Core concepts

Plurals

Some strings change shape with a count — “1 file” vs “5 files”. Glotfile models these as plural keys using the CLDR plural categories.

How a plural key differs

A normal key stores one value per locale. A plural key instead stores forms — one entry per category — and is marked with a plural field naming the count argument:

"cart.items": {
  "plural": { "arg": "count" },
  "values": {
    "en": {
      "state": "source",
      "forms": { "one": "{count} item", "other": "{count} items" }
    },
    "pl": {
      "state": "reviewed",
      "forms": {
        "one": "{count} przedmiot",
        "few": "{count} przedmioty",
        "many": "{count} przedmiotów",
        "other": "{count} przedmiotu"
      }
    }
  }
}

Plural categories

The six CLDR categories are:

zero · one · two · few · many · other

⚠ other is always required — every locale’s plural value must include the other form — it’s the fallback every language has. Which of the other categories apply depends on the language (English uses one/other; Polish uses one/few/many/other).

Editing plurals

In the Editor, a plural key shows a dedicated form editor with one field per category that the target language actually uses. AI translation fills every required category at once and validates the result.

Across export formats

Plural and ICU select/plural structure is preserved when exporting, and converted to each format’s native plural mechanism where one exists. Where a target format can’t represent a construct, glotfile export warns rather than producing broken output. See Output Formats and Placeholders and ICU.

  • Placeholders and ICU · How Translation Works · Keys and Locales