Finnish translation style guide
Guidelines
Tervetuloa!
Before you start, take a look these instructions we have gathered here for you to help on your translation journey.
Word order
Consider translating the same thing with the easiest Finnish possible. It’s not mandatory to follow the English text word by word, as long as the message is clear.
Eg.
Click the button below to create the organization and register your account. -> Luo organisaatio ja rekisteröi tilisi napsauttamalla alla olevaa painiketta.
Sent! Your message is outside your current narrow. -> Lähetetty! Viesti on nykyisen näkymäsi ulkopuolella.
Grammatical case (Sijamuodot)
Translate using the UI to be sure what is the correct grammatical case. Basic form of a word might not always be suitable for the purpose.
Eg.
Topics marked as resolved -> Ratkaistut aiheet (versus Aiheet, jotka on merkitty ratkaistuiksi)
View Shortcuts -> Katselun pikanäppäimet
Loan word (Lainasanat)
Even though it’s common to use words formed directly from English, try to consider also users without IT background, people that don’t speak English and accessibility. User interface should contain these with minimum amount, but for technical error messages could be preferred. There are some amount of software related words that are widely used as loan words.
See section Terms for more details.
Please, in error messages
As it might appeal to use correspondence Ole hyvä ja, it’s not commonly used in Finnish. We are strict and used to more direct messaging. Let’s not translate please and use instruction format only. No Finn is going to be offended by this.
Eg.
Please enter at most 10 emails. -> Lisää korkeintaan 10 sähköpostia.
But
Yes, please! -> Kyllä, kiitos!
Zulip word inflection
in/from Zulip - Zulipissa / Zulipista / Zulipin
Zulip organization - Zulip-organisaatio
Zulip app - Zulip-sovellus
Your -expression
Finnish language has form of ownership so there shouldn’t be need to thanslate your as sinun but rather use si ending. It might be considered to leave out as well.
Eg.
Your organization -> Organisaatiosi
Your account -> Tilisi
But
You do have active accounts in the following organization(s). -> Sinulla ei ole aktiivista tiliä seuraavissa organisaatio(i)ssa.
Comma
Use commas in whole sentences where it is required. You can use these instructions as help. Kotimaisten kielten keskus - pilkku.
Terms
Administrator - Järjestelmänvalvoja
App - Sovellus
Authorization - Valtuus
Avatar - Avatar
Beta - Beta
Change - Muuta
Cheat sheet - Lunttilappu
Click - Napsauta
Configure - Määritä
Deactivate - Poista käytöstä
Domain - Verkkotunnus
Export - Poiminta
Filter - Suodata
Full member - Täysivaltainen jäsen
Host - Isäntä
Help Center - Tukikeskus
ID - Tunnus
Integraatio - Integraatio
Interactive - Interaktiivinen
Invalid - Virheellinen
Moderator - Moderaattori
Mute - Mykistää
Narrow - Rajaa hakua
Notification - Ilmoitus
Topic - Aihe
Organization - Organisaatio
Permission - Lupa
Pin - Kiinnitä
Picker - Valitsin
Plan - Tilaus
DM (direct messages) - SV (suoraviesti) - Short version is needed in mobile.
Reset - Nollata
Save - Tallenna
Stream - Kanava
Subscriber - Tilaaja
Subscription - Tilaus
Subscribe a stream - Tilaa kanava
Subdomain - Aliverkkotunnus
Shortcuts - Pikanäppäimet
Unsubscribe - Peru tilaus
Unsupported - Ei-tuettu
Unresolve - Merkitse ratkaisemattomaksi
Webhook - Webhook
Whoops - Hupsista
Widget - Widgetti
Other
Some translations can be tricky, so please don’t hesitate to ask the community or to contribute to this guide! Thanks for your effort!