Use proper plural forms in languages with more than two forms

[netweb]

Reported via #polyglots on Slack by @ romanbon ​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/polyglots/p1428678160001062

Hi, in Ukrainian language Singular form and Plural form for 21, 31... are the same. Sometimes it causes certain problems translating certain strings (problems can be avoided in most cases). Can someone explain me how to handle translation of such strings in the <em>right way</em>?

Via @sergeybiryukov see:

• ​https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/28502#comment:23
• ​https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/31941

[boonebgorges]

The key point seems to be this:

_n() should only be used for the same string with different numbers, not for different strings.

The "single" English string will be used in Slavic languages for 21, 31, etc. So that means our new pagination pattern will look something like 6368.diff​. Does that seem right to others? If so, we'll need a patch that covers all such pagination strings, and probably a review of other uses of _n().

[SergeyBiryukov]

Replying to boonebgorges:

Does that seem right to others?

That pattern looks correct, yes. That's what we use in core now.

I've reviewed all other uses of _n() and fixed the affected instances. Also fixed another issue with those strings: _n() show receive an integer (e.g. $blogs_template->total_blog_count) as its third argument, not a string returned by bp_core_number_format() (e.g. $total).

Would appreciate a second pair of eyes to make sure there are no copy/paste errors.

The second patch is for bbPress external. Not sure if it's still used or supported anymore. Should the patch be submitted to ​bbPress Trac? Attached it here for reference.

[boonebgorges]

Looks good. Thanks, Sergey!

[boonebgorges]

In 9765:

Improved plural forms for localizable strings.

Strings that are intended for use only in the case of a single item should not
be bundled with strings intended for use with plurals, as this pattern does not
work with languages that use the singular nominal form for numbers other than
one. See ​https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/28502#comment:23.

This changeset also fixes a few places where a formatted string, rather than a
raw integer, was being passed as the $count value to _n().

Props SergeyBiryukov.
Fixes #6368.

[netweb]

Two more instances of these are:

​https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/src/bp-messages/bp-messages-star.php#L423
​https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/src/bp-messages/bp-messages-star.php#L437

[r-a-y]

netweb - Thanks for the catch. Not sure if those instances are actually wrong though.

Check out these similar strings in WP trunk:
​https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/src/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?marks=189,197,201,204#L183

Could use some feedback from a localization expert!

[boonebgorges]

Could use some feedback from a localization expert!

That's not me :) but I think netweb is right. The primary difference between the bp-messages-star examples he lists, and the core examples you point to, is that the former strings have 1 hardcoded into them. The general rule is arising out of ​https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/28502#comment:23: string pairs in _n() should be exactly the same, except for the plural status of the noun (in English: comment vs comments). If a particular number, like 1, needs its own syntax ("Just a single comment left!"), it should be its own string, outside of _n(). The bp-messages-star examples look like cases where simply swapping 1 with %s would be enough.

[r-a-y]

The bp-messages-star examples look like cases where simply swapping 1 with %s would be enough.

Gotcha. Serves me right for replying in the wee hours of the morning!

[r-a-y]

In 9881:

Message star: Fix usage of single form when using _n() function.

Props netweb.

See #6368, #6331.

[netweb]

Replying to r-a-y:
Could use some feedback from a localization expert!

Replying to boonebgorges:
That's not me :)

Nor I, but Sergey is :)

[SergeyBiryukov]

[9881] looks good :)