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

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

TL;DR¶

• Russian translation across all spheres requires a warm, scannable register — avoid Soviet-era bureaucratic style (выполнить действия, в данный момент, иметь место) and English calques (данный, вышеуказанный, обеспечивает возможность).
• Address user formally with вы (lowercase in modern style); avoid third-person пользователь in consumer-facing text; second-person verb forms carry the address naturally (Проверьте, Введите, Нажмите).
• Prefer verbs over verbal nouns — never “выполнить действия” when “сделайте” works; never “установить подключение” when “подключиться” works. This is the single most-impactful Russian translation principle.
• Gender-neutral writing: use plural nouns (люди, пользователи, коллеги, разработчики) and second-/third-person plural; avoid masculine past-tense verbs (Я согласен → Я принимаю условия; Я ознакомился → Мною прочитана политика); use Пользователь {placeholder} or (-а) parenthetical for placeholders.
• Reference modern norms: Правила русской орфографии и пунктуации (АСТ-Пресс 2020), Толковый словарь Ожегова/Шведовой (2017), Орфографический словарь Института русского языка РАН, Справочник Розенталя (Айрис-пресс 2016).

Register and tone for modern Russian translation¶

Three principles define the modern Russian register for consumer-facing content:

• Warm and relaxed. Sounds like honest conversation, not a formal notice. Less institutional, more grounded — matching how Russian speakers actually talk.
• Crisp and clear. Written for scanning first, reading second. Sentences short enough to parse on a phone screen.
• Ready to help. Anticipates what the reader needs and offers it at the right moment.

When localizing source text, feel free to choose words that aren’t standard translations if you think that’s the best way to stay true to the intent of the source.

Why this matters: Bureaucratic register (канцелярит) damages outcomes across spheres. In marketing copy it kills conversion — readers bounce when text sounds like a tax form. In patient-facing medical materials (инструкции по применению) it reduces comprehension and compliance. In software UI it creates friction at every interaction. In consumer-facing legal documents (terms of service, privacy notices under Russian Federal Law 152-ФЗ) plain language increasingly demanded. Only sworn legal translation (нотариально заверенный перевод) and pure technical specifications retain the older formal register.

Flexibility: when to translate literally vs. when to rewrite¶

Precision¶

Omit needless words — don’t use two or three words when one will do. But keep clarity and readability in mind.

Avoid unnecessary adverbs¶

Choose words with a clear meaning¶

Choose single-word phrases over multiple-word phrases¶

Don’t use verbal nouns instead of verbs¶

Word choice: words and phrases to avoid¶

General word-choice rules¶

• Use terms common in the business or industry.
• Use words that are specific (not vague) and crystal clear.
• Use words used in daily life by ordinary people. Don’t use “bookish” official words like процедура (unless they are technical terms necessary in context).
• Use standard words, not slang.
• Try to use verbs, not verbal nouns.

Short word forms and everyday words¶

More casual examples:

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

Why this matters: Word-for-word translation produces translatorese. In legal contracts it produces clauses that 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. In software UI it produces labels users hesitate over.

Sample voice: focusing on user action¶

Explanatory text and support¶

Promoting a feature¶

How-to guidelines¶

Inclusive language¶

General principles: comply with local language laws; use plain words; mind regional/cultural references; represent diverse perspectives; don’t generalize/stereotype; don’t use profane/derogatory terms or military/political jargon.

Term replacements¶

Avoiding gender bias¶

Use gender-neutral alternatives. Avoid masculine/feminine gender when referring to user. Use neutral structures and verbs without gender bias.

When presenting generalization, use plural noun forms (люди, коллектив, коллеги, пользователи).

Don’t use gendered pronouns (она, ее, он, его) in generic references. Instead:

• Rewrite to use second-person plural or third-person plural.
• Rewrite sentence to have a plural noun and pronoun.
• Try not to use pronouns before nouns (документ instead of его документ).
• Refer to person’s role (читатель, сотрудник, заказчик, клиент).

Placeholders representing a person: Use neutral “Пользователь” before placeholder, or the verb ending in parentheses.

Real people: Use the pronouns the person prefers (он, она, они, or another). Gendered pronouns are fine for real people who use them.

Note: Gender-neutral language for new content. Legacy material doesn’t require update.

Accessibility¶

Focus on people, not disabilities. Don’t use pity-implying words (поразила болезнь, страдает чем-либо). Preferred option: don’t mention disability unless relevant.

Keep paragraphs short. Aim for one verb per sentence. Read text aloud and imagine it spoken by a screen reader. Spell out & as и for screen reader compatibility.

Language-specific standards¶

Abbreviations¶

Common Russian abbreviations:

Use non-breaking space between abbreviation and following word/number (т. д., 5 г).

Acronyms¶

Russian acronyms (ВУЗ, СНГ, ГИБДД) in all caps. English acronyms commonly used in Russian (USB, HTML, ISO, ANSI) remain in original Latin script. Plural by adding “-ы” or “-и” when needed.

Adjectives¶

Russian adjectives agree in gender, number, and case with the noun. Adjectives precede nouns by default. Possessive adjectives less frequent than in English — use definite construction (его документ → документ; ваш файл → файл) when ownership is obvious.

Articles¶

Russian has no articles. Definiteness/indefiniteness expressed through word order, demonstratives, or context.

Capitalization¶

Russian uses sentence case for titles. Days of week, months, languages, nationalities (adjective form) are lowercase. Holiday names capitalize first word (Новый год, but День Победы capitalizes both because of special status).

Compounds¶

Russian compounds usually with hyphen (интернет-магазин, веб-сайт) or as single word. Avoid overly long compounds.

Gender¶

Russian has three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter). Adjectives, past-tense verbs, possessives agree with noun gender.

Localizing colloquialism, idioms, metaphors¶

Three options:

1. Don’t replace source colloquialism with a Russian one unless it’s a perfect, natural fit.
2. Translate the intended meaning (not literally) if integral.
3. If colloquialism can be omitted without affecting meaning, omit it.

Non-breaking spaces¶

Use non-breaking spaces:

• Between numerals and units (5 кг, 100 МБ).
• Between numerals and currency symbols (₽ 100).
• After single-letter prepositions and conjunctions to avoid orphans at line end (в Москве, с компьютера).
• Between initials and surnames (А. С. Пушкин).
• Between abbreviated words and following text (т. е., т. д.).

Numbers¶

Numerals are commonly used in Russian text. Spell out only in very specific cases (start of sentence, certain formal documents).

Decimal separator: comma (,). Thousand separator: non-breaking space (1 000 000).

Prepositions¶

Russian prepositions case-government heavily — pay attention to case used. Don’t omit prepositions or change word order under English influence.

Pronouns¶

Use вы (lowercase — modern Microsoft convention) for formal address. Second-person verb forms (Введите, Проверьте, Нажмите) carry the address — often drop pronoun.

Avoid third-person пользователь in consumer-facing software/marketing — sounds institutional. Use ты only in very informal contexts (games, children’s content).

Personal pronouns referring to user (вы, ваш) traditionally capitalized in formal writing — modern Microsoft style uses lowercase.

Punctuation¶

Comma: Russian uses comma extensively before subordinate conjunctions (что, чтобы, который, если, когда). No Oxford comma in lists.

Colon: Used to introduce lists and explanations. Lowercase after colon (unless proper noun follows).

Hyphen: Used in compounds (веб-сайт, интернет-магазин). Different from en/em dash.

En dash (–): Used as minus sign and in ranges (с. 10–20).

Em dash (—): Used to mark direct speech and as a comma/colon/parenthesis substitute. Russian em dash (—) with spaces on both sides is standard.

Ellipsis (…): Three dots, no spaces between.

Period: End of sentence. No double space.

Quotation marks: Russian uses «» (елочки — angle/chevron quotes) as default; „lower” / “upper” or “straight” used for nested quotes or technical contexts. Period typically goes inside Russian quotes for direct speech.

Example: Он сказал: «Здравствуйте». (period inside) For technical/software references: Нажмите кнопку «ОК». (Russian quotes around UI label)

Parentheses: No space between parentheses and text inside.

Sentence fragments¶

Sentence fragments help convey conversational tone — used whenever possible.

Verbs¶

Use simple tenses. Prefer present (Введите, Сделайте). Past simple for past events. Avoid heavy compound tenses.

Verbs vs. verbal nouns: Russian is a verb-rich language but legal/technical writing tends to overuse verbal nouns. Always prefer verbs:

• “установить подключение” → “подключиться”
• “выполнить удаление” → “удалить”
• “произвести настройку” → “настроить”

This is the single most-impactful Russian translation principle.

Localization considerations¶

Accessibility¶

Some accessible products may not be available in Russian-speaking markets. General accessibility info: https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/accessibility/.

Applications, products, features¶

Product names rarely translated. Feature names occasionally trademarked (IntelliSense). Verify before translating.

Version numbers always contain period (Version 4.2).

Version strings with copyright should be translated using approved Microsoft Terminology.

Trademarks¶

Don’t localize trademarked names unless local laws require. Reference: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks.

Error messages¶

Apply voice principles for natural, empathetic, non-robotic translations.

Standard phrases:

• Cannot / Could not / Unable to → “Не удалось”
• Failed to / Failure of → “Не удалось”
• Not enough memory → “Недостаточно памяти”
• …is not available → “недоступно”

Keys¶

Key names in normal text. Most English key names kept (Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Tab, Enter, Esc). Russian-specific: arrow keys (Стрелка вверх/вниз/влево/вправо), Spacebar (Пробел), Windows key (Клавиша Windows).

Reference materials: authoritative Russian references¶

Normative references:

1. Правила русской орфографии и пунктуации. Полный академический справочник. — АСТ-Пресс, 2020. Authority on orthography and punctuation.
2. Толковый словарь русского языка — Ожегов С. И., Шведова Н. Ю. Российская академия наук, Институт русского языка им. В. В. Виноградова. М.: Мир и Образование, 2017. General-language dictionary.
3. Русский орфографический словарь — Российская академия наук, Институт русского языка им. В. В. Виноградова. О. Е. Иванова, В. В. Лопатин (отв. ред.), И. В. Нечаева, Л. К. Чельцова. Москва, 2005. Orthography reference.
4. Справочник по правописанию и литературной правке — Д. Э. Розенталь, под ред. И. Б. Голуб. М.: Айрис-пресс, 2016. Style and editorial reference.

Informative references:

1. Справочник издателя и автора — А. Э. Мильчин, Л. К. Чельцова. 2-е издание, ОЛМА-Пресс, 2003. Editorial design reference.
2. gramota.ru — http://www.gramota.ru. Online Russian language portal. Note: Be careful with spravka.gramota.ru — there can be mistakes there.
3. Русская грамматика — АН СССР, Институт русского языка. Т. I-II. М.: Наука, 1980.
4. Стилистика русского языка — Голуб И. Б. М., 1997.

FAQ¶

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

Warm, conversational, scannable — closer to everyday spoken Russian than канцелярит (officialese). Applies to medical patient materials, marketing copy, software UI, consumer-facing legal documents. Sworn legal translation (нотариально заверенный перевод), formal contracts, academic texts retain more formal register including extensive nominalization.

How should I address users in Russian translation?¶

Use вы (lowercase — modern convention) for formal address. Second-person verb forms (Проверьте, Введите, Нажмите) carry the address naturally — often the pronoun can be dropped. Avoid third-person пользователь in consumer-facing software/marketing — sounds institutional. Use ты only in very informal contexts (games, children’s content).

What are the most common Russian translation pitfalls?¶

Avoid Soviet-era bureaucratic style: выполнить действия (use сделайте), в данный момент (use сейчас), иметь место (use быть/находиться), задать конфигурацию (use настроить), идентифицировать (use определить/найти), вышеуказанный (use указанный/этот), обратитесь к (use см.), процедура (use the action verb). Always prefer verbs over verbal nouns: ‘установить подключение’ → ‘подключиться’.

How do I handle gender-neutral writing in Russian?¶

Use plural nouns (люди, коллектив, коллеги, пользователи) for generalization. Don’t use gendered pronouns (она, он, ее, его) in generic references. Rewrite as second or third person plural (Пользователи могут… not Пользователь может…). Use Пользователь {placeholder} or (-а) parenthetical (ответил(-а)). Avoid past-tense masculine verb forms — rewrite with present-tense verbs (Я принимаю not Я согласен), or with passive (Мною прочитана политика not Я ознакомился).

Which Russian normative references should I follow?¶

Правила русской орфографии и пунктуации (АСТ-Пресс 2020, full academic reference). Толковый словарь Ожегова/Шведовой (Российская академия наук, 2017). Русский орфографический словарь Института русского языка РАН (Лопатин et al., 2005). Справочник Розенталя по правописанию и литературной правке (Айрис-пресс 2016). Online: gramota.ru (careful with spravka.gramota.ru — some mistakes there).

How do I handle the вы/Вы capitalization question?¶

Modern Microsoft convention uses lowercase вы even in formal address. Traditional Russian etiquette (correspondence) used capitalized Вы for politeness. Both are acceptable; consistency within a document is what matters. For digital UI and modern marketing, lowercase is now standard.

How does Russian quotation mark usage work?¶

Default: «елочки» (chevron/angle quotes). For nested quotes or in some contexts: „lower” / “upper” Russian style, or straight ” ” for technical/software references. Period typically inside Russian quotes for direct speech: Он сказал: «Здравствуйте». For software UI labels: Нажмите кнопку «ОК». Inside English code references: leave straight quotes as in source.

Sources¶

• Microsoft Localization Style Guide for Russian (PDF)
• Microsoft Globalization Style Guides hub
• gramota.ru
• Microsoft Accessibility (ru-RU)