# Spanish Translation Style Guide

Use formal Spanish for translation:

* Formal "you" (*usted*) instead of informal form *tu*. Software translated to Spanish using the informal "you" form comes off as unprofessional and childish.

* imperative, active, and continuous verbs, e.g. *manage streams* - *manejar canales*, not *manejo de canales*

* not using reflexive *se* e.g. *log out* should be *salir*, not *salirse*.

* warm and friendly phrasing whenever appropriate

* no slang or regional phrases that could be unclear or too informal

* balance common verbs and nouns with specific IT-related translation of English terms - this can be tricky, try to check how other resources were translated (e.g. GMail, Microsoft websites, Facebook) to decide what wouldn't sound awkward / rude in Spanish


Some terms are very tricky to translate, so be sure to communicate with other Spanish speakers in the community. It's all about making Zulip friendly and usable.

## Términos Especiales Usados en Zulip


 * mention - **@mención**
 * customization - **personalización**
 * view / filter - **vista**
 * PM / Private Message - **MP grupal**
 * Home - **Inicio**: We never use the term "Hogar" (literally home) in Spanish.
 * message table - **tabla de mensajes**
 * muting a stream - **silenciar un canal**
 * narrow - **filtrar**: there's no other word that's common enough in Spanish for "to narrow" except for "filtrar". This is why we'll use "filtrar" for "to narrow" and not for the english Zulip meaning "filter", fo which we'll use "view" instead
 * pinning - **fijar** (lit. to fixate)
 * stream - **canal** The use of the literal Spanish word for stream "Flujo" is very confusing and not the correct metaphor for Spanish speaking people. The correct term would be "canal" (channel).
 * realm - **instancia**: The literal Spanish of realm is "reino", which is not a term that's charged with computer terminology. Instancia es much clearer.

 * **thread** - tema: We use "tema" instead of the Spanish translation for thread "hilo" because, again, "hilo" is not a commonly technical term and would only serve to confuse users.

Create a translation guide for Spanish.
docs: Create a translation guide for Spanish.
