Guidance for Czech

[PMtranslator]

Last update: Dec 31, 2025

Here you will find the guidance for Czech, but you should also consider the guidance for all languages.

Capitalization

• Capitalize only the first letter of a sentence and titles, the names of people, products or places (proper names) and UIs (only first letter of the first word).
• Always apply your language conventions rather than adhering to the English source.

Capitalize:

– Proper names:

• Proton Mail
• Proton VPN
• NetShield
• Command/Folder names and keywords (first word only)
• Otevřít
• Nastavení
• Uložit změny

– First word of a sentence, title or subtitle

• Zde najdete informace o nových nabídkách.
• Možnosti nastavení

– In UI items made up of 2 alternative commands separated by a slash, only first of them should be capitalized

• Importovat/exportovat soubor

– Words after a colon when followed by a complete sentence

• Časově omezená nabídka: Ušetřete s našimi nabídkami až 50 %!

– In bulleted lists consisting of complete sentences
Vaše výhody s ProtonVPN:

• Chraňte svou e-mailovou komunikaci.
• Získejte přístup k mezinárodnímu streamování.

Do not capitalize

• Words like internet and web, except when they are the first word of a sentence
• Words after a colon when not followed by a complete sentence
  Proton Foundation: nezisková organizace
• First word after salutation in an Email
  Dobrý den,
  děkujeme vám za zpětnou vazbu.
• Names of days, months and seasons
  pondělí
  leden
  zima

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 form. If you cannot use forms that are gender-free, rephrase the sentence.
• Using of generic plural is a possible way how to avoid using separate masculine singular and feminine singular.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Are you sure you want to delete this calendar?	Jste si jistý/á, že chcete smazat tento kalendář?	Jste si jistí, že chcete smazat tento kalendář?
If you’re not satisfied, we’ll refund your payment in full within 30 days.	Pokud nebudete spokojený, vrátíme vám celou částku do 30 dnů.	Pokud nebudete spokojení, vrátíme vám celou částku do 30 dnů.
I am happy to help you.	Jsem rád, že vám mohu pomoct.	Těší mě, že vám mohu pomoct.
If you are interested in Proton Mail…	Pokud jste zvědavý(á) ohledně Proton Mail…	Pokud máte zájem o službu Proton Mail…
I am not used to this tool.	Nejsem zvyklý na tento nástroj.	Nemám ve zvyku používat tento nástroj.

• You can use passive language to avoid gender-specific verbs, but only if it doesn’t hurt readability and/or make the sentence sound unnatural.
• Rephrase when you are unable to find a gender-neutral way.

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.
• Use commonly used abbreviations if one exists.
• Place a period at the end of the most of abbreviations.

Examples:

• strana str.
• ve znění pozdějších předpisů ve zn. pozd. předpisů

Days abbreviations (in calendars, agendas, timetables… the names of days are written without a period for visual purposes):

English	Translation	Abbreviation
Monday	pondělí	po
Tuesday	úterý	út
Wednesday	středa	st
Thursday	čtvrtek	čt
Friday	pátek	pá
Saturday	soboty	so
Sunday	neděle	ne

Months abbreviations (in calendars, agendas, timetables… the names of months are written without a period for visual purposes):

English	Translation	Abbreviation
January	leden	led
February	únor	úno
March	březen	bře
April	duben	dub
May	květen	kvě
June	červen	čvn
July	červenec	čvc
August	srpen	srp
September	září	zář
October	říjen	říj
November	listopad	lis
December	prosinec	pro

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 usually (but not always) determined by the gender and number of the translation for the main noun of the extended form. API (Application Programming Interface) is masculine because the translation of “interface” (“rozhraní”) is masculine.
• Commonly used acronyms do not need explanations (DVD, LED, TV, etc.).
• When an acronym is repeated several times in the same section, include its extended form in parentheses only for its first occurrence.

Pronouns

• English, especially technical English, is more redundant than some other languages.
• 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 personal pronouns such as “we” (“my”) and “you" (“vy”).

English	We avoid	We prefer
The imported contacts will now appear in your contact list.	Importované kontakty se nyní zobrazí ve vašem seznamu kontaktů.	Importované kontakty se nyní zobrazí v seznamu kontaktů.

Gerunds (“-ing” ending)

• Gerunds are used in English, such as in “Creating a report”.
• Depending on the context, they can be translated using the verbal substantive (in the case of an action or a title) or using the Czech expression for “in progress” (“probíhá”).

English	Context	We avoid	We prefer
Generating keys	Action or title	Generovat klíče	Generování klíčů
Generating keys	Processing	Generovat klíče	Probíhá generování klíčů

Punctuation

• The general rule is to always follow Czech language standard punctuation rules, not to follow the source punctuation.
• As a main reference, Příručka pro jazyk český should be consulted: https://prirucka.ujc.cas.cz/

Period

For the period at the end of a sentence (active; with a verb, that is not in infinitive), adapt the source to your language usage: when the English source does not put a period at the end of the sentence (subject + verb), but should in your language, add it in your translation. In this case, make sure that 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	Toto zápatí se přidá za váš podpis	Toto zápatí se přidá za váš podpis.
Impossible to load content. Please enable Chrome	Nelze načíst obsah. Povolte Chrome	Nelze načíst obsah. Povolte Chrome.
This message will expire in %s	Tato zpráva vyprší za % s	Tato zpráva vyprší za % s.
Signature verification error.	Chyba ověření podpisu.	Chyba ověření podpisu
Settings	Nastavení.	Nastavení

Exclamation mark

• Exclamation marks are used 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
The PIN codes must match!	Kódy PIN se musí shodovat!	Kódy PIN se musí shodovat.
Can’t create a SRP verifier!	Nelze vytvořit ověřovač SRP!	Nelze vytvořit ověřovač SRP.
Importing contacts complete.	Import kontaktů byl dokončen!	Import kontaktů byl dokončen.

Parentheses (round brackets)

• Parentheses are used to clarify statements or provide additional information.
• Let’s avoid parentheses as much as possible and adapt to the context.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Please choose a display name to finish setting up your account. (Other people will see this.)	Vyberte si zobrazované jméno, abyste dokončili nastavení účtu. (Toto jméno uvidí ostatní uživatelé.)	Chcete-li dokončit nastavení účtu, vyberte si zobrazované jméno. Toto jméno uvidí ostatní uživatelé.
We also support importing vCard. (UTF-8 encoding)	Podporujeme také import vCard. (kódování UTF-8)	Podporujeme také import vCard (kódování UTF-8).

Comma

• Do not place a comma before “a” and “i” when the conjunction is used to link two related terms.
• In enumerations, do not place a comma between the last item and “atd.” or “apod.”

English	We avoid	We prefer
You can also add, delete, and edit them by clicking…	Můžete je také přidat, odstranit, a upravit pomocí…	Můžete je také přidat, odstranit a upravit pomocí…
Use templates, groups, extensions, etc.	Použijte šablony, skupiny, rozšíření, apod.	Použijte šablony, skupiny, rozšíření apod.

Colon and semicolon

• After a colon, an upper case first letter should be used, if it is a full active sentence, otherwise, a lower case first letter should be used.
• As semicolons are less common than in English, you should use them sparingly. Two separate sentences should be used instead of complex sentence including a semicolon.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Date: Old to new	Datum: Od nejstaršího po nejnovější	Datum: od nejstaršího po nejnovější
Download paused: The battery is low.	Stahování pozastaveno: stav baterie je nízký	Stahování pozastaveno: Stav baterie je nízký.

Em dash (—), en dash (–), hyphen (-)

• Em dashes (—) are not used in Czech at all.
• En dashes (pomlčky) (–) are used in Czech to express the relation with the meaning “and”, the relation with the meaning “against”, the ranges and to divide sentences instead of comma (but please do not overuse this). You can find details on using en dashes here: Internetová jazyková příručka: Pomlčka
• Hyphens (spojovníky) (-) are used in Czech in some compound words, in a tight combination of two substantives, in foreign names and some Czech proper names, in URLs, while hyphenating words into two lines, etc. You can find details on using hyphens here: Internetová jazyková příručka: Spojovník

English	We avoid	We prefer
Enter a value within 1280–1500 range.	Zadejte hodnotu v rozmezí 1280 - 1500.	Zadejte hodnotu v rozmezí 1280–1500.
September 10 – October 20	10. září–20. října	10. září – 20. října
Secure access to your favorite content from other countries — Now available on Android TV.	Bezpečný přístup k vašemu oblíbenému obsahu z jiných zemí — nyní k dispozici na Android TV.	Bezpečný přístup k vašemu oblíbenému obsahu z jiných zemí – nyní k dispozici na Android TV

Quotation marks

• Use these specific Czech quotation marks: „example“.
• Place the period outside the closing quotation mark, unless the whole sentence is in quotation marks.
• Please do not overuse quotation marks. It is not needed to add them around UIs.
• You can use these keyboard shortcuts on Windows:
  Opening quotation mark => hold down the “Alt” key while typing the number “0132”.
  Closing quotation mark => hold down the “Alt” key while typing the number “0147”.

Apostrophes

Apostrophes are not used in Czech words.

Ampersand (&)

Replace “&” with “a” unless it is part of a company/product name or a registered trademark.

Spacing and non-breaking spaces

• There should be no space in front of the punctuation marks (periods, commas, colons and semicolons, exclamation and question marks) but there should be a space after them.
• Use non-breaking spaces to prevent improper division of elements such as product names, part numbers, numbers, dates, etc.
• When using currency symbols or units of measurement, include a non-breaking space between number and sign.
• Please use a non-breaking space between number and % (unless it is an adjective).
• Please use a non-breaking space after one letter prepositions and one letter conjunctions, so they do not stand at the end of lines.
• To insert a non-breaking space using your keyboard:
  hold down the “Alt” key while typing the number “0150”, or
  hold down Ctrl + Shift + Space bar.

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 kg and year 2015 15 000 kg a rok 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 ve 21:25
  – The date format is “dd. mm. yyyyy”.
  01-31-22 (mm/dd/yy) 31. 1. 2022

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers may be written in with numerals with a period at the end.
first 1.

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.
  Amount of €30 částka 30 € nebo částka 30 EUR

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	English	Translation	Abbreviation
LINEAR	Kilometer Meter Centimeter Millimeter	kilometr metr centimetr milimetr	km m cm mm
MASS	Kilogram Gram	kilogram gram	kg g
COMPUTING	Byte (B) Megabyte (MB) Gigabyte (GB) Terabyte (TB)	bajt megabajt gogabajt terabajt	B MB GB TB

Form of address

• Use the second-person plural (“vy”) form of address (formal).
• Use the lower-case spelling for pronouns (“vám”, “váš”).
  Open navigation Otevřete navigaci.

English/US terms and formulations

English “please”
Please is often used in English to introduce an instruction. In Czech, it should be usually omitted in instructions. Please generally avoid overusing of “prosím” in Czech.
English “and more”
And more (as well as “and much more”) is a very US formulation to end sentences. Instead of a literal translation you can replace it with an ellipse “…” (special symbol, alt+0133), or with “atd”/ “apod.”.
English “now”
Now, as in “buy now” or “download now”, is also a very US formulation. Instead of a literal translation, we will simply not translate it.
Get Proton VPN now Získejte Proton VPN.
English “successfully”
Successfully is also a very US formulation. Instead of a literal translation, we don’t translate it at all.
Your Proton account was successfully created. Váš účet Proton byl vytvořen.
Failed
Failed should not be literally translated, as much as possible.
Message decryption failed. Zpráva nemohla být dešifrována. (rather than “Dešifrování zprávy selhalo.”)
Formulation: let’s make sentences
Concerning formulation, let’s make sentences (subject + verb) as much as possible, even if it means moving away from the source a bit.
Participation status updated. Stav účasti byl aktualizován. (rather than “Stav účasti aktualizován”)

Foreign words

• The decision about the use of foreign words (keeping it in English) rather than an equivalent term in your language is based on how widespread the use of the word is. An English term might be recommended when its use has become very common.
• To find out how common a word is, you can use internet search engines. Search for the English word and for the corresponding translation in your language on your preferred search engine. The number of occurrences in each case will be an indication of how popular the use of each word is. If in doubt for an important term, ask Proton Localization team to make an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) check.
• Foreign words might be accompanied by quotation marks or italics when their use is not widely spread. However, English words that are widely accepted for use are kept as they are in the original but do not take the ending “s” in the plural case.
• 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.

Localizing person names

*Localize fictitious person names used for explanatory purposes, choosing a name that is generic but not stereotypical.
Please enter your display name (e.g. Julia Smith) Zadejte své zobrazované jméno (např. Jana Pospíšilová).

• Do not localize real persons’ names.
  Bart Butler is a senior engineer at Proton Mail Bart Butler je senior inženýr služby Proton Mail.

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@ uzivatel@
• Translate the domain name
  yourdomain.com vasedomena.cz
• Use your target country code at the end
  .com .cz

English	Translation
Proton Mail allows you to keep your business email address (you**@yourcompany.com**).	Služba Proton Mail vám umožňuje zachovat si pracovní e-mailovou adresu (vy**@vasedomena.cz**).
Receive all email sent to addresses in your domain that do not exist (e.g., “mistake@yourdomain.com”).	Přijímejte všechny e-maily zaslané na neexistující adresy ve vaší doméně (např. chyba@vasedomena.cz).

However, do not localize any real email addresses or any real domain names.
To reset your mailbox password, please use the web version of Proton Mail at proton.me
Chcete-li resetovat heslo své e-mailové schránky, použijte webovou verzi služby Proton Mail na adrese proton.me.

Error/success/info messages

Structured sentences

As much as possible, translate these messages in structured sentences (subject + verb at least), in the active form and with the appropriate punctuation.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Error updating event	Chyba při aktualizaci události	Při aktualizaci události došlo k chybě.
Failed to determine type of file	Selhání určení typu souboru	Typ souboru nebylo možné určit.
Contact saved	Kontakt uložen	Kontakt byl uložen.
Address copied to clipboard	Adresa zkopírována do schránky	Adresa byla zkopírována do schránky.
Duplicate key updated	Duplikovaný klíč aktualizován	Duplikovaný klíč byl aktualizován.

Nominal phrases

In the case of nominal phrases, do not use a final period.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Unknown error.	Neznámá chyba.	Neznámá chyba
Primary key error.	Chyba primárního klíče.	Chyba primárního klíče

Full and clear negation

Use full and clear negation whenever possible as this ensures that there can be no confusion for users, even when reading quickly.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Invalid email address	E-mailový adresa neplatná	E-mailová adresa není platná.
Event not found	Událost nenalezena	Událost nebyla nalezena.
No results found	Žádné nalezené výsledky	Nebyly nalezeny žádné výsledky.

Localizing CTA (Call To Action) buttons

Depending on the content (support, landing page…) and on the location of the CTA button, the infinitive or the 2nd person plural can be used. Check and validate with the language lead.

• For neutral instructions or additional information, use infinitive:
  Kopírovat odkaz
  Stáhnout
  Prozkoumat všechny funkce
  Zobrazit aktuální nabídky práce
• For formulations such as “Get Proton XX” or “Create an Account”, use infinitive:
  Získat Proton for Business
  Získat bezplatný účet
  Vytvořit bezplatný e-mailový účet
• For engaging buttons, use imperative, 2nd person plural:
  Kontaktujte nás
  Sdílejte tuto stránku na LinkedIn
  Navštivte náš obchod
  Staňte se partnerem