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

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

TL;DR¶

• Address Uzbek readers with capitalized Siz (respectful you); omit the pronoun when verb personal affix already encodes 2nd-person plural (Siz tugmachani bosing → wrong; Tugmachani bosing → correct).
• Use Uzbek Latin script with apostrophes for o’ and g’ (O‘zbekiston, ko‘pchilik) — distinguish curly apostrophes from straight; ng is one digraph; alphabet is 29 characters including digraphs ch, sh, ng.
• Word order is verb-final (SOV) — restructure English imperatives accordingly; describe action before purpose; avoid personified inanimate subjects.
• Replace English-Russian-influenced personifications with neutral constructions: ‘Setup cannot find…’ → ‘O‘rnatish ustasi … topa olmaydi’ (active impersonal); use passive where appropriate.
• Product names stay in Latin script untranslated (Microsoft, Windows, Microsoft Office); Microsoft transliterated as Maykrosoft only in descriptive text (Maykrosoftning boshqa o‘yinlari); decimal separator is comma (5,25 sm); space as thousand separator (14 400).

Register and tone for Uzbek translation¶

The tone of Uzbek translation should mimic the tone of the source product, but should also be respectful. Avoid word forms specific to any particular dialect. The localized text should read as if originally written in Uzbek. Avoid wordiness and word-by-word translation.

Localization tone should be:

• Accurate — factually correct, terminologically consistent.
• Encouraging — supports the user, doesn’t intimidate.
• Insightful — anticipates user needs.
• Objective — without unwarranted opinion or emotion.
• User-focused — addresses the reader directly.

Consistency and idiomaticity play an equally important role for localization. The language must have the “look and feel” of a product originally written in Uzbek, using idiomatic syntax and terminology, while maintaining a high level of terminological consistency for maximum user experience and usability.

In practice: if there is a more idiomatic way of structuring a given sentence, use Uzbek word order instead of translating word by word, as long as the key message is conveyed.

Voice — pronoun and verb agreement¶

When addressing the user, use Siz (capitalized). The pronoun Siz should be omitted when the verb’s personal affix already encodes second-person plural (-ing, -ngiz):

• Siz tugmachani bosing → WRONG (redundant — verb already 2nd-person plural)
• Tugmachani bosing → CORRECT (verb suffix carries the addressing)

This address can be used for one person or a group of people, without reference to gender or number — Uzbek has no grammatical gender. In some cases, use passive voice or rephrase to suit context:

It is not allowed to use swear, religious, or racist words.

Audience targeting¶

Translation of learning materials targeted at new users should be more direct and friendly than IT Pro materials, which should be more formal.

Why this matters: Different vocabulary and tone are appropriate across spheres. Legal translation for corporate counsel uses formal Russian-derived legal vocabulary; consumer-facing versions need plain Uzbek. Medical translation for clinicians keeps Russian/Latin terminology; for patients it switches to common Uzbek terms. IT translation uses developer jargon (often English/Russian) in engineer-facing docs, natural Uzbek in end-user help.

Word choice and frequent errors¶

Use approved terminology for key terms, technical terms, and product names. Pay attention to consistency across components.

Frequent translation errors to avoid:

• Don’t translate generic terms after acronyms when the letter already stands for that term: RPC call, HTML language, TCP/IP-Protocol, PIN Number — wrong. Same in Uzbek: EHM mashinalari, BMT tashkiloti, CD disk, DVD disk — all wrong.
• Don’t pluralize after numerals: ‘5 computers’ → 5 kompyuter (singular form), not 5 kompyuterlar. Plural only without number: kompyuterlar, drayverlar.

Sample voice usage and translations¶

Possessive adjectives¶

English uses possessives frequently. In Uzbek, they’re translated as pronouns or omitted (because the possessive affix at the end of the noun is enough):

Frequent loanword inflection patterns¶

English loan words remain as they are but use Uzbek case endings:

Language-specific standards¶

Adjectives — possessive¶

Possessive adjectives are translated as pronouns or omitted when the noun’s possessive affix conveys the meaning.

Articles, Gender, Modifiers, Singular & Plural, Split Infinitive, Subjunctive, Syntax¶

These sections do not apply to Uzbek — language doesn’t have these grammatical features in the English sense.

Capitalization¶

Capitalize only when you have to.

What to capitalize:

• Names of UI elements (commands, menus, dialog box titles), program names — only first word: Tarmoq kuzatuvchisi, Tashqi chegaralar.
• When referring to UI element names, use bold or enclose in quotes.
• Acronyms.
• Proper names.
• Country and state names: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi, Amerika Qo‘shma Shtatlari.
• Political bodies: Oliy Majlis, Vazirlar Mahkamasi.
• The word Internet.

Do NOT capitalize:

• Month names and day names: avgust, seshanba (when mid-sentence; capitalize when in calendar or standalone).
• The term Web: vebga ulanish.
• Languages and nationalities and adjectives derived from them: yaponcha interfeys, fransuzlar, rus tili.

Compounds¶

Compounds should be understandable and clear. Avoid overly long or complex compounds.

Genitive (for product names)¶

Microsoft product names are trademarked and remain unlocalized. Genitive -s is not attached to trademarked product names — use periphrastic construction:

• Microsoft’s products → WRONG
• Microsoft products → CORRECT
• Products by Microsoft → CORRECT

Nouns¶

Many English loanwords integrate into Uzbek by keeping the spelling and accepting Uzbek case endings.

Uzbek noun cases:

Plural formation:

Prepositions (Uzbek uses case affixes, not prepositions)¶

Pronouns¶

Pronoun replaces a noun phrase that has been or will be mentioned in the sentence or context.

Punctuation¶

Comma. Use commas as decimal separator (5,25 sm). Don’t use space for decimal — space separates numeral from abbreviation.

Colon. A colon after alerting words like “Attention”, “Warning”, “Caution” should be replaced with exclamation mark. Don’t capitalize regular text after a colon — capitalization after colon is considered a language error (exception: lists and direct speech).

Notes and examples formatting:

Single in-text notes/examples are introduced by “Eslatma”, “Misol” followed by a full stop:

Lists of notes/examples are introduced by “Eslatma”, “Misol” followed by a colon:

Dashes and hyphens:

• Hyphen. Divides words between syllables, links parts of compounds, connects parts of inverted/imperative verbs: Veb-hujjat, veb-sayt.
• En dash. As minus sign with spaces. In sentences: O‘zbekiston – Vatanim manim. In number ranges, no spaces: 1–15 betlar.
• Em dash. In Uzbek, em dash is written the same as en dash.

Ellipsis. No space before:

• Microsoft Outlook dasturi ishlatilmoqda…

Period. Used at end of each sentence. NOT used after measurement unit abbreviations (sm, kg).

• Bulleted items as complete sentences: each ends with period.
• Bulleted items continuing introductory clause: no period.
• For items in lists (chapters, sections, products) that are neither sentences nor continuations: no period.
• Never put period after just one word.

Quotation marks. In documentation, normally use chevrons « » with curly ” ” inside: «”Ha” tugmachasi». But straight quotation marks are easier and acceptable in software and web: “Olg‘a” tugmachasini cherting. Period stands outside the chevrons. DO NOT use single quotation marks anywhere.

Parentheses. No space between parentheses and inner text:

• Fayllarni yakuniy jildga (Mening videolarim) ko‘chirish uchun Enter tugmasini bosing.

Singular & Plural¶

If plural noun comes after a number, translation is in singular. If plural noun comes without a number, translate as plural:

Symbols and non-breaking spaces¶

Use non-breaking space (Ctrl+Shift+Space) in any abbreviation. If non-breaking spaces can’t be used (in Help files), acceptable to write abbreviations without space to avoid one letter moving to the next line.

Verbs¶

English verbs can be used as loan words; they follow Uzbek syntactic and morphological rules.

Continuous operations in English (gerund) translate to Uzbek as gerund:

Word order¶

In error messages, describe the action the user is supposed to take before the purpose. Phrases like “To skip creating your startup disk, click Cancel” should be rephrased as “Click Cancel to skip creating your startup disk”. Avoid personified inanimate subjects; replace active constructions with passive ones where possible.

Localization considerations¶

Abbreviations¶

Use non-breaking space in any abbreviation. Common acceptable abbreviations:

Acronyms¶

Examples of localized acronyms:

Caution: do NOT include a generic term after an acronym when one of the letters already stands for that term — even if it appears in US English, correct it:

• RPC call, HTML language, TCP/IP-Protocol, PIN Number — all wrong
• EHM mashinalari, BMT tashkiloti, CD disk, DVD disk — all wrong in Uzbek

Localized acronyms in online help or documentation — spell out the words the first time. Include language-specific translation, US term, and acronym:

• Ma’lumotlardan erkin foydalanish obyektlari (Data Access Objects, DAO)
• ActiveX ma’lumotlar obyektlari (ActiveX Data Objects, ADO)

Unlocalized acronyms that are commonly understood — not localized or spelled out: ANSI, ISO, ISDN, DOS, DSL, CD, DVD.

Applications, products, and features¶

Product/application names are usually trademarked and rarely translated. Feature names may also be trademarked (IntelliSense). Verify translatability before translating any product/feature name.

Many IT loan words are kept in English spelling but inflect with Uzbek affixes: Adapter, Audio, Bit, Demo, Dialog, Disk, Format, Internet, Login, Media, Model, Modem, Monitor, Multimedia, Normal, Portal, Printer, Start, Server, Signal, Spam, Virus, Video.

Using the word Microsoft¶

In English, MS as abbreviation for Microsoft is prohibited.

• In Uzbek, Microsoft is NOT translated in localized or unlocalized product names.
• Microsoft is translated as Maykrosoft or Maykrosoft korporatsiyasi when referring to Microsoft Corporation or its products descriptively in text.

Status messages¶

In Uzbek, menu and command status bar messages follow specific patterns:

Standardization in messages¶

Use one standard translation for variant English expressions with same meaning:

Error messages — standard phrases¶

Placeholders. %d, %ld, %u, %lu mean numbers; %c means letter; %s means string. “Checking Web %1!d! of %2!d!” → “Checking Web 3 of 5”. “INI file ‘%1!-.200s!’ section” → “INI file ‘source’ section”.

Keys and shortcuts¶

Standard shortcut keys (Uzbek command translations):

• Help window F1 → Yordam oynasi
• Cancel Esc → Bekor qilish
• Switch to next primary application Alt+Tab → Keyingi birlamchi ilovaga o‘tish
• Display next window Alt+Esc → Keyingi oyna
• Display pop-up menu Shift+F10 → Qalqib chiquvchi menyu
• Close active application window Alt+F4 → Faol ilova oynasini yopish
• Capture active window to Clipboard Alt+PrntScrn → Faol oyna rasmini buferga saqlash
• Capture desktop to Clipboard PrntScrn → Ishchi stol rasmini buferga saqlash
• Access Start button Ctrl+Esc → Vazifalar panelidagi Start tugmasiga kirish
• Launch Task Manager Ctrl+Shift+Esc → Topshiriqlar menejeri va tizim initsializatsiyasini ishga tushirish

File menu: - File New Ctrl+N → Fayl yaratish - File Open Ctrl+O → Faylni ochish - File Close Ctrl+F4 → Faylni yopish - File Save Ctrl+S → Faylni saqlash - File Save as F12 → Faylni quyidagidek saqlash - File Print Preview Ctrl+F2 → Faylni chop etishdan avval dastlabki ko‘rib chiqish - File Print Ctrl+P → Faylni chop etish - File Exit Alt+F4 → Fayldan chiqish

Edit menu: - Edit Undo Ctrl+Z → Bekor qilish - Edit Repeat Ctrl+Y → Qaytarish - Edit Cut Ctrl+X → Qirqib olish - Edit Copy Ctrl+C → Nusxa ko‘chirish - Edit Paste Ctrl+V → Qo‘shib qo‘yish - Edit Delete Ctrl+Backspace → Yo‘q qilish - Edit Select All Ctrl+A → Barchasini tanlash - Edit Find Ctrl+F → Topish - Edit Replace Ctrl+H → Almashtirish - Edit Go To Ctrl+B → O‘tish

Format: - Italic Ctrl+I → Kursiv - Bold Ctrl+G → Quyuq - Underlined Ctrl+U → Tagiga chizilgan / So‘zning tagiga chizish - Large caps Ctrl+Shift+A → Katta harflar - Small caps Ctrl+Shift+K → Katta harflar kichik shriftda - Centered Ctrl+E → Markaz bo‘yicha - Left aligned Ctrl+L → Chap tomonga tenglashtirilgan - Right aligned Ctrl+R → O‘ng tomonga tenglashtirilgan - Justified Ctrl+J → Kenglik bo‘yicha

Numbers and dates¶

• Decimal separator: comma (,)
• Thousand separator: space (14 400)
• Period used in version numbers: Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6
• Short date: dd.MM.yyyy (17.03.2011)
• Long date: yyyy yil d-MMMM (2011 yil 3-mart)
• First day of week: Monday (dushanba)
• 24-hour time format: HH:mm:ss
• Currency: So‘m (1 256 347,00 so‘m; subunit tiyin)

Measurement units¶

Metric system. Temperature in Celsius (recalculate Fahrenheit). Format: x°С (capital Latin C). Below zero shown with minus, above zero plus sign is optional and rarely used: -45°C, 0°C, 35°C.

Percent sign separated from number with non-breaking space in documentation (10 %); no space before % in software and UI references.

Reference materials: authoritative Uzbek sources¶

Normative references:

1. M. Asqarova, X. Abdurahmonov “O‘zbek tili grammatikasining praktikumi” (Practical Grammar of Uzbek). Toshkent: O‘qituvchi, 1981.
2. X. Abdurahmonov, A. Rafiyev “O‘zbek tilini amaliy grammatikasi” (Applied Grammar of Uzbek). Toshkent: O‘qituvchi, 1992.
3. F. Kamol (ed.) “Hozirgi zamon o‘zbek tili” (Modern Uzbek). Toshkent: O‘zbekiston Fanlar Akademiyasi, 1957.
4. E. Qilichev “O‘zbek tilining amaliy grammatikasi” (Applied Grammar of Uzbek). Toshkent: O‘qituvchi, 1992.
5. H. Jamolxonov “Hozirgi o‘zbek adabiy tili” (Modern Uzbek Literary Language). Pedagogika universiteti darslik, Toshkent, 2002.

Informative references:

1. Usmonova et al. “O‘zbek tili” textbook. Toshkent: O‘qituvchi, 1981.
2. U. Lafasov, A. Ismoilov, A. Madvaliyev “O‘zbek tili” textbook. Toshkent: O‘qituvchi, 2000.
3. O‘. Shokirov, M. Alimjonova “O‘zbek tili” textbook. Toshkent: O‘qituvchi, 2004.

FAQ¶

How should I address users in Uzbek translation?¶

Use the capitalized respectful pronoun Siz when addressing the user. Critically: when the verb already carries the second-person plural personal affix (-ing, -ngiz), omit Siz to avoid redundancy. “Click the button” → Tugmachani bosing (correct, verb suffix carries 2nd-person), NOT Siz tugmachani bosing (incorrect, redundant). Siz is appropriate for software UI, marketing, medical patient materials, business correspondence, consumer-facing legal documents. The same address works whether speaking to one person or a group, without reference to gender or number — Uzbek has no grammatical gender.

What are the Uzbek Latin script orthography rules translators most often violate?¶

Uzbek Latin uses 29 characters including digraphs ch, sh, ng. Critically: o‘ and g‘ use the modifier letter (curly apostrophe ‘, U+2018) — NOT the straight apostrophe (‘). O‘zbekiston, ko‘chirmoq, g‘arb, og‘riq. The ng digraph represents one phoneme. Vowel letters: a, e, i, o, u, o‘. Don’t capitalize: months and day names (mid-sentence), languages and nationalities (yaponcha interfeys, fransuzlar, rus tili), web (vebga ulanish). DO capitalize: country/state names (O‘zbekiston Respublikasi), political bodies (Oliy Majlis), proper names, Internet, first words of UI elements (Tarmoq kuzatuvchisi).

What’s the rule on word order and impersonal constructions in Uzbek?¶

Uzbek is verb-final (Subject-Object-Verb) — restructure English imperatives so verb comes at end. “Click Cancel to skip creating your startup disk” → “Ish boshlash diskini yaratishni rad qilish uchun Bekor qilish tugmasini bosing”. Describe the action before the purpose (action first), not the other way around. Avoid personified inanimate subjects from English (“Setup encountered an error”) — replace with passive or impersonal Uzbek (“O‘rnatish ustasi xatoga duch keldi”). Replace “Attempt to …” with passive constructions: “Joriy katalogni ko‘chirishga urinish”.

How are English loanwords and product names handled in Uzbek?¶

Microsoft product names stay in Latin script untranslated and embedded directly in Uzbek text: Microsoft, Windows, Microsoft Office, Azure. The word “Microsoft” in descriptive references is transliterated as Maykrosoft (Maykrosoftning boshqa o‘yinlari) or Maykrosoft korporatsiyasi for the corporation reference. Genitive ‘s’ is never attached to trademarked product names — use periphrastic constructions (Products by Microsoft, not Microsoft’s products). English loanwords are kept as-is in Uzbek text and take Uzbek case suffixes (serverga, fayldan, fayllarni). IT terms not localized: Adapter, Audio, Bit, Disk, Format, Internet, Modem, Monitor, Server, Video — all keep English spelling but inflect with Uzbek affixes. Don’t include generic terms after acronyms when the letter already stands for that term (DVD disk, CD disk, RPC call are all wrong).

Which Russian-Soviet-influenced calques and translation defects should I avoid in Uzbek?¶

Avoid Russian word-order influence — Uzbek SOV is strict, don’t mimic Russian/English SVO. Avoid Russian-derived bureaucratic vocabulary when natural Uzbek equivalents exist. Translate Microsoft → Maykrosoft only in descriptive prose (not as trademark). Don’t pluralize after numerals: “5 computers” → 5 kompyuter (singular form), not 5 kompyuterlar. The plural form is used only without a number: kompyuterlar. There are NO prepositions in Uzbek — use case affixes: “connect to Internet” → Internetga ulanmoq, “migrate from a city” → shahardan ko‘chmoq, “click on button” → tugmachaga chertmoq.

What are the Uzbek punctuation rules that differ from English?¶

Comma is the decimal separator (5,25 sm, not 5.25 cm); space is the thousand separator (14 400, not 14,400). List separator is semicolon (;) or sometimes full stop. Use chevrons « » with curly ” ” inside in formal documentation, but straight quotation marks are acceptable in software and web. NEVER use single quotation marks. Period comes outside the chevrons. After a colon, don’t capitalize regular text (capitalization after colon is considered a language error, except for lists and direct speech). Replace English colons after alerting words (Warning:, Attention:, Caution:) with exclamation marks (Diqqat!). Use Eslatma. (period) for single in-text notes; Eslatma: (colon) for lists of notes. Don’t put period after measurement abbreviations (sm, kg) at sentence end other than the sentence-ending period.

Sources¶

• Microsoft Localization Style Guides hub
• Microsoft Terminology — Globalization
• Microsoft Trademarks
• O‘zbekiston Fanlar Akademiyasi (Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences)