Strings Core Style Guide

Core Style Guide Strings Localization
Strings Localization
Style Guide
For General Amazon Content
Created on June 10, 2021

Last updated on October 18, 2022
Amazon Confidential 0
Contents
Contents ................................................................................................................................................ 1
Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 1
Localization for Strings .......................................................................................................................... 1
Change Log ............................................................................................................................................ 2
1. General Guidelines ....................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Accuracy ................................................................................................................................. 3
1.1.1. Addition .......................................................................................................................... 3
1.1.2. Mistranslation................................................................................................................. 3
1.1.3. Omission ......................................................................................................................... 3
1.1.4. Untranslated ................................................................................................................... 3
1.2. Design ..................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2.1. Markup............................................................................................................................ 4
1.2.2. Overall Design................................................................................................................. 4
1.3. Fluency ................................................................................................................................... 5
1.3.1. Character Encoding ........................................................................................................ 5
1.3.2. Grammar.......................................................................................................................14
1.3.3. Spelling ..........................................................................................................................15
1.3.4. Typography ...................................................................................................................15
1.4. Locale Convention ...............................................................................................................15
1.4.1. Currency Format ..........................................................................................................15
1.4.2. Telephone Format ........................................................................................................15
1.5. Style ......................................................................................................................................16
1.5.1. Company Style ..............................................................................................................16
1.5.2. Unidiomatic ..................................................................................................................18
1.6. Terminology .........................................................................................................................18
1.6.1. Inconsistent with term base ........................................................................................18
1.6.2. Inconsistent with domain ............................................................................................20
2. Appendix A ..................................................................................................................................21
2.1. Amazon Standard Guidelines for Localization Treatment .................................................21
2.2. Exceptions ............................................................................................................................24

3. Appendix B ..................................................................................................................................26
3.1. Marketing content ...............................................................................................................26
Introduction
This is a general Style Guide applicable to Strings projects. The purpose of this style guide is to help
localize content for Amazon in a clear, consistent, friendly, and polite way for a global audience.
Our main goal is to provide translations that are easy to understand for global customers with an
average or low familiarity with Amazon products and services.
Please keep in mind that the following is a general guideline and should be used in combination
with the appendix specific for your target language.
Localization for Strings

String content is often highly visible and customer-facing, so high quality standards should be
maintained for the translation of this content.
You might encounter the following terms in the context of string projects:
• AST: Stands for Amazon String Translator. A translation request tool historically used at
Amazon. Project titles from this system always contain “AST”.
• Panther: The new translation request tool that will eventually replace AST. Project titles
from this system always contain the name of the i18n Family.
• String: A string is traditionally a sequence of characters, either as a literal constant or as

some kind of variable. A string can appear anywhere on a website.
• String ID/tag: A unique identifier for a string. A string ID or tag can contain alphanumeric
characters, dashes (-), and underscores (_), but the first character must be an
alphanumeric character. For AST, the string ID is provided in the “note” in ATMS CAT tool.
Panther projects do not include a string ID, but a key comprised entirely of an alphanumeric
sequence. Example: mip-consequence-link-missing-overdue
Change Log
Date Section (ctrl+click to get there) Change description
11/06/2021 2.1 Added instructions regarding the translation
of brands.
13/07/2021 1.5.1. Expanded instructions regarding the use of
acronyms.
13/07/2021 3. Added Appendix B – Marketing content
13/08/2021 1.3.1 Updated the information on ICU Formatting.
01/10/2021 ICU Formatting Added placeholders’ specification in ICU
formatting.
01/04/2022 ICU Formatting Added more specific instructions and
paragraph about New Method
21/04/2022 Capitalization Added examples
02/05/2022 Specific Capitalization Rules Added instructions about retaining brand
capitalization for non-Amazon brands
16/05/2022 Placeholders Added information about identifying
placeholders
16/09/2022 Inconsistent with term base Added a paragraph specifying that context
notes take precedence over TB matches
14/10/2022 Company style Added a paragraph specifying that
translations must comply with any special
instructions issued with a job
1.General Guidelines
1.1. Accuracy
1.1.1. Addition
Do not include text in the target that is not present in the source.
1.1.2. Mistranslation
• The target must accurately represent source content.
• The terms provided by the MT engine or secondary term bases (e.g. any term base
other than the Global TB) may not always be the most appropriate ones in the given
context; therefore, please make sure to double-check the output and make
amendments where necessary.
URLs
Do not translate or change URLs. If a source text refers to amazon.com, translators
should not replace that with local sites (amazon.fr, amazon.co.jp, or even
aws.amazon.com/pt, aws.amazon.com/jp).
1.1.3. Omission
Do not omit information that is present in the source.
1.1.4. Untranslated
Do not leave any foreign words in the target, unless they are also common in the target
language or specified in the term base.
Example (English to Italian text):
Source Incorrect Translation Correct Translation

Device not included Device non incluso Dispositivo non incluso
1.2. Design
1.2.1. Markup
Tags
• It is vital to ensure that the target contains all tags from the source. However, please
remember that while the tags remain the same, you may need to move them around
to ensure language fluency.
• Since as per Guidelines you should follow the source format, all errors relating to tags
should be resolved before file delivery.
• You can find guidance on how to do this in the section below.
1.2.2. Overall Design

Erroneous Page Breaks
It is easy to add incorrect page breaks accidentally in ATMS Editor. While this issue might
be difficult to discern, it creates extra lines that result in compatibility issues when
uploading the final files to Amazon platforms and blocks delivery. Please check documents
prior to final delivery by doing the following:
• After completing the translation, run the QA checker (F9) as usual.
• You will get several errors (spelling, terminology, etc.). You need to check them all and
solve/ignore as usual.
• To detect the additional line breaks, activate hidden characters in ATMS by clicking on
the paragraph mark button (¶) on the top right corner in the Web editor (tip: you can
filter by “type” by clicking on the word to make it easier to check that there are no
remaining tag/formatting issues).
• Position the cursor behind the line break, delete the line break and confirm the
segment again.
• If you run QA again, the Tags/Formatting error will no longer show.
1.3. Fluency
1.3.1. Character Encoding
XML and HTML characters
If the source text contains XML or HTML entities (e.g. &), please use the actual
character (e.g. & as opposed to &) in your target so long as it adheres to the grammar
rules in your target language. If you do not know what character an XML/HTML entity
stands for, please look it up in this reference page.
If the character is not widely used in your locale (e.g. “&” is not grammatically correct or
common in your target) please remove the character and all encoding entirely, and replace
it with the equivalent in your target language.
UI Content
The client UI team uses “strings” in Amazon String Translator (AST) or Panther that are
reflected in ATMS as segments.
UI Context
Some string translations requests contain metadata with additional context for how the
string will be used. This information is displayed in the lower left section in ATMS Web
Editor. Metadata may include:
• String ID/Key: Multiple segments may make up one string. This occurs when the string
contains a character based on which ATMS creates a segment (e.g. a full stop). To know
which segments correspond to a unique string, see if they share the same string ID/key
by looking at the context note.
See a Panther key provided in the Context Note:
See an AST String ID is provided in the Context Note:
• Context/Note: Optional context for linguists that provides more specifics about the
string or a URL where the string is used.
o Make sure you have enabled Context Notes on ATMS (path: Web Editor > Tools
> Context Notes; shortcut: Alt + N).
• Instructions/Note: Optional context from requester with additional instructions for

linguists.
ICU Formatting
When translating please take placeholder-rendered content into account.
Amazon uses the ICU standard to represent variable elements like numbers, dates, and
time. Please review the ICU Documentation to understand what the placeholders mean
and make sure that they are coherent in your translation from a syntax and grammar
perspective. You may need to reorder the placeholders to fit the grammar of the target
language, but do not modify the placeholders unless otherwise required by the Appendix
of your target language.
Placeholders
Placeholders can take a variety of forms: they may be written in block capitals or entirely
in lowercase letters – or they may not at all consist of letters.
When they start with a non-alphabetic symbol they are easy to spot. However, even in
cases where they consist of recognizable words written in alphabetical letters, they look
out of place in their surrounding text by being very general and descriptive.
As placeholders are meant to stand out, you can assume that they are not misspelled in the
source. Because of this, the placeholder in the target should not be changed to look
different from the one in the source, unless you have been explicitly instructed to make
changes of this kind for the particular project or in the relevant appendix.
Below are some examples of different placeholders you may encounter:
{username} %contact_name% {{1:hh}}

%{count} ${contactName} DeliveryTime
%lu $s %1$@
Message Format: Numbers

Example 1:
The placeholder will be automatically rendered for the customer as an integer reflecting
the desired value. The value will be rendered per locale convention (e.g. 1,530 for some
locales and 1.530 for other locales). With this in mind, make sure the placeholder is located
within the sentence as target grammar dictates.
Example 2:
The placeholder will be automatically rendered for the customer either as an integer or a
digit-letters combination reflecting the desired ordinal value (e.g. 3rd for English and 3e for
French). With this in mind, make sure the placeholder is located within the sentence as
target grammar dictates.
Message Format: Date & Time

Example:
The placeholders will be automatically rendered per locale convention (e.g. date will be
presented as Feb 3, 2001 for en-US and 3 févr. 2001 for fr-FR). With this in mind, make
sure the placeholders are located within the sentence as target grammar dictates.
Message Format: Plurals

These strings are recognized by the presence of multiple similar statements in one or
several consecutive segments and typically have the word ‘plural’ in the beginning. They
are used to provide plural alternatives when a statement will need to vary based on the
exact value of a numerical placeholder.
Each of these statements is associated with an instance. An instance is the abstraction of

a number or a group of numbers that follow the same pluralization rule in a specific
language. For example, English has two instances: “one” (for number one: e.g. “1 day”) and
“other” (for all numbers other than one: e.g. “0 days”, “2 days”, “7 days”). By contrast,
some languages like Chinese use the same instance for both singular and plural (“1 天” /
“5 天”). This single instance is known as “other” (i.e. everything, since it is the only
instance). Inversely, some Slavic languages such as Czech have one singular (“1 den”) and
three different plural forms (“2 dny” / “1,5 dne” / “5 dní”). These plural instances are
known as “one”, “few”, “many” and “other” respectively. Some languages like Arabic can
have up to six different instances (“zero”, “one”, “two”, “few”, “many” and “other”). You
can see the relevant instances of a specific language with examples here.
In addition to these group abstractions marked with words like “zero”, “one”, “few”,
“many” and “other” (e.g. unlike other languages, the instance “zero” in Latvian includes
not only “0”, but also values like “10”, “30”, etc.), it is also possible to specify individual
values. This is done by using digits after the equal symbol. For example, “=0” (as opposed
to “zero”) only includes value “0” in any language, also in Latvian.
Note that, although strings with a plural message format consist of multiple statements to
cover all pluralization possibilities, the end user will only see the statement with the
relevant instance.
A message format consists of constructs and translatable text, and may also contain
placeholders:
• A construct is the code that connects the instances with the translatable text.
Constructs must not be altered nor change position.
• A translatable text is the text that must be translated according to the rules of the
target language and will be displayed to the user.
• A placeholder is a wild card that is inserted in the translatable code and is

automatically replaced with the relevant value when displayed to the user. As a
general rule, placeholders must not be altered (except for Arabic and Hebrew) but
may change position based on the syntactic rules of the target language.
Note the extremely important distinction between constructs and placeholders.

Constructs must keep their location, while placeholders might have to be moved to comply
with the target grammar.
Example 1:
This message has three instances: the instance “=0” will display the message “You have no
items in your cart” when the value is 0, the instance “one” will display the message “You
have 1 item in your cart” when the value is 1 and the instance “other” will display the
message “You have # items in your cart” (“#” being any number other than zero and one)
for any other value.
Tags 1, 2, 4 and 6 are constructs which must keep their position. Tags 3 and 5 are
placeholders and might need to be moved around to comply with target grammar.
Important: Certain languages such as Arabic, Czech, Hebrew and Polish have more than one
plural form (Czech example: “2 dny” / “1,5 dne” / “5 dní”). Always follow the specific
instructions of your locale-specific appendix. You can find which instances are relevant for
your target language here.
Note for Arabic/Hebrew translators: To comply with the target grammar, you may need to
remove tag 3 above in accordance with your locale-specific appendix.
Example 2:
Tags 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 are constructs, which must keep their position. Tags 3, 5,
7, 9, 11 and 13 are placeholders, which might need to be moved around to comply with
the target grammar.
Important: For languages that follow the English pluralization pattern (i.e. one form for the
singular and one form for the plural) or only have one form for both the singular and the
plural, the translation of the “zero”, “two”, “few”, “many” and “other” statements should
be identical. By contrast, certain languages such as Arabic, Czech, Hebrew and Polish have
more than one plural form. Please make sure to translate all instances accordingly (check
your locale-specific appendix).
Note for Arabic/Hebrew translators: to comply with target grammar, you may need to
remove tags no. 5 and 7 above in accordance with your locale-specific appendix.
Example 3:
This message has four instances: the instance “=0” will display the message “0 hours to
takeoff” when the value is 0, the instance “one” will display the message “1 hour to take
off” when the value is 1, the instance “two” will display the message “2 hours to takeoff”
when the value is 2 and the instance “other” will display the message “# hours to takeoff”
for any other value.
Tags 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are constructs which must keep their position. Tags 2, 4, 6 and 8 might
need to be moved around to comply with the target grammar.
Note for Arabic/Hebrew translators: to comply with the target grammar, you may need to
remove tags 4 and 6 in accordance with your locale-specific appendix.
Message Format: Select
These strings are recognized by the presence of multiple alternative statements in one or
several consecutive segments and typically have the word ‘select’ in the beginning. They
are used when the message to be displayed will need to vary based on alternative
conditions.
Just like for the plural message format, constructs must keep their position, while
placeholders might have to be moved to comply with target grammar. As a rule of thumb,
constructs end with an opening curly bracket ({) and placeholders end with a closing curly
bracket (}). However, the final construct also ends with a closing curly bracket.
Example:
This select message has several instances which will display alternative messages in
different scenarios (as defined by the code written by the developer). Note how tags 1, 2,
5, 9, 10, 14 and 19 are constructs, which must remain at the exact same position in the
target. Tags 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 are placeholders, which should be moved
around when necessary based on their possible values according to the target grammar.
Message Format: Plural + Select
Some strings might contain plural messages nested in select constructs like below:
Tags 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 26, 29, 33 are constructs, which must remain at the
exact same position in the target. Tags 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27,
28, 30, 31, 32 are placeholders, which should be moved around as required by the target
grammar. Below you can see the simplified structure of the nested statement, with the
outer select construct marked in blue, the inner plural message marked in green and its
translatable plural sentences marked in black (the last sentence contains one extra
placeholder to indicate the “other” time unit):
{timeUnit, select, DAY {{number, plural, one {sentence with 2 placeholders} other
{sentence with 2 placeholders}}} WEEK {{number, plural, one {sentence with
2 placeholders}, other {sentence with 2 placeholders}}} MONTH {{number, plural, one
{sentence 2 with placeholders} other {sentence with 2 placeholders}}} YEAR {{number,
plural, one {sentence with 2 placeholders} other {sentence with 2 placeholders}}} other
{sentence with 3 placeholders}}
New method
Aiming to simplify this complex way of handling pluralization, a new message format has
been developed. Since this new method may co-exist with the one explained above, it is
essential to know both. Here is a comparative table with the main differences between the
old and the new method:
Old method New method
- Source-based instances: The target text - Target-based instances: The translator is

contains the same number of plural presented with the number of plural
instances as the English source. instances that are relevant for the target
language. Each plural instance should be
translated based on its potential values
according to the target grammar.
- Complex segmentation: One segment may - Simple segmentation: Each segment

include several plural instances. includes one plural instance or only a part
of it.
- Confusing tags: Constructs and - Clear tags: Constructs are represented

placeholders are represented with similar with grey collapsed tags and placeholders
tags, hindering differentiation and causing with blue expanded tags for easy
technical issues. recognition.
- No context information: No information - Context information: The context note

about plural instances is contained in the clearly specifies which plural instance
context note. corresponds to a specific segment. This
order varies from language to language,

but it is consistent across all projects.
Important: In order to see tags correctly, apply the following settings on an ATMS project:
Edit -> Tags -> XLIFF Tags -> Message Format Friendly Tags
Caution! Since the source of two different segments may only differ in the content of the
collapsed construct tags, it is important to distrust 99% translation memory matches.
Instead, always check the context note to know the instance.
Example 1:
Each of the above segments contains one of the three relevant instances for French: “one”
(e.g. “0”, “1”, “1,5”), “other” (e.g. “2”, “50”) and “many” (e.g. “1 000 000”, “10 000 000”).
The context note indicates the instance of each segment: “Variable ‘numberOfItems’ has
value ‘one’.” Therefore, the translatable text should be translated as if the blue placeholder
values were “0, 1” or “1,5” (e.g. “0 article”, “1 article”, “1,5 article”).
Example 2:
Similarly, the context note on the above image reads: “Variable ‘numberOfItems’ has value
‘many’.” Therefore, the translatable text of that segment should be translated as if the blue
placeholder values were “1 000 000” or “10 000 000” (e.g. “1 000 000 d’articles”,
“10 000 000 d’articles”).
Important:
• The relevant instances for each target language and their correspondence with
specific numerical values can be found here (the “one” instance corresponds to
values such as 0, 1 and 1,5 in French, but it corresponds to a different set of values
in other languages). This will help you understand how instances work for that
language.
• The exact order of the instances and the values associated to each instance vary from
language to language, but they stay consistent across projects. The order of the
instances does not need to be the same as on the Unicode page, so please make sure
to check the project context notes to know the exact order for your target language.
• Remember to check the relevant locale-specific appendix for further guidance.
Other Resources
• The Online ICU editor can help you visualize which elements are tags and which are
translatable text, as well as show what the end user may see.
1.3.2. Grammar
Content must be of a publishing quality, free of grammar mistakes and typos, and
syntactically flawless.
1.3.3. Spelling
Capitalization
Please follow the source unless it contradicts the capitalization rules of your target
language. For example, follow the source in case you find words or a full sentence in block
capitals (i.e.: 50% OFF), but do not follow it if the sentence is in title case and this does not
apply to your target language (EN source: Click Here Now – IT target: Clicca qui ora).
1.3.4. Typography
Punctuation
Lists and Trailing Punctuation

Please follow source format whenever possible. If it contradicts target language rules, then
follow the language conventions of your target language.
Acronyms
Follow the standard punctuation rules of the target language.
1.4. Locale Convention

Use target language-specific formats and standards, unless otherwise specified.
1.4.1. Currency Format

• Generally, currencies appear as variables (enclosed in curly braces) as a non-
translatable part in the source, so ensure you do not convert them.
• However, if currency symbols or currency ISO codes, such as $, £, €, GBP, EUR, etc. are
included in the translatable part of the source content, copy the same symbol into the
target text and format the spacing and position according to the target language rules.
Note: Segments sometimes use hashgit instead of ICU message formatting. When this
happens, the “$” precedes a variable. Please keep “$” in the target, mirroring the exact
same spacing and format in relation to a variable as in the source.
1.4.2. Telephone Format

Do not localize phone numbers.
1.5. Style
1.5.1. Company Style
Compliance
Any particular requirements or instructions (such as character limits) provided with a job,
in the context notes or elsewhere, must be followed.
UI options
Translate UI options as appropriate for your target locale.
Acronyms
If the acronym is not in the TM or TB, keep it the same as the source (unless there is a well-
known and commonly used translated acronym in your target language that is suitable in-
context.)
Amazon Branded terms
Translation vs Transliteration vs Leaving As Source

The rule of thumb for an Amazon branded terms is:
• Do not translate if the brand can be widely understood (example: “Amazon” in most
languages)
• Transliterate, if it helps readability in other scripts (example: “Originals” in Japanese,

Chinese and Korean)
• Translate, if usability reveals that the brand or sub-brand will not be understood at all
in the target language.
If specific guidelines for your target language contradict the rule of thumb, the specific
guidelines take precedence.
Titles of creative works (books, movies, etc.)

• Do your research: if a translated title already exists in your language, use it.
• If the title does not exist (up to the extent of your research), leave it in the original
language.
• If the title will not be understood at all in the target language and the context does not
indicate that there could be space restrictions, provide a translation and leave the
original in brackets.
Brands, Program, and Products
• If it is not in the term base or translation memory, leave it in English.
• Translate generic product (or feature) names (e.g. sponsored ads, display ads, video
ads, boxes, search page, measurement, and audiences).
• Try to avoid the use of articles.
Acts, Laws and Regulatory Entities

• If there is no official translation, leave it in the source language.
• If the translator believes that the term in the source language will not be easily
understood by the reader, please provide a translation in brackets.
Specific Capitalization Rules

For non-Amazon branded terms (e.g. products and services) that are not translated or
transliterated, respect any brand-specific capitalization even if it conflicts with the
standard conventions for your locale.
Example:
Source Incorrect spelling Correct spelling
iPhone Iphone iPhone
For Amazon terms, consult the following table:
Term/Phrase Definition Examples in Marketecture
Branded product A [trademarked] proper noun (name) of a Amazon Advertising,

or term product, service, offering, or organization (Amazon) Fresh, Kindle, Fire
that has an approved Amazon logo for TV, IMDb
use, or is not translated to other
languages by non-advertising Amazon
teams.
These terms should be capitalized.
Sub-branded A proper noun (name) attributed to a Sponsored Products,

product or term product, service, offering, or organization Sponsored Brands, Stores,
that does not have an approved logo, but Advertiser Audiences
is considered a sub-brand or differentiated
product offering of Amazon Advertising

for strategic product marketing purposes.
These terms should be capitalized.
Generic product An unbranded noun given as a descriptive sponsored ads, display ads,
(and/or feature) name for a product or feature, considered video ads, boxes, search
names to be common-use terminology. page, measurement,
audiences
These terms should be in lowercase.
NOTE: Please refer to Appendix A for a general translation recommendation summary.
1.5.2. Unidiomatic
Sentences should be short and clear. Do not be afraid to distance yourself from the source
to ensure that your translation is idiomatic in your target language.
1.6. Terminology
1.6.1. Inconsistent with term base
Always follow any reference materials applied to projects in ATMS, such as term bases (TB).
Since there might be several TBs, some terms may contradict one another, so please note
prioritization in ATMS.
Any instructions and terms provided in the context notes take precedence over all term
bases.
Term base Prioritization

• Since some terms may contradict one another, please note that the Global TB should
always be prioritized over others.
• If a secondary TB is applied to your project, please look for its name to identify the
team from which it comes. Use your judgement to determine whether it applies to the
string you are working on before escalating enquiries.
Acronym Central TB
• There is a repository in the form of a term base with definitions for Amazon-specific
acronyms.
• The sole purpose of the TB is to provide the expanded acronym as an additional
context, which means the target term entry is always untranslated.
• If a term is included both in the Global TB and in the Acronym Central repository, you
should always default to the Global TB entry.
• You can check where a term comes from in the right-hand pane metadata
(highlighted in yellow):
• Some acronyms have multiple definitions. Please try to make an educated guess based
on the context before escalating inquiries.
1.6.2. Inconsistent with domain

Acts, Laws and Regulatory Entities
Where possible, use the official translation for names of acts, regulatory entities, etc. (e.g.
most EU laws).
2.Appendix A
2.1. Amazon Standard Guidelines for Localization Treatment
Category
Localization
abbreviation Category Definition Governance Example
for TB treatment
P-brand Parent The overarching Branding Default: Left in Amazon

brand Amazon brand that team English
unites all brands and
initiatives. Expressed
through PR, Employer
Brand/Recruiting,
corporate Exceptions: ar_XX, ar_XX: Amazon
communications, and zh_CN and kr_KO > ‫أمازون‬
endorsements to transliterates,
tentpole brands. All except in logos or kr_KO:
equity accrues to the in devices names Amazon > 아마존
parent brand.
Note: There is only one zh_CN: Amazon >
parent one at the 亚马逊
moment: Amazon
Amazon Echo
("Amazon" stays
in English)
T-brand Tentpole Key brands defined by a Branding Default: Left in Prime

brand Structural Equation team English
Model (SEM) as having
an outsized impact on
overall Amazon parent Exceptions: ar_XX, ar_AE: Prime
brand zh_CN and kr_KO > ‫برايم‬
perceptions, and named transliterates,
zh_CN: Prime > プ
brand is the driver (i.e. except in logos or
ライム
aside from the Amazon in devices names
retail brand, a Tentpole kr_KO: Prime
brand name is strong > 프라임
enough to stand on its Kindle (always in

own without English)
“Amazon”), and
supports/its roadmap
includes sub-brands,
and requires VP-level
alignment.
Examples: AWS, Kindle,
Alexa, Prime
S-brand Sub- Satisfies one or more of Branding Default: Left in Echo

brand the criteria of Brand Fit team English when the
to an existing Tentpole brand name
brand, and supports the is suggestive (ie,
overarching Amazon without explicit
brand meaning)
purpose, and does not
support more sub-
brands, requires Exception: Localize Pantry (should be
Director-level when the brand localized)
alignment. name is
descriptive (ie,
Examples: Echo, Pantry, with explicit
Fire TV, Prime Video meaning)
Note: the owning

team can submit
an exception
request to leave a
sub-brand in
English if is
understandable in
the target
marketplace.
E-brand Emerging Satisfies one or none of Branding Default: Left in Amazon Music
brands the criteria of Brand Fit team English when the
to an existing Tentpole brand name
Brand, and supports the is suggestive (ie,
overarching Amazon without explicit
brand meaning)
purpose, and extends Exception: Localize Amazon Care

the Parent Brand into a when the brand
new vertical and does name
not support sub-brands is descriptive (ie,
Examples: Amazon with explicit
Care, Amazon Music, meaning)
Amazon Fresh
Note: the owning
team can submit
an exception
request to leave a
sub-brand in
English if is
understandable in
the target
marketplace.
Company Company IMDb, Book Depository, The Default: In their

and Amazon Studios, etc. company or original language
subsidiary subsidiary
names in question
Devices Names of Devices and Alexa The Default: Left in

Amazon Devices. These have to Amazon English
Devices remain in English as per team
explicit mandate of the owning the
owning teams device
Examples: Fire TV Stick,
Dash Wand, Echo Dot
N-brand Non- Programs, features or The team Default: Localize

branded services that have not owning the
offerings been approved as product,
brands by the Branding service or
team. They may look feature
like brands and even
have their own logo or
icon, but they are not
officially considered
branded offerings.
Examples: Amazon
Second Chance,
Amazon's Choice,
Subscribe&Save
2.2. Exceptions
• Exception for this treatment should be granted when a logical 1:1 translation for any
words within the product name into the local language does not exist.
o An example of this is “display ads” in German: since there is no logical

translation for “display” in German and there is for “ads,” the localized version
of this product name would be “Display-Anzeigen.”
o In this case, we would consider “Display-Anzeigen” the localized version of

“display ads,” even though not every word is translated.
• The final exception is granted on a case-by-case basis for languages using characters
or non-Latin script.
• Based on stakeholder feedback and anecdote, the language barrier for these locales
in Amazon’s reach today is higher than for European non-English locales. Therefore,
an exception is made to translate certain sub-branded, as well as generic terms, to the
local language.
o An example of this is Advertiser Audiences in Japanese and Chinese. While this

remains in English for EU 5 languages, this solution is transliterated in Japanese
to アドバタイザー・オーディエンス and translated in Chinese to 广告主
受众.
3.Appendix B
3.1. Marketing content
The localization style guidelines for marketing content are largely the same as for string
content, but keep the following guidance in mind:
• Be clear and concise – this type of content is likely to be rendered in banners and
graphic form. Keep this in mind and always avoid lengthy translations – always keeping
it equal or shorter than the source is a good rule of thumb!
• Make it sound natural – we want the Amazon voice to remain clear, consistent, friendly
and polite, but that does not mean that translations need to be overly literal or sound
stuffy. As long as the meaning is preserved, feel free to exercise your creativity and
come up with the solutions that sound best in your target language.
• It’s all about context – you’ll get a feel that some source context calls for a more
colloquial approach, whereas other communications will require the usual, more
straightforward tone we use at Amazon. Trust the feel of the source!
We encourage you to raise any queries you may have regarding marketing content.

Strings Core Style Guide

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Strings Core Style Guide

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Core Style Guide Strings Localization

Created on June 10, 2021

2.2. Exceptions ............................................................................................................................24

Localization for Strings

• String: A string is traditionally a sequence of characters, either as a literal constant or as

Example (English to Italian text):

Source Incorrect Translation Correct Translation

• You can find guidance on how to do this in the section below.

1.2.2. Overall Design

• After completing the translation, run the QA checker (F9) as usual.

• If you run QA again, the Tags/Formatting error will no longer show.

See a Panther key provided in the Context Note:

See an AST String ID is provided in the Context Note:

• Instructions/Note: Optional context from requester with additional instructions for

Below are some examples of different placeholders you may encounter:

{username} %contact_name% {{1:hh}}

Message Format: Numbers

Message Format: Date & Time

Message Format: Plurals

Each of these statements is associated with an instance. An instance is the abstraction of

• A placeholder is a wild card that is inserted in the translatable code and is

Note the extremely important distinction between constructs and placeholders.

Message Format: Select

Message Format: Plural + Select

Old method New method

- Source-based instances: The target text - Target-based instances: The translator is

- Complex segmentation: One segment may - Simple segmentation: Each segment

- Confusing tags: Constructs and - Clear tags: Constructs are represented

- No context information: No information - Context information: The context note

order varies from language to language,

Lists and Trailing Punctuation

1.4. Locale Convention

1.4.1. Currency Format

1.4.2. Telephone Format

Amazon Branded terms

Translation vs Transliteration vs Leaving As Source

• Transliterate, if it helps readability in other scripts (example: “Originals” in Japanese,

Titles of creative works (books, movies, etc.)

Brands, Program, and Products

• If it is not in the term base or translation memory, leave it in English.

• Try to avoid the use of articles.

Acts, Laws and Regulatory Entities

Specific Capitalization Rules

Source Incorrect spelling Correct spelling

iPhone Iphone iPhone

For Amazon terms, consult the following table:

Term/Phrase Definition Examples in Marketecture

Branded product A [trademarked] proper noun (name) of a Amazon Advertising,

Sub-branded A proper noun (name) attributed to a Sponsored Products,

product offering of Amazon Advertising

NOTE: Please refer to Appendix A for a general translation recommendation summary.

Term base Prioritization

1.6.2. Inconsistent with domain

P-brand Parent The overarching Branding Default: Left in Amazon

T-brand Tentpole Key brands defined by a Branding Default: Left in Prime

enough to stand on its Kindle (always in

S-brand Sub- Satisfies one or more of Branding Default: Left in Echo

Note: the owning

purpose, and extends Exception: Localize Amazon Care

Company Company IMDb, Book Depository, The Default: In their

Devices Names of Devices and Alexa The Default: Left in

N-brand Non- Programs, features or The team Default: Localize

o An example of this is “display ads” in German: since there is no logical