* Discussions:: Discussions
* Organization:: Organization
* Information Flow:: Information Flow
+* Translating plural forms:: How to fill in @code{msgstr[0]}, @code{msgstr[1]}
* Prioritizing messages:: How to find which messages to translate first
Organization
@item Plural-Forms
This field is optional. It is only needed if the PO file has plural forms.
You can find them by searching for the @samp{msgid_plural} keyword. The
-format of the plural forms field is described in @ref{Plural forms}.
+format of the plural forms field is described in @ref{Plural forms} and
+@ref{Translating plural forms}.
@end table
@node Updating, Editing, Creating, Top
@noindent
is acceptable in English, and similarly for other languages.
+The translators' perspective regarding plural forms is explained in
+@ref{Translating plural forms}.
+
@node Optimized gettext, , Plural forms, gettext
@subsection Optimization of the *gettext functions
@cindex optimization of @code{gettext} functions
* Discussions:: Discussions
* Organization:: Organization
* Information Flow:: Information Flow
+* Translating plural forms:: How to fill in @code{msgstr[0]}, @code{msgstr[1]}
* Prioritizing messages:: How to find which messages to translate first
@end menu
There also should be some central list to which all teams could
subscribe as they see fit, as long as each team is represented in it.
-@node Information Flow, Prioritizing messages, Organization, Translators
+@node Information Flow, Translating plural forms, Organization, Translators
@section Information Flow
@strong{ NOTE: } This documentation section is outdated and needs to be
receiving acceptance yet by the GNU deciders. I'll tell you when I
have more information about this.
-@node Prioritizing messages, , Information Flow, Translators
+@node Translating plural forms, Prioritizing messages, Information Flow, Translators
+@section Translating plural forms
+
+@cindex plural forms, translating
+Suppose you are translating a PO file, and it contains an entry like this:
+
+@smallexample
+#, c-format
+msgid "One file removed"
+msgid_plural "%d files removed"
+msgstr[0] ""
+msgstr[1] ""
+@end smallexample
+
+@noindent
+What does this mean? How do you fill it in?
+
+Such an entry denotes a message with plural forms, that is, a message where
+the text depends on an cardinal number. The general form of the message,
+in English, is the @code{msgid_plural} line. The @code{msgid} line is the
+English singular form, that is, the form for when the number is equal to 1.
+More details about plural forms are explained in @ref{Plural forms}.
+
+The first thing you need to look at is the @code{Plural-Forms} line in the
+header entry of the PO file. It contains the number of plural forms and a
+formula. If the PO file does not yet have such a line, you have to add it.
+It only depends on the language into which you are translating. You can
+get this info by using the @code{msginit} command (see @ref{Creating}) --
+it contains a database of known plural formulas -- or by asking other
+members of your translation team.
+
+Suppose the line looks as follows:
+
+@smallexample
+"Plural-Forms: nplurals=3; plural=n%10==1 && n%100!=11 ? 0 : n%10>=2 && n"
+"%10<=4 && (n%100<10 || n%100>=20) ? 1 : 2;\n"
+@end smallexample
+
+It's logically one line; recall that the PO file formatting is allowed to
+break long lines so that each physical line fits in 80 monospaced columns.
+
+The value of @code{nplurals} here tells you that there are three plural
+forms. The first thing you need to do is to ensure that the entry contains
+an @code{msgstr} line for each of the forms:
+
+@smallexample
+#, c-format
+msgid "One file removed"
+msgid_plural "%d files removed"
+msgstr[0] ""
+msgstr[1] ""
+msgstr[2] ""
+@end smallexample
+
+Then translate the @code{msgid_plural} line and fill it in into each
+@code{msgstr} line:
+
+@smallexample
+#, c-format
+msgid "One file removed"
+msgid_plural "%d files removed"
+msgstr[0] "%d slika uklonjenih"
+msgstr[1] "%d slika uklonjenih"
+msgstr[2] "%d slika uklonjenih"
+@end smallexample
+
+Now you can refine the translation so that it matches the plural form.
+According to the formula above, @code{msgstr[0]} is used when the number
+ends in 1 but does not end in 11; @code{msgstr[1]} is used when the number
+ends in 2, 3, 4, but not in 12, 13, 14; and @code{msgstr[2]} is used in
+all other cases. With this knowledge, you can refine the translations:
+
+@smallexample
+#, c-format
+msgid "One file removed"
+msgid_plural "%d files removed"
+msgstr[0] "%d slika je uklonjena"
+msgstr[1] "%d datoteke uklonjenih"
+msgstr[2] "%d slika uklonjenih"
+@end smallexample
+
+You noticed that in the English singular form (@code{msgid}) the number
+placeholder could be omitted and replaced by the numeral word ``one''.
+Can you do this in your translation as well?
+
+@smallexample
+msgstr[0] "jednom datotekom je uklonjen"
+@end smallexample
+
+@noindent
+Well, it depends on whether @code{msgstr[0]} applies only to the number 1,
+or to other numbers as well. If, according to the plural formula,
+@code{msgstr[0]} applies only to @code{n == 1}, then you can use the
+specialized translation without the number placeholder. In our case,
+however, @code{msgstr[0]} also applies to the numbers 21, 31, 41, etc.,
+and therefore you cannot omit the placeholder.
+
+@node Prioritizing messages, , Translating plural forms, Translators
@section Prioritizing messages: How to determine which messages to translate first
A translator sometimes has only a limited amount of time per week to
projects / thirdparty / gettext.git / commitdiff
