Translate with Your Brand Voice, Automatically
Define your tone of voice, formality rules, and writing preferences once. Advanced AI applies them automatically on every translation. Human linguists see your style guide as a reference in the CAT editor — across all 204 languages.
What's a Translation Style Guide?
The rulebook for how your brand writes — in every language
Voice and Tone, Encoded as Rules
A style guide goes beyond individual words. It captures the character of your brand communication — whether you write formally or casually, use active or passive voice, avoid certain phrases, or follow specific punctuation conventions.
Traditionally, style guides were documents distributed to human translators and often ignored in practice. With Taia, your style guide rules are read and applied by Advanced AI at translation time, and displayed as a live reference in the CAT editor for every human linguist on the team.
Tone of Voice
Professional, friendly, authoritative, empathetic — specify how your brand sounds
Formality Level
From "tu" vs "vous" in French to formal registers in German or Japanese
Writing Rules
Active voice preference, sentence length, punctuation conventions, and more
Avoid Lists
Competitor names, outdated product terms, phrases that conflict with brand values
Example Style Guide Rules
"Always use formal 'Sie' address. Avoid contractions."
Three Resources. Complete Linguistic Control.
Style Guides work alongside Translation Memory and Glossaries as the third pillar of brand consistency
Translation Memory
Sentence-level consistency. Reuses previously approved translations, reducing work and ensuring identical source text always gets the same output.
"Reuse what was already translated"
Glossary
Word-level consistency. Prescribes approved translations for product names, technical terms, and industry-specific vocabulary.
"Always use this exact term"
Style Guide
Voice and tone consistency. Defines how your brand writes — formality, tone, sentence structure, and what to avoid — applied across the whole file.
"Write it this way, not that way"
How Style Guide Enforcement Works
Applied automatically by Advanced AI and visible to human linguists
1. Define Your Rules
Create a style guide in Taia: set formality level, tone of voice, active/passive voice preference, preferred phrases, and a do-not-use list. Write it in the language you're most comfortable with — Taia handles the rest.
2. Assign to Projects
Attach a style guide at the organization level, team level, or individual project level. Combine with a glossary and Translation Memory for complete linguistic control.
3. Consistent Output
Advanced AI reads your style guide rules when translating — adjusting tone, formality, and phrasing accordingly. Human linguists see the guide in the CAT editor as a live reference panel throughout their work.
Style Guide Management
Create rules once, apply them to all your translation projects
Style Guides
| Name | Languages | Formality | Tone | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing Voice | All languages | Semi-formal | Friendly, enthusiastic | 1 day ago |
| Legal & Compliance | en-GB, de-DE, fr-FR | Formal | Authoritative, precise | 4 days ago |
| Customer Support | All languages | Semi-formal | Empathetic, helpful | 1 week ago |
Marketing Voice
Brand communication style for marketing content
Rules
- Use active voice wherever possible
- Keep sentences under 25 words
- Use "you" to address the reader directly
- Formal register: use "Sie" in German
Do Not Use
Style guide management interface. Create rules, assign to teams, apply to AI and linguist workflows.
Why Style Guides Matter
Brand voice consistency, quality control, and scalable multilingual communication
Consistent Brand Voice
Ensure your tone — formal, friendly, authoritative — translates faithfully across every market and every content type.
Better Advanced AI Output
Advanced AI considers your style guide alongside Translation Memory and Glossary when translating. Less post-editing for brand voice issues.
Guide Human Linguists
Human translators see your rules in the CAT editor as they work. No more style inconsistency between different translators or projects.
Learn about CAT Editor →Protect Brand Values
Block competitor names, deprecated product terms, and phrases that conflict with your brand positioning — across every language.
Market-Specific Rules
Add cultural notes for specific locales — like formal address in German, regional expression preferences in Spanish, or honorifics in Japanese.
Team Consistency
Whether your content is translated by AI today or a linguist tomorrow, the output follows the same voice and writing standards.
Flexible Style Guide Assignment
Apply the right voice to the right content — at any scope
Organization-Wide
A single master voice for all teams. Core brand tone, formality level, and avoid-lists that apply universally across all projects and content types.
Example: "Always use formal register, never mention competitors"
Team-Specific
Different teams have different communication needs. Legal writes formally and precisely. Marketing writes enthusiastically. Support writes empathetically.
Example: Marketing team uses semi-formal, Legal team uses formal
Project-Level
Override the default voice for specific campaigns, clients, or content types where unique tone requirements apply.
Example: A product launch campaign has a distinct, bolder voice
Who Needs Style Guides?
Any team where how you write is as important as what you write
Marketing and brand teams
Your brand voice is an asset. Enforce it consistently whether you're translating landing pages, ads, or email campaigns.
Customer support and success
Support content must feel warm and helpful in every language. Style guides ensure empathetic tone is preserved across all markets.
Legal and compliance teams
Legal documents demand formal register and precise construction. Style guides prevent casual phrasing from slipping into contracts or disclosures.
SaaS product teams
UI copy and in-app messaging need a consistent, conversational tone. Style guides keep product language coherent as your UI grows across languages.
E-commerce and retail
Product descriptions need to feel persuasive and on-brand in every market. Style guides encode your retail voice so it scales without manual review.
Works with Advanced AI
Style guide rules are applied automatically when you use Advanced AI translation. The model reads your rules alongside Translation Memory matches and glossary terms before translating each segment.
Full-file context
Advanced AI considers the whole document when translating, not just the current sentence — making tone rules more effective
Visible in CAT Editor
Human linguists see the style guide as a reference panel while translating — even when they're reviewing AI-translated content
Standard AI: reference only
Standard AI translation does not apply style guide rules, but linguists still see the guide when post-editing
Included in Pro Plan
Style guide management is available in the Pro plan and above. Create unlimited style guides, combine them with glossaries and Translation Memory, and unlock Advanced AI to apply them automatically.
Not available in Free or Basic plans
Style Guide FAQs
Common questions about brand voice and writing rule enforcement
What is a translation style guide?
A translation style guide defines how your content should be written — the tone of voice, formality level, punctuation preferences, sentence structure rules, and expressions to avoid. Unlike a glossary (which says "use this term") or Translation Memory (which reuses past sentences), a style guide defines the overarching voice and character of your brand in every language.
How is a style guide different from a glossary?
Glossaries are prescriptive at the word level: "always translate X as Y". Style guides are prescriptive at the content level: "use a formal register", "avoid passive constructions", "never use competitor names". Think of a glossary as your brand dictionary and a style guide as your brand writing rulebook. Both are included in the Pro plan and work together.
Does AI use the style guide automatically?
Yes — but only with Advanced AI translation (available on Pro and Enterprise plans). Advanced AI reads your style guide rules when translating a file, alongside Translation Memory matches and glossary terms. Standard AI translation does not apply style guide rules. If consistent brand voice matters, use Advanced AI with a style guide attached to the project.
Can human linguists see the style guide?
Yes. When a human linguist opens a translation task in the CAT editor, the style guide is displayed as a reference panel. Translators can read the rules, tone guidance, and avoid-lists while working — ensuring their output matches your brand voice even for nuances that AI alone cannot fully capture.
What rules can I define in a style guide?
You can define: Formality level (formal, semi-formal, informal), tone of voice (professional, friendly, empathetic, authoritative), active vs. passive voice preference, sentences to avoid (e.g. overly literal phrasing), expressions to prefer (local idioms or brand-approved phrases), punctuation rules (Oxford comma, em dash usage), do-not-use terms (competitor names, outdated product terms), and cultural notes (regional sensitivities for specific target markets).
Can I use different style guides for different teams or content types?
Yes. You can create multiple style guides and attach them at different scopes — organization-wide for universal brand voice, team-specific for Marketing vs. Legal vs. Technical, and project-level when a specific client or campaign has unique tone requirements. Style guides can be combined with glossaries and Translation Memory on any project.
Is a style guide required for Advanced AI translation?
No, it is optional. Advanced AI translates with or without a style guide. However, attaching one significantly improves brand consistency — especially for marketing and customer-facing content where tone and voice are as important as accuracy.
Which plans include style guide management?
Style guide management is available exclusively in the Pro plan and above. Free and Basic plans do not include this feature. Advanced AI (which applies style guide rules automatically) is also a Pro/Enterprise-only feature.
Make Your Brand Voice Speak Every Language
Define your writing rules once. Let Advanced AI and your linguists apply them consistently — across every language, every project, every market.