This guide adapts rules and examples from Microsoft’s Lithuanian Localization Style Guide (originally written for software/UI localization). The underlying linguistic rules apply universally — to legal contracts, medical documents, marketing copy, and any Lithuanian translation work. Restructured and reformatted as a general Lithuanian translator reference by ChatsControl.

Lithuanian Translation Style Guide — Voice, Word Choice & Common Pitfalls (Legal, Medical, Marketing, IT)¶

TL;DR¶

• Lithuanian translation prefers verbal phrases over nominal phrases — Ruošiamasi diegti (preparing to install) reads as natural Lithuanian.
• Add modifiers (descriptors) before UI element names — only the modifier inflects, the UI name stays unchanged.
• Use plural jūs (lowercase) to address users; possessive pronouns (jūsų) are used much less than in English.
• Acronyms don’t include periods in Lithuanian (JAV not U.S.A.); use modifiers before unfamiliar acronyms.
• Avoid em dash — Lithuanian uses comma or en dash; quote unlocalized product names with „xxx” when inline.

Register and tone for Lithuanian translation¶

Lithuanian register depends on how literal the translator stays to source structure. Clear, friendly, concise reads as modern Lithuanian; long noun-cluster compounds and verbal-noun constructions copied from English read as bureaucratic.

Three voice principles: - Warm and relaxed — natural, less formal, grounded in honest conversations. - Crisp and clear — written for scanning first, reading second. Simple above all. - Ready to lend a hand — anticipate the reader’s real needs.

Why this matters: In marketing copy bureaucratic register kills conversion. In patient-facing medical materials it reduces comprehension. In software UI it creates friction. In consumer-facing legal documents plain language is increasingly mandated. Only sworn legal translation and technical specifications retain the older formal register.

Flexibility¶

Rewrite for Lithuanian readers — understand whole sentences/paragraphs, then compose as if writing in Lithuanian from scratch. Sometimes drop unnecessary content.

Word choice: short forms¶

Use approved Microsoft terminology. For non-term words, prefer short forms used in everyday conversation.

Words to avoid¶

Word-for-word translation: why direct mapping fails¶

Word-for-word translation produces stiff, unnatural Lithuanian. The result can be ridiculous. Split into shorter sentences; omit descriptors for snappier text.

Why this matters: In legal contracts word-for-word translation produces clauses that translate every term but obscure who owes what. In medical instructions it separates action from actor in ways that confuse patients. In marketing copy it produces headlines that read as foreign — technically Lithuanian but emotionally flat. In software UI it produces labels users hesitate over.

Sample voice scenarios¶

Addressing the user to take action¶

Explanatory text¶

Promoting a feature¶

How-to guidelines¶

Inclusive language¶

Comply with local language laws. Use plain language. Don’t generalize/stereotype.

Replacement vocabulary¶

Avoiding gender bias¶

In Lithuanian, professions/legal statuses/titles/pedagogical names/qualification levels use masculine gender as general default.

When generalizing, use plural noun forms (visi asmenys, tėvai, kolegos, žmonės).

Don’t use gendered pronouns (jis, jo, jam, jį, juo, ji, jos, ją, ja, jie, jas, joms) in generic references. Instead: - Rewrite with plural noun/pronoun - Replace masculine adjectives/gerunds with gender-neutral plural verb forms (Patvirtinkite, kad perskaitėte sąlygas not Patvirtinkite, kad esate perskaitęs sąlygas) - Skip unnecessary gendered singular pronouns (dokumentas pradėtas nagrinėti not jo dokumentas pradėtas nagrinėti) - Refer to role (klientas, darbuotojas) - Use asmuo, žmogus, individas

When writing about real people who have stated their pronoun, use that pronoun (jis, ji, jie, jos).

Accessibility language¶

Focus on people, not disabilities. Avoid asmuo, kuris turi / kamuojamas.

Spell out &/+/~ as ir, plius and maždaug/apytiksliai for screen readers.

Grammar, syntax, and orthographic conventions¶

Abbreviations¶

Inflection or some vowels removed: - failas → fail. - skaitykite → sk.

Standard list:

Acronyms¶

Acronyms in Lithuanian do NOT include periods (JAV not U.S.A.).

Localized acronyms¶

Well-known Lithuanian acronyms (IT, UTB, OS) don’t need English in parens. Spelled-out terms may be more relevant than acronyms:

Unlocalized acronyms¶

Generic widely-known acronyms stay untranslated (LAN, ISDN). Less widely-known acronyms — localize the spelled-out term and leave the English acronym in parens:

• Informacijos teisių valdymas (IRM)
• identifikacinis raktas PID (Trial Product Identification Key)

Adjectives¶

Default to MASCULINE. Dialog box titles aren’t grammatically connected to following options — masculine adjectives even if title is feminine noun. Color names are feminine (because spalva is feminine).

Where possible, choose forms that work for both genders:

Possessive adjectives¶

Lithuanian possessive pronouns are used MUCH less than in English. Omit when not necessary for meaning.

Articles¶

Lithuanian has no articles. Don’t use them with product names (legal/trademark reasons).

Unlocalized feature/product names¶

Microsoft product names used without articles. Put in quotation marks („xxx”) when (a) not otherwise highlighted (no bold/italic/caps), (b) appearing inline in text rather than standalone, (c) no contrary instruction.

Localized feature names¶

Capitalization¶

First letter of sentence is capitalized. After colon, continue lowercase (unless list).

Proper nouns (programs, modules, wizards) capitalized. For phrases used as software items, capitalize only first word. For trademarks (Microsoft Windows), capitalize every word.

Parenthetical short text starts lowercase when NOT a complete sentence. Table column/row headings: capital first letter, no end punctuation.

Conjunctions¶

NOT common in Lithuanian to start a sentence with a conjunction (unlike English Microsoft voice). Follow general grammar.

bet vs. tačiau (both = but): - Use tačiau at sentence beginning - Use bet in the middle, after a comma

Gender¶

In passive voice when object unknown, use NEUTER gender participles.

Adjectives/participles default to masculine. Dialog box titles aren’t grammatically connected to options below.

Localizing colloquialism, idioms, metaphors¶

Three options: 1. Replace with Lithuanian colloquialism only if perfect/natural fit 2. Translate intended meaning (not literal) 3. Drop if can be omitted without affecting meaning

Modifiers (CRITICAL)¶

When localizing, add modifiers (descriptors) BEFORE Lithuanian names of keys, objects, menus, commands, dialog box elements, icons, AND acronyms — even when source doesn’t have them. Only the modifier declines; the name stays exactly as in UI.

The modifier goes BEFORE the name being modified.

Why this matters: Without the modifier, the UI name would need a Lithuanian case ending — but the UI label can’t change. So the modifier (mygtuką = “button” in accusative) carries the grammatical role, and Įrašyti stays in its UI form. This is the single most important syntactic discipline in Lithuanian localization.

Nouns¶

Dialog box titles should be nouns or nominal phrases (transform command verbs into nouns with -ymas, -imas, -tis suffixes). Exception: adjectives and questions stay as adjectives/questions.

Inflection¶

Lithuanian nouns: 6 cases × 2 numbers. Cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative. Show alternative endings in parentheses:

Pronouns¶

Use second-person plural jūs to address user. Lowercase — don’t capitalize. Drop the pronoun when verb ending makes it clear.

Possessive pronouns much less common than in English — omit when not necessary.

Punctuation¶

Hyphen / en dash / em dash¶

• Hyphen between two words to form compound. Replace with non-breaking hyphen in printed/Help.
• En dash (–) as minus sign (3 – 4 + 6) and in number ranges WITHOUT spaces (700–800 USD).
• Em dash (—) is NOT USED in Lithuanian. This is a key difference from English.

Date format:

Ellipsis¶

Use only in callouts and multi-part strings. No periods after menu titles/command names. Use ellipsis for command leading to dialog (x…). No space between sentence and ellipsis.

Period¶

Option/radio buttons NEVER end with period. Table items that are complete sentences start with capital, end with period. Status bar messages: period if complete sentence. Error messages ALWAYS end with period (or question mark). Tooltips NEVER end with period.

Quotation marks¶

Lithuanian quotation marks: „xxx” (lower-opening, upper-closing).

Microsoft product names, non-translated feature names, and other non-localizable items in quotation marks when: - Not highlighted otherwise (no bold/italic/caps) - Not standalone in sentence or UI string - No contrary instructions

UI options in source may be in quotes — but in Lithuanian, “„x”” not used around UI options.

Parentheses¶

No space between parens and text inside.

Sentence fragments¶

Help convey conversational tone. Use shorter forms; avoid padding.

Symbols — ampersand¶

Translate & as “ir” in running text. Don’t keep & in target unless it’s part of tag, placeholder, shortcut, or code.

Verbs¶

Use simple present (Lithuanian default). Avoid future unless describing actual future events.

In Lithuanian, VERBAL phrases are more natural than NOMINAL phrases. Use verbal where possible.

Continuous operations (English gerunds) → passive present participle in neuter gender.

Error messages¶

Use consistent terminology. Don’t just translate English literally.

Error messages should be brief — avoid redundant pronouns, prefixes. Always end with period (or question mark).

Standard phrases (preferred translations)¶

Error messages with placeholders¶

Letters in placeholders carry meaning: - %d, %ld, %u, %lu → number - %c → letter - %s → string

Shorten words used with number placeholders:

When placeholder will be replaced by a variable in nominative (default form), add a modifier or use quotation marks, colon, parens, en dash to separate.

Keys and shortcuts¶

Standard shortcut keys¶

Keyboard shortcuts special options¶

All allowed (slim characters, downstroke characters, extended characters, additional letter in brackets, number in brackets, punctuation in brackets) only when no other character is available. Duplicate shortcuts NOT allowed. No-shortcut allowed for minor options only.

Copilot predefined prompts¶

Translations must be accurate, consistent, concise, natural. Use informal tone. Use quotation marks for what Copilot should write/modify. Pay attention to punctuation, grammar, capitalization. Entity tokens stay in place; ghost texts go at end of target sentence.

Geopolitical concerns, accessibility, trademarks¶

Geopolitical concerns¶

Localized product responds to target-country specifics. Sensitive content in maps, flags, country/city/language names, art, cultural references requires review.

Accessibility¶

Accessibility options serve people with cognitive/hearing/physical/visual disabilities. Some accessible products may not be available in Lithuanian-speaking markets. Verify with appropriate resources.

Applications, products, features¶

Trademarked. Rarely translated. Sometimes feature names are trademarked (IntelliSense).

Version numbers¶

Version 4.2 etc. With Lithuanian word order:

Trademarks¶

Trademarked names and “Microsoft Corporation” stay unlocalized unless local laws require translation and an approved form exists.

English pronunciation (voice / video)¶

Words¶

Acronyms as words¶

Letter by letter¶

URLs¶

Omit “http://” in speech. “www” → “trys dvigubos vė”. “dot” → “taškas” if read.

Punctuation in speech¶

? ! : ; , implied by voice. En dash (–) for emphasis = comma pause.

Special characters¶

Pronounce / \ < > + − using approved Lithuanian translations.

Reference materials¶

Normative reference:

1. Valstybinė lietuvių kalbos komisija — http://www.vlkk.lt/. State Lithuanian Language Commission. Authoritative on orthography, grammar, terminology.

Informative references:

1. V. Žalkauskas. Šiuolaikinių kompiuterinių programų ir tinklų žodynas (Dictionary of Modern Computer Programs and Networks), Vilnius, 2003.
2. V. Dagienė, G. Grigas, T. Jevsikova. Enciklopedinis kompiuterijos žodynas, Vilnius, 2008.
3. Oxford Dictionary of Computing, Oxford University Press, 1996.
4. terminai.vlkk.lt — Lithuanian terminology by VLKK.
5. www3.lrs.lt/pls/term/termp.term_p — terminology system.
6. ims.mii.lt/ALK%C5%BD/ — Anglų-lietuvių kalbų kompiuterijos žodynas (English-Lithuanian Computing Dictionary).
7. raštija.lt — multiple computer terminology dictionaries.

FAQ¶

What’s the modern register for Lithuanian translation across professional contexts?¶

Clear, friendly, concise. Use language closer to everyday conversation than to formal/literary Lithuanian. Use shortened common forms (programa for app, svetainė for website) where context permits. Use single-word verb forms (sužinokite kaip) over expanded official ones (įgyti žinių). For sworn legal/technical specifications, retain the older formal register.

Why do Lithuanian translations of English instructions often need added modifiers?¶

Lithuanian is heavily case-inflected. UI element names cannot themselves take Lithuanian case endings without becoming non-identical with what appears on screen. So translators add a modifier (mygtuką, meniu, parametrų) in the appropriate case, with the UI name appended in nominative. Spustelėkite mygtuką Įrašyti — the modifier mygtuką takes accusative; the button name Įrašyti is unchanged.

How should plural and gender be handled in Lithuanian translation?¶

Nouns inflect for six cases × two numbers. Adjectives and participles default to masculine when context allows either gender (visi darbuotojai); colors default to feminine because spalva is feminine. Avoid gendered pronouns (jis/ji) in generic references — rewrite with role nouns or plural. Address users with plural jūs (lowercase, not capitalized).

Which Lithuanian punctuation conventions differ from English?¶

Acronyms have no periods (JAV not U.S.A.). Em dash (—) is NOT used in Lithuanian; use comma or en dash. Use Lithuanian quotation marks „xxx” for product names when in inline text not otherwise highlighted. Option buttons/radio buttons never end with a period. Error messages always end with a period (or question mark). Tooltips never end with a period.

What authoritative Lithuanian language references should I use?¶

The State Lithuanian Language Commission (Valstybinė lietuvių kalbos komisija) at vlkk.lt is the normative authority. terminai.vlkk.lt for terminology. V. Žalkauskas’s Šiuolaikinių kompiuterinių programų ir tinklų žodynas and V. Dagienė et al. Enciklopedinis kompiuterijos žodynas for IT terminology. ims.mii.lt/ALK%C5%BD/ for the English-Lithuanian Computing Dictionary.

Sources¶

• Microsoft Localization Style Guide for Lithuanian (PDF)
• State Lithuanian Language Commission
• Lithuanian terminology — VLKK
• English-Lithuanian Computing Dictionary