Guidance for Danish

[PMtranslator]

Last update: November 6, 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 Danish (Europe), 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 Danish conventions rather than adhering to the English source.
• For better readability, avoid capitalization when it is accepted to use a word with or without capitalization.

Capitalize

• Proper names
  Proton Mail
  Proton VPN
  NetShield
• Command/Folder names and keywords (first word only)
  Åbn
  Luk
  Gem ændringerne
• First word of a sentence, title or subtitle
  Hvordan kan jeg blive informeret om nye tilbud?

Do not capitalize

• Words like internet and web, except when they are the first word of a sentence
• Words after colon when in the same line and not a complete sentence
  Det vigtigste for os: vores brugeres privatliv.
• Names of days, months and seasons
  mandag
  januar
  vinter

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.
• 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.

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. Here is an example: VPN (Virtual Personal Network) is neuter in Danish, because the translation of “network” (“netværk”) is neuter.

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 readibility. 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
• When a word contains a double consonant, truncate it at the second one and place a period after it
• Examples:
  • Forkortelse Fork.
  • Administrativ Adm.

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

English	Danish	Abbreviation
Monday	mandag	man.
Tuesday	tirsdag	tir.
Wednesday	onsdag	ons.
Thursday	torsdag	tor.
Friday	fredag	fre.
Saturday	lørdag	lør.
Sunday	søndag	søn.

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

English	French	Abbreviation
January	januar	jan.
February	februar	feb.
March	marts	mar.
April	april	apr.
May	maj	maj
June	juni	jun.
July	juli	jul.
August	august	aug.
September	september	sep.
October	oktober	okt.
November	november	nov.
December	december	dec.

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.
  VPN (Virtual Private Network) is neuter in Danish because the translation of “network” (“netværk”) is neuter.
• To choose the appropriate article to use in front of an acronym, consider the gender and the euphonic effect.
  The VPN VPN’et.
• 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.
• Refer to section 15 for cases like the word “API”, where the English version of the main noun (“interface”) is present in the Danish dictionary with one gender and the Danish version (“grænseflade”) with another gender (in this case, “interface” is neuter and “grænseflade” is common).

5 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.

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, as a general rule, please use a verb in present time, translating it as the equivalent of “Currently creating a report”.
• When a string has a gerund in the middle, as a general rule, please use a noun, translating it as the equivalent of “Creation of a report”.

English	Translation
Creating new calendars	Opretter nye kalendere
Creating new calendars	Opretter link til fil
Error creating calendar, please try again later	Fejl ved oprettelse af kalender, prøv venligst igen senere
Error creating event	Fejl ved oprettelse af begivenhed

7 Punctuation

If you need help, you can check this website. Refer to section 20 for more resources.

7.1 Period

• Unless the item includes more than one sentence, do not place any periods at the end of titles, links, buttons and checkboxes.
• Include a period at the end of each extended sentence in a bullet list if this sentence has a full meaning by itself.
• For the period at the end of a sentence, adapt the source to the Danish usage:
  • When the English source puts a period at the end of a sentence that does not apply in Danish, do not put it in your translation.
  • When the English source does not put a period at the end of the sentence but you should in Danish, 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).

7.2 Exclamation mark

• Exclamation marks are used in Danish 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
Theme reset! Redirecting…	Tema nulstillet! Omdirigerer…	Tema nulstillet. Omdirigerer…
Importing contacts complete!	Kontaktimport fuldført!	Kontaktimport fuldført.

7.3 Parentheses

• Parentheses are used to clarify statements or provide additional information.
• If a sentence in parentheses clarifies the context, it usually starts in lower case and does not require an ending period. The ending period for the context should come after the closing parenthesis.

English	We avoid	We prefer
We also support importing vCard. (UTF-8 encoding)	Vi understøtter også import af vCard. (UTF-8-kodning)	Vi understøtter også import af vCard (UTF-8-kodning).

• However, a sentence in parentheses providing additional information separated from the context may start in upper case and have a period before the starting parenthesis. The ending period should still come after the closing parenthesis.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Please choose a display name to finish setting up your account. (Other people will see this.)	Vælg venligst et visningsnavn for at afslutte opsætningen af din konto. (Andre vil se dette.)	Vælg venligst et visningsnavn for at afslutte opsætningen af din konto. (Andre vil se dette).

7.4 Comma

Do not place commas before the Danish “og” and “eller” when the conjunction is used to link two related terms.

English	We avoid	We prefer
You can also add, delete, and edit them by clicking…	Du kan også tilføje, slette, og redigere disse ved at trykke på…	Du kan også tilføje, slette og redigere disse ved at trykke på…
Assign permissions to users, or groups	Tildel tilladelser til brugere, eller grupper	Tildel tilladelser til brugere eller grupper

7.5 Colon and semicolon

• Colons and semicolons come immediately after the preceding word, with no space in between
• Capitalization of the following word should follow the rules described in section 1
  Date: Old to new Dato: Gammel til ny

7.6 Em dash (—), en dash (–), hyphen (-)

• In English, an Em or En dash is used to demarcate an isolated element, to introduce an item that is not essential to the sentence’s meaning, to emphasize a sudden change in thought or to bring focus to a list.
• In Danish, en dash is referred to as “tankestreg” while hyphen is “bindestreg”.
• Use an en dash:
  • to separate sentence parts
    Fordelene ved Proton VPN – nu endnu billigere
• Use a hyphen:
  • to separate words at line breaks
  • to express “from … to” ranges:
    klokken 7-18
  • to connect nouns that are not spelled as one word
    API-version”
• Do not use the Em dash.

7.7 Quotation marks

Use normal quotes
“Eksempel”

7.8 Apostrophes

• The only usage case for an apostrophe that might arise in the context of this project is the genitive form of names ending in an -s sound. Use a curved apostrophe in these cases.
• Do not use the apostrophe to show letters omitted in spoken language.

English	Wrong	Correct
Max’s email	Maxs E-mail	Max’ E-mail

7.9 Ampersand (&)

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

8 Spacing and non-breaking spaces

• All double punctuation marks (quotation marks, colons and semicolons, exclamation and question marks) are preceded by a non-breaking space.
• 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.
• 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.

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 period. Never use thousand separators in years.
  15,000 and year 2015 15.000 og år 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 klokken 21:25
  • The danish date format is “dd/mm/yy”.
    01-31-22 (mm/dd/yy) 31/01/22

10 Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers are indicated by a period. When used in a sentence, they should typically be spelled out.

English	Singular M
1st prize:	1. præmie:
This marked only the 3rd time that…	Det var kun tredje gang, at…

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.
  Amount of €30 Beløb på 30 € or Beløb på 30 EUR

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 MEASURE	Kilometer Meter Centimeter Millimeter	Kilometer Meter Centimeter Millimeter	km m cm mm
MASS	Ton Kilogram Pound	Ton Kilogram Pund	t kg lb
IMPERIAL MEASUREMENT UNITS	Inch Feet Mile Gallon	Tomme Fod Mil Gallon	in ft mi gal

13 Form of address

• Use the informal second-person singular (“du”) form of address.
• Use the lower case spelling for pronouns (“du”, “din”).
  Use your own domain name Brug dit eget domænenavn

14 English/US terms

• Please if often used in English to introduce an instruction. In Danish, depending on the context, we will use a form of the verb “venligst”.
  • In the context of a simple instruction, it is common to omit the “please” to keep the sentence short and informal.
    Please try again later Prøv igen senere
  • In the case of an error message or a problematic situation, a benevolent formula can be used instead of a literal translation of “please” to make the tone more polite and understanding.
    Verification code sending failed. Please try again. Afsendelse af verifikationskode mislykkedes. Prøv venligst igen.
    A payment error occurred. Please try again later or create a free plan. Der er opstået en betalingsfejl. Prøv venligst igen senere eller opret et gratis abonnement.
• 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. Din Proton-konto blev oprettet.

15 Foreign words

• The decision about the use of foreign words (keeping it in English) instead of the equivalent Danish terms 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 translated Danish word 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.
• 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.

16 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) Angiv dit visningsnavn (f.eks. Anne Jensen)
• Do not localize real persons’ names.
  Bart Butler is a senior engineer at Proton Mail Bart Butler er senioringeniør hos Proton Mail

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@ bruger@
• Translate the domain name
  yourdomain.com ditdomæne.dk
• Use your target country code at the end
  .com .dk

English	French
Proton Mail allows you to keep your business email address (you**@yourcompany.com**).	Proton Mail giver dig mulighed for at beholde din virksomheds e-mailadresse (dig**@ditfirma.dk**).
Receive all email sent to addresses in your domain that do not exist (e.g., “mistake@yourdomain.com”).	Modtag alle e-mails, der er sendt til adresser i dit domæne, som ikke findes (f.eks. "fejl@ditdomæne.dk ").

However, do not localize any real email addresses or domain names.
To reset your mailbox password, please use the web version of Proton Mail at proton.me
For at nulstille din postkasseadgangskode, skal du bruge webversionen af Proton Mail på proton.me

18 Localizing CTA buttons

To translate call-to-actions, use the infinitive form. Refer to section 19 for cases like “Edit” (Redigér) where an accent should be used.

English	Translation
Sign in	Log ind
Create an account	Opret en konto
Edit	Redigér

19 Accent aigu (é)

In Danish, accent aigu is used to prevent misunderstandings or misreadings. The accent indicates that a syllable is pronounced with a strong accent and can be helpful to indicate that an action could/should be performed by the user.

• When a translated verb in a call-to-action ends with an “-er”, accent aigu should be used to clarify that it is a call to action.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Edit	Rediger	Redigér
Discard	Kasser	Kassér
Include any error messages	Inkluder evt. fejlmeddelelser	Inkludér evt. fejlmeddelelser

• Accent aigu should not be used to tell the user that an action has been taken.

English	We avoid	We prefer
Discarded	Kasséret	Kasseret
Edited	Redigéret	Redigeret

• You can use acent aigu in “en”, “et”, “der” og “her” when pronouncing them strongly. This use of accent if often of great help to the reader.

English	Translation
Many services, one mission.	Mange tjenester, én mission.

20 Specific terms

• Throughout the duration of this project, discussions regarding specific terms have taken place both on the forum and Crowdin Enterprise.
• All the guidance and rules that were decided upon in these conversations have been added to the special Style Guide for Specific Terms, which provides a list of potentially challenging terms and their recommended translations.
• Please make sure to read this guide and consult it when needed to ensure as much consistency as possible when translating.

21 References

Below is a list of helpful websites that can help when translating to Danish. These should be used in combination with the style guide and glossary.

• The Danish Dictionary (Ordnet)
• The Danish Language Board’s spelling dictionary and rules (Retskrivningsordbogen)
• Microsoft Language Portal (Microsoft Power BI)
• EU’s terminology database (iate)