolon
- Colons and semicolons come immediately after the preceding word, with no space in between, and the following word should not be capitalized.
- Date: Old to new Дата: ад самага старога да самага новага
7.5 Em dash (—)
- Em dash should be used in a sentence
- In Belarusian, please use en dashes (alt+0151), without spacing, in number ranges: 500–1500, and with spacing – in sentences.
- September 10 - 20 10–20 верасня (але, September 10 ⎯ 10 верасня ⎯)
7.6 Quotation marks
- Use Belarusian quotation marks: “”.
- The period should go outside the closing quotation mark.
- The same applies to brackets.
- Націсніце на спасылку “Дапаможнік па Proton VPN”.
7.7 Apostrophes
Use straight apostrophes ’
7.8 Ampersand (&)
Replace “&” with “і” unless it is part of a company/product name or a registered trademark.
8 Spacing and non-breaking spaces
- Spacing
- Never insert blank spaces before a comma.
- Space between words or after punctuation is always a single.
- Use space between numbers and units (remember that % is an exception in Belarusian).
- Use non-breaking spaces to prevent improper division of elements such as product names, part numbers, numbers, dates, etc.
- To insert a non-breaking space using your keyboard:
- On Windows, hold down the “Alt” key while typing the number “255”.
- On Apple, Ctrl + Option⌥ + Space bar.
- 10 EUR, 2 m, etc.
9 Numbers
- Replace the period that stands for the decimal point in American English with a comma in your translations.
- 3.75 3,75
- For numbers smaller than 1, always put a zero before the decimal comma.
- .5 0,5
- The period in app/software version numbers remains unchanged.
Proton Mail v.3 - As a thousand separator, use a non-breaking space. Never use thousand separators in years. 15,000 and year 2015 15 000, год 2015
- Time and date:
- Hours and minutes are separated by a colon. Use the 24 hour format to specify A.M. and P.M. at 9:25 P.M у 21:25
- The Belarusian date format is “dd/mm/yyyy”.
- 01-31-22 (mm/dd/yy) 31/01/2022
10 Ordinal numbers
- Ordinal numbers may be written in with numerals and letter suffixes, where the suffix acts as an ordinal indicator.
- Singular: graphical rendition of the suffix depends on the font.
- Plural: in case of plural, we prefer to use the complete word.
Full form
| English | Singular M (full form) | Singular F (full form) | Singular N (full form) | Plural N (full form) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | першы | першая | першае | першыя |
| 2nd | другі | другая | другое | другія |
| 3rd | трэці | трэцяя | трэцяе | трэція |
| 4th | чацвёрты | чацвёртая | чацвёртае | чацвёртыя |
| 5th | пяты | пятая | пятае | пятыя |
| 6th | шосты | шостая | шостае | шостыя |
| 7th | сёмы | сёмая | сёмае | сёмыя |
| 8th | восьмы | восьмая | восьмае | восьмыя |
| 9th | дзявяты | дзявятая | дзявятае | дзявятыя |
| 10th | дзясяты | дзясятая | дзясятае | дзясятыя |
Short form
| English | Singular M (short form) | Singular F (short form) | Singular N (short form) | Plural N (short form) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1-ы | 1-ая | 1-ае | 1-ыя |
| 2nd | 2-і | 2-ая | 2-ое | 2-ія |
| 3rd | 3-і | 3-яя | 3-яе | 3-ія |
| 4th | 4-ы | 4-ая | 4-ае | 4-ыя |
| 5th | 5-ы | 5-ая | 5-ае | 5-ыя |
| 6th | 6-ы | 6-ая | 6-ае | 6-ыя |
| 7th | 7-ы | 7-ая | 7-ае | 7-ыя |
| 8th | 8-ы | 8-ая | 8-ае | 8-ыя |
| 9th | 9-ы | 9-ая | 9-ае | 9-ыя |
| 10th | 10-ы | 10-ая | 10-ае | 10-ыя |
11 Currencies
- Do not convert USD ($) or EUR (€) amounts to any local currency.
- Place the USD or EUR code or the symbol €, $ after the number and separate it with a non-breaking space from the number.
- Use signs consistently, and do not replace them with “еўра” or “долар ЗША”.
- $ 30 30 $
12 Units of measurement
- Use the metric system.
- Insert a non-breaking space between a number and the relevant unit.
- Convert imperial units into metric units.
- 6 feet 1,83 m
| Category | Measurement unit | Translation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|---|
| LINEAR | Kilometer Meter Centimeter Millimeter |
кіламетр метр сантыметр міліметр |
км м см мм |
| MASS | Ton Kilogram Gram |
тона кілаграм грам |
T кг г |
| IMPERIAL | Inch Feet Mile Gallon |
цаля фут міля галон |
Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable |
| COMPUTING | Byte (B) Megabyte (MB) Gigabyte (GB) Terabyte (TB) |
? ? ? ? |
? ? ? ? |
For other abbreviations, please use orthography dictionary as a reference.
13 Form of address
Use formal form (“вы”) of address everywhere. Do not use uppercase “Вы” even in letters.
If you use third-party app… Калі вы выкарыстоўваеце староннія праграмы…
14 English “please”
In English, it is very common to use the word “please” to introduce an instruction (“Please fill out the field Name in the form”). Reduce it in Belarusian as it is often excessive.
Please try again later. Паўтарыце спробу пазней яшчэ раз.
15 Foreign words
- Use the transliterated version only if the term is well-known in Belarusian.
- Do not use Latin words in case they are not proper names.
cache, tag, driver кэш, тэг, драйвер - When foreign words are common and well understood, they can be left in the source language. Where necessary, add an explanation in the target language.
- Avoid using too many anglicisms.
16 Localizing person names
- Localize fictitious person names used for explanatory purposes, choosing a name that is generic but not stereotypical. Example: Please enter your display name (e.g. Julia Smith) Увядзіце бачнае імя (напр. Юлія Батура)
- Do not localize real persons’ names. Example: Bart Butler is a senior engineer at Proton Mail Барт Батлер працуе ў Proton Mail галоўным інжынерам.
17 Localizing domains and email addresses
Localize fictitious domain names and e-mail addresses used for explanatory purposes:
- Translate the local-part of an e-mail address
- user@ карыстальнік@
- Translate the domain name yourdomain.com tvoidamen.by
- Use your target country code at the end .com .by
| English | Belarusian |
|---|---|
| Create email addresses for other people, manage ${ MAIL_APP_NAME } for a business, school, or group. Get started by adding your organization name and custom domain (e.g. @yourcompany.com). | Стварайце адрасы электроннай пошты для іншых людзей, кіруйце поштай ${ MAIL_APP_NAME } для бізнесу, навучальных арганізацый або груп. Пачніце працу са стварэння назвы для вашай арганізацыі і вашага карыстальніцкага дамена (напрыклад, @vashakampaniya.by). |
However, do not localize any real email addresses or domain names.
To verify that your payment details are up to date visit account.proton.me Для праверкі актуальнасці сваіх рэквізітаў плацяжу, наведайце account.proton.me
18 Plural Forms
- Some strings may have plural forms.
- Belarusian has 4 plural forms (one, few, many, and other).
- When a string has multiple plural forms, all variants of the string are shown in the section where you type in translations.
- Enter translations in the corresponding tabs that depict plural forms of the target language.