If you think multilingual subtitling is just a simple translation, that automatic tools can handle it all, or that it’s a rule-free zone, this article is for you. Subtitling is a craft with its own set of challenges, constraints, and yes, it has rules that can vary from one language to another. There is a lot more going on behind those little lines of text than you might think. Let’s get right to it.
The Basics: Readability & Synchronization.
Subtitles must follow certain ground rules. There are standards in place to ensure viewers can keep up with what’s being said without missing a beat. It’s all about being able to read, understand and follow the story at the same time, leaving no room for confusion. Here’s an overview that applies to every language.
📝 Readability
Striking the right balance between CPL (Characters per Line) and CPS (Characters per Second) is key to making subtitles readable. CPL determines how much text the audience can read at once, CPS indicates how much time viewers have to read it.
Subtitles are typically displayed between 1 and 6 seconds depending on dialogue pace.
Line breaks should follow grammatical and syntactic structure; avoid splitting phrases or closely connected words. Punctuation is a good break point.
Screen size impacts CPL/CPS; keep the final format in mind.
Use a clear font (e.g., Arial) at the bottom of the screen. Keep style consistent; black backgrounds, shadows, or yellow text are acceptable.
Italics can indicate off-screen dialogue, inner thoughts, songs, or audio from devices.
All caps represent on-screen text like signs, titles, or credits.
If subtitles cover critical on-screen info, temporarily move them to the top or corners of the screen.
⏱️ Synchronization
Timing is essential: subtitles should appear and disappear as the spoken line begins and ends.
Occasionally, subtitles can align with reactions, but delays should not exceed 0.5–1.5 seconds.
One character, one line; when multiple speakers are present, start a new line with a dash to differentiate.
Subtitles should disappear when the speaker finishes; leaving them too long causes confusion.
Skip breaths or filler words unless they carry narrative or emotional weight.
Sync with pauses and dramatic timing to preserve natural rhythm and emotional impact.
The Linguistic Challenges.
To achieve the right balance between readability and synchronization, professional subtitlers must make careful choices when translating. Dialogue may vary in pace—sometimes fast, sometimes slow—and word counts can increase or decrease from one language to another.
Condensation
When subtitling, the most important thing is to be easy to read and sound natural as a viewer should never need to reread subtitles to understand them. To make sure of that, an adaptation work, called “condensation”, is needed. It refers to the process of shortening spoken dialogue to fit the constraints of subtitle reading speed, screen space, and timing, without losing the essential meaning. The verbs can be simplified, the words generalized, a compound sentence can be divided into simple sentences, a sentence in the passive voice can be changed to the active voice—and vice versa. This allows subtitles to be shortened, rephrased, and simplified but without being dumbed down
Example: “I just wanted to let you know that everything’s going to be okay in the end.”
🐆 Fast sequence
1 second of screen time → maximum brevity: “It will be okay.” Core message only, easy to read quickly. Viewers get emotional reassurance—the key takeaway.
🐕 Normal sequence
2–2.5 seconds of screen time → slightly more detail: “Just so you know, it will all be okay.” Preserves tone and speaker intent while trimming extra words.
🐌 Slow sequence
3–4 seconds of screen time → near-full expression: “I just wanted to say everything will be okay in the end.” Subtle simplification keeps natural phrasing and flow.
To respect the on-screen display time, subtitlers really need to master the ability to condense meaning. And of course, if the on-screen time or the speaker’s pace allows for a complete, uncondensed translation, the subtitler may choose to preserve the full structure of the sentence and stay entirely true to the original.
Emotion
Condensation is important, but what if you get the meaning wrong? Your shortened version may convey a message that doesn’t reflect the original intention. That’s why understanding the speaker’s emotional state is also a determinant factor for successful subtitles—because one sentence can carry a completely different meaning depending on the context.
Example: “Oh, I see you finally made it.”
😊 Happy / Relieved
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
😠 Frustrated / Annoyed
“You took your time getting here.”
😤 Disappointed / Upset
“I wish you hadn’t come.”
😒 Sarcastic
“Well, that took forever.”
😢 Worried / Concerned
“I was really anxious you wouldn’t make it.”
😮 Surprised
“I didn’t expect you to show up.”
😐 Indifferent
“Ok, you’re here.”
😡 Angry
“About time you showed up.”
To create effective subtitles, a subtitler must immerse themselves in the story and empathize with the characters. Missing the speaker’s original intention can lead to subtitles that misrepresent the meaning. Understanding the emotions behind the dialogue is crucial, especially when fast-paced speech requires condensing the text. Without grasping the emotional context, the subtitles risk losing the true meaning entirely.
These are the Fantastic Four that prove great subtitling is still a human craft. It’s not just lines of text; it’s a path to what’s happening on screen, in real time. That’s not something you can automate. Subtitlers need to be the viewer’s guide, breathe with the scene, refine without omitting, and catch the feeling behind the words. That kind of work can’t come from AI. It might be faster, but it’s still guessing and faking it. We’re not.
Subtitling World Tour.
Now that you’ve mastered the basics and the linguistic challenges, it’s time to travel a little. When working on multilingual subtitles, it’s crucial to keep in mind the differences in subtitling norms across languages. You don’t want to disrupt the viewing experience just because you didn’t take local conventions into account.
When subtitling from one language to another, two elements are key: the writing system (alphabet, characters, direction of writing, etc.) and grammar (sentence structure, verb conjugation, word order). However, cultural context is also important. Each region of the world has its own average reading speed, which influences CPL (characters per line) and CPS (characters per second). Subtitles must be adapted to match the reading habits of the target country's population.
Here is an overview of the different norms among the world's main audiovisual languages, ranked from fastest to slowest readers.
Reading speed varies depending on complexity, but similar to Romance languages.
South & Southeast Asian languages
Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Malay, Tagalog, etc.
15–18 CPS
32–38 CPL
Wide variation; script length affects readability; line breaks are critical.
Middle Eastern & RTL (Right-to-Left) languages
Modern Standard Arabic + many Arabic dialects, Hebrew, Persian, Farsi, Kurdish, Urdu, etc.
15–18 CPS
32–36 CPL
Directionality and complexity impact reading speed.
Compact East Asian character-based
Chinese, Japanese.
13–17 CPS
15–16 CPL
Characters carry high information density with reading rhythm prioritized.
Language Specificities
🇰🇷 Korean
Typically read faster than Chinese and Japanese, allowing higher CPS rates. Up to three lines are acceptable as viewers can read quickly.
🇯🇵 Japanese
Italics may be used for on-screen text, inner thoughts, or voiceovers. Subtitles are extremely concise to preserve the sacredness of the image.
🇫🇷 French
Subtitles tend to be condensed with emphasis on fluidity, creating smooth, natural-sounding lines.
🇧🇷 Brazilian Portuguese
Subtitles emphasize oral language; they aim to be emotionally resonant and relatable.
🇩🇪 German
Lines often exceed 43 characters to preserve meaning, especially due to compound words (Wortzusammensetzung).
🇨🇳 Chinese
Three-line subtitles are common, displaying different information on each line: Mandarin/Cantonese characters, Pinyin, and English.
Do you know any other language-specific subtitling rules? Let us know—we’re always curious to learn more.
Subtitles 2.0
Subtitles are governed by constraints and conventions. However, new formats and ways of displaying audiovisual content are shaking up the structured world of subtitling.
➡️ On social media platforms, dynamic subtitles enhance engagement by syncing word-for-word with the audio to capture the attention of fast-scrolling viewers.
➡️ In virtual and augmented reality or video games, subtitles can be spatially anchored to characters or objects, seamlessly blending into the scene to boost immersion and readability.
➡️ Multilingual audiences and language learners are asking for the possibility to display subtitles in multiple languages simultaneously or easily toggle between them.
➡️ Recently, a notable innovation appeared in 'The White Lotus' Season 3: the original Thai subtitles were burned and faded behind other language subtitles, a clever technique that enriches the local aspect of the story.
Conclusion
The art of subtitling is not something you can improvise. There are norms to follow—not only do they vary from one language to another, but they can also differ depending on the type of content. It’s essential to pay close attention to what you write: even a small translation error can change the entire meaning, ruin a joke, or pull the viewer out of the story.
We hope this article has helped you better understand the subtleties of subtitles. Yes, we saved that paronym for the very end. Subtitling isn’t just about transcription or translation. It demands mastery of both the source and target languages, a clever sense of timing, strong audiovisual literacy, and the ability to localize with empathy and finesse.
publication date
Published on
14/1/2026
share this article
author
Studio Fugu
Anything else? Feel free to reach out to us at any time!
It can be challenging to coordinate multiple vendors, content types, and languages, especially when you need to reach global audiences quickly. That’s where we come in. We help you deliver the best experience to everyone, everywhere.
.webp)