Grammatical Features in UI Localization

Many UI elements contain dynamic, user-generated, or system-generated text that must follow the grammatical rules of the target language. A direct translation often fails because:

• The user's gender, case, politeness level, or plurality affects the wording.
• Certain languages don't allow concatenation, making text assembly problematic.
• UI elements like notifications, tooltips, buttons, and status messages require grammatically correct variations.

Examples of UI Elements Affected by Grammar

Common Pitfalls in UI Localization

❌ String Concatenation Fails:

• A UI notification like "User " + name + " sent you a message" may break in languages that require case changes.
  • Wrong in Russian: "Пользователь Анна отправил вам сообщение." (should be Анна → Анна отправила).
  • Fix: Use a localization framework that dynamically adjusts word forms.

❌ Assuming Gender-Neutrality:

• English does not require gendered adjectives, but languages like French, Spanish, and Italian do.
  • Example: "You are a registered user" →
    • ✅ French (male): "Vous êtes un utilisateur enregistré."
    • ✅ French (female): "Vous êtes une utilisatrice enregistrée."
  • Fix: Use gender-neutral phrasing where possible or allow dynamic gender handling.

❌ Direct Translations Ignore Verb Forms:

• A button label saying "Post" may require different forms in different languages:
  • English: "Post" (imperative verb)
  • French: "Publier" (infinitive) or "Publiez" (imperative, formal)
  • German: "Beitrag veröffentlichen" (noun + verb phrase)
  • Fix: Use localized verb handling instead of assuming one form fits all.

2. Solution Requirements

For internationalized UI elements, the system must:

1. Support Dynamic Gender & Case Handling:
   • Avoid assuming gender-neutrality unless it works in all target languages.
2. Format Text Without String Concatenation:
   • Use localization frameworks that allow variable substitution and case/gender adjustments.
3. Enable UI Text Variations for Politeness Levels:
   • Some languages (Japanese, Korean) require honorific versions.
4. Use ICU MessageFormat or i18n Libraries:
   • Solutions like ICU, gettext, i18next, or Symfony Translation handle these issues natively.

3. Demos: Implementing UI Localization with Grammatical Adjustments

Minimal Implementation: Gender Handling in UI

A welcome message should change based on user gender.

Using ICU MessageFormat (Best Practice)

{
  "welcome": "{GENDER, select, male {Bienvenue, cher utilisateur!} female {Bienvenue, chère utilisatrice!} other {Bienvenue!}}"
}

💡 Why? This avoids hardcoded conditions and works with i18n tools like i18next, Symfony, and gettext.

JavaScript with i18next

import i18next from 'i18next';

i18next.init({
  lng: 'fr',
  resources: {
    fr: {
      translation: {
        welcome: {
          male: "Bienvenue, cher utilisateur!",
          female: "Bienvenue, chère utilisatrice!",
          other: "Bienvenue!",
        },
      },
    },
  },
});

const gender = "female"; 
console.log(i18next.t(`welcome.${gender}`)); // Outputs: "Bienvenue, chère utilisatrice!"

Robust Implementation: Case Handling in UI

For a form dropdown, a country name may require a case change.

Example: German Case Inflection for "Your Country"

{
  "your_country": "{CASE, select, nominative {Deutschland} dative {aus Deutschland} other {Deutschland}}"
}

💡 Why? This ensures a correct case ending based on sentence structure.

PHP with Symfony Translation

use Symfony\Component\Translation\Translator;
use Symfony\Component\Translation\Loader\ArrayLoader;

$translator = new Translator('de');
$translator->addLoader('array', new ArrayLoader());
$translator->addResource('array', [
    'your_country' => '{CASE, select, nominative {Deutschland} dative {aus Deutschland} other {Deutschland}}'
], 'de');

$case = 'dative';
echo $translator->trans("your_country", ['CASE' => $case]); // Outputs: aus Deutschland

Dynamic Verb Forms in UI Buttons

Problem: A "Delete File" button needs the correct verb form:

• English: "Delete File"
• Spanish: "Eliminar archivo" (infinitive)
• German: "Datei löschen" (infinitive)
• Japanese: "ファイルを削除" (noun + verb)

Solution: Use Context-Based Translations

{
  "delete_button": {
    "en": "Delete File",
    "es": "Eliminar archivo",
    "de": "Datei löschen",
    "ja": "ファイルを削除"
  }
}

💡 Why? Instead of dynamically inserting verbs, pre-translate entire button labels.

4. Implementation Guide

Completion Criteria

✅ UI elements correctly adapt based on gender, case, politeness, or conjugation.
✅ Concatenation is avoided in favor of templating/localization frameworks.
✅ Gender-neutral phrasing is used where possible.
✅ Fallbacks exist for cases where grammar-based UI changes aren’t available.

Testing Considerations

🔹 Check UI Consistency: Ensure buttons, dropdowns, and notifications match grammatical expectations.
🔹 Test with Native Speakers: Automated translation tools may not detect case/gender errors.
🔹 Verify Fallbacks: If a UI lacks gender data, ensure a neutral message appears instead of broken text.

Final Takeaways

• Gender, case, and verb forms affect UI localization more than expected.
• Concatenation should be avoided in favor of structured templates.
• Localization frameworks (ICU, i18next, Symfony, gettext) simplify handling grammatical features.
• Testing with real-world UI scenarios is essential to catch errors not obvious in English-based development.