---
title: lang.Translate
description: Translates a string using the translation tables in the i18n directory.
categories: []
keywords: []
action:
  aliases: [T, i18n]
  related: []
  returnType: string
  signatures: ['lang.Translate KEY [CONTEXT]']
toc: true
aliases: [/functions/i18n]
---

The `lang.Translate` function returns the value associated with given key as defined in the translation table for the current language. 

If the key is not found in the translation table for the current language, the `lang.Translate` function falls back to the translation table for the [`defaultContentLanguage`].

[`defaultContentLanguage`]: /getting-started/configuration/#defaultcontentlanguage

If the key is not found in the translation table for the `defaultContentLanguage`, the `lang.Translate` function returns an empty string.

{{% note %}}
To list missing and fallback translations, use the `--printI18nWarnings` flag when building your site.

To render placeholders for missing and fallback translations, set 
[`enableMissingTranslationPlaceholders`] to `true` in your site configuration.

[`enableMissingTranslationPlaceholders`]: /getting-started/configuration/#enablemissingtranslationplaceholders
{{% /note %}}

## Translation tables

Create translation tables in the `i18n` directory, naming each file according to [RFC 5646]. Translation tables may be JSON, TOML, or YAML. For example:

```text
i18n/en.toml
i18n/en-US.toml
```

The base name must match the language key as defined in your site configuration.

Artificial languages with private use subtags as defined in [RFC 5646 § 2.2.7] are also supported. You may omit the `art-x-` prefix for brevity. For example:

```text
i18n/art-x-hugolang.toml
i18n/hugolang.toml
```

Private use subtags must not exceed 8 alphanumeric characters.

[RFC 5646]: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5646
[RFC 5646 § 2.2.7]: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5646#section-2.2.7

## Simple translations

Let's say your multilingual site supports two languages, English and Polish. Create a translation table for each language in the `i18n` directory.

```text
i18n/
├── en.toml
└── pl.toml
```

The English translation table:

{{< code-toggle file=i18n/en >}}
privacy = 'privacy'
security = 'security'
{{< /code-toggle >}}

The Polish translation table:

{{< code-toggle file=i18n/pl >}}
privacy = 'prywatność'
security = 'bezpieczeństwo'
{{< /code-toggle >}}

{{% note %}}
The examples below use the `T` alias for brevity.
{{% /note %}}

When viewing the English language site:

```go-html-template
{{ T "privacy" }} → privacy
{{ T "security" }} → security
````

When viewing the Polish language site:

```go-html-template
{{ T "privacy" }} → prywatność
{{ T "security" }} → bezpieczeństwo
```

## Translations with pluralization

Let's say your multilingual site supports two languages, English and Polish. Create a translation table for each language in the `i18n` directory.

```text
i18n/
├── en.toml
└── pl.toml
```

The Unicode [CLDR Plural Rules chart] describes the pluralization categories for each language.

[CLDR Plural Rules chart]: https://www.unicode.org/cldr/charts/43/supplemental/language_plural_rules.html

The English translation table:

{{< code-toggle file=i18n/en >}}
[day]
one = 'day'
other = 'days'

[day_with_count]
one = '{{ . }} day'
other = '{{ . }} days'
{{< /code-toggle >}}

The Polish translation table:

{{< code-toggle file=i18n/pl >}}
[day]
one = 'miesiąc'
few = 'miesiące'
many = 'miesięcy'
other = 'miesiąca'

[day_with_count]
one = '{{ . }} miesiąc'
few = '{{ . }} miesiące'
many = '{{ . }} miesięcy'
other = '{{ . }} miesiąca'
{{< /code-toggle >}}

{{% note %}}
The examples below use the `T` alias for brevity.
{{% /note %}}

When viewing the English language site:

```go-html-template
{{ T "day" 0 }} → days
{{ T "day" 1 }} → day
{{ T "day" 2 }} → days
{{ T "day" 5 }} → days

{{ T "day_with_count" 0 }} → 0 days
{{ T "day_with_count" 1 }} → 1 day
{{ T "day_with_count" 2 }} → 2 days
{{ T "day_with_count" 5 }} → 5 days
````

When viewing the Polish language site:

```go-html-template
{{ T "day" 0 }} → miesięcy
{{ T "day" 1 }} → miesiąc
{{ T "day" 2 }} → miesiące
{{ T "day" 5 }} → miesięcy

{{ T "day_with_count" 0 }} → 0 miesięcy
{{ T "day_with_count" 1 }} → 1 miesiąc
{{ T "day_with_count" 2 }} → 2 miesiące
{{ T "day_with_count" 5 }} → 5 miesięcy
```

In the pluralization examples above, we passed an integer in context (the second argument). You can also pass a map in context, providing a `count` key to control pluralization.

Translation table:

{{< code-toggle file=i18n/en >}}
[age]
one = '{{ .name }} is {{ .count }} year old.'
other = '{{ .name }} is {{ .count }} years old.'
{{< /code-toggle >}}

Template code:

```go-html-template
{{ T "age" (dict "name" "Will" "count" 1) }} → Will is 1 year old.
{{ T "age" (dict "name" "John" "count" 3) }} → John is 3 years old.
```

{{% note %}}
Translation tables may contain both simple translations and translations with pluralization.
{{% /note %}}

## Reserved keys

Hugo uses the [go-i18n] package to look up values in translation tables. This package reserves the following keys for internal use:

[go-i18n]: https://github.com/nicksnyder/go-i18n

id
: (`string`) Uniquely identifies the message.

description
: (`string`) Describes the message to give additional context to translators that may be relevant for translation.

hash
: (`string`) Uniquely identifies the content of the message that this message was translated from.

leftdelim
: (`string`) The left Go template delimiter.

rightdelim
: (`string`) The right Go template delimiter.

zero
: (`string`) The content of the message for the [CLDR] plural form "zero".

one
: (`string`) The content of the message for the [CLDR] plural form "one".

two
: (`string`) The content of the message for the [CLDR] plural form "two".

few
: (`string`) The content of the message for the [CLDR] plural form "few".

many
: (`string`) The content of the message for the [CLDR] plural form "many".

other
: (`string`) The content of the message for the [CLDR] plural form "other".

[CLDR]: https://www.unicode.org/cldr/charts/43/supplemental/language_plural_rules.html

If you need to provide a translation for one of the reserved keys, you can prepend the word with an underscore. For example:

{{< code-toggle file=i18n/es >}}
_description = 'descripción'
_few = 'pocos'
_many = 'muchos'
_one = 'uno'
_other = 'otro'
_two = 'dos'
_zero = 'cero'
{{< /code-toggle >}}

Then in your templates:

```go-html-template
{{ T "_description" }} → descripción
{{ T "_few" }} → pocos
{{ T "_many" }} → muchos
{{ T "_one" }} → uno
{{ T "_two" }} → dos
{{ T "_zero" }} → cero
{{ T "_other" }} → otro
```
