Other languages Ukrainian, German, French

Copywriting in other languages

Ukrainian copywriting is the writing of business texts in Ukrainian for a Ukrainian reader: websites, landing pages, product cards, emails, profiles. The text is written in Ukrainian from the start, for the person who will read it, and not translated from your English original. German and French we don't write from scratch: we adapt your finished copy, and a language editor reviews every text.

Translation, adaptation or from scratch

01 The difference

Ukrainian copywriting vs translation: what's the difference

The short answer: translation carries the meaning of a finished text into another language, while copywriting creates a text for a new reader. You translate when you need the original unchanged. You write when the text has to sell in a market that is not yours.

If you're unsure, send the original and describe the reader. We'll tell you whether a translation is enough or the text should be written anew.
What	What happens	When you need it	Where it is with us
Translation	The meaning of the original moves into another language, the structure stays	Documents, manuals, technical texts	translation
Adaptation	A finished text is rewritten for the reader and the market, the facts stay the same	A site that already exists in another language	German, French
Copywriting from scratch	The author gets a brief and writes in the target language without an original	A new site, landing page, product cards, an email series	Ukrainian, English

This is where the question “translate or write” comes from. An English page with a long opening and a long “About us,” translated word for word, gives you the same long opening in Ukrainian, one that a Ukrainian reader will skip in a second. Writing starts from what this particular reader wants to find out, not from what the original says.

When you need Ukrainian copywriting: you are entering the Ukrainian market, you are opening a Ukrainian version of your site, you are listing products on Rozetka or Prom, you are writing to Ukrainian partners or you are pitching Ukrainian investors. These texts get read quickly, and a clumsy phrase looks like a sign of a careless business.

02 Example

An English paragraph, a literal translation and a text in Ukrainian

The company is invented, and the example is for teaching. It shows a typical problem: a translation can be grammatically correct and still not work. English glosses follow the Ukrainian lines so that you can follow the logic.

A furniture workshop pagefirst screen

Solid oak furniture, made to measure. Fifteen years in the workshop, one table at a time. Delivered in four weeks.

Меблі з твердого дуба, зроблені на міру. П'ятнадцять років у майстерні, один стіл за раз. Доставлено за чотири тижні.

what's wrong: “solid oak” became “hard oak,” which in Ukrainian sounds like a botanical description and not a material buyers know. “Made to measure” turned into a phrase no one says. “One table at a time” is an English idiom that reads strangely word for word. “Delivered” is in the past tense, as if it had already happened.

The same blockcopywriting in Ukrainian

Меблі з твердого дуба, зроблені на міру.

Меблі з дубового масиву за вашими розмірами. П'ятнадцять років працюємо в майстерні, кожен стіл робимо окремо. Привеземо за чотири тижні.

why: “дубовий масив” is the term Ukrainian buyers use for solid wood, “за вашими розмірами” is how a workshop would say it, and the promise ends with a verb in the future tense that gives the buyer a deadline. Roughly: “Furniture from solid oak to your dimensions. We've worked in the workshop for fifteen years and make each table individually. We'll deliver in four weeks.”

Adaptation to the marketan offer

Found it cheaper elsewhere? Send us the link, and we'll match the price.

Бачили дешевше? Надішліть посилання, і ми подивимося, що можемо зробити з ціною.

why: a flat “we'll match any price” is a familiar promise in some English-speaking markets, but a Ukrainian reader may take it as too good to be true. A checkable action with a modest outcome (“we'll see what we can do”) sounds more believable. We carry over not the words but the substance of the promise, in the way sellers phrase it on this market. The Ukrainian line means: “Seen it cheaper? Send us the link, and we'll see what we can do about the price.”

03 Languages

Languages: Ukrainian from scratch, German and French by adaptation

We write English and Ukrainian from scratch. German and French we don't write, we adapt: we take your finished texts, adjust them and translate where needed.

Ukrainian

The author writes, a language editor reviews

The author works from your brief and from examples of your competitors on the Ukrainian market, and writes in Ukrainian without a finished original. A Ukrainian language editor then reviews the text for style, grammar and how natural the phrasing is. A translation back into English can be ordered separately.

German and French

Adapting finished copy

We take your page or presentation, rewrite it for the reader and the market, and check terms and forms of address. An editor of that language reviews the result. We don't write in these languages from scratch: it is more honest to hand you an adaptation than to pretend it is an original.

The English version

Why keep an English version if the text is in Ukrainian

When you order Ukrainian copy, it helps to have an English version for internal approval. It isn't required: your Ukrainian colleagues can sign off on the Ukrainian text directly. If you need both, there is a page about translation services.

04 Conventions

Forms of address and formatting: what changes from language to language

The differences go beyond vocabulary. They touch forms of address, number formats, quotation marks and tone. We choose them by the market where you sell and the person who is going to read the text.

These are general conventions, not rules for every brand. We settle the form of address and tone with you at the start, and keep to one choice on the whole site.
What	Ukrainian	German	French
Address	Formal “ви” for customers	“Sie” in B2B, “du” in some consumer brands	“vous” in B2B, “tu” in some young brands
Numbers	1 200,50	1.200,50	1 200,50
Quotation marks	«…»	„…“	« … »
Dates	5 December 2026 written as 05.12.2026	05.12.2026	05/12/2026
Tone	Direct, with a facts-first opening	Precise, restrained, details matter	Elegant, a little more formal

05 Localization

Localization instead of translation: what else we change in a text

Localization means adapting not only the words but everything that a reader sees as “their own”: currencies, date formats, units, names, references, even the order of the arguments. An English text often opens with the company story, a Ukrainian one with the benefit to the reader, and a German one often with the specification.

Prices in the currency the reader pays in and in the format they're used to: 1 200,00 UAH or 1.200,00 EUR instead of $1,200.00.
Phone numbers and addresses in the local format, with the country code.
Legal and warranty wording by the rules of the market: “30-day returns” can mean something quite different in Ukraine, Germany or France. We don't do legal review, but we flag the places that should be shown to a lawyer.
Cultural references and humor that don't travel get replaced with neutral ones.
Abbreviations, job titles and company forms such as LLC, GmbH or SARL have no exact equivalents, so we explain them in the text or replace them.

That is why “translate or write” isn't always a question of price: a site translated word for word keeps the logic of its original language, even when the words are new.

06 What we write

Copy for websites, marketplaces, LinkedIn: what Ukrainian copywriting covers

The service consists of a brief, the text and a review by a language editor. We add the title and description if it is a website page, and a structure if it is a long text.

01Website and landing pagewebsite copy in UkrainianThe home page, service pages, “About us,” FAQ. We build the structure for a Ukrainian reader and don't copy it from the English version. For landing pages, see website and landing page copy.
02SEO in Ukrainianqueries, title, descriptionWe pick search queries in Ukrainian and don't translate English ones: people search with different words. More on the principles on the page about SEO copywriting.
03MarketplacesRozetka, Prom, AmazonThe title, benefit bullets, description and keywords by the rules of the platform. For Ukrainian marketplaces and for Amazon, see marketplace listings.
04LinkedIn and profilescompany, personThe headline, the “About” section, the description of experience. Short, in the first person, without lists of adjectives.
05Newsletters and emailsemail in UkrainianCold emails to partners, welcome series, announcements. On the structure of emails, see email copywriting.
06Presentations and pitchesfor investors and partnersSlides and a cover letter. Concise wording, numbers in the foreground.

07 The team

Who writes in Ukrainian and who reviews it

Two people work on every text. The author writes, and a language editor reads the text separately from the author: they check grammar, how natural the phrasing is, and whether the text matches the brief and the market. An author doesn't review their own work.

We don't hand over machine-generated text as authored copy. In Ukrainian this matters especially: machine text is smooth but impersonal, and even an ordinary reader spots it quickly. We work from Ukraine, so Ukrainian is the language we hear and read every day.

08 The brief

What we need to start

A text in another language needs more background than one in your own, because the reader and the market are foreign to the author's brief. This is what we ask for.

01
Country and reader
Where the reader lives, what they do, what they already know about the product. “A buyer in Kyiv” and “a buyer in a small town in the west” get different texts.
→ a portrait of the reader
02
Materials
Your English site, presentation, price list, product photos. Anything the author can use to understand the product and its strengths.
→ a base of facts
03
Examples
Two or three sites you like and one or two you don't. The author studies your competitors on the target market.
→ tone references
04
The goal of the text
What the person should do after reading: write to you, buy, sign up. The call to action depends on it.
→ the reader's action

09 Price

How much copywriting in other languages costs: price per word and an example

We price per word of the finished text. For example, a page of 600 words costs from $132, and a landing page of 1,800 words from $396.

Ukrainian words run a little longer than English ones, so we count the words of the finished text, not of the original. About 1,000 characters without spaces is roughly 150 English words. We name the exact amount once we've seen the brief.
Service	What's included	Turnaround	Price
Copywriting in other languages	Copy, review by a language editor	4–5 days	from $0.22 / word
Translation services	Translation, editing, term glossary	from 2,000 words a day	from $0.10 / word
SEO copywriting	Keyword research, outline, copy, title and meta description	from 3 days	from $0.18 / word
Website and landing page copy	Brief, competitor review, wireframe, copy for every block	5–7 days	from $1,200 / landing page
Marketplace listings	Title, description and key attributes to the marketplace's requirements	from 15 listings a day	from $30 / listing

Why the price is higher than on freelance marketplaces

You can order Ukrainian copy much more cheaply: freelancers charge a few cents per word. At our price a text goes past two pairs of eyes: the author writes, and a language editor reviews and checks it against the brief and the market. You are paying for a text without the English phrasing that gives away a “translated” site, and for a calculation based on a clear unit, not on a “page” that nobody has defined. For a site that Ukrainian customers and partners will judge you by, that costs less than lost trust.

10 Choosing a writer

How to choose a copywriter for another language, and mistakes to avoid

Asks about the market and the reader. Country, age, level of knowledge and how decisions get made affect a text more than grammar does.
Names who reviews. If the author is their own editor, mistakes will get through.
Clearly separates translation from writing. Otherwise you pay for copywriting and receive a translation.
States the price unit. Words or characters, with spaces or without.

Typical mistakes

Running a site through an online translator and publishing it unreviewed.
Mixing the formal and informal forms of address on one page.
Translating SEO queries word for word instead of choosing the ones people actually use in that language.
Leaving dollar prices, US date formats and imperial units without adapting them.

11 Questions

Questions about copywriting in other languages

How is copywriting in Ukrainian different from translation?

A translation carries the meaning of a finished text across, and the structure stays. Copywriting creates a text from a brief, for a specific reader and market. The table comparing them is at the top of the page.

Who writes and who reviews the texts?

The author writes in the target language, and a separate language editor reviews the text. The author never checks their own work.

How much does it cost, and how do you count words?

The price is from $0.22 / word. We count the words of the finished text. For comparison, 1,000 characters without spaces is about 150 English words.

Which languages do you cover?

English and Ukrainian are written from scratch. German and French are translated and adapted from your existing copy, with a check by a language editor.

Do you translate websites?

Yes, but that is a different service: translation. If a site has to be rewritten for a new reader, copywriting is the better order. We'll tell you which one suits you.

How long does the work take?

Four to five days. For a large volume we agree the schedule in advance.

Do you write SEO copy in Ukrainian?

Yes. We choose search queries in Ukrainian and don't translate English ones. A title and description are added to the text.

Can you review a Ukrainian text we already have?

Yes, we can edit finished Ukrainian copy. Send the file and describe the reader, and we'll name the scope of work and the price.

Can you adapt our texts in German?

Yes, provided we have a finished text. We adapt it to the market and have a German language editor review it. We don't write in German from scratch.

Do you also write in English?

Yes. English and Ukrainian are our two languages for writing from scratch. If your main need is Ukrainian, this page is the right one, and for English copy you can use the same brief and the same terms.

12 Related

What else you need to enter a new market

Roholeva is a copywriting, promotion and web development studio. The copy, the site it sits on and the advertising for the new market can all come from one team.