What is a Style guide for? | LingoHub Help Center

A Style guide establishes brand, tone, and formatting standards for human translators and LINA to follow during localization. Style guides ensure consistency across all translated projects in your workspace, guiding your brand voice, audience targeting, and grammatical preferences.

💡 Ready to create your first style guide? Check out our step-by-step guide.

General rules

General rules define overarching brand guidelines applicable across all target languages.

Name: A descriptive title for your style guide.
Domain: The industry sector or context of your product.
AI context: Background context and instructions used by LINAs to prioritize clarity, terminology, or tone during AI translations.
Age group: The age range of your target audience.
Audience: The primary consumer demographic.
Audience description: A detailed description of your readers' technical expertise, expectations, and background.
Grammatical person: The subject perspective translators should use.
Vocabulary type: The complexity and style of vocabulary.
Formality: The tone of address.
Text type: The functional type of content being translated.
Voice: The voice used for the content being translated.
Language complexity: Readability and accessibility levels.

Language variants

Language variants allow you to map general language codes to specific regional variants (e.g., en to en-US). Mapping variants helps tailor tone, spelling, and local formatting rules to a specific target region.

Language-specific rules

Language-specific rules let you define unique formatting and stylistic requirements for individual target languages:

Rule	Option	Format / Description
Date format	ISO 8601	`YYYY-MM-DD` (e.g., `2023-12-31`)
	US format	`MM/DD/YYYY` (e.g., `12/31/2023`)
	EU format	`DD.MM.YYYY` (e.g., `31.12.2023`)
	UK format	`DD/MM/YYYY` (e.g., `31/12/2023`)
	China format	`YYYY/MM/DD` (e.g., `2023/12/31`)
	Japan format	`YYYY/MM/DD` or Japanese characters (e.g., `2023年12月31日`)
	Korea format	`YYYY. MM. DD.` (e.g., `2023. 12. 31.`)
	Short format	Shortened numeric format (e.g., `31/12/23` or `12/31/23`)
	Long format	Fully written localized date (e.g., `"December 31, 2023"`)
Time format	Time 24H	24-hour format (e.g., `14:30`)
	Time 12H	12-hour format with AM/PM (e.g., `2:30 PM`)
Decimal separator	Dot	Uses a dot (`.`) (e.g., `1000.50`)
	Comma	Uses a comma (`,`) (e.g., `1000,50`)
Grouping separator	None	No separator used (e.g., `1000`)
	Comma	Uses a comma (`,`) for grouping (e.g., `1,000`)
	Dot	Uses a dot (`.`) for grouping (e.g., `1.000`)
	Space like	Uses a space-like character (e.g., `1 000`)
	Apostrophe	Uses an apostrophe (e.g., `1'000`, common in Switzerland)
Quotes format	Quotes English	`"Example"`: Double quotes (US/UK style)
	Quotes Single	`'Example'`: Single quotes (UK/academic)
	Quotes German	`„Example“`: Low-high quotes (German)
	Quotes French	`« Example »`: Angle quotes with spaces (French)
	Quotes Swiss	`«Example»`: Angle quotes without spaces (Swiss)
	Quotes Guillemet	`«Example»`: General angle quotes
Formality	Formal	Polite, professional tone (e.g., German Sie)
	Informal	Casual, friendly tone (e.g., German du)
Voice	Active	Subject performs action (e.g., "We fixed the issue.")
	Passive	Subject receives action (e.g., "The issue was fixed.")
	Flexible	Dynamic mix based on natural flow
Language complexity	Standard	Normal, professional, natural language
	Plain language	Simple, accessible language (e.g., Einfache Sprache)
	Very simple	Fully accessible language (e.g., Leichte Sprache)
Gender inclusiveness	Masculine generic	Traditional masculine forms (e.g., "Benutzer")
	Feminine generic	Feminine forms for general references
	Gender neutral	Neutral phrasing (e.g., "Nutzende")
	Gender inclusive	Explicit inclusive forms (e.g., "Benutzer:innen")

Properties overview

Below is an overview of configurable options available within LingoHub style guides:

Category	Available options & values	Description
Domain	Technology, Automotive, Financial, Health, E-commerce, Legal, Marketing, etc.	Defines the industry sector to contextualize terminology.
Age group	Children (0–12), Teenagers (13–17), Young adults (18–30), Adults (31–60), Seniors (60+)	Defines the target demographic age range.
Grammatical person	First person (I/We), Second person (You), Third person (He/She/It/They)	Sets the subject perspective used in translations.
Vocabulary type	Popular, Technical, Fictional, Formal, Slang	Controls word choice from casual everyday language to domain-specific terms.
Formality	Formal, Informal	Determines tone of address (e.g., German Sie vs. du).
Text type	Software UI, Mobile UI, Technical docs, Marketing, System message, Email, etc.	Adapts length, conciseness, and tone to the UI/content surface.
Voice	Active, Passive, Flexible	Dictates whether subjects perform or receive actions.
Language complexity	Standard, Plain language, Very simple	Controls readability and accessibility levels.

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