Help translating actions into gendered languages

• Jun 15, 2023 - 22:58

Hi. I am translating Musescore into Hebrew, which is heavily gendered, especially with verbs. Even the plural version of verbs has to be feminine plural or masculine plural (meaning we don't have a natural "they" like in English). It is common in Hebrew to use the "masculine they" as neutral, but I don't feel like that is a satisfying solution to the problem.
there are a few solutions to this problem, such as using a "/" or a "." to differentiate the feminine and masculine suffixes of words, using infinitives (which are gender neutral in Hebrew) instead of verbs, and more. but I still find it difficult to understand to whom the action is directed in some sentences. for example: 4889: "show tempo marking on my score". who is showing? is it the user? the computer? the program? they all need to be addressed differently according to the gender of the word.
have you encountered a similar issue when translating into your language? How did you handle it? I'd love to hear your opinions on the matter


Comments

> who is showing? is it the user? the computer? the program?

It always means the program (i.e. MuseScore).

> "show tempo marking on my score"

The meaning is like "Should MuseScore show tempo markings on my score?". The user would see a checkbox or radio button in the program that would allow them to choose "Yes" or "No".

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