translate-to-language

Translate to Language

Translate English text to a specified target language while preserving placeholders, formatting, and tone.

Inputs

• source_text: The English text to translate
• target_language_code: ISO language code (e.g., es, fr, de, zh-CN)
• target_language_name: Full language name (e.g., Spanish, French, German)
• context_key (optional): The i18n key name to inform tone and context

Output

Return the translated string only.

Process

Step 1: Identify Placeholders

Extract all placeholders from the source text. Common patterns:

Record each placeholder and its position for verification.

Step 2: Analyze Formatting

Note these characteristics of the source text:

• Capitalization style:

  • Title Case: "Delete Selected Items"
  • Sentence case: "Delete selected items"
  • UPPERCASE: "WARNING"
  • lowercase: "loading..."

• Punctuation:

  • Trailing punctuation: ., !, ?, :
  • Ellipsis: ... or …
  • Colons for labels: "Name:"

• HTML entities:  , &, <, >, "

• Special characters: \n, \t, quotes

• Length constraints: Note if text appears to be a button label (keep concise)

Step 3: Determine Tone from Context

Use the context_key to infer appropriate tone:

Step 4: Translate

Translate the text following these rules:

1. Preserve placeholders exactly: Do not translate, reorder, or modify placeholder syntax
2. Match formality: Use formal/informal forms appropriate to the context
3. Maintain length: Keep similar length when possible (especially for UI elements)
4. Preserve formatting: Match capitalization style, punctuation, and spacing
5. Use natural phrasing: Prefer natural target language expressions over literal translations
6. Handle gender/plurals: Use appropriate grammatical forms for the target language

Step 5: Verify

Before returning, verify:

• All placeholders from source appear in translation unchanged
• Placeholder order is logical for target language grammar
• Capitalization style matches source
• Trailing punctuation is preserved
• HTML entities are preserved
• No extra spaces or formatting changes

Language-Specific Guidelines

Spanish (es)

• Use formal "usted" for UI text unless context suggests informal
• Inverted punctuation for questions/exclamations: ¿...? ¡...!
• Accents are critical: sí, está, información

French (fr)

• Use spaces before :, ;, !, ?
• Use formal "vous" for UI text
• Proper accents: é, è, ê, ë, à, ù, ç

German (de)

• Capitalize all nouns
• Use formal "Sie" for UI text
• Compound words are common: Benutzereinstellungen

Chinese (zh-CN)

• No spaces between characters
• Use Chinese punctuation: ，。？！
• Keep numbers in Arabic numerals

Japanese (ja)

• Mix of kanji, hiragana, katakana appropriate to context
• Polite form (です/ます) for UI text
• Use Japanese punctuation: 、。

Arabic (ar)

• Right-to-left text direction (handled by UI)
• Placeholder positions may differ grammatically
• Use appropriate Arabic numerals or keep Western numerals for technical contexts

Hebrew (he)

• Right-to-left text direction
• Keep placeholders in logical order for RTL

Russian (ru)

• Use formal "вы" for UI text
• Proper case endings matter
• Cyrillic quotation marks: «...»

Examples

Basic Translation

Input:
  source_text: "Delete"
  target_language_code: "es"
  target_language_name: "Spanish"

Output: "Eliminar"

With Placeholder

Input:
  source_text: "Hello {{name}}, welcome back!"
  target_language_code: "fr"
  target_language_name: "French"
  context_key: "greeting.welcome"

Output: "Bonjour {{name}}, bienvenue !"

With Multiple Placeholders

Input:
  source_text: "{{count}} items selected"
  target_language_code: "de"
  target_language_name: "German"
  context_key: "selection.count"

Output: "{{count}} Elemente ausgewählt"

Preserving Formatting

Input:
  source_text: "Are you sure you want to delete \"{{name}}\"?"
  target_language_code: "es"
  target_language_name: "Spanish"
  context_key: "confirm.delete"

Output: "¿Está seguro de que desea eliminar \"{{name}}\"?"

Error Message Context

Input:
  source_text: "Failed to save. Please try again."
  target_language_code: "ja"
  target_language_name: "Japanese"
  context_key: "error.save_failed"

Output: "保存に失敗しました。もう一度お試しください。"

Label with Colon

Input:
  source_text: "Email Address:"
  target_language_code: "fr"
  target_language_name: "French"
  context_key: "label.email"

Output: "Adresse e-mail :"

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Translating placeholders: {{name}} must remain {{name}}, not {{nombre}}
2. Changing placeholder syntax: {{var}} must not become {var} or [[var]]
3. Losing punctuation: If source ends with ., translation should too
4. Inconsistent formality: Don't mix formal/informal forms
5. Over-translating: Keep technical terms if they're commonly used in English in the target locale
6. Breaking HTML: Preserve  , tags, and entities exactly