# Swedish WordPress Translation Guide — sv_SE

Translate WordPress strings from English into natural, concise Swedish. Preserve the complete meaning and all technical functionality.

## 1. Core language rules

- Write natural Swedish; translate meaning, not English wording or syntax.
- Preserve all information from the source. Do not add information.
- Prefer modern, everyday language that is friendly, clear and concise.
- Prefer active voice and natural Swedish word order.
- Address a single user as **du**. Use **ni** only when clearly addressing several people.
- Avoid unnecessary jargon, slang and overly formal language.
- Rewrite idioms naturally; do not translate them word-for-word.
- Preserve humor only when it works naturally in Swedish. If necessary, omit the joke, but never the underlying information.
- Avoid särskrivning. Form normal Swedish compound words.
- Technical correctness overrides stylistic preferences when they conflict.

## 2. Terminology

Use established Swedish WordPress terminology.

For terminology, authority is:

1. Swedish Locale Glossary.
2. Current usage in trusted WordPress projects, when the glossary is absent or contextually ambiguous.
3. Natural Swedish appropriate to the context and this guide.

A glossary term normally overrides other preferences when it applies to the same meaning and context.

Do not blindly copy translation memory or isolated existing translations. They may be incorrect, outdated or contextually inappropriate.

### Terminology research

Research terminology only when a relevant term is uncertain.

First check:

https://translate.wordpress.org/locale/sv/default/glossary/

If the glossary does not resolve the question, search CURRENT translations in the configured reference projects.

Search the **English originals** for the relevant source term or meaningful phrase, then inspect the corresponding Swedish translations in comparable contexts.

Prefer:
- repeated, contextually relevant usage over isolated examples;
- Core usage for general WordPress/UI terminology;
- project-specific terminology when the context belongs to that domain;
- contextual suitability over raw frequency.

Existing translations are evidence, not authority. Frequency alone does not determine the correct translation.

If sources disagree:
- follow the Locale Glossary when applicable;
- otherwise prefer well-established Core usage for general WordPress terminology;
- otherwise choose the translation best supported by meaning, context and Swedish usage.

Do not use general translation memory as authoritative terminology evidence.

## 3. Names

- Do not translate names of plugins, themes, products, companies or trademarks.
- Preserve their official capitalization.
- Translate descriptive UI text belonging to plugins/themes normally.
- Preserve **WordPress** exactly.

## 4. Capitalization

- Use Swedish sentence case, not English Title Case.
- This applies to headings, menu items, labels and similar UI text unless a proper name requires capitalization.
- Preserve official capitalization of names and trademarks.

## 5. Punctuation and typography

- Use Swedish quotation marks: **”…”**
- Convert English prose quotes to Swedish quotation marks, but preserve ASCII quotes required by code, HTML or syntax.
- Do not use apostrophes for ordinary Swedish genitives.
- Do not use an Oxford comma: **röd, grön och blå**.
- Use comma as decimal separator: **3,14**.
- Headings, buttons and short UI labels normally have no final period.
- Avoid semicolons when a period, comma or dash is more natural.
- A slash has no surrounding spaces. Prefer **och** or **eller** when that is clearer.
- Use the ellipsis character **…** where an ellipsis is intended.
- Use an en dash without spaces for ranges: **9–15**.
- Do not replace **från … till** or **mellan … och** with a dash.

## 6. Numbers, dates and units

- In running prose, normally write **procent**.
- In compact UI, tables or similar contexts, use **10 %**.
- Put a space between numbers and units: **6 km**, **20 MB**, **10 %**.
- Use Swedish date order: day, month, year.
- Use 24-hour time.
- Typical date/time: **3 januari 2013 kl. 20:59**.
- Use **YYYY-MM-DD** for purely numeric dates when appropriate.

## 7. Technical integrity — MUST

- Preserve placeholders correctly: `%s`, `%d`, `%1$s`, `%2$d`, `%@`, `%%`, `###NAME###`, `===NAME===`, etc.
- Never translate placeholder contents unless explicitly intended by the format.
- Preserve HTML/XML tags, attributes, entities, URLs, code and other non-translatable syntax.
- Never add, remove or alter HTML attributes or other syntax in a way that changes behavior.
- Preserve required leading/trailing whitespace and intentional line breaks.
- Respect translator comments and contextual information.
- Respect UI length constraints when context indicates one.
- Preserve plural semantics.
- Reordering numbered placeholders is allowed when required by natural Swedish syntax.
- Never alter functionality in order to improve the translation.

When unsure whether text is prose or syntax, preserve the syntax.

## 8. Context

Interpret words according to their function in the actual string.

The same English word may require different Swedish translations in different contexts. Do not force glossary or corpus matches that refer to another meaning.

Pay attention to:
- noun vs. verb;
- UI command vs. description;
- singular vs. plural;
- user-facing vs. developer-facing text;
- surrounding placeholders;
- translator comments;
- product/domain context.

Developer-facing strings may retain established technical terminology that would be unsuitable in ordinary user-facing Swedish.

## 9. Final validation

Before returning a translation, verify:

1. All source information is preserved.
2. Nothing unsupported has been added.
3. The result sounds written in Swedish, not translated from English.
4. Applicable glossary terminology is used consistently.
5. Swedish compounds, capitalization and punctuation are correct.
6. Every placeholder is present and valid.
7. Code, markup, URLs and syntax remain functional.
8. No accidental whitespace changes were introduced.

## Configuration

```yaml
locale: sv_SE

references:
  glossary:
    https://translate.wordpress.org/locale/sv/default/glossary/

  style_guide:
    https://wpsv.se/engagera-dig/stilguide-for-oversattningar/

  wordpress_translation_rules:
    https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/translating/expectations/

terminology_corpus:
  core:
    project: wp/dev
    priority: primary

  woocommerce:
    project: wp-plugins/woocommerce/stable
    priority: domain

  default_theme:
    slug: twentytwentyfive
    priority: supplementary
```

### Corpus search URL templates

Replace `{TERM}` with the English term or phrase being researched.

**WordPress Core**
```text
https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev/sv/default/?filters%5Bterm%5D={TERM}&filters%5Bterm_scope%5D=scope_originals&filters%5Bstatus%5D=current&filter=Apply+Filters
```

**WooCommerce**
```text
https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/woocommerce/stable/sv/default/?filters%5Bterm%5D={TERM}&filters%5Bterm_scope%5D=scope_originals&filters%5Bstatus%5D=current&filter=Apply+Filters
```

**Current default theme**
```text
https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-themes/{DEFAULT_THEME_SLUG}/sv/default/?filters%5Bterm%5D={TERM}&filters%5Bterm_scope%5D=scope_originals&filters%5Bstatus%5D=current&filter=Apply+Filters
```

Set `{DEFAULT_THEME_SLUG}` from `terminology_corpus.default_theme.slug`.

## Reference policy

The links above serve two different purposes:

- **Normative references:** Locale Glossary and Swedish Style Guide define Swedish terminology and style.
- **Research corpus:** Core, WooCommerce and the configured default theme provide evidence of current real-world usage.

Do not assume that an existing WordPress.org translation is correct merely because it exists.