Pluralization

This example shows how to handle pluralized messages correctly across different languages.

String Table Setup

Key	English	German	Russian
inventory.items	{0:plural:one=# item|other=# items}	{0:plural:one=# Gegenstand|other=# Gegenstände}	{0:plural:one=# предмет|few=# предмета|many=# предметов|other=# предмета}

Basic Usage

using Lexis;
using UnityEngine;

public class Inventory : MonoBehaviour
{
    public void UpdateItemCount(int count)
    {
        string text = Localization.Get("inventory.items", count);
        itemCountLabel.text = text;

        // Results:
        // count = 1: "1 item" / "1 Gegenstand" / "1 предмет"
        // count = 5: "5 items" / "5 Gegenstände" / "5 предметов"
    }
}

CLDR Plural Categories

Different languages use different plural categories:

English (simple)

• one: 1
• other: 0, 2, 3, 4, 5...

German (same as English)

• one: 1
• other: 0, 2, 3, 4, 5...

Russian (complex)

• one: 1, 21, 31, 41...
• few: 2-4, 22-24, 32-34...
• many: 0, 5-20, 25-30...
• other: fractional numbers

Arabic (most complex)

• zero: 0
• one: 1
• two: 2
• few: 3-10, 103-110...
• many: 11-99, 111-199...
• other: 100-102, 200-202...

Common Patterns

Simple Singular/Plural

{0:plural:one=# message|other=# messages}

With Text Before/After

You have {0:plural:one=# new notification|other=# new notifications}!

Zero Special Case

{0:plural:zero=No items|one=# item|other=# items}

Full Example

using Lexis;
using UnityEngine;

public class NotificationUI : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private LocalizedString messageFormat;
    // Template: "You have {0:plural:zero=no new messages|one=# new message|other=# new messages}"

    public void UpdateNotifications(int count)
    {
        notificationLabel.text = messageFormat.GetValue(count);
    }
}

Testing Pluralization

Test with values that trigger each category:

void TestPluralization()
{
    // Test each category for the current locale
    int[] testValues = { 0, 1, 2, 5, 11, 21, 22, 25, 100 };

    foreach (int value in testValues)
    {
        string result = Localization.Get("inventory.items", value);
        Debug.Log($"Count {value}: {result}");
    }
}

Ordinal Numbers

Added in v1.1.0

Ordinal numbers follow CLDR ordinal rules, which differ from cardinal rules.

English Ordinals

{0:ordinal:one=#st|two=#nd|few=#rd|other=#th}

Value	Category	Result
1	one	1st
2	two	2nd
3	few	3rd
4	other	4th
11	other	11th
12	other	12th
13	other	13th
21	one	21st
22	two	22nd
23	few	23rd

French Ordinals

French only distinguishes 1st from all others:

{0:ordinal:one=#er|other=#e}

Value	Result
1	1er
2	2e
10	10e

German Ordinals

German ordinals are always the same form:

{0:ordinal:other=#.}

All values produce 1., 2., 3., etc.

Combined Example

// Leaderboard: "1st place with 5 points"
string template = "{0:ordinal:one=#st|two=#nd|few=#rd|other=#th} place with {1:plural:one=# point|other=# points}";
SmartStringParser.Parse(template, 1, 5);
// Result: "1st place with 5 points"

Best Practices

1. Always include other - It's the required fallback
2. Test with Russian - It exercises most plural categories
3. Use # placeholder - Automatically inserts the number
4. Consider zero - "No items" often reads better than "0 items"
5. Provide translator notes - Explain the context for each plural form