plural pipe returns other for zero in french locale

Not specified by the original author.

plural pipe returns other for zero in french locale

TL;DR

Fixes French plurals where zero picks 'other' instead of 'one'. French treats 0 as singular; add an explicit zero case or fix the plural rule data. Use when French shows the plural form for zero items. Not for missing plural keys.

The error

French cart shows the plural form for 0 items where the singular is expected.

Fix it

Step 1: Check the plural rule for French

node -e "console.log(new Intl.PluralRules('fr').select(0))"

Expected: You see which category French assigns to zero.

Step 2: Add an explicit zero case to the message

node -e "console.log('add =0 {no items} to the ICU plural message')"

Expected: The message handles zero explicitly.

Step 3: Render with count zero in French

node -e "console.log('confirm the zero text shows, not the plural')"

Expected: Zero renders the correct French form.

When to use this

• French zero uses the plural form
• A plural message has no explicit zero case

When NOT to use this

• The plural key is missing, add the message first
• Zero is wrong in every language, check the count value

Tool and version compatibility

• Intl.PluralRules
• ICU message format with explicit =0

Variant phrasings

zero wrong in Arabic too

Arabic has a dedicated zero form. Add =0 or the zero category explicitly.

zero correct but one wrong

That language maps 1 to 'other'. Check the CLDR rule for the locale.

Why it happens

CLDR plural rules differ by language: French groups 0 with 'one', English groups it with 'other'. A message with only one/other cases renders the wrong French form for zero unless you add an explicit =0 case.

Edge cases

• Explicit =0 overrides the CLDR category, which is usually what you want
• Fractions like 1.5 follow different rules than integers
• Translators must translate the =0 case too, or it falls back

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_SIJWZaUm2D8tZFh4NV3GxA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_SIJWZaUm2D8tZFh4NV3GxA

Thread query: plural pipe returns other for zero in french locale

TL;DR: Fixes French plurals where zero picks 'other' instead of 'one'. French treats 0 as singular; add an explicit zero case or fix the plural rule data. Use when French shows the plural form for zero items. Not for missing plural keys.

Not specified by the original author.

Fix the i18next _zero plural suffix not rendering

TL;DR

English simply has no zero plural form, so i18next correctly skips your zero key and falls back to other. Check what Intl.PluralRules says for your locale before adding suffixes. For English, put the zero-case copy in _other or handle count 0 as a separate key.

The error

t('items', {count: 0}) renders "0 items" from items_other
expected the items_zero string, which exists in the JSON

Fix it

Step 1: Ask the platform which plural form zero takes

node -e "console.log(new Intl.PluralRules('en').select(0), new Intl.PluralRules('ar').select(0))"

Expected: en prints other, ar prints zero. That tells you which suffix each locale will ever use.

Step 2: List the suffixes your JSON actually defines

node -e "const j=require('./public/locales/en/translation.json'); console.log(Object.keys(j).filter(k=>k.startsWith('items')))"

Expected: You see items, itemsother, itemszero or whatever is really there.

Step 3: Move the zero copy where English will find it

node -e "console.log('for en: put zero-case wording in items_other, or branch on count===0 in code')"

Expected: count 0 now renders the wording you intended.

Step 4: Keep _zero only for locales that have a zero form

node -e "console.log(new Intl.PluralRules('ar').select(0))"

Expected: Arabic keeps its zero form, English stops pretending to have one.

When to use this

• A zero key exists but count 0 renders the other string
• You are adding plural suffixes and want to know which ones a locale supports

When NOT to use this

• You need an exact-count special case, use a separate key or branch in code
• The plural logic itself is wrong, check the count value you pass

Tool and version compatibility

• i18next v21 through v25, JSON v4 plural format
• Intl.PluralRules in all modern browsers and Node 13+

Variant phrasings

_one not used for French zero

Same root cause. French treats 0 as one, so items_one renders for count 0. That is correct CLDR behavior.

Russian few/many forms ignored

You probably defined only one and other. Russian needs one, few, many, and other. Add all four.

Why it happens

i18next v4 resolves plural suffixes through Intl.PluralRules, which implements the CLDR rules per locale. English has only one and other, so _zero can never match in English no matter what your JSON says. Arabic, Latvian, and a few others genuinely have a zero category.

Edge cases

• JSON v3 used key_plural, v4 uses CLDR suffixes, mixing them breaks resolution
• ordinal plurals are a separate lookup, _ordinal suffixes do not mix with cardinal ones
• Some locales change rules by script or region, test with the exact BCP47 tag you ship

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_qojAiv7-clHoR0O9CJZQzA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_qojAiv7-clHoR0O9CJZQzA

Thread query: i18next plural suffix _zero not rendered bug

TL;DR: English simply has no zero plural form, so i18next correctly skips your zero key and falls back to other. Check what Intl.PluralRules says for your locale before adding suffixes. For English, put the zero-case copy in _other or handle count 0 as a separate key.

Not specified by the original author.

Fix plural selectordinal error on French one vs other

TL;DR

French ordinals treat only 1 as one, everything else is other, so write your selectordinal cases to match. If your message lists one, two, few like English, French picks wrong for 2 and 3. Check Intl.PluralRules with ordinal true for fr, then keep just the cases French can actually select.

The error

French ordinal for 2 renders the English-style "two" case
{n, selectordinal, one {#er} two {#e} other {#e}} picks wrong in fr

Fix it

Step 1: Check what French ordinals actually select

node -e "for(const n of [1,2,3]) console.log(n, new Intl.PluralRules('fr',{type:'ordinal'}).select(n))"

Expected: fr prints one for 1 and other for 2 and 3.

Step 2: Trim the message to the cases French uses

node -e "console.log('for fr: {n, selectordinal, one {#er} other {#e}} -- drop the two case')"

Expected: The message matches French ordinal rules.

Step 3: Keep per-locale messages where ordinals differ

node -e "console.log('translators should adapt the case list per language, not translate the English cases literally')"

Expected: Each locale has the cases its rules need.

Step 4: Render 1st, 2nd, 3rd in French and confirm

node -e "console.log('1 to 1er, 2 to 2e, 3 to 3e')"

Expected: Ordinals render correctly.

When to use this

• French ordinals pick the wrong selectordinal case
• Ordinal cases were copied from English

When NOT to use this

• Cardinal plurals in French, those follow different rules
• The ordinal logic is right but the suffix text is wrong, fix the copy

Tool and version compatibility

• ICU selectordinal, Intl.PluralRules with type ordinal
• French ordinal rules: 1 is one, masculine 1er

Variant phrasings

Spanish ordinals

Spanish ordinals are simpler, usually just other with º. Same per-locale adaptation applies.

English ordinals as reference

English needs one, two, few, other. The point is each language gets its own case list.

Why it happens

Selectordinal uses the locale's ordinal plural rules, not its cardinal ones. French ordinals only distinguish 1er from the rest, so English-style one/two/few cases never match in French and counts fall through to unexpected cases.

Edge cases

• Gender matters in French ordinals, 1er vs 1re, the message may need a select on gender too
• Translators must rewrite the case list, not just the words
• Test ordinals 1 through 5 minimum, edge counts expose bad case lists

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_7K4eNvydPnoIHSFQdTgMog

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_7K4eNvydPnoIHSFQdTgMog

Thread query: plural selectordinal french one vs other error

TL;DR: French ordinals treat only 1 as one, everything else is other, so write your selectordinal cases to match. If your message lists one, two, few like English, French picks wrong for 2 and 3. Check Intl.PluralRules with ordinal true for fr, then keep just the cases French can actually select.