Last Updated: January 16, 2026
Here you will find the guidance for Swedish, but you should also consider the guidance for all languages.
Capitalization
• Capitalize only the first letter of a sentence and the names of people, products or places.
• Always apply your language 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: webbplats, internet).
Capitalize
• Proper names
Proton Mail
Proton VPN
NetShield
• Command/Folder names and keywords (first word only)
Öppna
Stäng
Spara ändringarna
• First word of a sentence, title or subtitle
Här är information om de senaste erbjudandena.
• In UI items made up of 2 alternative commands separated by a slash, both are capitalized
Importera/Exportera mappen
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
Anglicism : språkligt lån från engelska
• Nationalities and languages
av fransk nationalitet
skriv på engelska
• Names of days, months and seasons
måndag
januari
vinter
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:
o When possible, avoid the use of masculine singular form to refer to someone whose gender is unknown.
o 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Are you sure you want to delete this calendar? | Är du säker på att du vill ta bort kalendern? | Vill du ta bort kalendern? |
| If you’re not satisfied, we’ll refund your payment in full within 30 days. | Om du inte är nöjd återbetalar vi hela beloppet inom 30 dagar. | Om du inte är helt nöjd med tjänsten återbetalar vi hela beloppet inom 30 dagar. |
| I am happy to help you. | Jag är glad att få hjälpa dig. | Det är ett nöje att stå till tjänst. |
| If you are interested in Proton Mail… | Om du r intresserad av Proton Mail… | Om Proton Mail verkar intressant… |
| I am not used to this tool. | Jag är inte van vid det här verktyget | Jag känner inte till det här verktyget. |
• 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 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:
o Transkription Transkr.
o Insamling Insaml.
Days abbreviations (in calendars, agendas, timetables… the names of days are written without a period for visual purposes):
| English | Translation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | måndag | mån. |
| Tuesday | tisdag | tis. |
| Wednesday | onsdag | ons. |
| Thursday | torsdag | tors. |
| Friday | fredag | fre. |
| Saturday | lördag | lör. |
| Sunday | söndag | sön. |
Months abbreviations (in calendars, agendas, timetables… the names of months are written without a period for visual purposes):
| English | Translation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| January | januari | jan. |
| February | februari | feb. |
| March | mars | mars |
| April | april | apr. |
| May | maj | maj |
| June | juni | juni |
| July | juli | juli |
| August | augusti | aug. |
| September | september | sept. |
| October | oktober | okt. |
| November | november | nov. |
| December | december | dec. |
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.
• 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 pronoun subjects such as “we” and “you".
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts successfully imported. The imported contacts will now appear in your contact list. | Kontakterna har importerats framgångsrikt. De importerade kontakterna kan nu ses i din lista över kontakter. | Kontakterna har importerats och visas nu i listan över kontakter. |
| Events successfully imported. The imported events will now appear in your calendar. | Händelserna har importerats framgångsrikt. De importerade händelserna kan nu ses i din kalender. | Händelserna har importerats och visas nu i kalendern. |
Gerunds (“ing” ending)
• Gerunds are used in English, such as in “Creating a report”.
• Depending on the context, they can be translated using the infinitive (in the case of an action or a title) or using the Swedish expression for “in progress”.
| English | Context | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generating keys | Action or title | Generering av nycklar | Generera nycklar |
| Generating keys | Processing | Generering av nycklar | Nycklar genereras |
| Importing | Action or title | Import | Importera |
| Importing | Processing | Importering pågår | Importerar |
| Importing data from %1s to %2s | Action or title | Import av data från %1s till %2s. | Importera data från %1s till %2s. |
| Importing data from %1s to %2s | Processing | Import av data från %1s till %2s. | Importerar data från %1s till %2s. |
Punctuation
Period
• For the period at the end of a sentence (subject + verb), 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 | Denna sidfot läggs till efter din signatur | Denna sidfot läggs till efter din signatur. |
| Impossible to load content. Please enable Chrome | Kan inte läsa in innehåll, aktivera Chrome | Kan inte läsa in innehåll. Aktivera Chrome. |
| This message will expire in %s | Meddelandet upphör att gälla %s | Meddelandet upphör att gälla %s. |
| Signature verification error. | Fel vid verifiering av signatur. | Fel vid verifiering av signatur |
| Unknown error. | Okänt fel. | Okänt fel |
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! | PIN-koderna måste vara identiska! | PIN-koderna måste vara identiska. |
| Can’t create a SRP verifier! | Kunde inte skapa en SRP-verifierare! | Kunde inte skapa en SRP-verifierare |
| You have %d new emails! | Du har %d nya meddelanden! | Du har %d nya meddelanden. |
| Theme reset! Redirecting… | Återställning av tema! Omdirigerar… | Temat återställs. Omdirigerar… |
| Importing contacts complete! | Kontakterna har importerats! | Kontakterna har importerats. |
Parentheses
• 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.) | Välj ett visningsnamn för att slutföra konfigurationen av ditt konto (det kommer att visas för andra). | Välj ett visningsnamn för att slutföra konfigurationen av ditt konto. Detta namn kommer att vara synligt för andra. |
| We also support importing vCard. (UTF-8 encoding) | Vi har också stöd för import av vCard. (UTF-8-kodning). | Vi har också stöd för import av vCard (UTF-8-kodning). |
Comma
Do not place a comma before “och” 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 också lägga till, ta bort, och redigera dem genom att klicka… | Du kan också lägga till, ta bort och redigera dem genom att klicka… |
| Assign permissions to users, or groups | Ge behörighet till användare, eller grupper | Ge behörighet till användare eller grupper |
Colon and semicolon
• There is no capital letter starting the word that follows the semicolon.
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| Date: Old to new | Datum: Äldsta till nyaste | Datum: äldsta till nyaste |
| Download paused: Low battery | Nedladdningen har pausats: Lågt batteri | Nedladdningen har pausats: lågt batteri |
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.
• It is often more appropriate to use a comma, a full stop or parenthesis instead.
• Also, the Em dash is not used for date ranges, therefore you should use “Från… till” instead.
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| In case the default value is unsuitable for a particular network, enter a value within 1280–1500 range. | Om standardvärdet inte är lämpligt för ett specifikt närverk, ange ett värde mellan 1280-1500. | Om standardvärdet inte är lämpligt för ett specifikt närverk, ange ett värde mellan 1280 och 1500. |
| Secure access to your favorite content from other countries — Now available on Android TV. | Säker åtkomst till ditt favoritinnehåll — Nu tillgänglig på Android TV. | Ditt favoritinnehåll är nu säkert åtkomligt på Android TV. |
| More than 12 hours passed since last update — ${ CALENDAR_APP_NAME } will try to update the calendar in a few hours. | Mer än 12 timmar har gått sedan den senaste uppdateringen — ${ CALENDAR_APP_NAME } kommer försöka uppdatera kalendern om några timmar. | Mer än 12 timmar har gått sedan den senaste uppdateringen. ${ CALENDAR_APP_NAME } kommer försöka uppdatera kalendern om några timmar. |
| September 10 - 20 | 10-20 september | 10 till 20 september |
Quotation marks
• Use these specific quotation marks or guillemets: ”exempel”.
• Place the period outside the closing quotation mark.
• There is always a non-breaking space after the first guillemets and another one before the second.
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| The “From:” address is invalid. Please change it to a valid one | Adressen “Från:” är inte giltig. Ange en giltig adress | Adressen i fältet ”Från:” är inte giltig. Ange en giltig adress. |
| Are you sure you want to delete this calendar? “%1$s” will be set as default calendar. | Är du säker på att du vill ta bort den här kalendern ? “%1$s” kommer anges som standardkalender. | Vill du ta bort den här kalendern? ”%1$s” kommer anges som standardkalender. |
| File “${ name }” was deleted during download | Filen “${ name }” togs bort under nedladdningen | Filen ”${ name }” togs bort under nedladdningen. |
Apostrophes
In Swedish, an apostrophe is used to mark that a number of letters in a word have been omitted (staden → sta’n), or for a quote wthin a quote.
Ampersand (&)
Replace “&” with “och” unless it is part of a company/product name or a registered trademark.
Spacing and non-breaking spaces
• 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:
o On Windows, hold down the “Alt” key while typing the number “255”.
o On Apple, Ctrl + Option⌥ + Space bar.
| English | Swedish | [non-breaking space] |
|---|---|---|
| 30% | 30 % | 30[non-breaking space]% |
| 5€ | 5 € | 5[non-breaking space]€ |
| 1 GB | 1 GB | 1[non-breaking space]GB |
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 och år 2015
• Time and date:
o 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 21:25
o The date format is “yy/mm/dd”.
01-31-22 (mm/dd/yy) 22-01-31
Ordinal numbers
• Ordinal numbers may be written in with numerals colon and letter suffixes, where the suffix acts as an ordinal indicator. However, it is preferred to write the full word in letters.
• Singular: graphical rendition of the suffix depends on the font.
| English | With suffix | Full word (preferred) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1:a | första |
| 2nd | 2:a | andra |
| 3rd | 3:e | tredje |
| 4th | 4:e | fjärde |
| 5th | 5:e | femte |
| 6th | 6:e | sjätte |
| 7th | 7:e | sjunde |
| 8th | 8:e | åttonde |
| 9th | 9:e | nionde |
| 10th | 10:e | tionde |
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 Belopp på 30 € or Belopp på 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 | Measurement unit | Translation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|---|
| LINEAR | Kilometer Meter Centimeter Millimeter |
Kilometer Meter Centimeter Millimeter |
km m cm mm |
| MASS | Ton Kilogram Pound |
Ton Kilo Pund |
t kg lb |
| IMPERIAL | Inch Feet Mile Gallon |
Tum Fot Mile Gallon |
tum fot mile gal |
| COMPUTING | Byte (B) Megabyte (MB) Gigabyte (GB) Terabyte (TB) |
Byte Megabyte Gigabyte Terabyte |
B MB GB TB |
Form of address
Use the second-person singular (“du”).
English/US terms and formulations
Please
Please is often used in English to introduce an instruction.
• In the context of a simple instruction, instead of a literal translation we will not translate it to keep the sentences short and the style lighter.
Please try again later Försök igen senare
• In the case of an error message or a problematic situation, instead of a literal translation we will use a benevolent formula.
Verification code sending failed. Please try again. Verifieringskoden kunde inte skickas. Försök igen senare
A payment error occurred. Please try again later or create a free plan. Betalningen kunde inte genomföras. Försök igen senare eller skapa ett gratiskonto.
And more
And more (as well as “and much more”) is a very US formulation to end sentences. Instead of a literal translation:
• As part of a list, we replace it by “m.m.” or “m.fl.”.
Access your streaming services, like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and many others, no matter where you are. Kom åt dina streamingtjänster som Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video m.fl. var du än befinner dig.
• In other situations, we repeat/specify the subject concerned.
When it comes to securing your business, we’re here to help with our encrypted email, calendar, VPN, and much more. När det gäller att säkra ditt företag finns vi här med krypterad e-post, kalender, VPN m.m.
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 Skaffa Proton VPN
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. Ditt Proton-konto har skapats.
Failed
Failed should not be literally translated, as much as possible.
Message decryption failed. Meddelandet kunde inte avkrypteras. (rather than ”Avkrypteringen av meddelandet misslyckades.”)
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.” “Deltagarstatusen har uppdaterats.” (rather than “Deltagarstatus uppdaterad.”)
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) Saisissez votre nom tel que vous souhaitez qu’il s’affiche (Julia Svensson par exemple)
• Do not localize real persons’ names.
Bart Butler is a senior engineer at Proton Mail Bart Butler är chefstekniker på 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@ användare@
• Translate the domain name
yourdomain.com dindomän.fr
• Use your target country code at the end
.com .se
| English | Translation |
|---|---|
| Proton Mail allows you to keep your business email address (you**@yourcompany.com**). | Med Proton Mail kan du behålla din företagsmejl (du**@dittföretag.se**). |
| Receive all email sent to addresses in your domain that do not exist (e.g., “mistake@yourdomain.com”). | Få alla e-postmeddelanden som skickats till adresser som inte existerar på din domän, exempelvis « se ». |
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
Använd webbversionen av Proton Mail på proton.me för att återställa lösenordet till din e-postlåda.
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 | Fel vid uppdatering av händelsen | Ett fel inträffade när händelsen skulle uppdateras. |
| Attaching Photo Failed | Bifogande av bilden misslyckades | Bilden kunde inte bifogas. |
| Failed to determine type of file | Kunde inte fastställa typ av fil | Det gick inte att fastställa filtyp. |
| Contact saved | Kontakt sparad | Kontakten har sparats. |
| Address copied to clipboard | Adress kopierad till urklipp | Adressen har kopierats till urklipp. |
| Duplicate key updated | Dubblettnyckel uppdaterad | Dubblettnyckeln har uppdaterats. |
Nominal phrases
In the case of nominal phrases, do not use a final period.
| English | We avoid | We prefer |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication error. | Autentiseringsfel. | Autentiseringsfel |
| Unknown error. | Okänt fel. | Okänt fel |
| Primary key error. | Primärnyckelfel. | Primärnyckelfel |
18.3 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 | Ogiltig e-postadress | E-postadressen är inte giltig. |
| No results found | Inga resultat | Inga resultat hittades. |
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 additionnal information, use infinitive:
Kopiera länken
Ladda ner
Upptäck alla funktioner
Läs mer
Se aktuella jobberbjudanden
• For formulations such as “Get Proton XX” or “Create an Account”, use infivitive:
Skaffa Proton for Business
Skaffa ett gratiskonto
Välj ett betalt abonnemang
Skapa ett kostnadsfritt konto
Skapa ett kostnadsfritt e-postkonto
• For engaging buttons, use infinitive:
Kontakta oss
Dela sidan på LinkedIn
Köp ett presentkort
Besök vår butik
Bli partner