German translation
Germany, Austria
and Switzerland
Standard written German is shared across three countries, yet spelling, vocabulary and administrative terms differ. Swiss usage drops the letter ß, Austrian texts say Jänner for January, and legal and tax terms follow national law. Naming the destination gives the translator a frame for terminology and style.
Structure matters as much as vocabulary. German capitalises every noun, builds long compounds and places the verb late in subordinate clauses, so sentences rarely align word for word with the source. Technically accurate German needs context and consistent choices rather than substitution.
Language and locale facts
German
conventions to specify
German is one script with three national conventions. The country decides spelling details, number format, legal vocabulary and the accepted form of a business letter.
| Convention | German |
|---|---|
| Variants | Germany, Austria and Switzerland each have their own administrative and legal vocabulary |
| Spelling | ß in Germany and Austria; Switzerland writes ss |
| Date | DD.MM.YYYY; months capitalised when written out (31. Oktober 2026) |
| Numbers | Germany and Austria: decimal comma, full stop between thousands; Switzerland often a decimal point with an apostrophe (CHF 1’250.50) |
| Quotation marks | „…“ or »…« in Germany and Austria; «…» in Switzerland |
| Address | Formal Sie (capitalised) or informal du; Sie is the business default |
| Gender | Forms such as Kolleg:innen appear in some corporate styles while others keep the generic masculine; the style guide decides |
Typical source material
German documents
and their translation focus
German-language work often centres on equipment, contracts and supplier files, where one wrong term travels through many documents.
| Material | Translation focus |
|---|---|
| Equipment manuals and datasheets | Compound terms fixed in a term list; DIN, EN and ISO references kept; instructions in the imperative |
| Contracts and company documents | Legal forms such as GmbH, AG and KG left untranslated; national legal terms chosen for the target country |
| Product and marketing content | Register and Sie/du choice; headline compounds kept short enough for layouts |
| Software and help files | Text expansion in buttons and menus; gendered forms and address handled consistently |
Language-specific checks
Details that change
the finished translation
German raises these checks more often than most languages.
Compound nouns carry meaning
A compound such as Druckluftanschlussleitung compresses a relationship into one word. Rendering it requires understanding the component, and the same compound must be translated identically throughout.
Sie or du sets the relationship
Formal Sie and informal du signal different relationships. The brand voice or business context settles the register across letters, websites and support text.
Longer text in tight layouts
German text typically runs longer than English, and long compounds resist hyphenation. Buttons, table columns and slide titles need checking in layout.
Variant, terminology and register for German texts
A German brief names the country variant first, then supplies or requests a term list. Compounds can fuse several concepts into one word, and a part has to keep one name from the parts list to the safety notice. The brief also fixes the address form, with Sie as the normal choice in business correspondence, and says how gendered job titles are to be written.
Translators are native German speakers living in the target country, and a second qualified linguist revises each text under the agency’s ISO 17100-certified process. Equipment documentation belongs with technical translation, and interface strings or help files with software localisation.
Buyer questions
Questions about
German translation
Which German variant should a company request?
Name the country where the readers live: Germany, Austria or Switzerland. Standard written German is broadly shared, but spelling, vocabulary and legal or administrative terms differ by country, and Swiss texts follow different typography. If one text must serve all three markets, the brief should say so and allow for review of country-specific terms.
Why do German technical documents need terminology planning?
German compounds can pack several concepts into one word, while a document set uses the same component or operation repeatedly. A term list and aligned earlier translations keep manuals, specifications and safety information coherent, and they stop two translators from rendering one part under different names.
When is du used instead of Sie in German?
Sie is the usual choice for formal and business communication. Du signals a closer relationship and suits many consumer brands, start-ups and internal material. The source tone, the audience and the client style guide decide, and the choice must stay consistent across a website, an app and its support content.
Does Swiss German need a separate translation?
Written Swiss texts use Standard German with Swiss conventions: no ß, guillemets for quotation marks and a different number format for francs. Spoken Swiss German dialects are not normally written in business documents. The brief should state Switzerland as the target so these conventions and local terms are applied.
How long is German text compared with English?
German usually needs more characters than English, and long compounds are hard to wrap or hyphenate. Interface strings, table headers and slide titles should be tested in layout. The translator can shorten wording where the meaning allows, but fixed field widths are best supplied with the brief.
What documents are commonly translated into German?
Typical requests include equipment manuals, specifications, contracts, product information, correspondence and website content. The project manager routes each text by subject, so a patent, a safety data sheet and a marketing brochure reach different specialists. Editable source files and any approved glossary keep the work consistent.