Contents. What's New?... 4 New Topics... 4 Updated Topics... 4

Transcription

1 Danish Style Guide

2 Contents What's New?... 4 New Topics... 4 Updated Topics... 4 Introduction... 6 About This Style Guide... 6 Scope of This Document... 6 Style Guide Conventions... 6 Sample Text... 7 Recommended Reference Material... 8 Normative References... 8 Informative References... 8 Language Specific Conventions... 9 Danish Standards... 9 Characters... 9 Date Time Numbers Sorting Geopolitical Concerns Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions Danish Language Reform Adjectives Articles Capitalization Compounds Gender Genitive Modifiers Nouns Prepositions Pronouns Punctuation Singular & Plural Split Infinitive Subjunctive Symbols & Non-Breaking Spaces... 45

3 Syntax Verbs Word Order Style and Tone Considerations Audience Style Tone Voice Localization Guidelines General Considerations Abbreviations Acronyms Applications, Products, and Features Frequent Errors Glossaries Recurring Patterns Standardized Translations Unlocalized Items Using the Word Microsoft Software Considerations User Interface Messages Keys Document Translation Considerations Titles Copyright... 91

4 What's New? Last Updated: March, 2012 The entire Style Guide has been reworked and modifications have been made to all sections. Because of the new structure of this document, some sections of the previous Style Guide version had to be moved to different topics. The major changes in this Danish Style Guide are that information from the Danish Language Kit has been integrated into this Style Guide and the language has been shifted to English. 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 Danish Standards Geopolitical Concerns Style and Tone Considerations Frequent Errors Glossaries Fictitious Information Recurring Patterns February, 2012 Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions Danish Language Reform March, 2012 Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions Danish Language Reform Updated Topics The following topics were updated: Introduction Recommended Reference Material Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions Localization Guidelines 4

5 Standardized Translations Software Considerations Messages Document Translation Considerations January, 2012 Keys subsection Key Names added February, 2012 Standard terminology Hyphenation in relation to the term ' ' Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions Nouns Usage of apostrophe in inflection of nouns March, 2012 Terminology change of "label" (Section Software Considerations) Group Compounds (Section Dashes and Hyphens) Inflection (Section Nouns) Hyphen (Section Dashes and Hyphens) Acronyms (Section Accessibility) Prepositions (Section Prepositions) (Standard terminology) Plural form (Section Articles) Plural forms of English loanwords (Section Articles for English loanwords, section Plural formation) Dash in nouns with suffix -off (Section Hyphen) Words ending in -ium or -ie (Section Nouns) 5

6 Introduction This Style Guide went through major revision in February 2011 in order to remove outdated and unnecessary content. Some topics are considered to be "Core & Common" pertaining to all Microsoft products and services. About This Style Guide The purpose of this Style Guide is to provide everybody involved in the localization of Danish 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. Please 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 Danish 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. 6

7 Sample Text The purpose of the sample text below is to illustrate Danish orthography, the use of extended characters as well as the format related to person name, address, telephone number and references in a noncopyrighted text. Benzin og diesel er fossile brændstoffer. Det betyder, at de er udvundet af olie, som gennem millioner af år er blevet dannet af nedbrudte plante- og dyrerester (fossiler). Det er således en begrænset ressource. Da forbrænding af fossile brændstoffer desuden giver anledning til stor CO2-udledning, er der i disse år meget stor fokus på at finde alternative drivmidler. Med "alternative drivmidler" menes samtlige alternativer til fossil benzin og diesel, dvs. både fossile alternativer, biobrændstoffer og el/brint. Udover at olieresourcerne er begrænsede, er der også andre grunde til at anvende alternative former for brændstof til transportsektoren. Klimaændringerne er en af de vigtigste årsager i denne sammenhæng. Menneskeskabte udledninger af CO2, der stammer fra afbrænding af fossile brændsler, påvirker klimaet på jorden gennem den såkaldte drivhuseffekt, hvorved jordens klima bliver varmere. Transportsektoren er en stor bidragsyder i denne sammenhæng. I Danmark står transportsektoren således for 20 % af Danmarks samlede CO2-udledning. En anden faktor er spørgsmålet om forsyningssikkerhed. Politiske forhold kan give anledning til, at der ikke er en stabil tilgang til råolien, hvilket kan have fatale følger for hele samfundets økonomi. Endelig er der et politisk ønske i EU om at støtte beskæftigelsen og økonomien i landområderne. Biobrændstoffer kan både fremstilles ud fra restprodukter, f.eks. halm, og ud fra egentlige energiafgrøder, f.eks. raps, der dyrkes specifikt med henblik på fremstilling af brændstof. Ved at øge anvendelse af biobrændstoffer er der mulighed for at skabe vækst og økonomisk fremgang i landområderne. I dag findes der en række alternative drivmidler til transportsektoren. Nogle af disse alternative brændstoffer kan medvirke til at nedsætte CO2-udledningen fra transportsektoren, ligesom de kan medvirke til øget forsyningssikkerhed og økonomisk udvikling af landområder. Men de alternative brændstoffer har vidt forskellige egenskaber og anvendelsespotentiale. Ser man f.eks. på de forskellige alternative brændstoffers samlede CO2-udledning, skal man tænke hele processen igennem: - hvor kommer råstofferne fra? - hvordan produceres brændstofferne? - hvilke udslip sker der, når de anvendes? Det kan derfor være vanskeligt at afgøre, hvor godt et alternativt drivmiddel i virkeligheden er, og om den mest hensigtsmæssige anvendelse er i transportsektoren eller i andre sektorer. Trafikstyrelsen Gammel Mønt København K Tlf Source: Oprettet den 26. januar 2011 kl. 10:50. 7

8 Recommended Reference Material Use the Danish language and terminology as described and used in the following publications. Normative References These normative 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. 1. Retskrivningsordbogen, 3. udgave, Dansk Sprognævn, Politikens Nudansk ordbog, Politikens Forlag, Håndbog i nudansk, 5. udgave, Politikens Forlag, Pas på sproget, Søren Brandt, Amanda, Rigtigt dansk, Erik Hansen, Hans Reitzels Forlag, For elaboration and Q & As in relation to linguistic issues please see the Dansk Sprognævn website at as well as the website which is edited by Dansk Sprognævn and Det Danske Sprogog Litteraturselskab. Informative References These sources are meant to provide supplementary information, background, comparison, etc. 1. The Microsoft Style Guide for Danish 2. Relevant Microsoft websites 8

9 Language Specific Conventions This part of the style guide contains information about standards specific to Danish. Danish Standards Characters Country/region Lower-case characters Upper-case characters Characters in caseless scripts Extended Latin characters Note on alphabetical order Denmark a, b, c, d, e, é, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, æ, ø, å A, B, C, D, E, É, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, Æ, Ø, Å n/a é, É, æ, Æ, ø, Ø, å, Å Alphabetical order is not necessarily indicative of sorting order. Total number of characters 30 Alpha Hex a 0061 A 0041 b 0062 Unicode codes B 0042 c 0063 C 0043 d 0064 D 0044 e

10 Country/region Denmark E 0045 é É 00e9 00c9 f 0066 F 0046 g 0067 G 0047 h 0068 H 0048 i 0069 I 0049 j 0106 J 0074 k K l L m M n N o O 006a 004a 006b 004b 006c 004c 006d 004d 006e 004e p

11 Country/region Denmark P 0050 q 0071 Q 0051 r 0072 R 0052 s 0073 S 0053 t 0074 T 0054 u 0075 U 0055 v 0076 V 0056 w 0077 W 0057 x 0078 X 0058 y 0079 Y 0059 z Z 007a 005a æ 0230 Æ 0198 ø

12 Country/region Denmark Ø 0216 å 0229 Å 0197 Notes The Danish alphabet does not contain é, É but the characters are used in the language. The Danish alphabet contains 29 letters Date Country/region Calendar/Era First Day of the Week First Week of the Year Separator Default Short Date Format Denmark Gregorian Monday The first week with at least four days of the new year (the week with the first Thursday in January) hyphen, period or space depending on which format you choose dd-mm-yy Example Default Long Date Format d. MMMM yyyy Example 17. marts 2011 Additional Short Date Format 1 yyyy-mm-dd (International date format) Example Additional Short Date Format 2 yy-mm-dd (European format, ISO 8601) Example

13 Country/region Additional Long Date Format 1 Denmark Thursday, d. MMMM dddd (Long date format with weekday) Example torsdag, 17. marts 2011 Additional Long Date Format 2 Example Leading Zero in Day Field for Short Date Format Leading Zero in Month Field for Short Date Format No. of digits for year for Short Day Format Leading Zero in Day Field for Long Date Format Leading Zero in Month Field for Long Date Format Number of digits for year for Long Day Format Date Format for Correspondence n/a n/a Yes Yes 2 No No 4 Default long date format (sometimes preceded with "weekday, " or "city, ") Example 17. marts 2011 Notes There are several other ways of indicating date, depending on what the software allows, but the above are the ones which should be used primarily. 13

14 Country/region Denmark 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) Abbreviations in Format Codes 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 Denmark 24 hour format Yes Standard time format Standard time format example hh:mm:ss 03:24:12 Time separator Colon (:) Time separator examples 03:24:12 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 14

15 Days Country/region: Denmark Day Normal Form Abbreviation Monday mandag ma Tuesday tirsdag ti Wednesday onsdag on Thursday torsdag to Friday fredag fr Saturday lørdag lø Sunday søndag sø First Day of Week: Monday Is first letter capitalized?: No Notes: n/a Months Country/region: Denmark Month Full Form Abbreviated Form Long Date Form January januar jan Same as Full Form February februar feb Same as Full Form March marts mar Same as Full Form April april apr Same as Full Form May maj maj Same as Full Form 15

16 Month Full Form Abbreviated Form Long Date Form June juni jun Same as Full Form July juli jul Same as Full Form August august aug Same as Full Form September september sep Same as Full Form October oktober okt Same as Full Form November november nov Same as Full Form December december dec Same as Full Form Is first letter capitalized?: No Notes: n/a Numbers Cardinal numbers Cardinal numbers are written in numbers when referring to chapters, sections, diagrams and pages. (+) kapitel 9 (+) afsnit 3 (+) figur 1 Whenever numbers are used in the user interface they must be reflected in the documentation as well. (+) dokument 2 (+) regel 8 (+) kolonne 30 In running text the numbers 0-10 incl. are written in letters in order to improve readability. However, this does not apply to phrases consisting of numbers between 0 and 10 in combination with numbers higher than 10. Overview: numbers between 0 and 10 incl.: letters numbers higher than 10: numbers 16

17 in comparisons with a part that should be written in numbers: numbers (+) De fire dokumenter, du sidst har arbejdet med, vises længst nede i menuen Filer. (+) Et regneark er et rektangulært rudenet, som består af 256 kolonner og rækker. Antallet af poster kan variere mellem 2 og 99. In general, numbers in mathematical expressions, measurement units etc. are never written in letters. Ordinal numbers Ordinal numbers between 0 and 10 are generally written in letters. However, they can also be written in numbers followed by a full stop e.g. in dates. Ordinal numbers written in numbers follow the pattern: cardinal number + full stop e.g. 22., 34., 77. (+) Som det fjerde eksempel tydeligt viser... (+) Bogstavet A er det 65. tegn i ASCII-tabellen. Large numbers Large numbers are divided into sections of three digits from right to left. The full stop is used as thousand separator. (+) kr. Decimals In Danish the comma is used as decimal separator. Please note that version numbers are considered part of the product name and therefore the full stop is maintained in the translation. (+) 2,5 MB (+) 123,95 kr. (+) Internet Explorer 7.0 Phone Numbers Country/ region International Dialing Code Area Codes Used? Number of Digits Area Codes Separator Number of Digits Domestic Digit Groupings Domestic Denmark 45 no n/a space 8 ## ## ## ## 17

18 Country/ region Number of Digits Local Digit Groupings Local Number of Digits Mobile Digit Groupings Mobile Number of Digits International Digit Groupings International Denmark 8 ## ## ## ## 8 ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## Notes: , lokal 23 (with extension number) There are no differences between "normal" phone numbers and numbers for mobile phones. Addresses Country/region: Denmark Disclaimer: Please note that the information in this entry should under no circumstances be used in examples as fictitious information. Address Format: 1. [Title/Honorific] Firstname [Middlename] LastName 2. [CompanyName] 3. Address1 4. [Address2] 5. [CountryCode-]PostalCode City 6. [Country] Example Address: Hr. Jens Peter Jensen Badedyr A/S Sommergade 32 Solby DK-1234 Solby Denmark Local Postal Code Format: xxxx City Notes: Items in brackets above are optional or rarely used Address is always left aligned Four digit postal code, no separator 18

19 If mail is sent from abroad to Denmark, "DK-" (CountryCode plus hyphen) is often added in front of the PostalCode. This, however, is not required and can be substituted (or amended) by adding the [Country] line. First and second lines - [Title etc.] and [CompanyName] - may be swapped, i.e. [CompanyName] in the first line and [Title etc.] in the second. "State/Province" does not exist as such and is not used in Danish addresses. Currency Country/region Currency Name Currency Symbol Currency Symbol Position Positive Currency Format Negative Sign Symbol Negative Currency Format Decimal Symbol Denmark krone kr. Symbol is placed before the numeral and is followed by a space 123,45 kr. The minus sign (which is an ordinary hyphen and NOT the en dash ) is used. Note, there is a space between kr and the hyphen. -123,45 kr., (comma) Number of Digits after Decimal 2 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. (full stop) ,00 kr ,00 kr. DKK øre n/a n/a 19

20 Notes: For technical reasons, the abbreviation of krone (kr.) should not have a full stop in the software. In documentation, however, normal Danish orthographic rules apply. Digit Groups Country/region: Denmark Decimal Separator:, Decimal Separator Description: comma Decimal Separator 123,45 kr. Thousand Separator:. Thousand Separator Description: full stop Thousand Separator ,45 kr. Notes: n/a Measurement Units Metric System Commonly Used?: Yes Temperature: Celsius Category English Translation Abbreviation Linear Measure Kilometer kilometer km Meter meter m Decimeter decimeter dm Centimeter centimeter cm Millimeter millimeter mm Capacity Hectoliter hektoliter hl 20

21 Category English Translation Abbreviation Liter liter l Deciliter deciliter dl Centiliter centiliter cl Milliliter milliliter ml Mass Ton ton t Kilogram kilogram kg Pound pund (different from US measurement) n/a Gram gram g Decigram decigram dg Centigram centigram cg Milligram milligram mg English Units of Measurement Inch recalculate to cm. n/a Feet recalculate to cm. n/a Mile recalculate to km. n/a Gallon recalculate to l. n/a Notes: If the unit of measurement is preceded by a number, there should be a space between the number and the unit of measurement. Though "kilogram" is officially the correct translation of "kilogram", most Danish (and English) speakers simply refer to the unit as "kilo". 21

22 Percentages Please note that a space is added between a number and the percentage symbol i.e. 50 %. Sorting Sorting rules 1. Capital letters and lowercase letters are equal. No distinction is made between them. 2. The extended characters Æ, æ, Ø, ø, Å and å are not the equivalents of a or o but treated as separate letters of the alphabet. They are the last three letters of the Danish alphabet. 3. The Characters Ä, ä, Ö, ö and Ü, ü (not used in Danish, but may come up in German or Swedish examples or words imported from these languages) are sorted as variants of Æ, æ (Ä, ä), Ø, ø (Ö, ö) and Y, y (Ü, ü). 4. Other accented characters are equal with non-accented characters; so é and e are equal. 5. Non-alphabetical characters (i.e. symbols #) sort before the letters of the alphabet. 6. Digits sort after the non-alphabetical characters and before the letters of the alphabet. 7. Double a (aa, Aa, AA, aa) sorts as å (å/å). a, 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, p, P, q, Q, r, R, s, S, t, T, u, U, v, V, w, W, x, X, y, Y, z, Z, æ, Æ, ø, Ø, å, Å Alpha Dec a 97 A 65 b 98 B 66 Character sorting order c 99 C 67 d 100 D 68 e 101 E 69 é 233 É

23 f 102 F 70 g 103 G 71 h 104 H 72 i 105 I 73 j 106 J 74 k 107 K 75 l 108 L 76 m 109 M 77 n 110 N 78 o 111 O 79 p 112 P 80 q 113 Q 81 r

24 R 82 s 115 S 83 t 116 T 84 u 117 U 85 v 118 V 86 w 119 W 87 x 120 X 88 y 121 Y 89 z 122 Z 90 æ 145 Æ 146 ø 155 Ø 157 å 134 Å 143 Examples of sorted 1 Aaron andere 24

25 chaque chemin cote côté coté čučēt Czech hiša irdisch lie lire llama lõug lòza luč luck Lübeck lye lävi løg Löwen màšta mîr myndig mænd Männer möchten piña pint pylon šàran savoir Šerbūra Sietla ślub subtle symbol sämtlich verkehrt vox väga waffle wood yen yuan 25

26 yucca žal žena Ženēva zoo Zviedrija Zürich zysk zzlj zzlz zznj ändere åben 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 Danish product should respond to the particular situation that applies within Denmark. 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. 26

27 Guideline As country/region and city names can change, please use the most up-to-date Danish list for every release of your product. Grammar, Syntax & Orthographic Conventions Danish Language Reform A new language reform is being implemented in 2012 as part of the update of the Danish spelling dictionary Retskrivningsordbogen. The new rules have been effective since January 01, 2012 and will be part of the updated edition of the printed version of Retskrivningsordbogen which will be published in the autumn Specific information about the Danish language reform can be found at This page is powered by Dansk Sprognævn which is a public research institution under the Ministry of Culture Denmark. Details This reform affects both spelling of loanwords ending in a silent consonant (see section on Inflection) and hyphenation in relation to compounds (see section on Compounds). Adjectives In Danish, adjectives should be handled in the following manner. Adjectives are words describing or characterizing nouns or similar phrases. (+) høj, lav, grøn, sød, hurtig, økonomisk, abstract. Adjectives are declined according to gender and number. (+) en rar mand (+) et rart menneske (+) de rare elever. Adjectives can be compared. 27

28 Positive (1 degree) Comparative (2 degree) Superlative (3 degree) fin finere finest fregnet mere fregnet mest fregnet god bedre bedst mange flere flest Possessive adjectives Frequent use of possessives is a feature of English language. However, in Danish possessive adjectives are often omitted and replaced by some other form of the following noun or noun phrase. The possessives are only used when emphasizing the possession of the following noun or noun phrase. Possessive adjectives are however commonly used in web texts. (+) Save the file in my photos folder -> Gem filen i mappen Fotos (+) Change my profile under My account -> Skift min profil under Min konto Articles General considerations In Danish the article shows the gender, number and case of a noun as well as it can be definite or indefinite. In Danish the indefinite articles are singular i.e. en and et. There is no indefinite plural article. The definite form of a noun is created by adding -en or -et to the noun in singular or -ne or -s in plural. Alternatively, the demonstrative pronouns den, det or de can be used in front of a noun to create the definite form. (+) et dokument (indefinite) -> dokumentet (definite) / det dokument (definite) Unlocalized Feature Names Microsoft product names and non-translated feature names are used without definite or indefinite articles in English. They are used in the same way in Danish. (+) Microsoft Passport Network -> Microsoft Passport Network 28

29 Localized Feature Names Localized feature names are used without definite or indefinite articles in Danish. This means that product names or non-translated feature names cannot be conjugated. (+) Microsoft Online Services Identity Federation Management Tool -> Værktøj til styring af identitetssamling i Microsoft Online Services Articles for English loanwords In Danish there are many English loanwords and these are generally spelled and pronounced as in English. English loanwords may follow Danish conjugation i.e. -en, -et or nothing is added in singular definite form and -e or -er is added in plural. However, the English plural form by adding -s is also an option. The plural form -s is preferred since this is the form primarily used on a daily basis. job, jobbet, job/jobs backup, backuppen, backupper/backups As far as gender is concerned, most loan words are the same gender as their Danish translation. (+) A test -> en test (in Danish en prøve) Capitalization In Danish everything except proper nouns are written in lower case. Generally, upper case is used in the following contexts: First word in the beginning of a text. After full stop finishing a sentence. After exclamation point After question mark After colon if followed by a complete sentence First word and the following meaningful words in proper nouns e.g. Gorm den Gamle, Det Kongelige Teater. Some personal pronouns i.e. I, De, Dem, Deres (formal You) Some titles / modes of address e.g. Hendes Majestæt Acronyms 29

30 Microsoft tends to apply the US Style in translation of product names e.g. Microsoft Online Services Kundeportal. Compounds 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. Unlike English we use compound nouns in Danish e.g. filserver (file server), stemmegenkendelsesprogram (voice recognition application) etc. English technical texts are characterized by a frequent use of noun phrases. These are generally translated as relative or prepositional clauses in order to avoid heavy constructions. (+) Full time 4 wheel drive turbo charged cars -> Turbo-biler, der har konstant 4-hjulstræk (+) Microsoft Online Services Identity Federation Management Tool -> Værktøj til styring af identitetssamling i Microsoft Online Services The following fixed expressions are written in one word: herudover ifølge især medmindre selvom tilovers tilsammen tværtimod vistnok The following fixed expressions are written in two or more words: af sted alt sammen for længst for øvrigt frem for hen ad hvad enten i alt i dag i gang i går 30

31 i hvert fald inden for (når det styrer noget) i stykker i øvrigt på ny stort set så længe så snart til sidst til stede (være til stede) Gender In Danish grammar there are only two genders i.e. common and neuter. Nouns of common gender take the indefinite article en whereas nouns of neuter gender take the indefinite article et. Some nouns take both articles but then the meaning of the terms is almost always different. Only very few nouns take both gender and have the same meaning. (+) Common gender -> En hund (+) Neuter gender -> Et hus (+) Both gender (different meaning) -> En spand e.g. Manden hentede en spand med vand (i.e. a container) -> Et spand e.g. Vognen blev trukket af et spand heste (i.e. a group or an amount) (+) Both gender (same meaning) -> En parameter e.g. Eleven skulle definere den ekstra parameter i ligningen. -> Et parameter e.g. Eleven skulle definere det ekstra parameter i ligningen. Genitive In Danish the genitive form is usually created by adding -s directly to the word in genitive i.e. without an apostrophe. This goes for both nouns and proper nouns. (+) Mandens hat (+) Sørens bog However, words ending with -s, -x or -z only have the apostrophe added in the genitive form. (+) Lars' hat (+) Alex' cykel (+) Schweiz' ambassade. 31

32 In relation to abbreviations and acronyms the genitive form is usually created by adding an apostrophe and -s. (+) USA's (+) tv's (+) edb's (+) UNICEF s. Generally, the apostrophe is not used if the abbreviation ends with a full stop. (+) B.T.s (+) Kbh.s. The genitive form of a group is created by adding -s to the last part of the group. (+) Søren og Peters dokumenter. Convention 1 (e.g. Attaching a genitive "s" to (trademarked) product names is not feasible, as it could be interpreted as a modification of such names.) (-) Outlook s fejlmeddelelser vises i separate vinduer. (+) Fejlmeddelelserne i Outlook vises i separate vinduer. Modifiers In grammar, a modifier (i.e. adverbs and adjectives) is an optional element in a phrase structure or clause structure. If the modifier is removed it doesn't affect the grammaticality of the construction. Modifiers can be a word, a phrase or an entire clause. Semantically, modifiers describe and provide more accurate definitional meaning for another element. Modifiers can be either pre- or post-modifiers. In Danish localized texts it is sometimes necessary to rewrite phrases with more modifiers as relative clauses in order to avoid a high level of formality. (-) Læreren åbnede den nyligt gemte fil. (+) Læreren åbnede den fil, der blev gemt for nylig. 32

33 Nouns General considerations Nouns are words categorizing living creatures, things and notions as well as proper nouns. (+) person, hund, cykel, følelse, udvikling, Forskningsministeriet osv. Most nouns can be conjugated in singular and plural. The nouns can also be in either the indefinite or definite form. Please note that if the noun is modified by an adjective the definite form is expressed by adding the definite article in front of the conjugated adjective. (+) Det nye dokument (+) De gemte filer. The ending -ium is preferred in nouns with the optional ending -ium or -ie except for the terms listed below: medie -> not medium stadie -> not stadium studie -> not studium Inflection In Danish nouns are inflected according to gender i.e. common or neuter. The indefinite article en is the common article and et is the neuter one. (+) en fil -> filen (+) et dokument -> dokumentet Note that inflection of loanwords ending in a 'c' or in a silent consonant no longer is preceeded by an apostrophe. (-) en succes -> succes'en (+) en succes -> succesen (-) en schweizerfranc -> schweizerfranc'en (+) en schweizerfranc -> schweizerfrancen 33

34 Plural Formation Most nouns can be inflected in plural. Usually, the plural form is created by adding -e or -er to the noun. However, the English plural form by adding -s is also an option. The plural form -s is preferred since this is the form primarily used on a daily basis. (+) et hus -> huse (+) en prøve -> prøver (+) et job -> jobs Most nouns can be inflected in plural. Usually, the plural form is created by adding -e or -er to the noun. A large number of nouns do not follow this rule: (+) barn -> børn (+) mand -> mænd Some nouns only have the plural form: (+) bukser, penge, løjer etc. However, nouns representing uncountables do not have a plural form: (+) sand, kaffe, vand, tøj, mel, sukker etc. These nouns are only found in the definite form: (+) sandet, kaffen, vandet, tøjet, melet, sukkeret etc. An attempted indefinite form is created by using the determiner noget instead of en or et in front of the noun: (+) noget sand, noget kaffe, noget vand etc. 34

35 Prepositions It is important that the use of prepositions do not differ from one translator to another or from one product to another. The list below is created in order to ensure consistent use of prepositions: Prepositions used in standard phrases: Verb fjerne gemme installere klikke pege skrive slette trykke vise vælge Note that we write føje til instead of tilføje til. Prepositional prase en markering i afkrydsningsfeltet "Xxx" i et bibliotek i en mappe i X-format på en diskette/cd-rom/dvd/et USB-flashdrev på en harddisk i en fil på en harddisk på en computer på systemet under Windows i et vindue i et felt med musen med museknappen med højre museknap (eller "højreklikke", hvis det engelske ord er "right click") med museknappen på noget med højre museknap på noget på en kommando på et bånd på fanen X på værktøjslinjen på menulinjen på linealen på rullepanelet på et objekt på et ikon på OK (ikke "klikke OK") på et menupunkt til en fil til en port fra/på en liste på en tast på Enter (ikke "tryk Enter") under fanen i menuen på listen på en liste 35

36 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. A preposition that is typically translated incorrectly is for. This preposition can be translated as both 'for' and 'til' but in order to avoid Anglicisms many users tend to use til irrespective of the context. Generally, 'til' describes a capacity of the object whereas 'for' describes a circumstance of the action. (+) Please set options for the printer -> Du skal angive indstillinger for printeren According to Danish orthography some words can be either a preposition or an adverb depending on the context. The difference has previously been visible by different spelling i.e. prepositions in two words and adverbs in one word. However, this approach has now become optional since both types of words may be written in one or two words. Microsoft standard is to adhere to the visible distinction of the two word classes i.e. prepositions taking a complement are written in two words whereas adverbs are written in one word: (+) over for: Vi bor i huset over for supermarkedet (+) overfor: Vi bor i huset overfor (+) inden i: Trappen inden i huset fører til loftet (+) indeni: Kødet er rødt indeni (+) inden under: Han havde en t-shirt på inden under skjorten (+) indenunder: Han havde en t-shirt på indenunder (+) oven på: Vi bor oven på bagerbutikken (+) ovenpå: Jeg har værelse ovenpå Pronouns In Danish there are several types of pronouns that are used instead of things, person(s) or complete sentences. These types are: Personal e.g. jeg, du, hende, os, de, De Possessive e.g min, dit, hendes, sin, deres Interrogative e.g. hvem, hvad, hvis Demonstrative e.g. den, dette, de, disse 36

37 Indefinite e.g. man, nogen, noget Relative e.g. som, der, hvis. Punctuation Comma Microsoft uses the traditional comma without applying the recommendations from Dansk Sprognævn on omitting commas in front of subordinate clauses. This is to improve readability of the texts and avoid misunderstandings. Note that in US texts commas are used in front of and and or in listings. In Danish we leave out this comma. (+) Pakken indeholder cd'er, håndbøger og et licenskort. Remember that a comma is always used to separate imperatives that do not take the same object. (+) Klik på Start, og vælg Indstillinger. 37

38 Colon Use colon to emphasize examples and instructions. (+) I dette kapitel beskrives, hvordan du kan: Foretage stavekontrol Bruge synonymordbogen. (+) Sådan markeres hele dokumentet: 1. Tryk på ctrl+home. 2. Tryk på ctrl+skift+end. If the colon is followed by a complete sentence initial capital is used after the colon. In Microsoft user assistance texts there is always initial capital after colon in tables and bulleted lists. Colon is also used as separator in time indications. (+) 13:00 (+) 09:15:00 Do not use colons to separate list items. Use comma or semicolon instead. Exclamation point Note that most of these alerts and tips listed below are followed by an exclamation point even if they are followed by a colon in English. This rule applies to all text types. If the terms are written in all caps this formatting is maintained in the translation. English Attention Caution Error Guidelines Hint Important Note Notes: Tip Tips Troubleshooting Warning Danish Obs! Advarsel! Fejl! Retningslinjer Tip! Vigtigt! Bemærk! Bemærk! Tip! Tip! Fejlfinding Advarsel! 38

39 Dashes and Hyphens Three different dash characters are used in English: Hyphen The hyphen is used to divide words between syllables, to link parts of a compound word, and to connect the parts of an inverted or imperative verb form. However, if a hyphen is already included in the first or last part of the two superordinated parts only the first hyphen should be included. (+) Skole-hjemsamtale (+) P-skivepåbud (+) D-vitaminmangel (+) S-togsstation. Hyphens are not used in nouns with suffix ending in -off and Microsoft prefers that nouns with the suffix -on is not hyphenated either. (+) spinoff (-) spin-off (+) logon (-) log-on (+) drivein (-) drive-in In Danish hyphen is used in the following connections: Abbreviations and acronyms: In compound noun phrases the hyphen is inserted between the abbreviation/acronym and the rest of the noun phrase. (+) cd-rom-drev (+) OLE-facilitet (+) CGI-script (+) MS-DOS-prompt (+) standard-cd-rom-drev (+) standard-ftp-sted 39

40 Omissions: The hyphen is used to show that two or more compounds or derivatives share a part which is only mentioned once. (+) række- og kolonnetitler (+) sidehoved og -fod Numbers and symbols: In compounds consisting of a number or symbol and a noun the hyphen is inserted between the number/symbol and the rest of the compound: (+) 3,5"-diskette (+) 486-processor Names: In compounds consisting of proper nouns and nouns the hyphen is inserted between the proper noun and the rest of the compound: (+) Microsoft-produkter (+) Windows-baseret program (+) TrueType-skrifttype Note. If all parts of a compound are proper nouns and the entire noun phrase is considered a proper noun all the parts are capitalized and no hyphen is used. (+) Windows Operativsystem (+) Excel Brugerhåndbog Group compounds: In compounds where the first or last part consists of more than one word, the hyphen is inserted between the two superordinated parts. (+) 386 udvidet-tilstand (+) træk og slip-tekstredigering (+) hvad sker hvis-analyse (+) finans-joint venture (+) kalkun-cordon bleu (+) ovn-pommes frites Exception: 16-bit programmer 40

41 Confusing compounds: In compounds with unusual collocations the hyphen is added for clarification purposes. The use of clarifying hyphens should however be minimized as this causes an abrupt sentence structure and thus lowers readability. (+) ikke-navngivet fil (+) stress-symptomer Minus sign: Use numeric minus sign for this mathematical symbol. (+) -12 (+) bruttoindtægt - omkostninger = nettoindtægt Interval: The hyphen is used between short words or numbers to indicated the meaning "from... to". (+) side (+) copyright En Dash Please check that the correct "line" is applied. Variants: - ordinary hyphen (-) - hard hyphen (Ctrl+Shift+hyphen(-)) (short) dash ("en dash" ANSI 0150) (long) dash ("em dash" ANSI 0151) The long dash is not used in Danish Microsoft products and it should be replaced by the short dash (en dash). Also note that the en dash must be preceded and followed by a space in Danish. In connection with software translations the en dash may cause problems and therefore the ordinary hyphen is used (in LocStudio translations). If in doubt, please contact the product team. Sometimes two or three hyphens are used ( -- ) instead of an em dash in US texts. These should always be replaced by an en dash. (+) Eng: To arrange text and graphics side by side - - as in a resume or catalog - - use a table. (+) Dan: Hvis du vil arrangere tekst og grafik ved siden af hinanden f.eks. til et CV eller et katalog kan du benytte en tabel. Often the en dash is replaced by a comma in Danish texts in order to improve fluency and readability of the text. 41

42 In US texts the en dash is sometimes used in number ranges, such as those specifying page numbers. No spaces are used around the en dash in this case. In this type of listings the en dash is replaced by an ordinary hyphen in Danish. (+) Kapitel 12 finder du på siderne Em Dash The em dash should only be used to emphasize an isolated element or introduce an element that is not essential to the meaning conveyed by the sentence. As previously mentioned, the em dash is not used in Danish but is always replaced by an en dash. (+) Eng: Everything you need in one package (+) Dan: Alt det, du har brug for i én pakke Ellipses (Suspension Points) An ellipsis may be represented by suspension points i.e. " " (ANSI 0133). In Danish the suspension points are preceded by a space if they represent one or more full words. (+) Det fremgik af sagen, at klagerens ægtefælle afgik ved døden den 5. august If the suspension points represent part of a word they are inserted immediately after the last letter. (+) Hvis du vil logge på siden, skal du angive din adgangsk... (-) Hvis du vil logge på siden, skal du angive din adgangsk... The suspension points are also used in quotations when part of the text is left out and this form of ellipsis does not change the meaning of the quote in the context it is used. (+) Danmark, der er et vesteuropæisk land, har ofte snevejr om vinteren. (+) Danmark [...] har ofte snevejr om vinteren. 42

43 Full Stop In general, full stop and other end punctuation except question marks are not used in headings. In Danish full stop is added after the number in bulleted lists and tables. English 1 abc 2 def 3 ghi Danish 1. abc 2. def 3. ghi Period is used as separator in the following contexts: Version number: (+) Word 7.0 Thousand separator: (+) (+) kr. (+) kr. For more information on the use of period in connection with parenthesis see the section below on Parentheses. Quotation Marks In Danish Microsoft texts the straight double quotation marks (" ") are used in the format ( ). In English the format ( ) is used. Quotation marks are used to indicate quotations and direct speech. In US source strings, you may find software references surrounded by English quotation marks. In Danish quotation marks are only used around software references that consist of more than one word in order to identify the entire software reference and improve readability. In Danish the quotation mark is also used as a symbol for inch (") e.g. to indicate the size of a floppy disk. (+) 3,5"-diskette. 43

44 Parentheses Parentheses can often be omitted in order to increase readability. They are often replaced by commas instead. Please note that punctuation i.e. full stop, semicolon, comma etc. are always placed outside the parentheses. This often causes mistakes since punctuation is placed within the parentheses in English texts. (-) Du skal udfylde denne bestillingskupon. (Skal afleveres til din forhandler.) (+) Du skal udfylde denne bestillingskupon. (Skal afleveres til din forhandler). Be sure to use initial capital in the sentence in parenthesis if it follows a full stop. Generally, parentheses around complete sentences should be avoided. In Danish as well as English, there is no space between the parentheses and the text inside them. (+) Eng: This document should be uploaded to the company website. (Save first.) (+) Dan: Dette dokument skal overføres til virksomhedens websted. (Gem først). In English software the plural form is often placed in parentheses in order to avoid double representation of a term. In Danish the term is translated in plural without the parentheses. In running text it is possible to rephrase the text though, in order to include both singular and plural form e.g. "en eller flere filer". (+) File(s) -> Filer However, if the plural form in parentheses is used to indicate a number e.g. X day(s) the same style is applied to the Danish translation i.e. X dag(e). Singular & Plural Singular or plural form of adjectives It is always correct to use the plural form of an adjective when it modifies a term in plural. (+) Vi er helt uinteresserede i den slags. In some cases, especially when there is a preposition immediately after the adjective, the singular form of an adjective can be used even if the adjective modifies a term in plural. (+) Vi er helt uinteresseret i den slags. 44

45 Split Infinitive Split infinitives are acceptable to a certain extent in Danish. However, they are rarely used. (+) At ikke have nogen venner er trist Subjunctive Subjunctive is used to express uncertainty, conditions, wishes etc. In Danish subjunctive is primarily used in fixed expressions e.g. wishes and exclamations. This form is not used in technical texts. (+) Kongen leve (+) Det være hermed gjort Symbols & Non-Breaking Spaces Symbols There will always be a space between the currency and measuring units preceding or following its symbol. Du kan sende meddelelser på maksimalt 1 MB, herunder vedhæftede filer. Virksomheden har købt nyt logistikstyringssystem til en værdi af $ ,67. Non-Breaking Spaces Non-breaking spaces ( ) should only be used whenever they are also present in the US text. Otherwise, it is recommended to use a blank space as it can create functionality problems. If a non-breaking space is used to separate two nouns that constitute a compound noun in Danish the non-breaking space should be deleted. (+) Eng: You are not an administrator of the file server. (+) Dan: Du er ikke administrator for filserveren. Syntax Syntax Syntax and register differ between Danish and English in the following ways: 1. Adverbs: In Danish adverbs are always placed before or after the subject and verb never between them. I suddenly understood his objections -> Jeg forstod pludselig hans protester. 45

46 2. Relative clauses: A relative clause in English is often translated into a dependent question in Danish He does not realize the extent to which civilization has changed our lives over, i hvilken grad civilisationen har forandret vort liv. -> Han er ikke klar 3. Constructions such as "subject of main clause modification end of main clause" are never used in Danish. The modifying clause should be placed at the beginning or end in the Danish sentence. The old tree on the west side of the farm, despite the fact that a storm had overrun the place two years before, was still standing. -> Det gamle træ på gårdens vestside stod stadig, til trods for, at en storm havde hærget stedet to år tidligere Register Be sure to select the correct level of formality depending on the target audience of the text. Technical texts should not be formal but more instructive and explanatory i.e. consultative register. Web texts are characterized by a more informal tone without being colloquial. Avoid words which usually only occur in formal written language. Use contemporary expressions and rephrasing instead: Don't hvorledes hvori hvorved medens førend således at hvorvidt samtlige såsom vort/vore Do hvordan hvor hvor mens før, inden så om alle f.eks. eller som f.eks. vores Verbs In Danish the simple verb forms are recommended for readability reasons. 46

47 (+) Eng: We have had a great weekend. (+) Dan: Vi havde en god weekend. Continuous operations are usually expressed in English with a gerund. In Danish the -ing form is often changed to a substantive or a simple verb form (present tense) in Danish in order to avoid complex relative structures. (+) Eng: Changing file names globally in Windows Explorer (+) Dan: Global ændring af filnavne i Windows Stifinder. (+) Eng: Alfred is working (+) Dan: Alfred arbejder Word Order Generally the word order in English and Danish are the same except in the contexts mentioned below. 1. When an adverb is placed in the beginning of the sentence (English=direct word order, Danish=inverted word order). (+) Fortunately he had not been hurt -> Heldigvis var han ikke kommet til skade. 2. When a subordinate clause is placed before the main sentence (English=direct word order, Danish=inverted word order). (+) If you come, I shall be happy -> Hvis du kommer, vil jeg blive glad. 3. Sentences beginning with direct speech, when the subject is a personal pronoun, the verb is complex or if there is an object in the direct speech element (English=direct word order, Danish=inverted word order). (+) "What did you buy?" Martha asked her friend -> "Hvad købte du?", spurgte Martha sin ven. Style and Tone Considerations This section focuses on higher-level considerations for audience, style, tone, and voice. Audience Please be aware that the target users of software can be either IT specialists or end users who may not have advanced technical skills. This means that the level of formality should be adapted to the relevant audience. Microsoft texts are usually targeted at the following 4 major audiences: 47

48 The home user: an individual whose primary job function is not IT and who has average to low expertise in computer software. Examples of products are MSN Vesta, MSN Communities The technical user with several sub-categories according to the user's occupation, such as IT decision maker, software developer, Web developer or advanced software user. Examples of products are Windows Update, MSDN, Backstage, technical FAQ's, and all product support (PSS) pages. The IT decision maker: a person in the organization who makes the decision to acquire software for use in organizations. Pages aimed at IT decision makers can be found in various areas, such as product portals and TechNet. Other examples include pages about technology strategy and TCO. The business decision maker: a business decision maker would make decisions about the business as a whole, not only IT i.e. general managers in all functions. A business decision maker will have a rather poor knowledge of IT so business language, economic terms etc will need to be adapted and translated appropriately. Style Home Users. The style used in texts for Home Users should be direct, clear, and local. Use of less technical terminology and vocabulary (everybody should be able to understand the contents). Use of shorter, less elaborate sentences (the pages should be easy to read). Long, compound sentences should be avoided as well as contractions, where possible. It might be appropriate to give clearer instructions to the users and add exactly where they will find an option, i.e. the source text "in the upper navigation bar" could be localized as 'in the upper navigation bar in the left column'. Similarly, do not underestimate the reader. If the English original is overly repetitive and explains procedures in unnecessary detail, it can be rewritten to adapt it to common Danish style which is more strict and to the point. Technical abbreviations and acronyms should be avoided, unless absolutely necessary, and then only if there is an accompanying explanation. In general, abbreviate the term and add the spelled out term in parentheses at the first reference. In the remaining text it is sufficient to use the acronym. However, the reader's familiarity with common abbreviations may make spelling it out unnecessary. In long documents, you may repeat the spelled-out term at the beginning of each new section, and then alternate between the spelled-out term and the acronym. Superlatives vaunting the quality of Microsoft products in the English pages might need to be toned down. (+) 'the most powerful browser' would be changed to 'a powerful browser'. Technical Users. The style used in texts for Technical Users should resemble other technical Microsoft media, such as technical documentation and online Help. 48

49 Technical correctness and functionality is key. Where there is doubt about technical correctness of a translation, further information should be requested from your Microsoft contact. References will often be left in English, especially products that are not localized or highly technical (such as SQL, Exchange Server, etc). IT Decision Makers. The style used in texts for IT Decision Makers is similar to the Style used for technical users, but will often be more marketing and business oriented. Business Decision Makers. The style used in texts for Business Decision Makers is more business-oriented, but also more fluent than for the technical user. Where the primary purpose of a text for the technical user is to inform, the purpose of a text directed towards a business decision maker is to influence that person to make decisions for his/her business. Some references will be left in English if they are business or technology concepts that are usually left in English when addressing business decision makers, but would be rewritten when addressed to home users. One example is "Total Cost of Ownership" (TCO) or "Just-in-time" which would be left in English. Some technology concepts and names that would be understood by technical users might have to be explained. Superlatives vaunting the quality of Microsoft products in the English pages might need to be toned down in Nordic pages. 'the most powerful browser' would be changed to 'a powerful browser'. Tone Always use a tone matching the target audience, e.g. formal, informative, and factual for most Microsoft products. Hvis der opstår flere problemer, eller hvis der er behov for supplerende fejlfinding, er det muligvis nødvendigt at oprette en separat serviceanmodning. De sædvanlige supportomkostninger gælder for supplerende supportspørgsmål og -problemer, der ikke falder ind under det nævnte hotfix. A more informal, playful and inspiring tone may be used for games and Windows Live products. (+) Del fotos og videoer, mens du chatter. Videochat i HD, eller send en videomeddelelse til en ven. Og opret forbindelse til dine sociale netværk for at få vist vigtige opdateringer på ét sted Messenger Voice In software the addressing is direct since this text type often contains instructions for the user. This direct form of address results in imperative structures which can also be found in commands and dialog boxes. 49

50 In a Microsoft context the more formal translation of 'You' i.e. De is only used in legal texts. It is important that terminology and style are used consistently since the user interface is built in the same way and thus has a uniform expression. Microsoft uses a large number of standard translations which must always be applied. English You are now connected to the Internet. This End User License Agreement is a legally binding agreement between You (as a person or legal entity who is referred to as "You" and "Your" in the present Agreement) and Microsoft Corporation. Danish Du har nu forbindelse til internettet. Nærværende Slutbrugerlicensaftale er en juridisk bindende aftale mellem Dem (enten en fysisk eller juridisk person, der i nærværende Slutbrugerlicensaftale benævnes "De","Dem" og"deres") og Microsoft Corporation. 50

51 Localization Guidelines This section contains guidelines for localization into Danish. General Considerations All texts must be translated into an understandable Danish and convey the relevant information in a user-friendly language adapted to the relevant target audience. The text in user guides and software should always be professional and direct. The user should be addressed directly by means of imperative constructions as can be seen in commands and dialog boxes. Consistency in style and terminology is important when it comes to the translation of technical documentation. The Danish Microsoft terminology is based on the translation of core terminology which is translated and reviewed by the Danish Microsoft terminologists. Furthermore, the instructions of this Style Guide and glossaries based on previously launched products should be observed. Abbreviations Common Abbreviations Abbreviations should be used as little as possible in running text since they may interrupt and slow down the reading if they appear often. Only authorized abbreviations in accordance with Nudansk Ordbog or Retskrivningsordbogen should be used. Avoid unauthorized abbreviations since these will most likely not be understood by the reader. You might need to abbreviate some words in the UI (mainly buttons or options names) due to lack of space. This can be done in the following ways: Articles and prepositions can be left out e.g. Save document as -> Gem som Words can be abbreviated either by inserting suspension points ( ) or by adding a full stop When an abbreviation which is followed by a full stop is the last word in a sentence the full stop in the abbreviation also serves as full stop for the entire sentence. 51

52 List of common Danish abbreviations: Expression blandt andet cirka det vil sige eventuelt for eksempel henholdsvis jævnfør klokken kroner med flere med mere med videre observation og lignende og så videre på grund af per styk ved hjælp af Acceptable Abbreviation bl.a. ca. dvs. evt. f.eks. hhv. jf. kl. kr. mfl. m.m. m.v. obs. o.l. osv. pga. pr. stk. vha. Avoid unauthorized abbreviations. 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). Most acronyms are non-translatable. A number of acronyms can be written in both upper and lower case in Danish. With a few exceptions the lower case is preferred. (+) cd-rom (+) edb (+) tv (-) OLE (-) RAM (-) WYSIWYG 52

53 Localized Acronyms If reference is made to an acronym or an abbreviation which has an official Danish translation the Danish abbreviation is mentioned first with the English text and acronym in parenthesis after: (+) Eng: Both applications must support object linking and embedding (OLE). (+) Dan: Begge programmer skal understøtte objektsammenkædning og -integrering (Object Linking and Embedding OLE). Use Nudansk Ordbog and Retskrivningsordbogen for reference. Unlocalized Acronyms If reference is made to an acronym which remains in English the acronym is mentioned first and the full string can be added for explanatory reasons in parentheses after the acronym the first time it occurs. Hereafter you can use the acronym alone thorughout the rest of the text: (+) Eng: Both applications must support object linking and embedding (OLE). (+) Dan: Begge programmer skal understøtte OLE (Object Linking and Embedding). Note that the description in parentheses should be in English unless a translation gives the same acronym: (+) PIF (programinformationsfil) (+) RAM (Random Access Memory 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. Generally, most product names and component names are left in English whereas service names may be translated into Danish. Frequent Errors In software, strings are often translated out of context which means that it may be difficult to distinguish verbs in the infinitive from nouns or verbs in the infinitive from verbs in the imperative. 53

54 (+) Download (verb/noun) (+) Import a file (infinitive/imperative) Error messages should always be translated as complete sentences even if they are incomplete sentences in English. Please note that strings beginning with "Error..." and "An error occurred..." should always be translated as "Der opstod fejl under +indefinite form" never "Fejl ved...". (+) Eng: Error occurred during document printing (+) Dan: Der opstod fejl under udskrivning af dokument. In Danish error messages are always ended with a full stop. Glossaries 1. The Microsoft Style Guide 2. Relevant Microsoft websites Recurring Patterns When translating titles there are certain recurrent patterns that you should pay attention to, as indicated below: A few examples of standard title constructions: English What's New in <productname> Getting Started with <productname> Installing and Configuring <productname> To do X or Z... Danish Nyheder i <produktnavn> Introduktion til <produktnavn> Installation og konfiguration af <produktnavn> Sådan +passive structure 54

55 In Help files the headings are in the infinitive form and in order ensure functionality of any referring links the links are in the infinitive form as well cf. screenshot above. Standardized Translations There are a number of standardized translations mentioned in all sections of this Style Guide. Below are lists of standard phrases in various text types. Furthermore, standard phrases and general terminology guidelines are mentioned in this section. For standard phrases in other contexts please see the relevant topic in this Style Guide. Simplification If the source text is difficult to understand it is important that fluency and readability is improved in the translation. Often the source text contains repetitions which may lower the quality of the text. Do not be afraid to disregard obsolete information. (-) Det er muligt at lære at bruge XXX. Du kan gå igennem selvstudiet på en dag. Du kan også vælge at dele kurset op, så du bruger et par timer om dagen i en uge. 55

56 (+) En praktisk måde at lære at bruge programmet XXX på er at gå igennem selvstudiet. Regn med at bruge ca. seks timer. Personification Generally, personification of computers and programs should be avoided: (-) Hjælp mig med at finde filen. (-) Programmet viser oplysningerne på skærmen. (-) Kapitel 2 beskriver (+) Angiv filen. (+) Oplysningerne vises på skærmen. (+) I kapitel 2 beskrives However, personifications can be necessary in order to ensure a direct style and avoid ambiguities. This is often necessary when dealing with short messages from the program: (+) Eng: Word cannot run the Explorer. (+) Dan: Word kan ikke starte Stifinder. (+) Eng: The graphics filter was unable to convert this file. (+) Dan: Grafikfilteret kunne ikke konvertere denne fil. 56

57 Sentence structure Sentence structures beginning with To followed by an imperative form are common in US manuals but these sentence structures should be rephrased in Danish. Avoid translating strings like To create a new document, click File New as For at oprette et nyt dokument klik på Ny i menuen Filer. Such translations automatically shifts focus to the end of a sentence which is not recommendable. Please find acceptable translations for this sentence structure below: (-) For at oprette et nyt dokument klik på Ny i menuen Filer. (+) Klik på Ny i menuen Filer, hvis du vil oprette et nyt dokument. (+) Du kan oprette et nyt dokument ved at klikke på Ny i menuen Filer. (+) Klik på Ny i menuen Filer for at oprette et nyt dokument. (+) Hvis du vil oprette et nyt dokument, skal du klikke på Ny i menuen Filer. Source strings beginning with for example should also be rephrased. In Danish we usually do not begin sentences with For eksempel or abbreviations. (+) Eng: For example, if you want to use a bold font for headings. (+) Dan: Hvis du f.eks. vil bruge en fed skrifttype til overskrifter. Note that Microsoft uses the demonstrative pronoun or a article in front of the word starting a relative clause e.g. Gem den fil, du har oprettet, inden du lukker programmet. Capitalization In Danish days and months are written in lower case unless they are the first word of a sentence. Only proper nouns are written with initial capital in Danish. This also applies to file names etc. e.g. Install.exe and Custom.dic. Mood In instructions the imperative form is used: (-) For at fortsætte skal du trykke på Page Down. (-) Du lukker dialogboksen ved at vælge Luk og vende tilbage til dokumentet. (+) Tryk på Page Down for at fortsætte. (+) Vælg Luk for at lukke dialogboksen og vende tilbage til dokumentet. Imperatives ending in a stressed -er syllable usually do not take the accent in Danish Microsoft product. 57

58 (-) redigér, halvér (+) rediger, halver However, accents are always applied in imperatives if a verb in the imperative form can be misread as a noun or verb in the present tense. (-) sorter, marker, aktiver, kontroller, arkiver, kopier, lever (+) sortér, markér, aktivér, kontrollér, arkivér, kopiér, levér Some imperatives end in consonants which may lowers readability. Avoid this type of imperatives e.g. "Arbejd", "Ændr", "Lagr", "Frakobl" and "Behandl" even if they are perfectly valid. Usually it is possible to find synonymous imperatives to replace these terms e.g. "Change" can be translated as "Rediger" or "Skift" instead of "Ændr". Division of words In programs it is sometimes necessary to divide words due to lack of space. Follow the rules for division of words in Retskrivningsordbogen. In user manuals only compounds with hyphens are divided. Apply a hard hyphen (Ctrl+Shift+hyphen(-)) if you want to avoid that a hyphenated compound is divided after the hyphen. Use a hard space (Ctrl+Shift+space bar) if you want to avoid division after the first part of two words or words and numbers that belong together e.g. Microsoft Excel Pronouns Use du when addressing the reader. Always use du in direct speech especially in instructions. Man or passive constructions are also used but only in more general functions and aspects of the program. (-) Man indsætter et link i dokumentet med knappen Indsæt link. (+) Du indsætter et link i dokumentet med knappen Indsæt link. User guides in English often use you and your e.g. your computer. Often these pronouns are replaced by the definite form of the noun i.e. computeren. The use of du and dit depend on the context. Usually these pronouns are used in interactive parts of the program e.g. tutorials or Help while the use of these pronouns are limited in more descriptive parts of the documentation. (-) dit dokument, dine modtagere, din sikkerhedskopi (+) dokumentet, modtagerne, sikkerhedskopien The above also apply to names of folders and functions involving structures with My e.g. My Pictures, My Documents og My Music. In these cases My is not translated into Danish. 58

59 (-) Mine billeder, Mine dokumenter, Min musik (+) Billeder, Dokumenter, Musik Spelling The following words are often used in Microsoft products and have two equally correct spelling methods. In Microsoft we spell them like this: English back loud speaker margin Danish bagest højttaler margen maximum xxx maksimumxxx (without s) minimum xxx minimumxxx (without s) quotation mark the filter paging although the pattern basic a parameter zigzag scan plastic anførselstegn filteret at bladre (not "at blade") selvom mønsteret grundlæggende en parameter zigzag scanne plastik The following nouns have two equally valid plural forms. In Microsoft texts we spell them like this: Singular indeks matrix variabel test Plural indeks matrixer variabler test 59

60 Loanwords It may be difficult to know how a loanword is conjugated. In Microsoft products English loanwords are often used and most of them are conjugated as ordinary Danish words e.g.: Indefinite singular Definite singular Indefinite plural Definite plural en disk disken diske diskene en mail mailen mails mailene en driver driveren drivere driverne en harddisk harddisken harddiske harddiskene et hotfix hotfixet hotfix hotfixene en prompt prompten prompter prompterne et design designet design designene et interrupt interruptet interrupt interruptene et job jobbet job jobbene et layout layoutet layout layoutene et output outputtet output outputtene internet internettet - - intranet intranettet intranet intranettene plug-in plug-in'en plug-ins de plug-ins snap-in snap-in'en snap-ins de snap-ins en test testen test testene en proxy proxyen proxyer proxyene en disk disken diske diskene In the indefinite form some nouns take the plural ending -s and are conjugated as follows: Indefinite singular Definite singular Indefinite plural Definite plural en bitmap bitmappen bitmaps bitmappene en gateway gatewayen gateways gatewayene en handle handlen handles handlene et link linket links linkene et share sharet shares sharene If at all possible the correct but awkward definite form -ene should be avoided and the string rephrased e.g. dine links, alle de omtalte shares, disse gateways. Also note that in Microsoft products no hyphen is used in compounds consisting of loanwords and a common noun: (+) batchprogram (+) logonnavn (+) outputtekst (+) programswitch (+) sharenavn (+) webadresse (+) onlinetjeneste 60

61 Standard terminology Connection: Connection can be translated into two equally correct Danish terms either Forbindelse or Tilslutning. The difference of these two words is the meaning. Oprette forbindelse is the creation of a connection to e.g. the Internet or another network (not physical) whereas tilslutte is used about physical connections e.g. of a mouse, printer or keyboard. The preferred translation of is mail. Mail is a noun in Danish. Previously Microsoft used the translation meddelelse. (+) Har du modtaget min mail? (+) Jeg har fået ny mailadresse. However, maile is also used as a verb in Danish. This means that the phrasing sende en mail can be replaced by maile depending on the context. (+) Jeg mailer dagsordenen til dig (+) Vi kan mailes ved efter mødet Enter The term enter can be difficult to translate. If it only involves text entering in a document, text box or data in a database etc. the translation is skriv. In other contexts the term angiv is used. Avoid translating enter as indtaste. (+) Eng: Enter your name in the box (+) Dan: Skriv dit navn i feltet. Error "Error..." and "An error occurred..." must always be translated as "Der opstod fejl under +indefinite form" never "Fejl ved...". (+) Eng: An error occurred during printing of the document. (+) Dan: Der opstod fejl under udskrivning af dokumentet. Cannot 61

62 Cannot be found and could not be found should always be translated as blev ikke fundet never kan/kunne ikke findes. (+) Eng: File cannot be found. (+) Dan: Filen blev ikke fundet. Internet The term internet is conjugated as internettet. When internet is part of a compund no hyphen is used i.e. internetudbyder. Hyperlink In compounds consisting of hyperlink and another noun no hyphen is used e.g. hyperlinkadresse. Item The term item is often used as a generic term for names of e.g. documents or items in a list. Avoid direct translations with the tem emne but translate with the term that is actually referred to. In this way conflicts with the translation of subject (i.e. emne) are avoided. Note that item often means element or punkt. Program or application Use program as translation of application. Reference The English term reference meaning "a work (as a dictionary or encyclopedia) containing useful facts or information" cannot be translated as "reference" in Danish. Translate as e.g. opslagsværk, litteratur or håndbog. Reference books can be translated as Opslagsværker and Reference information with litteraturoplysninger. Note however that reference library can be translated as referencebibliotek. Cross-reference is translated as krydshenvisning. Select Select is translated as either markere or vælge. Vælge is used in connection with the selection of options or commands while markere is used in most other connections. Please see the list below: English select a check box select an option button select data Danish markere et afkrydsningsfelt markere en alternativknap markere data 62

63 select a document clear a checkbox (undo select) select the Save as command select the recovery option markere et dokument fjerne en markering (i afkrydsningsfeltet "XXX") vælge kommandoen Gem som vælge genoprettelsesindstillingen Selection The term selection is also translated as markering or valg. A markering is made and the selected text is also a markering. In other contexts selection can mean a valg made by the user e.g. Confirm your selection is translated as Bekræft dit valg. Setup The English term setup has multiple translations in Danish. Usually it means installation i.e. copying and installation of a program in order to use it on a computer. It can also refer to the indstilling or konfiguration of a unit or program already installed on the computer e.g. a modem. It can be translated as opsætning in a more technical context but often installation is sufficient. Avoid the verbal phrase sætte op. Instead the actual meaning should be researched and the string rephrased accordingly. Upload and download In Danish we use hente when translating download (verb) and sende when translating upload (verb). However, this may result in awkward phrasing (typically terms like hentnings... or sendings... ). In these contexts the terms overførsel or overføre can be used if this eases the understanding for the user. Overføre can be used for both upload and download. View Note that the English verb view cannot be translated as vise. In Danish Vise assumes that you show somebody something or that the computer shows something to the user. Instead view should be translates as få vist or just se. This means that visning should be avoided when translating viewing. In most cases a rephrasing is required. However, a view is still en visning (i.e. when view is a noun). Note: In Windows Vista only view is translated as vis (verb) in relation to commands or checkbox. Standard phrases in Help texts English Danish Comment Spelling button (Standard toolbar) Paste Special Command Show Me How? Knappen Stavekontrol (standardværktøjslinjen) Kommandoen Indsæt speciel Vis hvordan Sådan gør du 63

64 Click here for more information about + -ing form of verb What do you want to do? What do you want help with? What do you need help with? What would you like to know more about? Where do you want to go for technical information? How do I <share AutoText entries with other people>?: Ways to <do something>: Klik her for at få flere oplysninger om +substantive Hvad vil du foretage dig? Hvad ønsker du hjælp til? Hvad ønsker du hjælp til? Hvad vil du gerne vide mere om? Hvor vil du søge efter tekniske oplysninger? Hvordan kan <autotekstelementer Topic title deles med andre>? Usually the passive form is used. Forskellige måder at <gøre et eller Topic title andet på> About xxx: Om at xxx Topic title About creating a document. > Om at oprette et dokument Using xxx: Brug af xxx Topic title Work with: Arbejde med xxxx Topic title Troubleshoot <automatic formatting changes>: For more information on X, click BITMAP. For more information, click BITMAP. To update all cross-references and captions, click Select All in the Edit ribbon Fejlfinding i forbindelse med <automatisk formatering>. Klik på BITMAP, hvis du vil have flere oplysninger om X. Klik på BITMAP, hvis du vil have flere oplysninger. Klik på Markér alt i båndet Rediger for at opdatere alle krydshenvisninger og billedtekster. Topic title Click Klik på The final full stop is left out if this sentence is not followed by another one. If this sentence is one among more in e.g. a numbered list it should be ended by a full stop according to the punctuation rule for complete sentences: 1. Åbn X. 2. Klik på. 3. Luk Y. Related topics Relaterede emner Help button. Jumps to other topics. See also Se også: Heading for list of other Help topics. Standard phrases in Documentation texts. Please see the section Document Translation Considerations later in this document. 64

65 Standard phrases in Troubleshooting texts English Danish Comment Does XX solve the problem? What type of problem are you having? This troubleshooter can't find the cause of the problem. Løser det problemet at XX? Hvilken type problem har du? Fejlfinding kan ikke løse problemet. This troubleshooter is unable to solve your problem. This troubleshooter cannot solve your problem. This troubleshooter was unable to solve your problem. This is not the problem This is the problem This was the problem XXX Troubleshooter This did not fix the problem This fixed the problem Retry any steps that I have skipped. I want to skip this step and try something else. Det er ikke problemet Det er problemet XXX-fejlfinding eller Fejlfinding til XXX Det løser ikke problemet Det løser problemet Jeg vil prøve alle trin, jeg har sprunget over, igen. Jeg vil springe dette trin over og prøve noget andet. Use "Fejlfinding til XXX" if the phrasing "XXX-fejlfinding" is too complex. Standard phrases used when referring to guides, manuals, chapters and sections (+) Eng: For information on XXX, see "YYY", in ZZZ. (+) Dan: Oplysninger om XXX finder du i afsnittet "YYY" i ZZZ. (+) Eng: For more information about XXX, see chapter 0 "YYY" in ZZZ. (+) Dan: Du kan finde flere oplysninger om XXX i kapitel 0, "YYY", i ZZZ. (+) Eng: Chapter 2 explains... (+) Dan: I kapitel 2 beskrives... 65

66 Standard phrases used in intertextual references English Danish Later in this chapter Senere i dette kapitel Earlier in this chapter Tidligere i dette kapitel The following section Følgende afsnit The preceding section Foregående afsnit When referring to Knowledge Base articles the following standard procedure is used: Translate the title of the article; search for the article number in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. If the article is not translated into Danish, the sentence "Artiklen er evt. på engelsk" is added as an independent sentence after the translated title. Please note that if a link is used as a reference at the end of a sentence the sentence is still ended with a full stop. However, it is important that the full stop is not formatted as part of the link as this may corrupt the functionality of the link. When referring to websites or online texts in general the phrasing "Webstedet/siden er evt. på engelsk." is added as an independent sentence after the translated reference. Standard terminology in relation to colors English Danish Aqua Akvamarin Black Sort Blue Blå Blue-gray Blågrå Bright green Knaldgrøn Brown Brun Cyan Cyan Dark cyan Blågrøn Dark green Mørkegrøn Dark magenta Mørklilla Dark red Mørkerød Dark teal Dybblå Dark yellow Mørkegul Fucshia Lyslilla Gold Gylden Gray-20%. Grå - 20% Gray-40%. Grå - 40% Gray-60% Grå - 60% Gray-80%. Grå - 80% Green Grøn Grey Grå 66

67 English Indigo Lavender Light blue Light green Light orange Light turquoise Light yellow Lilac Lime Magenta Maroon Navy Olive Olive green Orange Pale blue Pink Plum Purple Red Rose Sea green Silver Sky blue Tan Teal Turquoise Violet White Yellow Danish Indigo Lavendel Lyseblå Lysegrøn Lys orange Lys turkis Lysegul Lilla Limegrøn Magenta Rødbrun Marineblå Oliven Olivengrøn Orange Blegblå Pink Blomme Mørklilla Rød Rosa Havgrøn Sølvgrå Himmelblå Sand Blågrøn Turkis Violet Hvid Gul 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: Titles of reports, home pages, articles, white papers etc. which are not translated into Danish are left in English as a translation would be misleading to the reader. This would cause the reader to believe that the entire material 67

68 would be translated and this is clearly not the case. Instead the titles may be translated generically by means of a prepositional clause in order for the reader to have an idea of the context of the material. (+) Eng: Please find additional information in the report CRM as a Development Platform. (+) Dan: Du kan finde flere oplysninger i rapporten om CRM som udviklingsplatform. Unlocalized UI words Comment OK Status Using the Word Microsoft In English as well as Danish, it is prohibited to use MS as an abbreviation for Microsoft. This is because Microsoft wants to avoid that trademarks and registered trademarks become generic words such as "aspirin" which was originally a trademark but now has become a generic/common term. If a trademark becomes a generic term it can be used randomly by all other companies. It is recommended that the trademark "Microsoft" is added in front of all Microsoft product names in advertisements, press releases, documents and white papers. This policy can however be deviated from in case of space or character limitation. When reference is made to more Microsoft products or product versions it is common practice that "Microsoft" is only mentioned in front of the first product name or version name on the list e.g. "New updates are released for Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 2000 Professional, Office 2003 and Publisher in the next year". In general it is not necessary to add "Microsoft" to names of functions or technologies in Microsoft software since the user is already supposed to be aware that he or she is working in a Microsoft environment. Nor is it necessary to add "Microsoft" in front of names of functions or technologies in relation to documents, press releases or other material if there is no doubt that Microsoft functions or technologies are dealt with. 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 for a detailed explanation of the Windows user interface guidelines (English). Note: 68

69 For technical reasons, the abbreviation of krone (kr.) should not have a full stop in the software. In documentation, however, normal Danish orthographic rules apply. User Interface In connection with user interface elements it is worth noticing that button names are always translated in the imperative form. (+) Accept -> Acceptér (+) Finish -> Udfør. The same goes for dialog names if verbal forms are used. (+) Paste Special -> Indsæt speciel. Otherwise, dialog names are translated as verbal nouns. (+) Customize -> Tilpasning (+) Data validation -> Datavalidering. If a button name has more than two words it is recommended that the term "knappen" is included for readability reasons. (+) Knappen Gem alle billeder In general the term "knappen" is always placed in front of the button name and the name of the button has initial capital. (+) Klik på OK (+) Klik på Annuller (+) Klik på knappen Konvertér alle filer Buttons without text have fixed names. (+) Maximize button -> maksimeringsknappen (+) Close button -> lukknappen The same Style is applied to symbols e.g. application symbols and folder symbols. These buttons do not have initial capital. Buttons in ribbons also have fixed names that have initial capital. 69

70 The descriptive terms menuen, båndet, kommandoen, knappen are only used in the translation if mentioned in the source text. If they are used they are placed before the actual name. (+) Eng: Click Save on the File menu. (+) Dan: Klik på Gem i menuen Filer. 1. Application name programnavn 70

71 2. Submenu or cascading menu undermenu 3. Selected command markeret kommando 4. Power button Tænd/sluk-knap 5. Search box Søgefelt 6. Application icon programikon 7. Start button knappen Start 1. Office button Office-knappen 2. Tab fane 3. Quick Access Toolbar værktøjslinjen Hurtig adgang 71

72 4. Toolbar icon ikon på værktøjslinje 5. Title bar titellinje 6. Ribbon bånd 7. Minimize button minimeringsknap 8. Maximize button maksimeringsknap 9. Close button lukknap 10. Application window programvindue 11. Ruler lineal 12. Scroll box rulleboks 13. Zoom zoom 14. View visning 15. Status bar Statuslinje 16. Help Hjælp 72

73 1. Menu names menunavne 2. Selected menu markeret menu 3. Menu bar menulinje 4. Check mark markering 5. Shortcut key genvejstast 6. Function key funktionstast 73

74 7. Sub menu undermenu 8. Ellipsis ellipse 9. Selected command markeret commando 1. Dialog box title dialogbokstitel 2. Tab fane 3. Title bar titellinje 74

75 4. Close button lukknap 5. Drop-down arrow rullepil 6. Drop-down menu rullemenu 7. Command buttons kommandoknapper 8. Check box (selected) afkrydsningsfelt (markeret) 9. Label navn 75

76 1. Option button (selected) alternativknap (markeret) 2. Option button (unavailble) alternativknap (nedtonet) 3. Spin box skalafelt 4. Spin button skalaknap 1. Slider skala 76

77 2. Slider indicator skyder Messages The most common types of messages are status bar messages and error messages. The status bar messages display information about the different commands in order to let the user know what is going on. Error messages are displayed if functional errors occur during the use of a program or operating system. Status Messages 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). Danish Style in Status bar Messages Avoid the use of the imperative form which is often seen in the English status bar messages. Use the present tense instead. Create, Open, Save, Print documents, or quit Microsoft Excel. (-) Opret, åbn, luk, gem, udskriv documenter, eller afslut Microsoft Excel (+) Opretter, åbner, gemmer og udskriver dokumenter eller afslutter Microsoft Excel In the source text the article is sometimes left out: (+) Move, size or close document window (+) Opens selected item 77

78 (+) Sort selected cells (+) Copy object In Danish the (definite) article is used if at all possible. This increases the fluency as well as the readability of the text. (+) Flytter, lukker eller ændrer størrelse på dokumentvinduet (+) Åbner det markerede objekt (+) Sorterer de markerede celler (+) Kopierer objektet Status bar messages are not followed by a full stop in Danish. In English, the status bar messages have different forms dependent on the information they must convey. In Danish, menu and commands status bar messages should follow the format below. Name Danish Name Category English Status Bar message Danish Status Bar message Edit Rediger menu Contains editing commands Indeholder redigeringskommandoer Copy to Folder... Kopiér til mappen menu Copies the selected items to a new location Kopierer de valgte elementer til en ny placering New Ny command Creates a new document Opretter et nyt document Make object visible? Word is converting the document. Press Esc to stop. Datasheet View Done Skal objektet være synligt? Word konverterer dokumentet. Tryk på Esc for at stoppe konverteringen. Dataarkvisning Udført 78

79 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 Danish version. Use one standard translation as in the examples below: English term Press F1 to get Help Correct Danish translation Tryk på F1 for at få hjælp. If you want Help press F1 To get Help press F1 Not enough memory Der er ikke tilstrækkelig hukommelse. Insufficient memory There is not enough memory Save changes to %1? Skal ændringerne i %1 gemmes? Do you want to save changes to %1? Error Messages What Is An Error Message? Here is an example: 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. 79

80 Danish 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. Error messages are also characterized by a specific linguistic format. Please find some general rules regarding localization of error messages here below: Complete sentences Avoid the short elliptic style which is found in some messages in the source text i.e. avoid beginning sentences with Kan ikke... and Kunne ikke... but use complete sentences if at all possible: Not enough disk space (-) Ikke tilstrækkelig diskplads. (+) Der er ikke tilstrækkelig diskplads. This operation is irreversible. Continue? (-) Denne handling vil ikke kunne fortrydes. Fortsæt? (+) Denne handling vil ikke kunne fortrydes. Vil du fortsætte? Save changes to Document1? (-) Gem ændringerne i Dokument1? (+) Skal ændringerne i Dokument1 gemmes? The article is often left out in the source text. Always include the article in Danish as this improves readability: (+) Cannot open file (+) Filen kan ikke åbnes (+) Insert floppy disk (+) Indsæt disketten "Are you sure?" In general the phrasing "Er du sikker på, at... " is avoided as a translation for "Are you sure you want to... ". Instead the more neutral phrasing "Vil du... " is recommended. "Er du sikker på, at... " can however be used in cases where the result of a user action can be that important data are lost e.g. deletion or change of system files or other important files etc.: (+) Eng: Are you sure you want to clear all the form properties for %1? (+) Dan: Vil du nulstille alle formularegenskaberne for %1? 80

81 (+) Eng: Are you sure you want to delete the file? (+) Dan: Er du sikker på, at du vil slette denne fil? Note: In Windows Vista the phrasing Er du sikker på, at du vil... is the preferred translation of Are you sure you want... Full stop after error messages In Danish error messages are always ended with a full stop. Standard Phrases in Error Messages When translating standard phrases it is important that the translation is standardized. Note that sometimes the US uses different forms to express the same thing. English Translation Example Comment Cannot Could not kan ikke Filen kan ikke åbnes Failed to Failure of blev ikke Programmet blev ikke lukket Cannot find Could not find Unable to find Unable to locate blev ikke Filen blev ikke fundet Not enough memory Insufficient memory There is not enough memory There is not enough memory available Der er ikke tilstrækkelig hukommelse Der er ikke tilstrækkelig hukommelse på USBflashdrevet... is not available er ikke tilgængelig Filen er ikke tilgængelig 81

82 English Translation Example Comment... is unavailable 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, see examples below: %d, %ld, %u, and %lu means <number> %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". Some placeholders may cause translation problems if the term represented should be conjugated. In Danish the term is conjugated by changing the ending of the noun (or adjective/adverb) instead of adding an article. Usually it is possible to work around this issue by adding a demonstrative pronoun in front of the term in Danish. However, this requires an instruction on which term the placeholder is representing. (+) To identify the caller you need to open the <placeholder> in the Axapta Resource module. (placeholder represents 'contact card') (+) Hvis du vil identificere den person, der ringer op, skal du åbne det <placeholder>, der findes i ressourcemodulet i Axapta 82

83 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 relation to keys with names the key names is written in full with initial capital followed by the relevant sign in parentheses i.e. plus (+), minus (-), hyphen (-), asterisk (*). Ctrl+- Alt+* Shift++ Shift+- Ctrl+-(hyphen) Alt+*(asterisk) Skift++(plus) Skift+-(minus) Note that keys without names are written in lower caps. (+) Tryk på mellemrumstasten. (+) Tryk på Ctrl-Skift-bindestreg for at tilføje en hård bindestreg ved orddeling. Two expressions are used to describe key punches i.e. tryk på and skriv. Tryk på is used in relation to key combinations or keys used to perform commands. (+) Skriv adgangskoden. (+) Tryk på F1 for at få flere oplysninger. Usually, it is not a problem to leave out the word tast (US key) when describing specific keys. (+) Eng: Press the Enter key to set the size. (+) Dan: Tryk på Enter for at ændre størrelsen. (+) Eng: Press the right key and then the spacebar. (+) Dan: Tryk på højre pil og derefter på mellemrum. If it is necessary to translate the X key the name of the key is followed by -tasten. (+) Eng: The Esc key is located at the top left corner of the keyboard. (+) Dan: Esc-tasten findes øverst til venstre på tastaturet. 83

84 Key Names English Key Name Alt Backspace Break Caps Lock Ctrl Delete Down Arrow End Enter Esc Home Insert Left Arrow Num Lock Page Down Page Up Pause Right Arrow Scroll Lock Danish Key Name Alt Backspace Break Caps Lock Control Delete Pil ned End Enter Esc Home Insert Venstre pil Num Lock Page Down Page Up Pause Højre pil Scroll Lock 84

85 Shift Spacebar Tab Up Arrow Windows key Print Screen Menu key Skift Mellemrumstast Tab Pil op Windows-tast Print Screen Kontekstmenu Access Keys/Hotkeys Sometimes, there are underlined or highlighted letters in menu options, commands or dialog boxes. These letters refer to access keys (also known as hotkeys) that allow you to run commands, perform tasks, etc. more quickly. It is crucial that especially the Office applications are consistent in their use of command names, key combinations etc. If the translator is uncertain as to which program is prioritized, Windows takes precedence over Office. Hot Key Special Options Usage: Is It Allowed? Notes "Slim characters", such as I, l, t, r, f can be used as hotkey yes 85