Russian Translation Notes

Russian (ru) Translation Notes

Audience

Russian is an official or widely-used language across multiple regions:

Region	Russian Speakers	Notes
Russia	~145 million	Standard reference
Belarus	~7 million	Official language alongside Belarusian
Kazakhstan	~10 million	Official language
Kyrgyzstan	~3 million	Official language
Baltic States	~2 million	Significant minority
Diaspora (US, DE, IL)	~5 million	Mixed usage patterns

Our translations should be accessible to all Russian speakers regardless of location.

Standard Written Russian

Use standard written Russian (литературный язык) as found in major Russian-language tech products with standard vocabulary, established IT terminology, and natural phrasing.

Standard vocabulary recognized across all regions
Established IT terminology
Natural phrasing without regional colloquialisms

What this means in practice:

IT terminology has no regional variants — “шифрование”, “аутентификация”, “сервер” are universal
UI vocabulary is neutral — “Войти”, “Настройки”, “Отправить” work everywhere
Avoid informal regional expressions in professional contexts

Quality Benchmark

PR #2130 (December 2025), submitted by a contributor from Minsk, Belarus, demonstrates the expected quality standard: neutral literary Russian without regional markers, appropriate for a global audience. This serves as a reference for future contributions.

Thinking Behind Translation Adjustments

The goal is to ensure accuracy, consistency, natural phrasing for Russian speakers, and adherence to the provided translation guidelines while properly handling Russian grammatical complexity.

1. Consistency of Core Terms

Rationale: Russian translations must maintain consistent terminology across the application, with special attention to grammatical agreement and proper technical vocabulary.

Examples:

secret: Consistently translated as секрет (masculine gender) when referring to the confidential item being shared. This aligns with the guideline to emphasize the confidential item. The masculine gender requires proper agreement: секрет создан (the secret was created), секрет удалён (the secret was deleted).
password: Consistently translated as пароль when referring to the account login credential. This is the standard term in Russian for account passwords. Used in contexts like account login and password reset.
passphrase: Consistently translated as кодовая фраза when referring to the protection for an individual secret. This compound term clearly distinguishes it from the account пароль and follows the guideline to use a term implying a phrase-based security measure. Alternative considered: парольная фраза, but кодовая фраза sounds more professional.
Dashboard: Translated as Панель управления (Control Panel) for better accuracy in professional software context, which is more descriptive than just Панель.
Sign In: Translated as Войти (infinitive form used as imperative) - the standard, concise term for authentication in Russian interfaces.
burn: Translated as уничтожить (to destroy) rather than literal сжечь (to burn). The literal translation would sound awkward in digital context. For status: уничтожен. Alternative: удалить (delete) is acceptable but less emphatic about permanence.

Why “секрет” not “тайна”

The word “secret” in English maps to two Russian words with different connotations:

Word	Connotation	IT Usage	Recommendation
секрет	Technical, neutral	Common (“API secret”, “секретный ключ”)	Use this
тайна	Personal, emotional	Rare	Avoid

Unlike the Danish case (where “Hemmeligheder” carries childish connotations requiring “Beskeder”), Russian “секрет” works perfectly in professional/security contexts. No exception needed.

2. Appropriate Voice (Imperative vs. Declarative/Passive)

Rationale: Guidelines specify imperative for user actions (buttons, links) and passive/declarative for informational text (status, descriptions, help).

Examples:

Button text: Use infinitive forms that function as imperatives
- Создать секрет (Create secret)
- Скопировать в буфер обмена (Copy to clipboard)
- Подтвердить (Confirm)
Status descriptions: Use short-form past participles with proper gender agreement
- Скопировано в буфер обмена (Copied to clipboard - neuter, passive)
- Секрет создан (Secret created - masculine, passive)
- Ссылка создана (Link created - feminine, passive)
Help text: Use declarative sentences with polite вы form
- Вы просматриваете секретное содержимое (You are viewing the secret content)
- Это содержимое отображается только один раз (This content is shown only once)

3. Clarity and Natural Phrasing

Rationale: Some translations require adaptation to sound natural in Russian while maintaining clarity.

Examples:

copied to clipboard: Translated as Скопировано в буфер обмена (standard Russian phrase, neuter gender agrees with implicit “содержимое”/content)
FAQ: Translated as Частые вопросы or Вопросы и ответы (clearer than abbreviation, which doesn’t work well in Russian)
Loading...: Translated as Загрузка... (standard, using nominative case)
Remember me: Translated as Запомнить меня (infinitive form, more natural than imperative Запомни меня which sounds too direct)

4. Formal Address (Вы)

Rationale: Russian requires choosing between informal “ты” and formal “вы”. Professional software should consistently use the formal “вы” form with capital В when directly addressing the user.

Examples:

Most user-facing instructions use forms implying formal “вы”:

Введите Ваш пароль (Enter your password - formal)
Ваше секретное сообщение (Your secret message - formal possessive)
Вы можете... (You can… - formal, capitalized)

When to capitalize Вы:

Always capitalize when directly addressing the user in singular formal context
Вы, Вас, Вам, Вами, Ваш, Ваша, Ваше, Ваши

5. Gender Agreement

Rationale: Russian requires strict gender agreement between nouns, adjectives, and past participles.

Critical genders to remember:

секрет (secret) - masculine → создан, удалён, активный
ссылка (link) - feminine → создана, удалена, активная
сообщение (message) - neuter → создано, удалено, активное
шифрование (encryption) - neuter → включено, выключено

Examples:

✓ Секрет был создан (The secret was created - masculine)
✗ Секрет была создана (incorrect feminine agreement)
✓ Ссылка была создана (The link was created - feminine)
✓ Сообщение было создано (The message was created - neuter)

6. Plural Forms (Russian Three-Form System)

Rationale: Russian requires three distinct plural forms based on the last digit of the number.

Rules:

Singular form: numbers ending in 1 (except 11)
- 1 день, 21 день, 101 день
First plural form: numbers ending in 2, 3, 4 (except 12, 13, 14)
- 2 дня, 3 дня, 4 дня, 22 дня, 103 дня
Second plural form: numbers ending in 0, 5-9, 11-14
- 5 дней, 10 дней, 11 дней, 25 дней, 100 дней

Implementation examples:

function getRussianPluralForm(count, forms) {
  const n = Math.abs(count) % 100;
  const n1 = n % 10;

  if (n > 10 && n < 20) return forms[2];  // 11-14 дней
  if (n1 > 1 && n1 < 5) return forms[1];  // 2-4 дня
  if (n1 === 1) return forms[0];          // 1 день
  return forms[2];                        // 5+ дней
}

// Usage:
getRussianPluralForm(1, ['день', 'дня', 'дней'])    // день
getRussianPluralForm(2, ['день', 'дня', 'дней'])    // дня
getRussianPluralForm(5, ['день', 'дня', 'дней'])    // дней
getRussianPluralForm(21, ['день', 'дня', 'дней'])   // день

7. Verb Aspects (Perfective vs. Imperfective)

Rationale: Russian verbs have two aspects that convey different meanings.

Perfective aspect (completed action, result-focused):

создать (to create - once, completed)
скопировать (to copy - once, completed)
отправить (to send - once, completed)

Imperfective aspect (process, repeated, or ongoing action):

создавать (to be creating, to create regularly)
копировать (to be copying, to copy regularly)
отправлять (to be sending, to send regularly)

Usage in UI:

Buttons typically use perfective infinitives (single action expected):
- Создать (Create)
- Скопировать (Copy)
- Удалить (Delete)
Descriptions may use imperfective for ongoing states:
- Система шифрует данные (The system encrypts data - ongoing)
- Пользователи создают секреты (Users create secrets - repeated action)

8. Case System

Rationale: Russian has 6 grammatical cases that must be applied correctly.

Common cases in UI:

Nominative (Именительный) - subject of sentence:

секрет (secret)
пароль (password)

Genitive (Родительный) - possession, after negation, with numbers:

создание секрета (creation of a secret)
нет пароля (no password)
5 дней (5 days)

Dative (Дательный) - indirect object, “to/for”:

отправить пользователю (send to user)

Accusative (Винительный) - direct object:

создать секрет (create a secret)
введите пароль (enter password)

Instrumental (Творительный) - “by means of”, “with”:

защищено паролем (protected with password)
зашифровано ключом (encrypted with key)

Prepositional (Предложный) - after certain prepositions:

в панели управления (in the dashboard)
о конфиденциальности (about privacy)

9. Essential Use of Ё

Rationale: The letter Ё must be used where needed, not substituted with Е.

Critical examples:

всё (everything) vs. все (all/everyone)
ещё (still, yet, more) vs. еще (archaic or wrong)
приём (reception) vs. прием (wrong spelling)

Impact on meaning:

передает (передаёт - passes, transmits)
узнает (узнаёт - finds out)

10. Technical Terminology

Rationale: Use established Russian IT terminology.

Standard technical terms:

шифрование (encryption) - not кодирование (encoding)
аутентификация (authentication) - standard transliteration
DNS-запись (DNS record) - hyphenated compound
CNAME-запись (CNAME record) - hyphenated compound
API (API) - unchanged, pronounced as individual letters
токен (token) - transliterated, masculine gender

11. Completeness

Rationale: All user-facing text must be fully translated with proper Russian grammar.

Areas requiring translation:

Button labels and calls to action
Help text and tooltips
Error messages and warnings
Email templates
Marketing copy
System status messages
Form labels and placeholders

Summary of Changes for Russian Locale

Terminology: Standardized key terms like секрет, пароль, кодовая фраза, Панель управления, Войти, окончательное удаление for consistency and guideline adherence
Voice: Consistently applied imperative (infinitive) voice for actions and passive/declarative voice for informational text
Gender Agreement: Ensured proper agreement between nouns, adjectives, and past participles
- секрет (m) → создан, удалён
- ссылка (f) → создана, удалена
- сообщение (n) → создано, удалено
Plural Forms: Implemented three-form plural system for all countable nouns
- 1/21/101 день
- 2-4/22-24 дня
- 5-20/25-30 дней
Formal Address: Consistent use of formal “вы” form with proper capitalization (Вы, Ваш)
Verb Aspects: Proper use of perfective/imperfective aspects based on context
- Perfective for buttons and completed actions
- Imperfective for processes and repeated actions
Case Declension: Correct application of all 6 Russian grammatical cases
Cyrillic Integrity: Proper use of all Cyrillic letters including mandatory Ё
Technical Accuracy: Use of established Russian IT terminology
Natural Phrasing: Idiomatic Russian expressions that sound natural to native speakers

The translations aim for clarity and adherence to standard Russian usage in technical contexts, while respecting the specific grammatical requirements of the Russian language, including gender agreement, plural forms, verb aspects, and case declension.

Common Pitfalls for Russian Translations

1. Key Naming (Technical)

CRITICAL: Never change JSON key names when translating. Only translate values.

// WRONG - key was renamed
- "have-more-questions-visit-our": "Have more questions?"
+ "have_more_questions_visit_our": "Есть вопросы?"  // BREAKS APPLICATION!

// CORRECT - only value changed
  "have-more-questions-visit-our": "Есть ещё вопросы? Посетите наш"

2. Unicode Encoding

Ensure proper UTF-8 encoding. Watch for corruption:

Это�� should be Этот
Check for mojibake (garbled characters)

3. Vue-i18n Pluralization

Russian requires 3 plural forms, but Vue-i18n pipe format varies by version:

// Vue-i18n format (check project version)
"day": "день | дня | дней"

// Verify with test values:
// 1, 21, 31, 101 → день (singular)
// 2, 3, 4, 22, 23, 24 → дня (few)
// 5-20, 25-30, 100 → дней (many)

4. Informal Register Inconsistency

Maintain consistent formal “вы” register throughout:

✓ Вы можете безопасно закрыть эту вкладку
✓ С возвращением (appropriate for “Welcome Back”)
✗ Ну что ж, вперёд (too informal for professional context)

5. Good Translation Examples (from PR #2130)

These translations demonstrate the expected quality:

English	Russian	Why It Works
”What am I looking at?"	"Что я вижу?”	Natural simplification, not literal
”Copy to clipboard"	"Копировать в буфер обмена”	Standard UI term
”Account deleted successfully"	"Аккаунт успешно удалён”	Modern, natural
”Permanently delete account"	"Безвозвратно удалить аккаунт”	Conveys finality
”Welcome Back"	"С возвращением”	Idiomatic, warm but professional
”This action cannot be undone"	"Это действие нельзя отменить”	Clear, direct

6. Character Expansion

Russian typically expands 10-25% from English. Check UI constraints:

Button text: May need shorter alternatives
Navigation labels: Test for wrapping
Form labels: May need multi-line support

Key Differences from Other Languages

Compared to Spanish:

Russian requires gender agreement throughout (Spanish has only 2 genders, Russian has 3)
Russian has 6 cases vs Spanish’s simpler structure
Russian requires 3 plural forms vs Spanish’s 2
Russian uses formal Вы (capitalized) vs Spanish tú/usted distinction
Russian verb aspects (perfective/imperfective) have no Spanish equivalent

Compared to English:

Russian requires explicit gender marking
Russian has complex case system
Russian has three-form plural system
Russian requires aspect selection for verbs
Russian has flexible word order (but standard for UI)
Russian requires formal address form

Unique Russian considerations:

Mandatory use of letter Ё for clarity
Compound technical terms often hyphenated (DNS-запись)
Transliterated English terms maintain original stress and pronunciation patterns
Some English borrowings are preferred in tech contexts (e.g., “email” often used alongside “электронная почта”)