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German Style Guide
Contents
– Troublesome or Conflictive Words ............................................................ 69
What's New?
Last Updated: July, 2014
The entire Style Guide has been reworked and modifications have been made to all sections in 2011.
Because of the new structure of this document, some sections of the previous Style Guide version had to be moved to different topics.
Please find below a list of New and Updated Topics. Note that changes in these sections also apply to the corresponding sub-sections.
New Topics
The following topics were added:
Language Specific Conventions
Symbols & Non-Breaking Spaces
Unlocalized Items
Using the Word Microsoft
Messages
Copyright
Updated Topics
The following topics were updated:
February 2011:
Introduction
Recommended Reference Material
Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions
Style and Tone Considerations
Localization Guidelines
Software Considerations
Document Translation Considerations
Special Case: “My” Terminology section - minor update
Keys
– subsection added: Special Case: Translation of the “About” menu item
July, 2014
Country/Region Standards
4
Introduction
This Style Guide went through major revision in February 2011 in order to remove outdated and unnecessary content.
About This Style Guide
The purpose of this Style Guide is to provide everybody involved in the localization of German Microsoft products with Microsoft-specific linguistic guidelines and standard conventions that differ from or are more prescriptive than those found in language reference materials. These conventions have been adopted after considering context based on various needs, but above all, they are easy to follow and applicable for all types of software to be localized.
The Style Guide covers the areas of formatting, and grammatical conventions. It also presents the reader with a general idea of the reasoning behind the conventions. The present Style Guide is a revision of our previous Style
Guide version with the intention of making it more standardized, more structured, and easier to use as a reference.
The guidelines and conventions presented in this Style Guide are intended to help you localize Microsoft products and materials. We welcome your feedback, questions and concerns regarding the Style Guide. You can send us your feedback via the Microsoft Language Portal feedback page .
Scope of This Document
This Style Guide is intended for the localization professional working on Microsoft products. It is not intended to be a comprehensive coverage of all localization practices, but to highlight areas where Microsoft has preference or deviates from standard practices for German localization.
Style Guide Conventions
In this document, a plus sign (+) before a translation example means that this is the recommended correct translation. A minus sign (-) is used for incorrect translation examples.
In Microsoft localization context, the word term is used in a slightly untraditional sense, meaning the same as e.g. a segment in Trados. The distinguishing feature of a term here is that it is translated as one unit; it may be a traditional term (as used in terminology), a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph.
References to interface elements really only refer to translatable texts associated with those interface elements.
Example translations in this document are only intended to illustrate the point in question. They are not a source of approved terminology. Microsoft Language Portal can be used as reference for approved terminology.
5
Sample Text
German can easily be recognized by non-German speakers using the following check list:
Does your document contain many capitalized words, especially within the sentences and not only at the beginning?
German capitalizes all nouns and all words used as nouns. Capitalized nouns in sample below are in bold.
Does your document contain many very long words?
In German, two or more words (nouns, verbs, adjectives etc.) can be put together in one word to form a compound. There's no upper limit as to how many components can be contained in one compound.
Does your document contain the following character: ß ?
German is the only language using this special character (not valid for German documents from
Switzerland).
Does your document contain any of the following characters: ä - Ä, ö - Ö, ü - Ü ?
These extended characters do not only exist in German but also in other languages.
Sample Text:
Gesellschaftliches Engagement: Microsoft Deutschland unterstützt Förderung von IT-Kenntnissen mit bis zu 200.000 €
Bis zum 18. Februar können gemeinnützige Vereine und Organisationen ihre Jugendprojekte zur Förderung von eSkills einreichen
Unterschleißheim, 13. Januar 2011. Im Rahmen einer Ausschreibung vergibt Microsoft Deutschland bis zu
200.000 Euro an ein gemeinnütziges Projekt, das Jugendlichen mit innovativen Angeboten beim Aufbau wichtiger eSkills hilft. Ziel dieses Microsoft Engagements ist es, Vereine und Organisationen dabei zu unterstützen, jungen Menschen wichtige IT-Kenntnisse zu vermitteln und damit deren Chancen am
Arbeitsmarkt zu erhöhen. Die Projekte können bis zum 18. Februar 2011 unter www.microsoft.de/politik eingereicht werden.
„PC- und Internet-Kenntnisse sind in unserer heutigen Gesellschaft und Arbeitswelt von zentraler Bedeutung.
Aktuelle Zahlen belegen, dass eSkills für etwa 70 Prozent der Jobs in Deutschland eine notwendige
Voraussetzung darstellen”, erklärt Henrik Tesch, Director Public Affairs und Citizenship von Microsoft
Deutschland. Mit der Ausschreibung für innovative eSkills-Projekte unterstützt Microsoft gemeinnützige
Or ganisationen, die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit vor allem von Jugendlichen zu erhöhen. Hierfür erhält das
Gewinnerprojekt einen finanziellen Zuschuss und kann weitere Vorteile wie die Bereitstellung von technologischer
Infrastruktur und Beratungsleistungen nutzen. Microsoft setzt damit sein umfangreiches Bildungsengagement fort und investiert weiter in die Zukunft des Standorts Deutschland.
6
Teilnahmebedingungen und Auswahlkriterien
Wichtigste Teilnahmebedingung ist, dass das eSkills-
Projekt von einer wohltätigen Organisation in Deutschland realisiert und angeboten wird. Als zentrale Auswahlkriterien werden von einer internen Kommission vor allem der
Grad der Innovation und die mögliche Reichweite des Projektes geprüft. „Wir wollen ein Projekt fördern, das möglichst viele Jugendliche in Deutschland erreicht. Das Angebot sollte deshalb Potenzial zur Skalierbarkeit und
Multiplizierbarkeit durch Dritte haben, d.h. zum Beispiel übertragbar auf andere Organisationen sein und damit einen Vorbildcharakter aufweisen”, so Tesch. Das ausgewählte Projekt wird am 1. März auf der CeBIT in
Hannover vorgestellt und ausgezeichnet. Weitere Informationen, Einzelheiten zur Ausschreibung sowie die
Bewerbungsmodalitäten stehen unter www.microsoft.de/politik zur Verfügung.
Microsoft Informationstag für gemeinnützige Organisationen
Zusätzlich veranstaltet Microsoft am 4. März einen Informationstag für gemeinnützige Organisationen auf der
CeBIT (Stand A26, Halle 4). Hier können Interessenten sich über Förder- und Kooperationsmöglichkeiten sowie
über Technologieangebote speziell für gemeinnützige Organisationen informieren. Eine unverbindliche
Registrierung ist ab sofort unter www.microsoft.de/politik möglich. Mit der Registrierung erhält jede Organisation bis zu zwei kostenlose Eintrittskarten für die Messe.
Microsoft Deutschland GmbH
Die Microsoft Deutschland GmbH ist die 1983 gegründete Tochtergesellschaft der Microsoft
Corporation/Redmond, U.S.A., des weltweit führenden Herstellers von Standardsoftware, Services und Lösungen mit 62,48 Mrd. US-
Dollar Umsatz (Geschäftsjahr 2010; 30. Juni 2010). Der operative Gewinn im Fiskaljahr 2010 betrug 24,10 Mrd. US-Dollar. Neben der Firmenzentrale in Unterschle ißheim bei München ist die Microsoft
Deutschland GmbH bundesweit mit sechs Regionalbüros vertreten und beschäftigt rund 2.700 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter. Im Verbund mit rund 31.500 Partnerunternehmen betreut sie Firmen aller Branchen und Größen.
Das European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC) in Aachen hat Forschungsschwerpunkte in IT-Sicherheit,
Datenschutz, Mobilität, mobile Anwendungen und Web-Services.
[…]
Erstellt am 13. Januar 2011 um 16:00 Uhr
Source of sample text: http://www.microsoft.com/germany/presseservice/news/pressemitteilung.mspx?id=533297
Created on: January 13 th
, 2011
Disclaimer: Please note that the information in this sample text should under no circumstances be used in examples as fictitious information.
7
Reference Material
Use the German language and terminology as described and used in the following publications.
Microsoft terminology and term information is available through the Microsoft Language Portal:
(
www.microsoft.com/Language/de-de/Search.aspx
).
Terminology and term information available through the Microsoft Language Portal or this Style Guide, in general, override information available in other resources. In this Style Guide the Microsoft terminology collection available through the Microsoft Language Portal is referred to as the Microsoft terminology database.
References - Orthography, Style and Usage
The German government does not prescribe an official dictionary. The Duden is the main reference resource and
"inofficial authority" with regards to German grammar and orthography. Also in use: Wahrig. Die deutsche
Rechtscheibung.
These sources must be adhered to. Any deviation from them automatically fails a string in most cases. When more than one solution is allowed in these sources, look for the recommended one in other parts of the Style
Guide or refer to information provided in the Microsoft terminology database.
List of References:
1. Duden. Die deutsche Rechtschreibung. Bibliographisches Institut, 25. Auflage (25th edition), Mannheim,
2009
2. Wahrig. Die deutsche Rechtschreibung. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag,
Gütersloh/München, 2008
3. Duden. Richtiges und gutes Deutsch. Bibliographisches Institut, 6. Auflage (6th edition), Mannheim, 2007
4. Duden. Die Grammatik. Bibliographisches Institut, 8. Auflage (8th edition
), überarbeitet, Mannheim, 2009
These reference editions should be used until a new edition is released.
Informative References
This section does not apply to German; for information on References, please refer to the above section on
Orthography, Style and Usage.
8
Language Specific Conventions
This part of the style guide contains information about standards specific to German.
Country/Region Standards
Characters
Country/region
Lower-case characters
Upper-case characters
Characters in caseless scripts
Extended Latin characters
Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg
a, ä, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ö, p, q, r, s, t, u, ü, v, w, x, y, z, ß
A, Ä, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Ö, P, Q, R, S, T, U, Ü, V, W, X, Y, Z n/a
Note on alphabetical order
ä, ö, ü, ß, Ä, Ö, Ü
Alphabetical order is not necessarily indicative of sorting order. For information on sorting order, refer to the section “Sorting”.
There is no capital letter for the German ß. For text that is in all caps, the ß is replaced with two s:
Großbuchstaben -- GROSSBUCHSTABEN (see also below).
Total number of characters
30
Unicode codes
D e
E f
F c
C d
A
ä
Ä b
B
Alpha HEX
a 0061
0041
00E4
00C4
0062
0042
0063
0043
0064
0044
0065
0045
0066
0046
9
Country/region
R s
S
ß t
P q
Q r n
N o
O
ö
Ö p
T u
U
ü
Ü v
V
L m
M j
J k
K l
H i
I g
G h
Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg
0071
0051
0072
0052
0073
0053
00DF
0074
006E
004E
006F
004F
00F6
00D6
0070
0050
0054
0075
0055
00FC
00DC
0076
0056
0067
0047
0068
0048
0069
0049
006A
004A
006B
004B
006C
004C
006D
004D
10
\
{ }
[ ]
Country/region Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg
Notes
X y
Y w
W x
0077
0057
0078
0058
0079
0059 z
Z
007A
005A
Always use the correct extended characters as not using the umlauts could change the meaning of a word significantly (e.g..: "fordern" - 'to demand' versus "fördern" - 'to promote').
For the same reason, the umlauts
Ä, Ö, Ü are always to be used even for capital letters (e.g.: the official German country name for Austria is
Österreich).
The letter
ß does not have an upper case equivalent and is to be replaced with double S when capitalized.
The letter
ß is not used in Switzerland and always replaced with double s.
Special Characters
The following is a list of special characters and their Microsoft standard names. Using other names than those in the list is a terminology issue.
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
´
`
&
<>
’
'
*
@
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
Akutzeichen
Graviszeichen
Kaufmännisches Und-Zeichen
Winkelklammer links/rechts
Apostroph (Textverarbeitung)
Apostroph (Benutzereingabe)
Sternchen
(+) @-Zeichen (In Internet-specific explanations also referred to as "at-
Zeichen".)
Do not use: (-) Klammeraffe
Umgekehrter Schrägstrich
Geschweifte Klammer links/rechts
Eckige Klammer links/rechts
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
0180
096
038
060, 062
0146
039
042
064
092
0123,0125
091,093
11
|
+
±
( )
%
π
µ
?
„ “
" "
,
‘
-
"
<
≤
×
≠
#
¶
=
!
>
≥
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
©
°
÷
^
¢
«
»
$
...
—
–
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
Zirkumflexzeichen
Centzeichen
Linkes Chevron (Microsoft term)
Rechtes Chevron (Microsoft term)
Copyrightsymbol
Gradzeichen
Divisionszeichen
Dollarzeichen
094
0162
0171
0187
0169
0176
0247
036
0151
Auslassungspunkte
Geviertstrich (em-dash; not used in
German documentation)
Halbgeviertstrich (en-dash); typically used as "Gedankenstrich" and
"Minuszeichen"
Gleichheitszeichen
Ausrufezeichen
Größer-als-Zeichen
Größer-gleich-Zeichen
Bindestrich (at Microsoft)
Zollzeichen
0150
Kleiner-als-Zeichen
Kleiner-gleich-Zeichen
Multiplikationszeichen
Ungleichzeichen
Nummernzeichen
Absatzzeichen (DIN: Pilcrow-
Zeichen)
Runde Klammer links/rechts
Prozentzeichen
Pi-Zeichen
Mikrozeichen
Senkrechter Strich
Pluszeichen
Plus-/Minuszeichen
Fragezeichen
040
0041
0181
0124
0043
0177
063
Doppelte typografische
Anführungszeichen
0132, 0147
Doppelte gerade Anführungszeichen 034
Einfache typografische 044, 0145
061
033
062
0173
034
060
0215
035
0182
12
' '
®
§
/
~
™
†
¨
_
€
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
Character Name of character
ANSI code (if available)
Anführungszeichen
Einfache gerade Anführungszeichen
Symbol für eingetragene Marke
(stands for "Registered Trademark")
0174
0167 Paragraphzeichen
Schrägstrich
Tilde, die
Symbol für Marke (stands for
"Trademark")
Kreuz
Trema, das
Unterstrich
Eurozeichen
047
0126
0153
0134
0168
095
0128
Date
Country/region Germany, Luxembourg
Gregorian
Calendar/Era
First Day of the Week
Monday
First Week of the Year
first week in January with 4 or more days
Separator
period (.)
Default Short Date
Format
d.M.yyyy
Example
17.03.2011
Default Long Date Format
dddd, dd. MMMM yyyy
Example
Mittwoch, 17. März 2011
Additional Short Date
Format 1
Example
dd.MM.yy
17.03.11 d.M.yy
Additional Short Date
13
Country/region
Format 2
Example
Additional Long Date
Format 1
Example
Germany, Luxembourg
17.3.11 d. MMMM yyyy
17. März 2011
Additional Long Date
Format 2
Example
d. MMM yyyy
17. Mrz 2011
Leading Zero in Day Field for Short Date Format
no
Leading Zero in Month
Field for Short Date
Format
No. of digits for year for
Short Day Format
no
4
Leading Zero in Day Field for Long Date Format
yes
Leading Zero in Month
Field for Long Date
Format
n/a. The long date format does not use digits but months are spelled out or abbreviated.
Number of digits for year for Long Day Format
4
Date Format for
Correspondence
cityname, dd. MMMM yyyy
Example
München, 17. März 2011
Notes
n/a
Abbreviations in Format
Codes
d is for day, number of d's indicates the format (d = digits without leading zero, dd = digits with leading zero, ddd = the abbreviated day name, dddd = full day name)
M is for month, number of M's gives number of digits. (M = digits without leading zero, MM = digits with leading zero, MMM = the abbreviated name, MMMM = full name)
14
Country/region Germany, Luxembourg
y is for year, number of y's gives number of digits (yy = two digits, yyyy = four digits)
Country/region
Calendar/Era
Austria
Gregorian
First Day of the Week
Monday
First Week of the Year
first week with 4 or more days
Separator
period (.)
Default Short Date
Format
dd.MM.yyyy
Example
17.03.2011
Default Long Date Format
dddd, dd. MMMM yyyy
Example
Mittwoch, 17. März 2011
Additional Short Date
Format 1
Example
Additional Short Date
Format 2
Example
dd.MM.yy
17.03.11 dd.M.yy
17.3.11
Additional Long Date
Format 1
Example
Additional Long Date
Format 2
d.MMMM yyyy
17. März 2011 d MMM yyyy
15
Country/region
Example
Austria
17 Mär 2011
Leading Zero in Day Field for Short Date Format
yes
Leading Zero in Month
Field for Short Date
Format
No. of digits for year for
Short Day Format
yes
4
Leading Zero in Day Field for Long Date Format
yes
Leading Zero in Month
Field for Long Date
Format
n/a. The long date format does not use digits but months are spelled out or abbreviated.
Number of digits for year for Long Day Format
4
Date Format for
Correspondence
cityname, dd. MMMM yyyy
Example
Wien, 17. März 2011 n/a
Notes
Abbreviations in Format
Codes
d is for day, number of d's indicates the format (d = digits without leading zero, dd = digits with leading zero, ddd = the abbreviated day name, dddd = full day name)
M is for month, number of M's gives number of digits. (M = digits without leading zero, MM = digits with leading zero, MMM = the abbreviated name, MMMM = full name)
y is for year, number of y's gives number of digits (yy = two digits, yyyy = four digits)
Country/region
Calendar/Era
Switzerland, Liechtenstein
Gregorian
First Day of the Week
Monday
First Week of the Year
first week with 4 or more days
16
Country/region
Separator
Switzerland, Liechtenstein
period (.)
Default Short Date
Format
dd.MM.yyyy
Example
17.03.2011
Default Long Date Format
dddd, dd. MMMM yyyy
Example
Mittwoch, 17. März 2011
Additional Short Date
Format 1
Example
dd.MM.yy
17.03.11
Additional Short Date
Format 2
Example
Additional Long Date
Format 1
d.M.yy
17.3.11 d. MMMM yyyy
Example
Additional Long Date
Format 2
Example
17. März 2011 d. MMM yyyy
17. Mrz 2011
Leading Zero in Day Field for Short Date Format
yes
Leading Zero in Month
Field for Short Date
Format
No. of digits for year for
Short Day Format
yes
4
Leading Zero in Day Field for Long Date Format
yes
Leading Zero in Month
Field for Long Date
n/a. The long date format does not use digits but months are spelled out or abbreviated.
17
Country/region
Format
Date Format for
Correspondence
Switzerland, Liechtenstein
Number of digits for year for Long Day Format
4 cityname, dd. MMMM yyyy
Example
Zürich, 17. März 2011 n/a
Notes
Abbreviations in Format
Codes
d is for day, number of d's indicates the format (d = digits without leading zero, dd = digits with leading zero, ddd = the abbreviated day name, dddd = full day name)
M is for month, number of M's gives number of digits. (M = digits without leading zero, MM = digits with leading zero, MMM = the abbreviated name, MMMM = full name)
y is for year, number of y's gives number of digits (yy = two digits, yyyy = four digits)
Time
Country/region
24 hour format
Standard time format
Standard time format example
Germany; Austria; Switzerland; Luxembourg; Liechtenstein
yes
HH:mm:ss
23:43:12
Time separator
Time separator examples
colon (:)
23:43:12
Hours leading zero
yes
Hours leading zero example
03:24:12
String for AM designator
String for PM designator
Notes
n/a n/a n/a
18
Days
Country/region: Germany; Austria; Switzerland; Luxembourg; Liechtenstein
Day
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Normal Form
Montag
Dienstag
Mittwoch
Abbreviation
Mo
Di
Mi
Thursday
Friday
Donnerstag
Freitag
Do
Fr
Saturday Samstag Sa
Sunday Sonntag So
First Day of Week: Monday
Is first letter capitalized?: Yes
Notes: All German-speaking countries use the Gregorian calendar.
Monday is the first day of the week as per MS standards. However, some people also consider Sunday to be the first day of the week.
There is no 3 letter abbreviation for days.
With abbreviations, no period is added in Microsoft calendar/list format. In general text, a period is needed, though, to follow proper German grammar rules.
Months
Country/region: Germany; Switzerland; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg
Month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
Full Form
Januar
Februar
März
April
Mai
Juni
Juli
Abbreviated Form
Jan
Feb
Mrz
Apr
Mai
Jun
Jul
Long Date Form
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
19
Month
August
September
October
Full Form
August
September
Oktober
November
Dezember
Abbreviated Form
Aug
Sep
Okt
Nov
Dez
Long Date Form
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
November
December
Country/region: Austria
Month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
Full Form Abbreviated Form
Januar; Austria:
Jänner
Jan; Austria:
Jän
Februar
März
April
Mai
Juni
Juli
August
September
Oktober
Feb
Mrz
Apr
Mai
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Okt
Long Date Form
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
November November Nov n/a
December Dezember Dez n/a
Is first letter capitalized?: Yes
Notes: With abbreviations, no period is added.
The abbreviations listed in the table are the MS standard abbreviations for list/table format. Official abbreviations slightly differ from the ones above. In general text, a period is needed to follow proper German grammar rules.
20
Numbers
Phone Numbers
Country/
region
International
Dialing
Code
Area
Codes
Used?
Germany 49 Yes
Number of
Digits
– Area
Codes
3; 4; 5
Separator
Number of
Digits
–
Domestic
Digit Groupings
Domestic
–
Country/
region
Number of
Digits
–
Local
Digit
Groupings
– Local
Number of
Digits
– Mobile space
Digit
Groupings
–
Mobile
3; 4; 5; 6; 7;
8
Number of
Digits
–
International
(###) ## ## ##;
(####) # ## ## ##;
(#####) # ## #;
(#####) # ## ##
Digit Groupings
International
–
Germany 3; 4; 5; 6; 7;
8
## ## ##;
# ## ## ##;
# ## #;
# ## ##
7 (###) ### ##
##;
(####) ###
## ##
9; 10 ## ## ## ## #;
## ## ## ## ##
Notes:
Following DIN-guidelines apply to the presentation of telephone numbers: Generally, the digits are grouped in pairs by spaces, beginning from the right. The area code is always put in parentheses.
Mobile phone format. Prefixes consist of 4 digits (including the leading zero) and range from 0160 to 0179;
GSM and UMTS prefixes have five digits (015xx). All mobile phone numbers consist of 7 digits.
For mobile phone numbers, since there is no fixed rule but only recommendations for number grouping, it has become a custom in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to group the mobile phone numbers in groups of 3 2
2, preceded by the prefix in brackets:
Example: (079) 123 45 67 or (0179) 123 45 67
Following DIN-guidelines apply to the presentation of telephone numbers: Generally, the digits are grouped in pairs by spaces, beginning from the right. The area code is always put in parentheses.
Examples:
Single phone line without extension:
(069) 62 50 80
(0171) 2 49 73 26
Direct dialing system, telephone exchange:
(01234) 1 23-0
(01234) 9 02-01
21
Extensions:
(069) 12 34-5 67
International:
+49 69 12 34-0
+49 69 12 34 56
http://www.regtp.de
Country/
region
International
Dialing
Code
Area
Codes
Used?
43 Yes
Number of
Digits
– Area
Codes
2; 3; 4; 5
Separator
Number of
Digits
–
Domestic
Digit Groupings
Domestic
–
Austria
Country/
region
Number of
Digits
–
Local
Digit
Groupings
– Local
Number of
Digits
– Mobile space
Digit
Groupings
–
Mobile
3; 4; 5; 6; 7;
8
Number of
Digits
–
International
(###) ## ## ##;
(####) # ## ## ##;
(#####) # ## #;
(#####) # ## ##
Digit Groupings
International
–
Austria 3; 4; 5; 6; 7;
8
## ## ##;
# ## ## ##;
# ## #;
# ## ##
7 (####) ###
## ##;
(####) ###
## ##
9; 10 ## ## ## ## #;
## ## ## ## ##
Notes:
For mobile phone numbers, since there is no fixed rule but only recommendations for number grouping, it has become a custom in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to group the mobile phone numbers in groups of 3 2
2, preceded by the prefix in brackets:
Example: (079) 123 45 67 or (0179) 123 45 67
http://www.rtr.at
22
Country/
region
International
Dialing
Code
Area
Codes
Used?
Switzerland 41 No
Number of
Digits
–
Area Codes n/a
Separator
Number of
Digits
–
Domestic
Digit Groupings
Domestic
–
Space
Digit
Groupings
–
Mobile
10 ### ### ## ##;
#### ### ###
Number of
Digits
–
International
Digit Groupings
–
International
Country/
region
Number of
Digits
–
Local
Digit
Groupings
– Local
Number of
Digits
–
Mobile
Switzerland
Country/
region
10
Internatio nal
Dialing
Code
### ### ##
##;
#### ###
###
Area Codes
Used?
7
Number of
Digits
–
Area Codes
(###) ### ##
##;
(###) ### ##
##
Separator
9; 10
Number of
Digits
–
Domestic
+41 ## ### ## ##;
+41 ### ### ###;
+41 ### ### ## ##;
+41 #### ### ###
Notes:
For mobile phone numbers, since there is no fixed rule but only recommendations for number grouping, it has become a custom in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to group the mobile phone numbers in groups of 3 2
2, preceded by the prefix in brackets: Example: (079) 123 45 67 or (0179) 123 45 67
Mobile phone format: Prefixes consist of 3 digits (including the leading zero) and range from 076 to 079, plus
020. All mobile phone numbers consist of 7 digits.
Effective 29 March 2002, Switzerland has switched to a flat numbering system without area codes. All telephone calls in Switzerland then need to include the city code prefix, even local calls within the same city.
The “0” prefix will have to be included on all calls. International number format will stay the same, however.
http://www.bakom.ch
Digit Groupings
–
Domestic
Luxembourg 352
Country/
region
Number of Digits
– Local
Luxembourg 8
No
Digit
Groupings
Local
## ## ##;
## ## ## ##
–
n/a
Number of
Digits
–
Mobile
8
Space
Digit
Groupings
–
Mobile
6;8 ## ## ##;
## ## ## ##
Number of
Digits
–
International
Digit Groupings
–
International
## ## ## ## 9; 11 ### ## ## ##;
### ## ## ## ##
23
Notes:
There are no regional codes in Luxemburg. All phone numbers consist of 6 or 8 digits
All mobile phone numbers consist of 8 digits and start with a 6 (60 and 61 are not used).
http://www.gouvernement.lu/
Country/
region
Internation al Dialing
Code
Area
Codes
Used?
Number of
Digits
–
Area Codes
Separator
Number of
Digits
–
Domestic
Digit Groupings
Domestic
–
Liechtenstein
Country/
region
423
Number of
Digits
Local
–
No
Digit
Groupings
– Local
### ## ## n/a
Number of
Digits
–
Mobile
Space
Digit
Groupings
–
Mobile
### ## ##
7
### ## ##
Number of
Digits
–
International
Digit Groupings
–
International
7
(###) ### ## ##
Liechtenstein 7 7
Notes:
All mobile phone numbers consist of 7 digits and start with a 6 or a 7.
There are no regional codes in Liechtenstein. All phone numbers consist of 7 digits.
http://www.ak.li
Addresses
Country/region: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg
Disclaimer: Please note that the information in this entry should under no circumstances be used in examples as fictitious information.
Address Format:
Local Example Example Guide Format
(information in brackets
[…] is optional)
1. [CompanyName]
2. [Title/Honorific] FirstName
LastName[-LastName]
3. Address1
4. [Address2]
Protunda AG
Frau
Dr. Ruth Lüster-Mayer
Langenweg 1
Protunda AG [=CompanyName]
Frau [= Title]
Dr.[Honorific] Ruth [= FirstName]
Lüster-Mayer [=LastName +
LastName]
Langenweg 1 [= StreetName]
24
Format
(information in brackets
[…] is optional)
Local Example
5. [CountryCode-]PostalCode City CH-4814 Bottenwil
Example Guide
CH-4814 Bottenwil [= Country Code
+PostalCode + City]
Schweiz [= Country] 6. [Country] SCHWEIZ
Example Address:
Example Germany:
Herrn
Hans Mustermann
Schillerstr. 9
60823 Frankfurt am Main
DEUTSCHLAND
Same example would look like this in Switzerland and Austria:
Herrn
Hans Mustermann
Schillerstr. 9
D-60823 Frankfurt am Main
DEUTSCHLAND
Local Postal Code Format: Postal codes have five digits in Germany, and four digits in Austria, Switzerland
(including Liechtenstein) and Luxemburg. The postal code is always placed in front of the city name.
Local Postal Code Examples:
Germany:
85716 Unterschleißheim
Austria: 1100 Wien
Switzerland: 8304 Wallisellen
Liechtenstein: 9490 Vaduz
Luxemburg: 1470 Luxemburg
25
Notes:
Following recommendations from the German Post Office apply to the presentation of addresses in Germany
ONLY - Switzerland and Austria use the standard format illustrated above (numbers in brackets apply to the example above).
Germany: Add a blank line with a maximum height of 10 mm between street address / PO box (7) and postal code & city (9). Do not use the country abbreviation in front of the postal code (9) but only write the full name of the country in the last line of the address block in CAPITAL letters (10) - of course only for letters sent outside
Germany.
For further details on postal addressing systems, please refer to the Universal Postal Union 's web site.
Currency
Country/region
Currency Name
Currency Symbol
Currency Symbol Position
Positive Currency Format
Negative Sign Symbol
Negative Currency Format
Decimal Symbol
Number of Digits after Decimal
Digit Grouping Symbol
Number of Digits in Digit
Grouping
Positive Currency Example
Negative Currency Example
ISO Currency Code
Currency Subunit Name
Currency Subunit Symbol
Currency Subunit Example
Germany, Austria, Luxembourg
Euro
€
The currency symbol is placed after the number, preceded by a space, and not followed by a period.
123,45
For negative values, an en dash (ANSI 0150) is placed in front of the digits, followed by a space.
- 123,45
, (comma)
2
. (period)
3
1.234.567.890,00
- 1.234.567.890,00
EUR cent c
15 c
26
Country/region
Currency Name
Currency Symbol
Currency Symbol Position
Positive Currency Format
Negative Sign Symbol
Negative Currency Format
Decimal Symbol
Number of Digits after Decimal
Digit Grouping Symbol
Number of Digits in Digit
Grouping
Positive Currency Example
Switzerland, Liechtenstein
Schweitzer Franken (Swiss Francs)
Fr.
The currency symbol is placed before the number, preceded by a space, and followed by a period.
123.45
For negative values, an en dash (ANSI 0150) is placed in front of the digits, followed by a space.
- 123.45
. (period)
2
' (apostrophe)
3
1'234'567'890.00
Negative Currency Example
ISO Currency Code
Currency Subunit Name
Currency Subunit Symbol
Currency Subunit Example
- 1'234'567'890.00
CHF
Rappen
Rp
15 Rp
Notes:
Germany, Austria and Luxembourg use a comma as decimal separator and a period for thousands.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein use a period as decimal separator and an apostrophe for thousands.
For further details, please refer to the section Digit Groups.
Digit Groups
Country/region: Germany, Austria and Luxembourg
Decimal Separator: ,
Decimal Separator Description: comma
Decimal Separator Example: 10,50 cm;
199,95 €; 1.495,68 kg
Thousand Separator: .
27
Thousand Separator Description: period
Thousand Separator Example:
9.999,99 €; 120.000 kg; 1.250.254,99 m
Notes: Numbers are written in groups of 3 digits.
Country/region: Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Decimal Separator: .
Decimal Separator Description: period
Decimal Separator Example: 10.50 cm; 199.95 SFR; 1'495.68 kg
Thousand Separator: '
Thousand Separator Description: apostrophe
Thousand Separator Example: 9'999.99 SFR; 120'000 kg; 1'250'254.99 m
Notes: Numbers are written in groups of 3 digits.
Measurement Units
Metric System Commonly Used?: Yes
Temperature: Celsius
Category
Linear Measure
Capacity
Mass
US English
Kilometer
Meter
Decimeter
Centimeter
Millimeter
Hectoliter
Liter
Deciliter
Centiliter
Milliliter
Ton
Kilogram
Pound
German
Kilometer
Meter
Dezimeter
Zentimeter
Millimeter
Hektoliter
Liter
Deziliter
Zentiliter
Milliliter
Tonne
Kilogramm
Pfund
Abbreviation
km hl l dl cl m dm cm mm ml t kg
Pfd.
(different from the US unit)
28
Category
English Units of
Measurement
US English
Gram
Decigram
Centigram
Milligram
Inch
Feet
Mile
Gallon
German
Gramm
Dezigramm
Zentigramm
Milligramm
Zoll
Fuß
Meile
Gallone
Abbreviation
g dg cg mg
no abbreviation (except for the following symbol used
to indicate “Zoll”: " )
n/a n/a n/a
Notes: n/a
Percentages
In Software localization the percentage symbol (%) is frequently used as a placeholder. Do not modify or remove placeholders. Follow general software localization guidelines and rules.
Several examples can be found in the section Software Considerations in the table for examples on error
Sorting
Sorting rules
Character sorting order
1. Non-alphabetical characters (i.e. symbols like @ ! #) sort before the letters of the alphabet.
2. Digits sort after the non-alphabetical characters and before the letters of the alphabet.
3. Characters rank as follows:
A a Ä ä (Ä ranks same as A), B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o Ö ö (Ö ranks same as O), P p, Q q, R r, S s ß (ß ranks same as ss), T t, U u Ü ü (Ü ranks same as U), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z
4. Other accented characters are equal with nonaccented characters; so é and e, ç and c, ñ a nd n, Č and C, ō and o are equal.
5. Double a (aa
, Aa, AA, aA) sorts as å (å/Å).
Alpha DEC
a
A
97
65
29
77
110
78
111
79
246
214
112
73
106
74
107
75
108
76
109
80
113
81
114
82
69
102
70
103
71
104
72
105
228
196
98
66
99
67
100
68
101 n
N o
O
ö
Ö p
L m
M j
J k
K l
H i
I
P q
Q r
R f
F g
G h
D e
E c
C d
ä
Ä b
B
30
Examples of sorted words
1
Aaron andere
ändere chaque chemin cote coté côte côté čučēt
Czech hiša irdisch lävi lie lire
V w
W x
X
U
ü
Ü v y
Y z
Z s
S
ß t
T u
@
118
86
119
87
120
88
121
89
122
90
115
83
223
116
84
117
85
252
220
31
myndig piña pint pylon sämtlich
šàran savoir
Šerbūra
Sietla ślub subtle symbol väga verkehrt llama lõug
Löwen lòza luč luck
Lübeck lye
Männer màšta mîr möchten vox waffle wood yen yuan yucca žal žena
Ženēva
32
zoo
Zürich
Zviedrija zysk zzlj zzlz zznj zznz
Geopolitical Concerns
Part of the cultural adaptation of the US-product to a specific market is the resolving of geopolitical issues. While the US-product should have been designed and developed with neutrality and a global audience in mind, the localized product should respond to the particular situation that applies within the target country/region.
Sensitive issues or issues that might potentially be offensive to the users in the target country/region may occur in any of the following:
Maps
Flags
Country/region, city and language names
Art and graphics
Cultural content, such as encyclopedia content and other text where historical or political references may occur
Some of these issues are relatively easy to verify and resolve: the objective should be for the localizer to always have the most current information available. Maps and other graphic representations of countries/regions and regions should be checked for accuracy and existing political restrictions. Country/region, city and language names change on a regular basis and need to be checked, even if previously approved.
A thorough understanding of the culture of the target market is required for checking the appropriateness of cultural content, clip art and other visual representations of religious symbols, body and hand gestures.
English Terminology and the German Language System
The influx of English into the German language system has significantly increased with the "information revolution". Although there is no language governing institution in German-speaking countries, there are popular movements to resist this trend. For the localization of Microsoft products into German, please use the terminology that is most widely used in the computer press and among users. This naturally depends on the target market of each product (technical products are bound to contain more specialized language which usually means more
English terminology).
33
While it is acceptable to use English terms if they are indeed the industry standard in Germany, it is by no means an alternative to researching current industry standards. False friends such as "Maschine" for "machine" and stylistic anglicisms are still major translation mistakes (see section on anglicisms below). When incorporating
English terms they must follow German grammar and syntax rules. The Institut für deutsche Sprache has guidelines for the formation and incorporation of neologisms, which we have adapted for this style guide. In cases that require more information, we can consult the IDS at any time.
The most important guidelines are outlined below:
Nouns
Inflection:
English loan words are inflected when used in German.
Examples:
(+) der Standort des Servers
(+) auf diesen Servern
Plural Formation: English loan words are generally pluralized with the plural -s.
Examples:
(+) Clients
(+) Websites
(+) Downloads
Special cases:
English loan words ending in the letter -y simply receive a plural -s according to the new German spelling.
Example:
(+) Proxys
Loan words with the suffix -er follow German plural formation rules:
Examples:
(+) Server
(+) Manager
(+) Viewer
34
Terms ending in -or receive a plural -s or -en depending upon whether they are already existing German nouns:
Examples:
(+) Locators
(+) Administratoren
Agent is regarded as an English term and is pluralized with
–s:
Example:
(+) Agents
Verbs
In a few cases English verbs are used as loan words. They follow German conjugation rules for weak verbs.
Examples:
chat => (+) chatten, sie chattet, wir haben gechattet, zu chatten
debug => (+) debuggen, sie debuggt, wir haben debuggt, zu debuggen
crawl => (+) crawlen, sie crawlen, wir haben gecrawlt, zu crawlen
Articles for English Borrowed Terms
When faced with an English loan word previously used in Microsoft products, consider the following options:
Motivation: Does the English word have any formally motivated features that would allow a straightforward integration into the noun class system of the German language?
Analogy: Is there an equivalent German term whose article could be used?
Frequency: Is the term used in other technical documentation? If so, what article is used most often?
The Internet may be a helpful reference here.
Please refer to the Microsoft terminology database to confirm the use of a new loan word and its proper article to avoid inconsistencies.
Example:
die Homepage => die Seite
Anglicisms
Anglicisms also increasingly sneak into sentence structure and syntax. Please edit your documents with this in mind. The following examples illustrate the type of direct translation that increasingly occurs, but is not acceptable.
35
Examples:
US English
Holidays
For several minutes
Middle East
For more information please contact ...
Anglicism in German
(-) Urlaub
(-) für mehrere Minuten
Correct Translation
(+) Feiertage
(+) mehrere Minuten lang
(+) Naher Osten (-) Mittlerer Osten
(The term "Mittlerer Osten" exists in
German as well, but it describes a much smaller region than the English term
"Middle East". The closest German term to the English "Middle East" is "Naher
Osten.")
(-)
Für weitere Informationen kontaktieren Sie ...
(+) Um weitere Informationen zu erhalten, wenden Sie sich an ...
Guidelines for the Localization of Wizard Names
General Guidelines
For the localization of wizard names, please follow the guidelines below.
Abbreviations: N = Noun, A = Adjective (incl. participle used as A), Nv = Verb used as Noun
US English
German Rule Pattern
Connection Wizard
Installation Wizard
(+) Verbindungs-Assistent
(+) Installations-Assistent
Rule 1: One noun is followed by a hyphen and
“Assistent"
N-Assistant
(For the treatment of the
Setup wizards, please refer to the information available on the relevant entries in the
Microsoft terminology database and mind possible conceptual differences. There are good reasons for using translations like "Two-Sided
Printing Setup Wizard" >
"Assistent zum Einrichten des beidseitigen Drucks" or
"Stationary Setup Wizard" >
"Briefpapier-Assistent".)
36
US English
German
Disk Cleaner Wizard
Remote Installation Wizard
(+) Diskettenreinigungs-
Assistent
(+) Remoteinstallations-
Assistent
Rule Pattern
Rule 2: A compound of two nouns, or a compound of an adjective and a noun is followed by a hyphen and
“Assistent”
NN-Assistent or AN-
Assistent
Rule 3: In cases of three or more components, there are two different constructions, 3a + 3b:
Create Folder Files Wizard
Break Mirror Wizard
File Folders
Synchronization Wizard
(+) Assistent zum Erstellen von Ordnerdateien
(+) Assistent zum Aufteilen eines gespiegelten
Datenträgers
Rule 3a: In cases of a compound with more than two elements, you can use
"zum", nominalized verb and noun.
(+) Assistent zum
Synchronisieren von
Dateiordnern
Assistent zum Nv von N
/NN
Or: Assistent zum Nv eines/einer/von A + N/NN
Scheduled
Synchronization Wizard
New Virtual Directory
Wizard
(+)
Assistent für geplante
Synchronisierung
(+)
Assistent für neues virtuelles Verzeichnis
Command Button Wizard (+)
Befehlsschaltflächen-
Assistent
Rule 3b: In cases of a compound with more than two elements, you can use
"für", adjective and noun.
Assistent für A +N/NN
Exception:
In cases where the wizard name cannot be separated, it is acceptable to have a compound with more than two elements followed by a hyphen and
“Assistent”.
Welcome Screens
There is no guideline for translating Welcome screens within wizards. Complete phrases are just as fine as
"Willkommen" only.
However, the names of Welcome screens should be localized according to one consistent pattern within one product.
US English German
– Option 1
German
– Option 2
Welcome to the Connection Wizard
(+) Willkommen beim Verbindungs-
Assistenten
(+) Willkommen
37
Reasons:
Space issues for German wizard names which tend to increase very much in size (see especially examples for Rule 3a)
Inflection issues for cases where the wizard name is inserted during run-time. The German translation requires the dative case (thus the suffix -en must be added) which is not always possible if placeholders are filled-in during run-time.
Redundancy issues: If the dialog title would be 'xyz wizard', and directly underneath it would say 'Welcome to the xyz wizard', the repetition of the wizard name is redundant.
Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions
Adjectives
For general information on German adjectives, please refer to general German language grammar references.
Possessive Adjectives
This section does not apply to German.
Articles
This section treats articles for product and feature names. For general information on Gender, please refer to
German language grammar references as well as to the section
Articles For Unlocalized Feature Names
Microsoft product names and non-translated feature names are used without definite or indefinite articles in the
English language as well as in the German language. They are treated as proper names. Using "von" and a dative construction is an effective way of avoiding a genitive form and the associated inflection. Attaching a genitive "s" to trademarked product names is not feasible as it could be interpreted as a modification of such names.
Example:
(+) Die Vorteile von Active Desktop
Localized Feature Names
Translated feature names are used with a definite or indefinite article as they are not treated as proper names.
Example:
(+)
Öffnen Sie den Task-Manager.
Articles for English Borrowed Terms
38
Capitalization
Follow the general German capitalization rules.
Special Case: Capitalization in English Titles
In English titles, for example, all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (e.g. that, until, which) are capitalized. Please do not apply the same principle to German titles. Instead, follow the general German capitalization rules. The same rule applies to software strings.
Example:
Switching Between Windows => (+) Wechseln zwischen Fenstern
Compounds
The Microsoft standard is that compounds of three components or less are written in one word, unless there are definite problems with the readability of a term (i.e. not subjective readability, but the coming together of several letters to form an unintended character combination, e.g. US: back end, would be "backend", the German present participle of "backen" => for better readability: Back-End), or the software design requires hyphenation. Regarding hyphenation we do not make a difference between English and German compounds any more.
Examples:
Compounds with more than three Components
Dropdown Combo
Home page file name
(+) Dropdown-Kombinationsfeld
(+) Homepage-Dateiname
Real-time conversion rate (+) Echtzeit-Konvertierungsfrequenz
Generally, compounds should be understandable and clear to the user. Overly long or complex compounds should be avoided. Keep in mind that unintuitive compounds are ultimately an intelligibility and usability issue.
Product names are usually trademarked and therefore remain unchanged; additions to a product name are added with a hyphen.
39
Examples for Product, Feature and Component Names:
Compounds with Product Names
Windows password
Microsoft Word document
(+) Windows-Kennwort
(+) Microsoft Word-Dokument
Microsoft SQL Server Database
Compounds with Component and Feature Names
Resource Manager
Equation Editor
(+) Microsoft SQL Server-Datenbank
(+) Ressourcen-Manager
(+) Formel-Editor
ActiveX Control (+) ActiveX-Steuerelement
Compounds with Acronyms, Abbreviations or Numerals
CD-ROM drive
2-D gridlines
(+) CD-ROM-Laufwerk
(+) 2D-Gitternetzlinien
24 bit color value (+) 24-Bit-Farbwerte
Compounds with Software Components: To emphasize the independent nature of these software components, the following components are usually hyphenated:
(+) Manager
(+) Agent
(+) Assistent
(+) Editor
(+) Generator
(+) Designer
(+) Viewer
(+) Explorer
Please note the following exception: Event Viewer is translated as Ereignisanzeige, not as Ereignis-Viewer.
Examples:
(+) PC-Karten-Assistent
(+) Desktop-Manager
(+) Faxdeckblatt-Editor
(+) Fehlerprotokoll-Viewer
40
Examples for English & German Compounds:
German Compounds
Logon script processing
Workgroup Administrator
Port driver assignment
English Compounds
Proxy server
Game Controller
Cube measure
English-German Compounds
Online documentation
Website information
Remote administration
Hardware address
Client registration options
With prepositions:
snap-in add-on denial of service attack
(+) Anmeldeskriptverarbeitung
(+) Arbeitsgruppenadministrator
(+) Anschlusstreiberzuweisung
(+) Proxyserver
(+) Gamecontroller
(+) Cubemeasure
(+) Onlinedokumentation
(+) Websiteinformationen
(+) Remoteverwaltung
(+) Hardwareadresse
(+) Clientregistrierungsoptionen
(+) Snap-In
(+) Add-On
(+) Denial-of-Service-Angriff
Compounds with "nicht" should be written in two words and without hyphen, except for nouns. Nouns should be written in one word and without hyphen.
In cases where a different style has become the standard through repeated use, exceptions can be made.
Examples for Compounds with "nicht" non-member unauthenticated unmanaged code invisible
(+) Nichtmitglied
(+) nicht authentifiziert
(+) nicht verwalteter Code
(+) nicht sichtbar
41
Gender
For information on Gender, please follow general German language grammatical rules and references. For terminology, where Gender information in the Microsoft terminology database deviates from these rules, Microsoft term information overrides the general language rules.
Example:
Reference
Microsoft terminology database
Duden
Term Info
(+) Virus, der
Comment
Correct Microsoft usage
(For complete information on this term, please refer to the Microsoft terminology database)
Virus, das,
außerhalb der Fachspr. auch der; (kleinster
Krankheitserreger; zerstörendes, unbemerkt eingeschleustes
Computerprogramm)
(+) Blog, der Microsoft terminology database
Duden
Blog, das, auch der; <engl.>
(kurz für Weblog)
Correct Microsoft usage
(For complete information on this term, please refer to the Microsoft terminology database)
Articles for English Borrowed Terms
, please refer to the corresponding section under
Genitive
First and foremost, please follow the standard conventions on using -es vs. -s in genitive formation. However, in cases where both solutions are possible, always use the simple ending -s.
Convention 1: Product Names:
Attaching a genitive "s" to (trademarked) product names is not feasible, as it could be interpreted as a modification of such names.
Convention 2: -ES Genitive
Following the standard conventions, words ending on -s, -
ß, -z, -tz, -x need the -es genitive.
42
Examples:
Verzeichnis -> (+) des Verzeichnisses
G ruß -> (+) des Grußes
Absturz -> (+) des Absturzes
Satz -> (+) des Satzes
Suffix -> (+) des Suffixes
Convention 3: -S Genitive
In cases where both endings are valid, always use the simple ending -s. (This applies also to words like "Debitor" or "Kreditor" where Duden allows a genitive formation with "-s" or "-en".)
Examples:
Text -> (+) des Texts
Feld -> (+) des Felds
Tag -> (+) des Tags
Vertrag -> (+) des Vertrags
Convention 3: Words of Foreign Origin
A genitive "s" is also added to words of foreign origin:
Examples:
Server -> (+) des Servers
Internet -> (+) des Internets
Host -> (+) des Hosts
Convention 3: Acronyms
Applying the standard German orthography, abbreviations like URL do in general not receive the genitive "s" if the genitive case is clearly recognizable through the syntax (cp.: des PKW).
Examples:
URL -> (+) der URL
CD -> (+) der CD
DVD -> (+) der DVD
43
Modifiers
This section does not apply to German.
Nouns
Please follow general German language grammatical rules.
Please find specific information on nouns in the section on
English Terminology and the German Language
Prepositions
Pay attention to the correct use of the preposition in translations. Influenced by the English language, many translators omit them or change the word order. Translate English prepositions according to their context and avoid Anglicism. The following prepositions have become standard practice at Microsoft:
US Expression
migrate to import from/to export to integration with update/upgrade to change to compatible with click (on) something connect to in the toolbar click the tab on the menu on the net on the Internet on the Web on a web site on a web page
German Expression
(+) migrieren zu
(+) importieren von/in
(+) exportieren nach
(+) Integration in
(+) aktualisieren auf
(+)
ändern in
(+) kompatibel mit
(+) klicken auf
(+) verbinden mit
(+) auf der Symbolleiste
(+) auf die Registerkarte klicken
(+) im Menü
(+) im Netz (werk)
(+) im Internet
(+) im Web
(+) auf einer Website
(+) auf einer Webseite
Comment
Do not use: (-) auf, (-) nach used to be "change in" and (-)
"ändern auf"
Do not use: (-) zu
Do not use: (-) zu
Do not use: (-) auf dem
Do not use: (-) auf dem
Do not use: (-) auf dem used to be "in einer"
44
US Expression
welcome to ...
For information on ... see ...
German Expression
(+) willkommen bei ...
(+)
Informationen zu/über ... finden
Sie unter ...
Comment
Do not use: (-)
"Für Informationen zu/über ... sehen Sie ..."
Pronouns
For information on using Pronouns, please follow general German language grammatical rules and references.
Special Case:
“My” Terminology
"My" terminology is rarely used in new US Microsoft materials; however, it was frequently used in the past and there are occurrences in legacy material.
For German products, the guideline is to leave out the possessive pronoun.
The following translations are standard for Windows:
Examples:
My Computer (+) Arbeitsplatz
My Documents (+) Eigene Dateien
Punctuation
For a detailed discussion of German punctuation, please refer to the punctuation guidelines in Regeln und
Wörterverzeichnis, Empfehlung des Rats für deutsche Rechtschreibung, March 8, 2006, http://rechtschreibrat.idsmannheim.de/aktuell/ . The comma rules in this document are not significantly different from the original rules.
Therefore, we suggest not changing commas in legacy material, unless they impede usability.
For information on punctuation in numerals please also refer to the section
Comma
Please follow general German language grammatical rules on using comma. Please find specific information below.
Comma before “und” or “oder: If "und" or "oder," connect two full sentences (with a subject and verb), they need to be preceded by a comma.
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Colon
Please follow general German language grammatical rules on using colons. Please find specific information below.
Special Case: Do not use colons or other punctuation mark at the end of procedural titles.
See also:
Punctuation in Error Messages
Example:
US English
To set up the ABC program
1. ...
2. ...
German
(+) So installieren Sie das Programm
ABC
1. ...
2. ...
Comment
There is NO colon or other punctuation mark at the end of procedural titles.
Dashes and Hyphens
There are three different dash characters:
Hyphen
The hyphen is used to divide words between syllables and to link parts of a compound word.
First and foremost: avoid unnecessary hyphenation. Hyphens can often be avoided by applying the common rules of German syntax instead of following the US syntax. When faced with a complex compound, resolve it by clarifying the relationship among the various compound components. Ways of doing this include shifting the word order or using prepositions.
For detailed information and examples on the Microsoft standard use of hyphens in compounds, please go to the
En Dash
Character En Dash
–
Halbgeviertstrich (en-dash); typically used as "Gedankenstrich" and "Minuszeichen"
Example:
– 2.375,99 EUR
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Em Dash
Character Em Dash
—
Geviertstrich (em-dash; not used in German documentation)
Ellipses (Suspension Points)
Character Ellipses
…
Ellipsis is a triple-dot punctuation mark, which is also called a suspension point (Auslassungspunkte).
Ellipses, in general, tend to apply to a colloquial register and
– wherever possible – should be avoided in the Microsoft context.
Period
Please follow general German language grammatical rules on using periods. Please find specific information below.
Periods in lists and tables: To avoid inconsistencies when setting a period at the end of a list or table entry, please adhere to the following guidelines.
Guidelines:
If bulleted items are complete sentences: each ends with a period
If bulleted items continue an introductory clause: do not use a period
For items in a list (chapters, sections, products, system requirements, etc.) that are neither sentences nor continuations of sentences: do not use a period
If your translation is longer than the US text, or if you split your translation into several independent sentences, use common sense and insert a period if it improves the German style
Never put a period after just one word
The same convention applies to instruction lists, captions and callouts.
For information on punctuation in numerals please also refer to the section
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are, for example, used when a software user interface element is referred to.
Double quotes are the correct German typographical characters although slightly different from the English in terms of direction and location. The opening quotation mark is at the bottom „ (ANSI 0132); the closing quotation mark is at the top “ (ANSI 0147) (cp. English closing quotation mark: ” (ANSI 0148)).
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As the manufacturer of one of the leading word processing applications, we have an obligation to abide by
German printing industry standards, curly quotation marks being one of them.
The usage of German curly double quotation marks (bottom/top) is recommended although all forms of quotation marks are possible for Microsoft products: curly or straight quotes, and top/top or bottom/top quotation marks.
Single quotation marks should be used only when necessary for technical reasons.
Some fonts do not display the German closing quotes correctly. In cases of single sourcing where a Help engine does not support curly quotation marks, using straight quotation marks is also a valid solution in printed documentation which is later converted to Help.
Examples:
1. Favored solution
(curly, bottom/top): „Anführungszeichen“
2. Alternate solution (straight, top/top):
"Anführungszeichen"
See also: Typographic Conventions in Software
Parentheses
In German, there is no space between the parentheses and the text inside them.
Please follow general German language grammatical rules on using parentheses.
Singular & Plural
Please follow general German language grammar rules on using singular and plural forms.
Please find specific information on the plural formation for
Split Infinitive
This section does not apply to German.
Subjunctive
In German, the subjunctive form is mainly used in written form and indirect speech.
It is, in general, not appropriate style in the Microsoft context. Rather use active voice and imperative or indicative mood. These are easier to understand than subjunctive mood or passive voice, which can be confusing or sound formal.
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Symbols & Non-Breaking Spaces
Symbols
This Style Guide does not cover a comprise overview of existing symbols. For information on Currency symbols
used within German-speaking countries, please refer to the section
Non-Breaking Space
In HTML coding, the non-breaking space ( ) is a character entity which can create white space between words or web page elements, or stop the browser from breaking a line in the wrong place.
Example for preventing a line break with a non-breaking space:
Mr. Mustermann Herr Mustermann
Non-breaking spaces ( ) should only be used whenever they are present also in the US text. Otherwise it is recommended to use a blank space as non-breaking spaces can create functionality problems.
Syntax
For information on general German syntax, please refer to German language grammar rules.
Parallelism
Parallelism requires that words and phrases that have the same function, also have the same form. Use parallel language whenever you express ideas of equal weight, and for UI elements that are parallel in function (such as headings, labels, lists, or page titles). Using parallel structures is a great way of making texts easier to understand and lists more coherent. Users expect that words and phrases with the same function have the same or a similar linguistic format. This is called "Parallelism" here.
Apply parallel structures for ideas of equal weight and for UI elements that are parallel in function.
Typically, this is the case for:
Headings
Labels
Lists
Page titles
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Use the following methods to achieve this kind of parallelism:
Make all items similar in length
Make all items similar in form
Make all items use the same part of speech
For example, make items all begin with a verb, make them all utilize a noun-verb-adverb structure, or make them all single-word imperative verbs.
Examples:
(+)
Hören
Sehen
Teilen
Sammeln
These items are parallel because all four items are single word,
imperative verbs.
(-)
Musik
Video
Teilen
Hören
These items are not parallel because Musik and Video are nouns, but
Teilen and Hören are verbs.
For examples on special cases related to syntax, please also refer to the paragraph on
Style and Tone Considerations, as well as to the sections
Verbs
Please follow general German language grammatical rules on using Verbs. For specific information and examples, please refer to the following sections:
Some Verbs require different translations, depending on the concept or context. Please refer to the section
for detailed information and examples.
English Terminology and the German Language System
Word Order
Please follow general German language grammatical rules on Word Order.
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Style and Tone Considerations
This section focuses on higher-level considerations for audience, style, tone, and voice.
Audience
A product may be targeted at individual consumers, businesses, or internet audiences. When localizing a product, please always keep in mind the target user audience and address the intended user with the appropriate tone and level of grammar and formality, as well as reading level (e.g. technical register fo r IT professionals, children’s register for children).
Style - Consistency and Idiomaticity
The language in Microsoft products should have the "Look and Feel" of a product originally written in German, using idiomatic syntax and terminology, while at the same time maintaining a high level of terminological consistency, so as to guarantee the maximum user experience and usability for our customers.
With regard to consistency and idiomaticity, the following general guideline should be followed:
Consistency must not be maintained at all costs and at the expense of idiomaticity, and vice versa.
The line between those two pillars is a thin one; therefore, this topic was designed to help find a balanced approach.
Note: The following example strings should only serve as idiomatic examples, they don't need to be taken over literally.
Syntax
If there is a more idiomatic way of structuring a given sentence, use the German word order instead of translating word by word, as long as the key message is conveyed.
Example
Display Name as shown in the list of participants in a shared session
(-) Angezeigter Name wie in der Liste der Teilnehmer an der Freigabesitzung
(+) In der Liste der
Sitzungsteilnehmer angezeigter Name
Format cells that contain the text:
Standard Translation
(-) Zellen formatieren, die den Text enthalten:
Idiomatic Translation
(+) Zellen formatieren, die folgenden Text enthalten:
Comment
Changing the word order and shortening the string is advisable.
The "text" or "formatting" is specified after the colon; in such cases, it is more idiomatic to use
"folgende/r" in German.
Click here for more options such as pasting only the values or formatting.
(-) Klicken Sie hier, um weitere Optionen wie das
Einfügen nur von Werten
(+) Klicken Sie hier, um weitere Optionen anzuzeigen, z.B. wenn Sie
Creating a subordinate clause is an elegant solution if sentence
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Example Standard Translation
oder Formatierung anzuzeigen.
Idiomatic Translation
nur Werte oder
Formatierungen einfügen möchten.
(+) Zellen mit Datum formatieren
Comment
structure gets too complex
Format cells with a date (-) Zellen formatieren mit einem Datum
Apply proper German syntax instead of the
English, i.e. direct object, indirect object, verb
My table has headers
Blank Page Sizes
Interrupts/sec is the average rate at which the processor received and serviced hardware interrupts.
(-) Meine Tabelle hat eine
Kopfzeile
(+) Die Tabelle hat
Überschriften
Leave out possessives whenever the distinction
"my" versus
"his/hers/theirs" is not required.
(-)
Größen leerer Seiten
(+) Leere Seiten in verschiedenen Größen
Use explanatory workaround if a literal translation is not wrong but sounds cryptic
(-) Interrupts/Sek. ist die durchschnittliche Rate, mit der der Prozessor
Hardwareinterrupts empfangen und bearbeitet hat.
(+)
Interrupts/Sek. steht für die durchschnittliche
Frequenz, mit der der
Prozessor
Hardwareinterrupts empfängt und bearbeitet.
Adjust tense to present for general statements if it sounds more natural
It does not include deferred procedure calls
(DPCs), which are counted separately.
(-)
Dies schließt keine
DPCs ein, die separat gezählt werden.
(+) DCPs sind darin nicht enthalten; diese werden separat gezählt.
Split up sentences if it improves readability.
This value is an indirect indicator of the activity of devices that generate interrupts, such as network interface cards.
(-) Dieser Wert ist eine indirekte Anzeige der
Aktivitäten von Geräten, die Interrupts erzeugen, wie z.B.
Netzwerkschnittstellenkart en.
Normal thread execution is suspended.
(-) Die normale
Threadausführung ist ausgesetzt.
(+) Der Wert zeigt die indirekte Aktivität von
Geräten an, die Interrupts erzeugen, wie z.B.
Netzwerkkarten.
(+) Die normale
Threadausführung wird ausgesetzt.
Dieser = Der,
Ist Anzeige = zeigt an, steht für
Netzwerkschnittstellenkart en = Netzwerkkarten
Apply Vorgangspassiv and
Zustandspassiv according to what the context requires.
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Consistent syntax helps set users' expectations. Once these expectations are set, users can more quickly parse text that uses consistent syntax. For example, if instructions are always written in the imperative form, users will learn to pay closer attention to imperative sentences.
Example:
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Terminology and Word Choice
The choice of words and terminology has a great impact on how a product is perceived. Even simple things can appear complicated if they are described in complicated words. Words and terminology should be chosen along the following Guidelines and examples:
Use one term for one concept, and use terms consistently. Although the use of synonyms might be more interesting to read, worldwide users might assume that your choice of a different term indicates a subtle distinction in meaning.
For example, choose between eine Anwe
ndung starten, ausführen, or öffnen, and be consistent.
Consistent terminology promotes learning and a better understanding of technical concepts. Inconsistency forces users to figure out whether different words and actions mean the same.
Example for terminology consistency in the software:
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Example for terminology consistency between software and help:
Exceptions for using idiomatic terms. There will be a few exceptions where a more idiomatic term within a given sentence or compound should be used:.
Issue Examples Example Standard
Translation
Idiomatic
Translation
Comment
Unterhaltungsthema (+)
Gesprächsthema conversation vs.
[compounds] deliver vs liefern conversation topic
A report is delivered to a mailbox.
Ein Bericht wird an ein Postfach
geliefert. pass vs. passieren All messages pass Alle Nachrichten
(+) Ein Bericht wird an ein Postfach
übermittelt.
(+) Alle Nachrichten
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Issue Examples
include vs. einschließen period vs. Periode
Example
through a server.
Include a wildcard character. validity period
Standard
Translation
passieren durch einen Server.
Schließen Sie ein
Platzhalterzeichen ein.
Gültigkeitsperiode
Idiomatic
Translation
werden über einen
Server geleitet.
Comment
(+)
Fügen Sie ein
Platzhalterzeichen ein.
(+)
Gültigkeitsdauer also:
Gültigkeitszeitraum
If a term describing a concept already exists, use it. Use terms that already exist, but avoid giving specific technical meaning to common German terms. Worldwide users are most familiar with the standard meaning, and might not notice the difference in use.
Define emerging terminology in the text. Emerging terminology might not be defined in most dictionaries.
Use common German when possible.
Before adopting a translation for a new term
, make sure an equivalent term doesn’t already exist. Check other German language products by querying the Microsoft terminology database. Check the spelling and hyphenation of new terms.
Avoid using jargon and creating words or applying new meanings to common words. Malware,
Werkzeug, Bug, and fatal are all good examples. If you must use these terms, define them near the beginning of every section or article. Jargon is also frequently based on metaphor or business practices, which might not make sense to worldwide users. Depending on the context, the text and style should be adopted to reflect the situation accordingly.
Use simple, direct words. The text style must be clear, simple, and correct. Use the simplest and most specific word possible. This is especially effective when explaining a complex technical concept or action.
Imagine looking over the user’s shoulder and explaining how to accomplish the task.
Acceptable:
(-) Verwenden Sie diese Vorgehensweise, um das Kennwort zu ändern.
Better:
(+)
Gehen Sie folgendermaßen vor, um das Kennwort zu ändern.
- or -
(+) Gehen Sie so vor, um das Kennwort zu
ändern.
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Use precise words. When it works with the tone and voice, use one-word nouns and verbs. Nouns and verbs containing multiple words, such as in
ein Urteil fällen, in Erwägung ziehen, in die Tat umsetzen can be mistakenly interpreted as individual terms instead of the noun or verb phrase. One-word terms, such as
urteilen,
erwägen, verwirklichen are easier to interpret.
Poor:
(-) Machen Sie den Ordner "Autorun" wie folgt ausfindig:
Acceptable:
(-) Sie finden den Ordner "Autorun" folgendermaßen:
Better:
(+) So finden Sie den Ordner “Autorun”:
Avoid idioms and colloquial expressions. Idioms can confuse non-native speakers, and they take extra time to translate. For example, the Italian equivalent of Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen is Zwei
Tauben mit einer Bohne fangen. However, in some contexts a methaphors and idiomatic expressions should be considered, e.g. in conceptional and of course in marketing related contexts.
Example: Wenn Sie jemals auf der Suche nach einem falsch abgelegten Bi
ld, Musikstück oder Tabellenblatt eine Menge Zeit geopfert haben, können Sie nun aufatmen: Mit Windows 7 können Sie Dateien einfacher finden und organisieren.
Avoid surprising or humorous word choices, slang, and sarcasm. Puns and coined phrases can be difficult to interpret, and non-native German speakers might not recognize humor or sarcasm. If the context allows, consider to reflect humorous word choices.
Avoid acronyms and abbreviations (except if the meaning is obvious, as in St. Petersburg), or use them sparingly and define them in context. For example, BA is the abbreviation for Bamberg, a city in Germany, and for Basel, a Swiss city and canton. However, if an acronym or an abbreviation is widely used and introduced in the market, please use them as appropriate.
Note: it is more common to use “USB” instead of “universeller serieller Bus”.
For additional examples on Terminology and Word Choice, also refer to the sections on
Software Considerations
, and
Document Translation Considerations.
Tone
The way you say something can strongly affect the person you are talking to. In fact, it’s not always what you say, but how you say it that determines the response you get from your audience. This is why using the appropriate tone and voice is critical to the success of any Microsoft product.
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Please always keep in mind the target user audience and address the intended user with the appropriate tone and level of grammar and formality, as well as reading level (e.g. technical register for IT professionals, children’s register for children).
US English German Comment
When you (formal) try to start
Microsoft Money after you
(formal) reinstall Money, you
(formal) may receive an error message that is similar to the following.
(+) Wenn Sie versuchen, Microsoft
Money nach der Neuinstallation zu starten, erhalten Sie möglicherweise diese oder eine
ähnliche Fehlermeldung.
Polite form is used throughout the text; jargon may not be used in Microsoft products;
Exceptions for a more relaxed tone are
Windows Live and Gaming products.
Voice
In Microsoft software and documentation, the user is addressed in the third person plural (referring to the user as
Sie). "Man" as a pronoun is not used. Please also refer to the example provided under
Usage of "Sie" in Instructions
The question of how often "Sie" should be included in instructional sentences occurs every now and then. The advice is to avoid unnecessary usage of "Sie" in instructions and to keep instructions as concise and as clear as possible. However, when the action changes, "Sie" should be used as an additional indicator that the next step is different from the previous action. "Sie" can also mark certain sentence constructions unambiguously as instructions.
Examples:
US English
Click the Office button and then click New.
German
(+) Klicken Sie auf die Office-
Schaltfläche und dann auf
Neu.
Click File, point to New and then click Folder. (+) Klicken Sie auf Datei, zeigen Sie auf Neu, und klicken Sie dann auf Ordner.
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Active and Passive Voice
In general, use the active voice, which emphasizes the person or thing doing the action. It is more direct and personal than the passive voice, which can be confusing or sound formal.
The passive voice should be used for sentences where the US string uses personified subjects.
Examples:
Poor:
(-)
Die Symbole können alphabetisch nach Namen sortiert werden.
Wenn ein persönlicher digitaler Assistent (PDA) oder ein Laptop angeschlossen wird...
Note: The agent is missing which sounds impersonal. The user may not recognize that he or she can take action to modify application to his or her needs.
Better:
(+)
Sie können die Symbole alphabetisch nach dem Symbolnamen sortieren.
Wenn Sie einen persönlichen digitalen Assistenten (PDA) oder einen Laptop anschließen...
Use the passive voice only in the following cases:
When a US string uses personified subjects, the German word order should change from active to passive voice to avoid inanimate subjects in agentive semantic roles.
When the context allows for omission of the subject, rephrase and change the word order.
When the context does not allow for omission of the agent, use passive voice and vom/von der/von + subject.
Examples:
US English German
Setup encountered an error while creating your startup disk.
Setup cannot access the server you chose.
Setup cannot find the remote computer.
(+) Fehler beim Erstellen der Startdiskette.
(+)
Kein Zugriff auf den gewählten Server.
(+) Der Remotecomputer wurde nicht gefunden.
Windows cannot start your system. (+) Das System kann nicht gestartet werden.
Terminal Server Licensing cannot start work scheduler. (+) Der Auftragsplaner kann nicht gestartet werden.
The license server cannot allocate the required memory (+) Der erforderliche Arbeitsspeicher kann vom
Lizenzserver nicht zugeordnet werden.
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To avoid a wordy or awkward construction
When the action rather than the doer is the focus of the sentence
When the subject is unknown
In error messages, when the user is the subject and might feel blamed for the error if the active voice is used
Examples:
German Example
(+) Das neue Symbol sollte oben links angezeigt werden.
(+) Die Seite wurde nicht gefunden.
Comment
Subject is unknown respectively action is done by the software.
Passive to avoid first person wir and to avoid blaming someone
(+) Einige erforderliche Angaben wurden nicht gemacht. Passive to avoid blaming the user
(-) Das neue Symbol sollte von der Anwendung links oben platziert werden.
(-)
Wir können die Seite nicht finden.
Too clumsy
Wir sounds as if Microsoft is responsible for the issue and therefore carries negative associations here
Guidelines for the Localization of Error Messages
Translation of Status Bar Messages
Bias-Free Language
Biased language referring to women or racial, ethnic, and other minority groups ranges from patronizing representations, stereotypes, and often well-intended "euphemisms" to obviously offensive expressions.
Gender Bias
Regardless of whether the localized product is targeted at individual consumers, businesses, or internet audiences, the sensitivity of users to male and female stereotypes should be recognized by writers and localizers.
Guidelines
Instead of stressing gender differences and/or reinforcing stereotypical distinctions between men and women, the language used should be as neutral as possible. The neutral approach also applies to the localization of scenarios, comparisons, examples, illustrations and metaphors. Create a balance when assigning roles and functions to men and women, e.g. active vs. passive roles, leading vs. secondary roles, technical vs. nontechnical professions, etc. Scenarios, pictures, metaphors, and comparisons should be based on areas and attributes common to both genders.
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Instead of using phrases which mention the two genders separately, use a general term that includes both genders such as Menschen, Kinder or Personen.
Avoid writing sentences that refer to a single person whose gender is unknown. You can often avoid this situation by rewriting the sentence to make the subject plural.
In cases where a reference to a single person is impossible to avoid, do not use
“er oder sie”, “ihm oder ihr”, or
“seine oder ihre”. The language in Microsoft products should sound natural, and people do not talk this way. Also, generally avoid the use of slashes and brackets to combine both genders (although sometimes exceptions are made - see table below).
Example:
Qualification Example:
Good: (+)
Sie erhalten möglicherweise keine Antwort, da dieser Kontakt den Status "Abwesend" hat.
Poor: (-)
Diese(r) Empfänger(in) antwortet möglicherweise nicht, da er/sie den Status "Abwesend" hat.
"Man" as a pronoun is not used in Microsoft software and documentation.
Use the following strategies to avoid the use of overtly gender-biased expressions:
Linguistic Method
Neutral noun
The elements -hilfe, -kraft, personal, -schaft can be used to create neutral forms that replace individual masculine or feminine forms. We strongly recommend this option whenever possible.
Nominalized present participles or plural forms
This method results in nouns that are short and explicit. However, in a highly technical context they sometimes sound contrived and should therefore be used with caution. Please use nouns in this
(+) German Example
Person, Servicepersonal,
Kursleitung, Fachleute, Belegschaft, alle (instead of jedermann),
Geschäftsführung, Redaktion, Team
Studierende, Teilnehmende,
Beitragende, Beschäftigte,
Freischaffende, Angestellte
Context
Concept descriptions, explanations
Concept descriptions, explanations
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Linguistic Method
category only if they are already commonly used in German.
Mention both genders explicitly
(+) German Example
Benutzerinnen und Benutzer
Sehr geehrte Leserinnen und
Leser...
Sehr geehrte Kundin, sehr geehrter
Kunde...
Combining both gender by means of a slash or brackets
Benutzer/in, Adressat/in,
Vorgesetze(r)
Readability is key in Microsoft documentation. This option is generally not used except in
Microsoft License Terms (formerly known as EULA). Always use with caution, especially in combination with adjectives and articles.
Rephrasing Recommendations
At times, the US-English source text has to be paraphrased or restructured.
Examples:
Context
Only in prefaces, introductions, product information, greetings
Only in exceptional cases such as
License Terms, sometimes in tables
(e.g. headers, column/row titles)
US English
A custom dictionary can only be used by the user who created it.
All users who use this feature.
Some of the best snapshots could be made because the photographer...
Send the slide show through e-mail to your friends and family.
German Example
(+)
Ein Benutzerwörterbuch kann nur von der Person verwendet werden, die es erstellt hat.
(+) Alle, die dieses Feature einsetzen.
(+)
Einige der besten Schnappschüsse kamen gerade deshalb zustande, weil die Person hinter der Kamera...
(+)
Versenden Sie die Folienpräsentation per E-Mail an
Ihre Familie und Ihren Freundeskreis.
Create an appealing and secure shopping environment for your customers.
(+) Schaffen Sie ein ansprechendes und sicheres
Einkaufsklima für Ihre Kundschaft.
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Ethnic and Racial Bias
Ethnic or racial slurs are easy to identify and as such easy to avoid. It is more difficult, however, to avoid involuntary bias which consists in the use of expressions or names that the group represented considers inappropriate.
As a rule, the group and its members should be represented as they wish (i.e. Sinti and Roma). This means above all using the name that the group itself uses. These names are subject to change resulting from altered awareness within the specific culture or a change of consciousness within the group itself, so that terms used in the past may no longer be acceptable. If in doubt, the localizer needs to research the most current sources on the name of the group. Ethnic and racial bias should also be avoided in scenarios, examples, and other illustrations.
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Localization Guidelines
This section contains guidelines for localization into German.
General Considerations
The language in Microsoft products should have the "Look and Feel" of a product originally written in German, using idiomatic syntax and terminology, while at the same time maintaining a high level of terminological consistency, so as to guarantee the maximum user experience and usability for our customers.
Abbreviations
Common Abbreviations
You might need to abbreviate some words in the UI (mainly buttons or options names) due to lack of space.
Please take into account the following guidelines on how words should be abbreviated in German.
Common Abbreviations
Use the common abbreviations listed below. Note, however, that we do not recommend extensive use of abbreviations.
List of common abbreviations:
Expression
das heißt gegebenenfalls in der Regel und Ähnliches und so weiter unter anderem unter Umständen vergleiche beziehungsweise zum Beispiel zum Teil zurzeit
Acceptable Abbreviation
d. h. ggf. i. d. R. u. Ä. usw. u. a. u. U. vgl. bzw. z. B. z. T. zz.
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Further Guidelines:
1. If a sentence ends with an abbreviation that has its own period, there is no additional end-of-sentence period.
2. Use a non-breaking space (CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR) in abbreviations such as z. B. or d. h.
3. If non-breaking spaces cannot be used (e.g. in Help files), it is also acceptable to write these abbreviations without a space to avoid having one letter move to the beginning of the next line.
Examples: Use caution with the following abbreviations:
Abbreviation Comment
OK
US
MS a. m./ p. m.
2D/3D
Use only in reference to the interface.
Use only in compounds such as US-Dollar, US-Produkt
For legal reasons, Microsoft may not be abbreviated. Exception: MS-DOS.
If it is necessary to keep the US time format in a product, use periods. (For space reasons it may be necessary to omit them in the software.)
This is the Microsoft-specific abbreviation of two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D), respectively. As this abbreviation is usually combined with a noun and hyphenated (e.g. 3D-
Darstellung), do not to use a hyphen in the abbreviation itself.
Abbreviations for Measurements
In addition to common measurements such as km, m, cm, mm, etc. the following abbreviations are used in technical documentation.
Examples:
Measurement
Gigabyte
Kilobyte
Kilobit
Megabyte
Megabit
Bits pro Sekunde
Megabits pro Sekunde
Kilobits pro Sekunde
Abbreviation (+)
GB
KB
KBit
MB
MBit
Bit/s
MBit/s
KBit/s
Comment/Example
Do not use: (-) Gbyte
Do not use: (-) Kbyte
Do not use: (-) Kbit
Do not use: (-) Mbyte used to be (-) Mbit
Use same type for similar measurements, e.g. frames per second => F/s used to be (-) Mbit/s used to be (-) Kbit/s
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Measurement
Bytes pro Sekunde
Megabytes pro Sekunde
Kilobytes pro Sekunde
Abbreviation (+)
B/s
MB/s
KB/s
Comment/Example
Point/Punkt
Inch/Zoll
Pt.
"
Megahertz MHz
Exclusion List:
Don't abbreviate such words as
"oder",
"und",
"allgemein",
"etwas",
"links",
"rechts"
or anything else that may not be immediately recognizable to a user.
When in doubt, spell it out.
No plural form
" is acceptable in Packaging and tables, but not in body text. Use full form instead.
Acronyms
Acronyms are words made up of the initial letters of major parts of a compound term. Some well-known examples are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), or RAM (Random
Access Memory). Acronyms are not as common in German as they are in English.
Caution:
Be careful NOT to include a generic term after an acronym if one of the acronym's letters stands for the same term. Even though this might occur in the US-English version, it should be "corrected" in the localized version.
Examples:
RP C call => (+) Remoteprozeduraufruf
HTM L language => (+) Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
TC P /I P-Protokoll => (+) TCP/IP
PI N-Nummer => (+) PIN
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Localized Acronyms
In UA material, spell out the words on first mention in the text if possible, for example in the section where a feature is described, followed by a translation in parentheses.
Example:
(+) Datenzugriffsobjekte (Data Access Objects, DAO)
(+) ActiveX-Datenobjekte (ActiveX Data Objects, ADO)
Specifically for UI material, there is usually not enough space for all three terms (US term, German translation, and the acronym); only in wizards, the acronym can easily be spelled out and localized on first mention. If there are space constraints or there is no 'first' occurrence, it is up to the localizers to judge to the best of their knowledge if the acronym can be left as is, or if it should be localized.
The localizer's judgment should also take into account that users of distinct products will also have different levels of knowledge: while for a German Exchange user identifying "DL" won't pose any serious problems, the average
German Windows user would have difficulties in understanding "DL" and prefer "Verteilerliste". Try to be consistent within a product.
Note: Although the English acronym in general can't be derived from the German translation, creating a new acronym derived from the German translated term is not an option.
Unlocalized Acronyms
Many acronyms are standardized and remain untranslated. They are only followed by their full spelling in English if the acronym needs to be explained to German-speaking audiences. In other cases, where the acronym is rather common, adding the fully spelled out form will not add any value but only confuse users. In these cases, the acronym can be used on its own.
Example:
ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
ISO (International Standards Organization)
ISDN
DSL
CD
DVD
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Applications, Products, and Features
Application/product names are often trademarked or may be trademarked in the future and are therefore rarely translated.
Occasionally, feature names are trademarked, too (e.g. IntelliSense™). Before translating any application, product, or feature name, please verify that it is in fact translatable and not protected in any way.
Version Numbers
Version numbers always contain a period (e.g. Version 4.2). Please note the following punctuation examples of
"Version x.x":
Example:
If you are using Microsoft Expression Web 4.0 or later...
(+)
Wenn Sie Microsoft Expression Web, Version 4.0 oder höher, verwenden...
Version numbers are usually also a part of version strings, but technically they are not the same.
Translation of Version Strings
A frequent location of product, feature and component names are the so-called version strings as they appear in the software. When localizing version strings, please use the following guidelines:
Version strings that contain copyright information should always be translated.
Example:
(+)
Copyright © 1991-1998 Microsoft Corporation. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Version strings containing feature names that are trademarked should not be translated.
Exception: Bookshelf => LexiROM
Unlike in U.S. version strings, commas should be removed from German version strings if they appear between the actual product name and an addition to the product name such as e.g. "xxx Edition", "Service Pack", "Feature
Pack", "Security Update" etc.
Example:
Windows XP, Service Pack 2 => (+) Windows XP Service Pack 2
Version strings containing feature names that are not trademarked can be translated according to the following criteria and guidelines:
1. If a German user without knowledge of English would not understand the feature name, the name is a good candidate for translation.
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Example:
Internet Referral System => (+) Internetreferenzsystem
2. If the feature name could easily be trademarked at some point, the name is likely to remain untranslated.
Example:
Channel Guide, Drag & Plot
Version strings usually also contain version numbers. Please refer to the topic
information.
How to Reference URL Links to English References
Any URL, whether pointing to Microsoft sites or to external, third parties sites, needs to be identified, verified, and approved by Microsoft before localization starts.
As a general rule, US URLs should be replaced with the equivalent German URLs as provided by Microsoft. If a corresponding German page is not available, there are two options: either keep the US URL or remove it, depending on the relevance of the page.
If the US URL is relevant to the audience/local market, then it should be kept, generally followed by the disclaimer
"(in englischer Sprache)". If the US URL is not relevant to the audience/local market, it should be removed. In specific cases a disclaimer may be inserted because sometimes so-called "fw"-links are used, and the pages they point to might be localized at a later time.
This general rule also applies for hyperlinked or non-hyperlinked references to US content. References relevant to the audience/local market should be kept and left in English so that the users can find them on the Web, followed by a translation in parentheses and the disclaimer "(in englischer Sprache)". However, if the English meaning is obvious and will be well understood by the audience, the translation in parenthesis can be omitted.
Frequent Errors – Troublesome or Conflictive Words
There are certain cases where terminological or orthographic ambiguities leave room for interpretation. The intention of this section is to provide recommendations for these specific cases.
For additional information and examples, see also:
Orthographic Ambiguities
The German orthographic reform sometimes allows for spelling alternatives. As long as consistency is not at risk and other Style Guide rules don't prevent it, the alternatives recommended by the Duden should be used
(highlighted there in yellow). The following cases are mentioned here for clarification only (see also Error!
Hyperlink reference not valid.).
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One Word vs. Two Words
The new German spelling rules allow two different spellings for some words. To avoid inconsistencies in Microsoft products, please use the following forms:
Examples:
so dass / sodass -> (+) sodass (BUT: aber er arbeitete so, dass er krank wurde)
mit Hilfe / mithilfe -> (+) mithilfe
auf Grund / aufgrund -> (+) aufgrund
in Frage / infrage -> (+) infrage
weit greifend / weitgreifend -> (+) weitgreifend schwer wiegend / schwerwiegend -> (+) schwerwiegend
fertig stellen / fertigstellen -> (+) fertig stellen (until further notice)
Terminological Ambiguities
Some terms have different translations, depending on the concept or context. Below are answers to some frequently asked questions.
a) select, click, point
– auswählen, markieren, aktivieren, klicken auf, zeigen auf
The default translation for the US term "select" is "au swählen". It is rather general in its meaning and should be used whenever the context does not require another specific translation such as "aktivieren" for check boxes, or
"markieren" when the emphasis is on highlighting.
The US text mostly uses the verbs "click" and "point" (instead of "choose"). The German equivalents are "klicken auf" and "zeigen auf" (always used with the preposition "auf"). "Enter" and "type" should be translated as
"eingeben" when the user uses the keyboard for input.
Examples for "Select":
Item
Lists
Check Boxes
Highlighting Text,
US Example
In the drop-down list, select an option.
German Example
(+)
Wählen Sie in der
Dropdownliste eine
Option aus.
Comments
select = auswählen
The user chooses a pre-existing entry, e.g. in a list.
Select the check box. (+) Aktivieren Sie das
Kontrollkästchen. select = aktivieren
Correspondingly, "to clear" a check box = "deaktivieren".
Select the text and then (+) Markieren Sie den select = markieren
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Item
Graphics, Cells, etc.
US Example
drag it to the new location.
German Example
Text, und ziehen Sie ihn an die neue Stelle.
Comments
The user "highlights" text (or numbers, cells or graphics).
Examples for "Click":
Item
Menus
Cascading Menus
Shortcut Menus
Buttons
Tab Dialog Boxes
List Boxes
US Wording
On the ____ menu, click _____.
On the ___ menu, click
___, and then click ___.
On the shortcut menu, click _____.
US Example
On the File menu, click
Open.
On the View menu, click Fonts, and then click Small.
On the shortcut menu, click Set Home Page.
German Example
(+)
Klicken Sie im Menü Datei auf
Öffnen.
(+)
Klicken Sie im Menü Ansicht auf Schriftarten und dann auf
Klein.
(+)
Klicken Sie im Kontextmenü auf
Homepage festlegen.
Click _____.
Click the ____ tab.
Click Forms. Click OK. (+) Klicken Sie auf Formulare.
Klicken Sie auf OK.
Click the View tab. (+) Klicken Sie auf die
Registerkarte Ansicht.
In the _____ box, click
____.
In the Color box, click
Red.
(+) Klicken Sie im Feld Farbe auf
Rot.
b) The Note: Hinweis vs. Notiz
"Hinweis" is used for notes to the user, e.g. in software or documentation. "Notiz" is used for notes the user is taking.
"Anmerkung" should not be used except in cases where "note" is used in the same text or section as "remark".
Glossaries
The Microsoft terminology database should be the primary reference resource. Refer to the section
resources to gather information on features/functionality descriptions as well as on the terminology already used.
In addition, check partners’ and competitors’ sites in order to come up with an Industry-specific target term or translation that customers are used to.
For example, if terms are used in the industry but new to Microsoft products, such as Expression terminology which is similar to Adobe Photoshop, the existing localized equivalent from the market leader (here, Photoshop) is the one to be used.
71
Examples of Microsoft online resources for background information:
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/default.aspx
TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/default.aspx
Blogs: There are several Microsoft expert blogs, as well as blogs from Microsoft MVPs available on the
Internet, these can be very valuable resources.
You may also want to verify terminology or translations on official or University sites as terms found there are often not translated literally.
Examples:
Industrial terminology: Seach the EU database IATE: http://iate.europa.eu
Example: bar code => Strichcode, focal length => Brennweite
Security terminology: Search the
Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik site www.bsi.de
Example: block cipher => Blockchiffre, digital signatures, biometry
The German Federal Foreign Office: http://www.auswaertigesamt.de
; a good resource to verify country or city names.
Recurring Patterns
For recurring patterns, please refer to the Links provided in the following section
Standardized Translations
There are a number of standardized translations mentioned in all sections of this Style Guide. In order to find them more easily, the most relevant topics and sections are compiled here for you reference.
Titles of the Type "Sending a File"
Sentences of the Type "In order to"/"Do this"
Disclaimer for Unlocalized URLs/References
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Unlocalized Items
Trademarked names and the name Microsoft Corporation shouldn’t be localized. A list of Microsoft trademarks is available for your reference at the following location: http://www.microsoft.com/trademarks/t-mark/names.htm
.
Below please find a list of some UI words that are written the same way in German as in English.
Please note that exceptions may apply. For certain products or concepts a different target term might need to be used. Please refer to the Microsoft terminology databases and always verify the respective term in context.
Examples (+) Examples (+)
Active Directory Clip
Active Server
Pages
Clip Gallery
Add-In
Add-On
Administrator
Anchor
Animation
Argument
Array
Audio
AutoFormat
AutoText
Banner
Bit
Bitmap
Browser
Bytes
Cache
CD Key
CD-ROM
Definition
Demo
Designer
Desktop
Details
Digital
Dimension
Diskette
Download
Cluster
Code
Computer
Container
Cookie
Copyright
Cube
Cursor
Debugger
Examples (+)
Element
Endnote
Feature
Filter
Firewall
Firmware
Flag
Format
Frameset
Gateway
Global
Handshake
Hardware
Horizontal
Host
Hostname
Hyperlink
Index
Installation
Examples (+) Examples (+)
Layout Pager
Laser Palette
Logo
Manager
Megabytes
Minimum minus
Modem
Multicast
Multimedia
Name parallel
Parameter
PivotChart
PivotTable
Pixel
Plug-In
Popup
Position
Product ID
Namespace
Navigation
Product Key remote
Newsgroups Roaming offline Rollover offset
OK online
Operator
Rowset
Scanner
Server
Setup
Option SmartPage
Examples (+)
Sound
Standard
Status
Suffix
Support
Symbol
Syntax
System
Task
Test
Text
Thesaurus
Timeout
Timestamp
Toolbox
Variable
Version
Video
Website
Zoom
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Examples (+)
Chat
Client
Examples (+)
Dropdown
Editor
Examples (+)
Internet
Kilobytes
Examples (+) Examples (+)
optional Snapshot
Original Software
Examples (+)
Using the Word Microsoft
Both in English and in German, it is prohibited for legal reasons to use MS as an abbreviation for Microsoft.
Exception: MS-DOS.
Software Considerations
This section refers to all menus, menu items, commands, buttons, check boxes, etc., which should be consistently translated in the localized product.
Refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/aa511258.aspx
for a detailed explanation of the Windows user interface guidelines (English).
Typographic Conventions in Software
Use one method consistently within your product as consistent use of typographic conventions helps users locate and interpret information easily. The following guidelines present specific typographic conventions that are relevant for localization of software.
Examples:
When a user interface element is referred to in the software (usually in EDB format), it is placed in quotation marks:
The file menu => (+) das Menü "Datei"
The Internet Explorer icon => (+) das Symbol "Internet Explorer"
The draw toolbar => (+) die Symbolleiste "Zeichnen"
For information on the use of typographic conventions, please refer to the section
Formatting and typographic conventions for help files and other documents are covered in
Conventions in Help and Documentation
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User Interface
Translating UI items can be challenging at times. One of the main difficulties in many cases is the lack of context and information on the exact function of a particular UI item. This topic is intended to give some general guidelines.
Always use all available resources to establish the context for UI items. In EDBs, these could be: the columns
Instructions, Resource ID, String ID, sometimes also Previous Source and Term Note.
Translation of Menus, Commands and Buttons
When translating menus, commands, and buttons, you should translate a verb as a verb (infinitive form), unless there is a good reason not to do so. Always try to establish whether a word is a noun or a verb, using all available context and material.
Example:
Manage Add-ons
(+) Add-ons verwalten
(A menu command - Do not use: (-) Add-on-Verwaltung)
Set Query
(+) Abfrage festlegen
(From Access 2007. - This is the same syntactic pattern as in "Run Query", therefore do not use: (-) Satzabfrage.)
Special Case:
Translation of the “About” menu item
The “About” menu item is usually followed by a product name in English strings, but in German strings the product name may be omitted for the below reasons.
US English German
– Option 1
German
– Option 2
About Internet Explorer (+) Info (+) Informationen zu Internet Explorer
Reasons:
Space issues for German
“About” strings which tend to increase in size.
Inflection issues for cases where the product name is inserted during run-time. Depending on the product name, the German translation could require the dative case wich in turn would require that a suffix must be added, which is not always possible if placeholders are filled-in during run-time.
Redundancy issues: If the
“About” menu item is obviously associated with the corresponding product, the repetition of the product name is not needed.
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Translation of Checkboxes and Radio Buttons
The text for checkboxes and radio buttons does not typically address the user directly. Using "Sie" in checkbox or radio button texts should therefore be a relatively rare choice.
Examples:
Confirm file format conversion on open
(+)
Dateiformatkonvertierung beim Öffnen bestätigen
(Do not use: (-)
Bestätigen Sie die Dateiformatkonvertierung beim Öffnen.)
Punctuation in the source text often indicates whether a string is to be interpreted as a full sentence, but unfortunately this is not always the case. As a general rule, checkboxes and radio buttons receive no period at the end. If the period is there in the source text and if the string is a complete sentence, the localized string should also end with a period. A period is also advised if the target string is a complete and complex or long sentence
(full sentence with sub-clauses or stretching over several lines).
Examples:
I accept the license terms
(+) Ich akzeptiere die Lizenzbedingungen
(From Windows 7)
I accept this agreement.
(+) Ich stimme dem Lizenzvertrag zu.
(From Office Live)
Translation of Dialog Box Titles
Dialog box titles should have the same linguistic form as the corresponding menu items. This pattern is usually observed in the source text, and the source text format is decisive here. If the source text does use a headline
format ("Doing xyz"), the German equivalent to this format should be used (see
Example:
Insert Table
(+)
Tabelle einfügen
Translation of Tool Tips
Tool tips should be short and concise, but helpful to the users. In very many cases, they have exactly the same linguistic form as menus, commands or buttons and use an impersonal style without a period, but in other cases
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they serve as short explanations and address the user directly (see for instance the extended tool tips in Office
2007). A consistent and usability-centered approach should be taken.
Example:
Insert Microsoft Excel Worksheet
(+) Microsoft Excel-
Tabelle einfügen
(Tool tip for an icon in the Word 2003 toolbar. This is the preferred form where possible and helpful.)
Click here to begin
(+)
Klicken Sie zum Starten auf diese Schaltfläche.
(Tool tip for the Start button of Windows XP.)
Localization of Error Messages
Translation of Command Line Descriptions
Descriptions for Command Line parameters should use the following verb forms:
Examples:
(+) /A Listet Dateien mit angegebenen Attributen auf.
(+) /A Beendet den Prozess, der in allen Sitzungen ausgeführt wird.
Messages
Status Messages
Status messages report that a process is executing. Standard German syntax should be applied to status messages wherever possible.
What is a Status Bar Message?
A status bar message is an informational message about the active document or a selected command as well as about any active or selected interface item. Messages are shown in the status bar at the bottom of the window when the user has chosen a menu, a command or any other item, or has started a function. The status bar messages refer to actions being performed or already complete (for example in Outlook below).
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German Style in Status bar Messages
In English, the status bar messages have different forms dependent on the information they must convey. These messages usually use a verb in the "-ing" form plus three dots in the end. In German, the passive voice
(Vorgangspassiv - see example below) is used.
Difficulties can arise if this convention is not kept in the US text and the status or progress message is not immediately recognizable as such (although sometimes the Resource ID will tell).
Examples:
Scanning files...
(+) Dateien werden gescannt...
Setup is now gathering migration data...
(+) Migrationsdaten werden gesammelt...
Name German Name Category
Edit
Copy to
Folder...
New
(+) Bearbeiten
(+) In Ordner kopieren
(+) Neu menu menu command
US English Status Bar message
German Status Bar message
Contains editing commands (+)
Enthält
Bearbeitungsbefehle
Copies the selected items to a new location
(+) Kopiert die ausgewählten Elemente an einen neuen
Speicherort
Creates a new document (+) Erstellt ein neues
Dokument
Make object visible? (+) Soll das Objekt sichtbar sein?
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Name German Name Category US English Status Bar message
Word is converting the document. Press Esc to stop.
Datasheet View
German Status Bar message
(+)
Drücken Sie ESC, um den Vorgang zu abzubrechen
(+) Datenblattansicht
Done (+) Fertig
The importance of standardization
In the US product you can often find messages that are phrased differently even though they have the same meaning. Try to avoid this in the localized German version. Use one standard translation as in the examples below:
Correct German translation US English term
Press F1 to get Help
If you want Help press F1
To get Help press F1
Not enough memory
Insufficient memory
There is not enough memory
Save changes to %1?
Do you want to save changes to %1?
(+)
(+)
(+)
Drücken Sie F1, um die Hilfe anzuzeigen.
Nicht genügend Speicher.
Möchten Sie die Änderungen an %1 speichern?
Error Messages
What Is An Error Message?
Here is an example:
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Error messages are messages sent by the system or a program, informing the user that there is an error that must be corrected in order for the program to keep running. For example, the messages can prompt the user to take an action or inform the user of an error that requires rebooting the computer.
The following guidelines were created in an effort to standardize error messages, which are often inconsistent and where the meaning is not always clear in English. New localizers frequently ask for help with error messages.
Main principles for translation are clarity, comprehensibility and consistency.
German Style in Error Messages
It is important to use consistent terminology and language style in the localized error messages, and not just translate as they appear in the US product. Therefore, please apply the following guidelines when localizing error messages (underlined formatting in the examples below is only used for emphasis).
Standard Phrases in Error Messages
When translating standard phrases, standardize. Note that sometimes the US uses different forms to express the same thing.
Please find a comprehensive list of error message examples on the following pages.
Examples of the most important Error Message Standards:
US English
Cannot
…
Could not
…
Translation
(+)
… konnte nicht.
Failed to
…
Failure of
…
(+) Fehler
Example Comment
The texture file could not be opened / Couldn't open output file
Could not/couldn't V = N
... konnte nicht
(+) Die Strukturdatei konnte nicht geöffnet werden. / Die (+)
Ausgabedatei konnte nicht geöffnet werden.
(Do not use: (-) Konnte
… nicht at the beginning of the sentence)
Failed to generate
… due to a failure in generating a
… name.
(+) Fehler beim
Generieren einer
… aufgrund eines Fehlers beim Generieren eines
…
Failure = Fehler
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US English
Cannot find
Not enough memory
Insufficient memory
There is not enough memory
There is not enough memory available
…
Could not find
…
Unable to find
…
Unable to locate
…
... is not available
... is unavailable
Translation
(+) finden
(+) n
(+) icht genügend nicht verfügbar
Example
Namens.
Comment
Cannot locate Microsoft
Conversion Library.
(+) Die Microsoft-
Konvertierungsbibliothek kann nicht gefunden werden.
Locate, find = finden
Not enough memory to complete this operation.
(+)
Nicht genügend
S peicher zum Abschließen des Vorgangs. not enough, insufficient = nicht genügend (Do not use: (-) nicht ausreichend);
Also: use the definite article instead of the demonstrative pronoun unless it is important in context.
FCB unavailable.
(+) FCB ist nicht verfügbar.
Unavailable = nicht verfügbar
Articles and Pronouns
US English
File already exists / The file already exists / This file already exists
Memory control blocks were destroyed.
German Comment
(+) Die Datei ist bereits vorhanden. In complete sentences, use articles consistently even if the US string does not.
(+) Arbeitsspeicher-
Kontrollblöcke wurden beschädigt.
In the plural, avoid the definite article
(die) unless it is clear that reference to all is made.
Any action to correct the problem should be performed on this computer.
(+) Jeder Versuch, das Problem zu behandeln, sollte auf diesem
Computer durchgeführt werden.
Adapt translation of any to the context: jede, jeder, alle, der/die/das,or omit. Here, the demonstrative pronoun (diesem) is important.
Windows cannot start your system.
If the problem persists, contact your
(+) Das System kann nicht gestartet werden. Wenden Sie sich an den
Use definite articles instead of possessive pronouns Ihr/Ihre unless
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US English
network administrator.
German
Netzwerkadministratoren, wenn das
Problem wiederholt auftritt.
Comment
ownership is important in context.
Prepositions and Conjunctions
US English
Wrong number of arguments or invalid property assignment
Read error on input file.
Input past end of file.
German Comment
(+) Falsche Anzahl von Argumenten oder ungültige
Eigenschaftszuweisung.
Anzahl von (Do not use: (-) an or (-) der)
(+) Lesefehler in der Eingabedatei.
(+) Eingabe hinter dem Dateiende.
Do not use: (-) auf
Do not use: (-) nach
The network is down./ Network is down.
(+) Das Netzwerk ist ausgefallen. Metaphorically used prepositions usually require rephrasing.
You interrupted Setup while it was copying Windows files from a Setup
(.CAB) file. / Disk full while accessing %1.
(+) Setup wurde beim Kopieren der
Windows-Dateien von einer Setup-
Datei (.CAB) unterbrochen. / (+) Der
Datenträger war beim Zugriff auf %1 voll. while V + ing = beim N or nominalized V (Do not use: (-) während des ...)
Verbs
US English
The document is too large. /
Document too large.
Access was denied. / Access denied.
German
(+) Das Dokument ist zu groß.
(+) Der Zugriff wurde verweigert.
Comment
Use ist/sind/werden/wurde, etc. consistently even if source message does not.
In complete sentences, use verbs and the same tense as in the source string. Use different tenses only to avoid ungrammatical or illogical results.
Rephrase to produce an appropriate translation.
The installed WordPerfect graphics filter is an old version.
The application may attempt to convert the graphic.
(+) Bei dem installierten
WordPerfect-Grafikfilter handelt es sich um eine ältere Version.
(+) Die Anwendung versucht möglicherweise, die Grafik zu konvertieren.
A problem occurred while trying to connect to the network share '%1!s!'.
(+) Problem beim Herstellen der
Verbindung mit der
Netzwerkfreigabe '%1!s!'. may + V = V + möglicherweise (Do not use: (-) vielleicht, (-) eventuell)
Shorten and rephrase: Problem beim + nominalized V or if this does not work, Problem beim/bei der + N
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US English German Comment
An error occurred while trying to display the image.
(+) Fehler beim Anzeigen des
Bildes.
(Do not use: (-) ist ein Problem aufgetreten).
Shorten and rephrase: Fehler beim
+ nominalized V or if this does not work, Fehler beim/bei der + N (Do not use: (-) ist ein Fehler aufgetreten).
The following error occurred: '%1!s!'
(error #%2!lx!)
An unknown error has occurred./ No error occurred.
This message should only occur on a down-level computer.
Problem converting equation.
Insufficient memory to convert equation.
Insufficient memory to complete.
Cannot find the graphic file '%s'.
Do you want to continue installing
Microsoft Exchange?
Please wait a few minutes, and then click OK to continue.
(+) Fehler: '%1!s!' (Fehler #%2!lx!). Shorten this construction where possible (Do not use: (-) Folgender
Fehler trat auf:).
(+) Unbekannter Fehler. / Kein
Fehler.
(+) Diese Meldung sollte nur bei einem älteren Computer erscheinen.
Shorten this construction where possible.
Translate the verb occur in the sense of "appearing on the screen" with erscheinen (Do not use: (-) auftreten).
(+) Problem beim Konvertieren der
Gleichung.
(+)
Nicht genügend Speicher zum
Konvertieren der Gleichung.
V + ing = ... beim nominalized V. If this does not work, use beim/bei der
+ N. to + V = ... zum nominalized V. If this do es not work, use für die/den/das +
N.
(+)
Nicht genügend Speicher zum
Abschließen des Vorgangs.
Rephrase if the German verb requires an object (similar to: Not enough memory to complete this operation).
Locate, find = finden (+) Die Grafikdatei '%s' kann nicht gefunden werden.
(+)
Möchten Sie die Installation von
Microsoft Exchange fortsetzen?
(+) Warten Sie einige Minuten, und klicken Sie auf "OK", um den
Vorgang fortzusetzen.
Standard term: fortsetzen (Do not use: Do not use: (-) mit ...fortfahren)
The verb fortsetzen requires a direct object. If there is none, add den
Vorgang.
Rephrase (Do not use: (-) arbeiten, funktionieren).
If you skip this file, Windows may not work correctly.
Memory control blocks were destroyed.
(+) Wenn Sie diese Datei
überspringen, ist Windows möglicherweise nicht mehr voll funktionsfähig.
Failed to perform server operation. (+) Fehler beim
Ausführen des
Servervorgangs.
(+) Arbeitsspeicher-
Kontrollblöcke wurden beschädigt.
Contact technical support.
Please re-install the program./ Try running Setup again.
(+) Wenden Sie sich an den
Technischen Support.
(+) Installieren Sie das Programm erneut
. / Führen Sie Setup erneut aus.
Perform = ausführen (Do not use: (-) durchführen)
Destroyed = beschädigt
Avoid the verb kontaktieren.
Use erneut when there is verb prefixed by re- (e.g. reinstall) in the sense of "once more" or the word
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US English German
To try copying files again, click OK. (+) Klicken Sie auf "OK", um die
Dateien erneut zu kopieren.
Negation
Comment
again calls for it.
Omit the translation of try when there is a simple alternative.
US English
Out of input.
Not the same device
Not enough memory.
German
(+) Keine weitere Eingabe.
(+) Nicht das gleiche
(+)
Gerät.
Nicht genügend Speicher.
Comment
Reproduce short form in this type of error message.
(Do not use: (-) dasselbe). not enough, insufficient = nicht genügend (Do not use: (-) nicht ausreichend)
Wrong, incorrect = falsch Wrong file type.
An illegal setting name has been entered.
(+) Falscher Dateityp.
(+) Es wurde ein
ungültiger
Einstellungsname eingegeben.
(+)
Ungültige Liste kompatibler
Geräte.
Invalid, illegal = ungültig
Invalid compatible device list.
%1 has a bad format.
Unknown language.
Object doesn't support current locale setting.
(+) %1 hat ein
(+) Unbekannte Sprache.
(+) ungültiges Format.
Das Objekt unterstützt die aktuelle Ländereinstellung nicht.
Check relations to avoid incorrect reference.
Adjective bad = ungültig unless the meaning is physically broken (= beschädigt).
Do not use: (-) Sprache nicht bekannt.
Use standard word order (Do not use: (-)
Objekt unterstützt nicht die aktuelle Ländereinstellung).
Cannot open conversion file. / The
'Defaults' settings cannot be overwritten.
(+) Die Konvertierungsdatei kann nicht geöffnet werden. / Die
Standardeinstellungen können nicht
überschrieben werden.
Cannot/can't V = N ... kann/können nicht (Do not use: (-)
Kann … nicht at the beginning of the sentence)
The texture file could not be opened
/ Couldn't open output file
Unable to convert badly formed equation.
(+) Die Strukturdatei konnte nicht geöffnet werden. / Die Ausgabedatei konnte nicht geöffnet werden.
Could not/couldn't V = N ... konnte nicht (Do not use: (-)
Konnte … nicht at the beginning of the sentence)
(+)
Die ungültige Gleichung kann nicht konvertiert werden.
Unable to ... = ... kann/können nicht
... If possible, use passive and move
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US English German Comment
the object to subject position (Do not use: (-) Kann ... nicht at the beginning of the sentence).
Unavailable = nicht verfügbar
FCB unavailable. (+) FCB ist nicht verfügbar.
Drive %1 is not a floppy disk drive or is mapped to a network drive.
(+) Das Laufwerk %1 ist kein
Diskettenlaufwerk oder ist einem
Netzlaufwerk zugeordnet.
Attempt to load required component
ODBC32.DLL failed.
(+) Fehler beim Laden der erforderlichen Komponente
ODBC32.DLL.
Repeat the verb (here: ist) in order to retain the intended meaning.
Fehler bei + N ... or Fehler beim + nominalized V ...
Operation failed. (+) Fehler bei diesem Vorgang.
Rephrase (Do not use: (-) fehlgeschlagen).
Questions
US English German
Save changes to %1? / Do you want to save changes to %1?
(+)
Möchten Sie die Änderungen in
%1 speichern?
Are you sure you want to remove
'%s'?
(+)
Möchten Sie '%s' wirklich entfernen?
Syntactic Ordering
Comment
The standard form is: Möchten Sie
… + V
Are you sure you want to + V =
Möchten Sie ... wirklich ...?
US English German Comment
Setup encountered an error while creating your startup disk. / Setup cannot access the server you chose.
/ Setup cannot find the remote computer. / Setup was unable to display the agreement. / Setup cannot get disk information. /
Windows 98 cannot start your system.
(+) Fehler beim Erstellen der
Startdiskette. / Kein Zugriff auf den gewählten Server. / Der
Remotecomputer wurde nicht gefunden. / Der Lizenzvertrag konnte nicht angezeigt werden. / Die
Datenträgerinformationen können nicht abgerufen werden. / Das
System kann nicht gestartet werden.
Avoid personified subjects if the context allows for omission (e.g.
Setup encountered/was unable to ... in Setup error messages). Rephrase and change the word order. In many cases, passive is possible. If the context does not allow for omission of the agent, use vom/von der/von +
N.
Remove any existing settings to free space. / To skip creating your startup disk, click Cancel.
(+) Entfernen Sie alle vorhandenen
Einstellungen, um Speicherplatz freizugeben. / Klicken Sie auf
Generally, describe the action before the purpose (..., um zu) instead of the other way around (Do
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US English German
"Abbrechen", um das Erstellen einer
Startdiskette zu überspringen.
Comment
not use: (-) Um Speicherplatz freizugeben, entfernen Sie ...).
Attempt to remove current directory (+) Es wurde versucht, das aktuelle
Verzeichnis zu entfernen.
Use passive for Attempt to ... = Es wurde versucht, ... However, see:
Attempt to ... failed = Fehler beim ...
Agreement
US English German
The image or selection to be filtered is too small. Please choose a larger image or selection. Das Bild oder die
Auswahl ist zu klein zum Filtern.
Replace invalid '%s'?
(+)
Wählen Sie ein größeres Bild oder eine größere Auswahl.
(+)
Möchten Sie '%s' (ungültig) ersetzen?
Comment
To avoid agreement errors, rephrase or repeat the inflected elements
(here: articles and adjectives).
Click OK, and then clear one or more of the selected components.
(+) Klicken Sie auf "OK", und deaktivieren Sie dann mindestens eine der ausgewählten
Komponenten.
As nouns replacing placeholders may have different genders, avoid agreement problems by rephrasing or changing their position.
Simplify the translation of one or more by using mindestens eine/ein, etc.
Punctuation
US English German
Not available on this platform.
(+) Nicht auf dieser Plattform verfügbar.
Printer error / Device I/O error (+)
Druckerfehler / Geräte-E/A-
Too many files!
Fehler
(+) Zu viele Dateien.
Comment
Put a period at the end of an error message even if there is none in the US string.
Exception: No period at the end of oneword-error messages.
Replace exclamation marks by a period.
Error Messages Containing Placeholders
When localizing error messages containing placeholders, try to find out what will replace the placeholder. This is necessary for the sentence to be grammatically correct when the placeholder is replaced with a word or phrase.
Note that the letters used in placeholders convey a specific meaning.
Examples (+):
%d, %ld, %u, and %lu means <number>
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%c means <letter>
%s means <string>
Examples of error messages containing placeholders (+):
"Checking Web %1!d! of %2!d!" means "Checking Web <number> of <number>".
"INI file "%1!-.200s!" section" means "INI file "<string>" section".
US English
Are you sure you want to remove '%s'?
German
(+)
Möchten Sie '%s' wirklich entfernen?
Unable to locate an object with ID %1!d! because of the error code 0x%2!8.8X!.
(+) Ein Objekt mit der ID '%1!d! wurde aufgrund des
Fehlercodes 0x%2!8.8X! nicht gefunden.
Keys
The keyboard is the primary input device used for text input in Microsoft Windows. For accessibility and efficiency, most actions can be performed using the keyboard as well. While working with Microsoft software, you use keys, key combinations and key sequences.
In English, References to key names, like arrow keys, function keys and numeric keys, appear in normal text (not in small caps). In German, key names are spelled in initial caps. On the first mention, use the definite article and
"TASTE" in conjunction with the key name, for example, "die ESC-TASTE". On all subsequent references, refer to the key only by its name, for example, "Drücken Sie ESC". As a rule of thumb, be frugal in your use of the word
TASTE.
Use it, as in the first example below, if the key name appears alone in the sentence and the actual key name does not appear on the keyboard. In the second example, the name ALT appears on the key of the keyboard, so you don't need to follow it with -TASTE. Example three and four deal with a procedure involving the pressing of two or more keys simultaneously; note that you are not using the word TASTE in this case. Also, don't use TASTE in tables.
Examples:
(+) Verwenden Sie die NACH-LINKS-TASTE, um das Objekt nach links zu verschieben.
(+)
Drücken Sie ALT.
(+)
Drücken Sie ALT+O.
(+)
Zum Erweitern der Markierung drücken Sie UMSCHALT+NACH-LINKS-TASTE.
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Key Names
US Key Name
ALT
BACKSPACE
BREAK
CAPS LOC
CLEAR
CTRL
COMMAND
DELETE/DEL
DELETE (in the "backspace" location on the Mac)
DOWN ARROW
END
ENTER
ESC
F1-F12
HELP
HOME
INSERT/INS
LEFT ARROW
NUM LOCK
OPTION
PAGE DOWN
PAGE UP
PAUSE
PRINT SCREEN
RETURN (key pad)
RIGHT ARROW
German PC
ALT
RÜCK
UNTBR
FESTSTELL
ENTF
STRG
--
ENTF
--
NACH-UNTEN-TASTE
ENDE
EINGABE
ESC
F1-F12
--
POS1
EINFG
NACH-LINKS-TASTE
NUM
--
BILD-AB
BILD-AUF
PAUSE
DRUCK
EINGABE
NACH-RECHTS-TASTE
German Macintosh
ALT or WAHL
--
--
FESTSTELL
ENTF
CTRL
BEFEHL
ENTF
RÜCKSCHRITT
NACH-UNTEN-TASTE
ENDE
1
EINGABE (Zehnertastatur)
ESC
F1-F12
HILFE
POS1
EINFG
NACH-LINKS-TASTE
NUM
WAHL
BILD-AB
BILD-AUF
PAUSE
DRUCK
EINGABE (Zeilenschalter)
NACH-RECHTS-TASTE
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US Key Name
SCROLL LOCK
SHIFT
SPACEBAR
TAB
UP ARROW
WINDOWS KEY
MENU KEY
German PC
ROLLEN
UMSCHALT
LEER
TAB
NACH-OBEN-TASTE
WINDOWS-TASTE
MENÜTASTE
Notes:
Using other names than those in the list is a terminology issue.
If available, symbols may be used instead of the key name.
Use "die" and "-TASTE" except in combinations or sequences.
Access Keys/Hot keys
German Macintosh
SYST.-ANFR
UMSCHALT
LEER
TAB
NACH-OBEN-TASTE
--
--
Sometimes, there are underlined or highlighted letters in menu options, commands or dialog boxes. These letters refer to access keys (also known as hot keys) that allow you to run commands, perform tasks, etc. more quickly.
Please note that in order to display access keys you might need to activate this functionality in the accessibility center:
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Hot Key Special Options
"Slim characters", such as I, l, t, r, f can be used as hot key
Usage: Is It Allowed?
yes
Characters with downstrokes, such as g, j, y, p and q can be used as hotkeys yes
Extended characters can be used as hotkeys yes no An additional letter, appearing between brackets after item name, can be used as hotkeys
A number, appearing between brackets after item name, can be used as hotkey no
A punctuation sign, appearing between brackets after item name, can be used as hotkey no
Duplicate hotkeys are allowed when no other character is available yes
No hotkey is assigned when no more characters are available (minor options only) no
Additional notes: n/a
Notes
n/a n/a
Use only if all other possible letters are used already
Do not use for German
Sometimes used in dynamic menus. Do not use for German, though.
Do not use for German n/a n/a
Arrow Keys
The arrow keys move input focus among the controls within a group. Pressing the right arrow key moves input focus to the next control in tab order, whereas pressing the left arrow moves input focus to the previous control.
Home, End, Up, and Down also have their expected behavior within a group. Users can't navigate out of a control group using arrow keys.
Numeric Keypad
It is recommended that you avoid distinguishing numeric keypad keys from the other keys, unless it is required by a given application. In case which keys to be pressed is not obvious, provide necessary explanations.
Shortcut Keys
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Shortcut keys are keystrokes or combinations of keystrokes used to perform defined functions in a software application. Shortcut keys replace menu commands and they are sometimes given next to the command they represent. In opposition to the access keys, which can be used only when available on the screen, shortcut keys can be used even when they are not accessible on the screen.
Standard Shortcut Keys
US
Command
German
Shortcut key
Help window
Context-sensitive Help
Display pop-up menu
Cancel
Activate\Deactivate menu bar mode
Switch to the next primary application
Display next window
Display pop-up menu for the window
Display pop-up menu for the active child window
Switch to next window within application
Capture active window image to the Clipboard
Capture desktop image to the
US English
Shortcut Key
German
Command
F1
General Windows Shortcut keys
Anzeigen von Hilfe
Shift+F1 Anzeigen der kontextbezogene
Hilfe
Shift+F10
Esc
F10
Anzeigen des Kontextmenüs
Abbrechen
Aktivieren der Menüleiste
Alt+Tab
Alt+Esc
Alt+Spacebar
Alt+-
Display property sheet for current selection
Alt+Enter
Close active application window Alt+F4
Alt+F6
Alt+Prnt Scrn
Prnt Scrn
Wechseln zwischen geöffneten
Elementen
Umschalten zwischen Elementen in der Reihenfolge, in der sie geöffnet wurden
Öffnen des Kontextmenüs für das aktive Fenster n/a
Anzeigen der Eigenschaften für das ausgewählte Element
Schließt das aktive Element oder beendet das aktive Programm
Wechseln zum nächsten Fenster innerhalb der Anwendung aktives Fensters kopieren gesamten Bildschirm kopieren
F1
F1;
UMSCHALT+F1
UMSCHALT+F10
ESC
F10
ALT+TAB
ALT+ESC
ALT+LEER n/a
ALT+EINGABE
ALT+F4
ALT+F6
ALT+DRUCK
DRUCK
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US
Command
Clipboard
Access Start button in taskbar
Display next child window
Display next tabbed pane
Launch Task Manager and system initialization
File New
File Open
File Close
File Save
File Save as
File Print Preview
File Print
File Exit
Edit Undo
Edit Repeat
Edit Cut
Edit Copy
Edit Paste
Edit Delete
Edit Select All
Edit Find
Edit Replace
Edit Go To
US English
Shortcut Key
German
Command
German
Shortcut key
Ctrl+Esc
Ctrl+F6
Ctrl+Tab
Ctrl+Shift+Esc
Öffnen des Startmenüs
STRG+ESC
Anzeigen des nächsten Fensters
STRG+F6
Vorwärtsbewegen durch die
Registerkarten
STRG+TAB
Starten des Task-Managers und der Systeminitialisierung
File Menu
STRG+UMSCHALT+
ESC
Ctrl+N
Ctrl+O
Ctrl+F4
Neue Datei erstellen
Datei öffnen
Datei schließen
STRG+N
STRG+O
STRG+F4 ;
STRG+W
Ctrl+S
F12
Ctrl+F2
Ctrl+P
Alt+F4
Ctrl+Z
Ctrl+Y
Datei speichern
Speichern unter
Seitenansicht
Datei beenden
Edit Menu
Rückgängig
Wiederherstellen oder
Wiederholen
Ctrl+X Ausschneiden
Ctrl+C
Ctrl+V
Kopieren
Einfügen
Ctrl+Backspace
Letztes Wort löschen
Ctrl+A
Ctrl+F
Ctrl+H
Alles markieren
Suchen
Ersetzen
STRG+S
F12
STRG+F2
STRG+P
ALT+F4
STRG+Z
STRG+Y
STRG+X
STRG+C
STRG+V
STRG-
RÜCK
STRG+A
STRG+F
STRG+H
Ctrl+B Absatz Block STRG+B
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US
Command
Help
Italic
Bold
Underlined\Word underline
Large caps
US English
Shortcut Key
F1
Ctrl+I
German
Command
Help Menu
Anzeigen von Hilfe
Font Format
Kursiv
Ctrl+G
Ctrl+U
Ctrl+Shift+A
Fett
Unterstreichen
Großbuchstaben
German
Shortcut key
F1
STRG+UMSCHALT+
K
STRG+UMSCHALT+
F
STRG+UMSCHALT+
U
STRG+UMSCHALT+
G n/a
UMSCHALT+F3
Small caps
Centered
Left aligned
Right aligned
Justified
Ctrl+Shift+K n/a
SIMILAR COMMAND:
Groß-Kleinschreibung ändern
Paragraph Format
Ctrl+E
Ctrl+L
Ctrl+R
Ctrl+J
Zentriert
Text linksbündig ausrichten
Text rechtsbündig ausrichten
Blocksatz
STRG+E
STRG+L
STRG+R
STRG+B
Document Translation Considerations
Document localization may require some specific considerations that are different from software localization. This section covers a few of these areas.
Titles
Titles should convey as much information as possible about the ensuing text to help readers locate information quickly. In English the titles for chapters usually begin with "
How to …" or with phrases such as "Working with …" or "
Using …". Use the nominalized verb (without article) whenever possible in the German version of Microsoft documentation.
93
Examples:
Sending a File => (+) Senden einer Datei
Using Styles => (+) Verwenden von Formatvorlagen
Capitalization
In English titles all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (e.g. that, until, which) are capitalized. Please do not apply the same principle to German titles. Instead, follow the normal
German capitalization rules. The same rule applies to software strings.
Example:
Switching Between Windows => (+) Wechseln zwischen Fenstern
In Lists and Tables
Whenever possible, titles of lists and tables should consist of one or two words, preferably active nouns. They should be concise, even if the US original uses a longer phrase. The following standard translations can be used:
Examples:
US English German (+)
In order to
Do this
How to use
First do this
Then do this
How to:
Walkthrough
Zweck
Aktion
Verwendung
Schritt 1
Schritt 2
Gewusst wie:
Exemplarische Vorgehensweise
Versus/Vs.
Occasionally, the German equivalents "im Vergleich zu", "kontra" or "oder" work. Leaving it untranslated is not an acceptable option.
Example:
Daily vs. Weekly Backups => (+)
Tägliches oder wöchentliches Erstellen von Sicherheitskopien
94
Procedural Titles
Procedural titles are very important because they tell users exactly what they are going to do in the steps that follow. To signal to the users that they will have to perform these actions in a certain sequence, we use the following formula in German: So + verb + Sie + object
Another reason for this sentence is to clearly differentiate between procedural titles and main titles of sections or chapters. It would therefore be wrong to use the following syntax, which is reserved for main titles: Installieren des
Programms ABC.
Important: Please note that there is NO colon or other punctuation mark at the end of this type of sentence.
Example:
US English
To set up the ABC program
1. ...
2. ...
German
(+) So installieren Sie das Programm
ABC
1. ...
2. ...
Comment
There is NO colon or other punctuation mark at the end of procedural titles.
Procedural Syntax
In procedural text, which tells the user to perform certain actions in a certain number of steps, the order in which interface terms are to appear in the translation is usually top to bottom (i.e. menu, command, dialog box, dialog box controls). This order reflects the sequence in which the action needs to be performed, and it should be maintained unless there are technical reasons preventing it.
This convention is less important in normal body text ("
Fließtext"), which is usually written in a more personal tone and less formal style, thus requiring the translator to be more creative.
Example:
(+)
Klicken Sie im Menü Ansicht auf Schriftarten und dann auf Klein.
Descriptors
Use the descriptor (menu, button, command, etc.) only if the US text uses it or if it is needed for clarifying the position of a term in the interface.
Sentences of the type "To do this and that, click on ..."
95
You may come across procedural instructions of the type "To do this and that, click on ...". The preferred translation is "Klicken Sie auf ..., um dies und das zu tun".
The reason for putting the action first is that the action usually matters most to the user. Also, sentences beginning with "um zu" are often considered stylistically less desirable, particularly when they follow one after another. However, sometimes it is important to stress the purpose of an action before describing it. In this case, alternatives to starting the sentence with "um zu" should be given precedence (nominal constructions, rephrasing), even though there is no strict rule prohibiting an initial "um zu". If you decide to use a nominal construction, the action verb should preferably be put in the first position in order to highlight the instructional character of the sentence (e.g. "Klicken Sie zum
Öffnen des Dialogfelds auf Öffnen"). Solutions of the type "Zum
Öffnen des Dialogfelds klicken Sie auf Öffnen" are acceptable if the goal of the action is the distinguishing element or otherwise needs to be strongly emphasized.
The touchstone is stylistic consistency throughout the instructions. The users should be able to rely on the parallel linguistic format of procedural texts.
Only if the users can choose what they want to do, a conditional clause starting with "wenn" can be used. Using a
"wenn" clause without such a choice is an error in the ordered sequence of steps or any other procedural text.
Examples:
US English
German (preferred) German Comment
(1) To create new folders in Windows
Explorer:
To create a new folder, click File, point to New and then click Folder.
(1) (+) So erstellen Sie
neue Ordner in
Windows-Explorer
Klicken Sie auf Datei, zeigen Sie auf Neu, und klicken Sie dann auf Ordner, um einen neuen Ordner zu erstellen.
Do not use: (-) Wenn
Sie einen neuen Ordner erstellen möchten, klicken Sie auf Datei, zeigen Sie auf Neu, und klicken Sie auf
Ordner.
Using "wenn" would be an error here because the user has no alternative in this context. The correct example sentence is the standard solution as indicated above. Deviations from it are possible and necessary, sometimes even for length reasons (i.e. if the instructional part becomes too long).
(2) To create new files or folders in Windows
Explorer:
To create a new file, click File, point to New and then click on the file type you want to create (e.g. Microsoft
Word Document).
(2) (+) So erstellen Sie
neue Dateien oder
Ordner in Windows-
Explorer
Zum Erstellen einer neuen Datei klicken Sie auf Datei, zeigen Sie auf Neu, und klicken
Sie dann auf den zu
Alternate: Wenn Sie eine neue Datei erstellen möchten, klicken Sie auf Datei, zeigen Sie auf Neu, und klicken Sie dann auf den zu erstellenden
Dateityp (z. B.
Microsoft Word-
Comment: In this case, the user has a choice and the goal of the action is the distinguishing element.
Therefore fronting the nominal phrase starting with "zum" is an appropriate option. In these sentences, "Sie" is repeated in order to mark them as instructions
(otherwise they would be
96
US English
German (preferred)
erstellenden Dateityp
(z. B. Microsoft Word-
Dokument).
German
Dokument).
To create a new folder, click File, point to New and then click Folder.
(+) Zum Erstellen eines neuen Ordners klicken
Sie auf Datei, zeigen
Sie auf Neu, und klicken Sie dann auf
Ordner.
Alternate:
Wenn Sie einen neuen Ordner erstellen möchten, klicken Sie auf Datei, zeigen Sie auf Neu, und klicken Sie dann auf Ordner.
Comment
syntactically identical to descriptions - see also below).
Using a conditional phrase starting with "wenn" is also an option, but it makes the sentences less concise and introduces the element of volition. This element is not necessary, but changes the tone to a more personal one (a question of register).
Typographic Conventions in Help and Documentation
Consistent use of typographic conventions in documentation helps users locate and interpret information easily.
The following guidelines present specific typographic conventions which will be used in US and localized print and online documentation. The US format should be followed as closely as possible.
Important:
In general text, punctuation marks do not receive any special formatting the preceding word might have, such as bold or italic. This convention takes into account that punctuation marks are occasionally formatted bold in a particular programming context and therefore must be kept separate and discernible. This convention deviates from the applicable Duden rule.
The typographic conventions for software files (usually EDB files) are covered in
User Interface
Note: Bold formatting is replaced with quotation marks when the element appears in a headline or another text that is already formatted in bold.
Item
Menu names
Command names
Dialog box titles
German Format
Bold
Bold
Bold
US English Example
the File menu
German Example
(+) das Menü Datei the Page Setup command (+) der Befehl Seite
einrichten
the Options dialog box (+) das Dialogfeld
Optionen
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Item
Dialog box elements:
Tab names
Option names
Field names
Button names
List box names
Text box names
Check box names
German Format
Bold
Icon names
Bold
Toolbar names (named)
Bold
Views (named)
Windows (named)
Views (unnamed)
Windows (unnamed)
Bold
Not bold
US English Example
the View tab the Portrait option the Form field the Cancel button the Files of type list box the Password text box the Read Only check box
Double-click the Microsoft
Internet Explorer icon.
Database toolbar
German Example
(+) die Registerkarte
Ansicht
(+) die Option Hochformat
(+) das Feld Formular
(+) die Schaltfläche
Abbrechen
(+) das Listenfeld Dateityp
(+) das Textfeld Kennwort
(+) das Kontrollkästchen
Schreibgeschützt
(+) Doppelklicken Sie auf das Symbol Microsoft
Internet Explorer.
(+) Symbolleiste
Datenbank
(Toolbar names have not been formatted consistently in the past. Please use the above listed formatting in procedural steps if the toolbar name appears in the UI (e.g. menu item). When referring to the toolbar in general text, it is also acceptable to use the following formatting:
Example: Die
Standardsymbolleiste befindet sich...)
Full Screen view the Print window
(+) die Ansicht Ganzer
Bildschirm
(+) das Fenster Drucken
Switch to normal view.... in the document window ...
(+) Wechseln Sie zur
Normalansicht.... im
Dokumentfenster ...
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User Input
Item
Literal
Placeholder
Key names and combinations
Text Boxes
German Format
Bold
Italic
Print/ Help: Same size as
English, but consistent within the product
Software:Initial Caps
In the ___ box, type ___ and then press enter.
US English Example
Type a:setup.
Type password.
German Example
(+) Geben Sie a:setup ein.
... press ENTER
... press SHIFT+F2Ctrl+G
(+) Geben Sie Kennwort ein.
(+)
... drücken Sie die
EINGABETASTE
(+)
... drücken Sie
UMSCHALT+F2Strg+G
In the Fonts box, type Arial and then press enter.
(+) Geben Sie Arial im
Feld Schriftart ein, und drücken Sie dann die
EINGABETASTE
(Do not use: (-) Geben Sie im
Feld Schriftart Arial ein, und...
Avoid having two unrelated terms in the same formatting follow each other. Adapt the syntax instead. Please use the same font size as US and make sure to be consistent within the document.)
Cross References
Item
Titles of manuals
Appendix, chapter, and section names
German Format
Italic
US English Example
... see Chapter 12 in the
Microsoft Word for
Windows User's Guide.
Quotation marks
(„ “ or " ")
(See also:
Quotation Marks
)
... see "Special
Characters" in chapter 4,
"Programming
Fundamentals."
German Example
(+) ... finden Sie in Kapitel
12 im Benutzerhandbuch
Arbeiten mit Microsoft
Word für Windows.
(+) ... finden Sie unter
„Sonderzeichen“ in Kapitel
4, „Grundlegendes zur
Programmierung“. OR
(+) ... finden Sie unter
"Sonderzeichen" in Kapitel
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Item
Help index entry
German Format
Bold
US English Example German Example
4, "Grundlegendes zur
Programmierung".
In the online index look up:
Favorites
(+) Suchbegriffe im
Hilfeindex: Favoriten
Miscellaneous
Item German Format US English Example German Example
Program names, feature names and group names
Directory names (folders), long/short file names, paths, URLs
Acronyms
File Extensions
Only bold when one has to click on them.
...the Windows Explorer shows the file structure.
Click Windows Explorer, to open it.
(+) ... Windows-Explorer zeigt die Dateistruktur an.Klicken Sie auf
Windows-Explorer, um diesen zu öffnen.
Same as US or with regular German capitalization, but bold
ALL UPPERCASE
Like Acronyms
Command-line commands and switches
Bold
Lexirom.exe
EXCEL.EXE http://www.microsoft.com
DDE, OLE
.ini file, INI file, ini file copy command
/a switch
(+) Lexirom.exe
EXCEL.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/g ermany
(In HTML help files hyperlink titles that include a mouse over, the bold tags may cause the link to break.
Therefore, for hyperlink titles that include a mouse over, don't use bold.)
(+) DDE, OLE
(+) INI-Datei
(+) der Befehl copy
(+) der Schalter /a
New terms and emphasis
Italic
Code samples
... look on the World Wide
Web. The World Wide
Web is the graphical portion ...
Sub Main ' ' 'End Sub
(+)... finden Sie im World
Wide Web. Das World
Wide Web ist der grafische
Teil...
(+) Sub Main ' ' 'End Sub Monospace font (usually
Courier, 10 pt; or Lucida
Sans Typewriter, 8 pt)
100
Item
Device names
Programming and product specific elements (data types, arguments, functions, operators, macro names, etc.)
German Format US English Example
ALL UPPERCASE LPT1, COM1
Treatment varies in regard to spelling rules: Names of objects and the descriptor that follows are listed as xxx-Objekt.
German Example
(+) LPT1, COM1
Translation of ReadMe Files
Please use the following translation for the actual file name:
English: Readme.txt (+) German: Info.txt
How to Reference UI Items Left in English
UI references to non-localized MS products or third-party products should be followed by a translation between brackets when dealing with an end-user audience (Information Workers, PC Home Users or Business Decision
Makers).
If you are unsure about your audience spectrum, please add translation between brackets. Do not add brackets if translation is obvious/redundant, if length restrictions apply (e.g. in banners or titles), when communicating to a
Developer or IT Pro audience. Whatever the audience, make sure that the reader knows that you are referring to a non-localized product by adding a disclaimer. This is to ensure that readers do not mistake it for an oversight/error.
Copyright
Copyright protection is granted to any original work of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which it can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated.
For information on how to deal with product, feature and component names, please refer to the section
Applications, Products, and Features
Here are some examples of aspects on legal information and copyright which need to be taken into account:
Competitions offered legally in the United States may be illegal in other countries
The privacy laws and rules for storing personal information on Web sites vary from country to country
Check if the following aspects need to be modified or deleted for your market: prices, special offers, product support services/offers, postal or email addresses, telephone numbers, accessibility services and competitive comparisons
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Each web page must contain the copyright statement using the correct calendar year - in German: "©2011
Microsoft Corporation. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.", plus the mandatory links to Terms of use
("Nutzungsbedingungen"), trademarks ("Markenzeichen"), information on data privacy ("Informationen zur
Datensicherheit") and imprint ("Impressum")
For Copyright and Trademark symbols, their ANSI codes, and their Microsoft standard names please refer to the
Disclaimer: Please note that the information provided in this section is for general information only.
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