diff --git a/builtin/apply.c b/builtin/apply.c
index 1793c33ee99..dda9ea09c91 100644
--- a/builtin/apply.c
+++ b/builtin/apply.c
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ static const char *fake_ancestor;
 static int line_termination = '\n';
 static unsigned int p_context = UINT_MAX;
 static const char * const apply_usage[] = {
-	"git apply [options] [<patch>...]",
+	N_("git apply [options] [<patch>...]"),
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -3959,66 +3959,66 @@ int cmd_apply(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix_)
 	const char *whitespace_option = NULL;
 
 	struct option builtin_apply_options[] = {
-		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "exclude", NULL, "path",
-			"don't apply changes matching the given path",
+		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "exclude", NULL, N_("path"),
+			N_("don't apply changes matching the given path"),
 			0, option_parse_exclude },
-		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "include", NULL, "path",
-			"apply changes matching the given path",
+		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "include", NULL, N_("path"),
+			N_("apply changes matching the given path"),
 			0, option_parse_include },
-		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'p', NULL, NULL, "num",
-			"remove <num> leading slashes from traditional diff paths",
+		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'p', NULL, NULL, N_("num"),
+			N_("remove <num> leading slashes from traditional diff paths"),
 			0, option_parse_p },
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "no-add", &no_add,
-			"ignore additions made by the patch"),
+			N_("ignore additions made by the patch")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "stat", &diffstat,
-			"instead of applying the patch, output diffstat for the input"),
+			N_("instead of applying the patch, output diffstat for the input")),
 		OPT_NOOP_NOARG(0, "allow-binary-replacement"),
 		OPT_NOOP_NOARG(0, "binary"),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "numstat", &numstat,
-			"shows number of added and deleted lines in decimal notation"),
+			N_("shows number of added and deleted lines in decimal notation")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "summary", &summary,
-			"instead of applying the patch, output a summary for the input"),
+			N_("instead of applying the patch, output a summary for the input")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "check", &check,
-			"instead of applying the patch, see if the patch is applicable"),
+			N_("instead of applying the patch, see if the patch is applicable")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "index", &check_index,
-			"make sure the patch is applicable to the current index"),
+			N_("make sure the patch is applicable to the current index")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "cached", &cached,
-			"apply a patch without touching the working tree"),
+			N_("apply a patch without touching the working tree")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "apply", &force_apply,
-			"also apply the patch (use with --stat/--summary/--check)"),
+			N_("also apply the patch (use with --stat/--summary/--check)")),
 		OPT_FILENAME(0, "build-fake-ancestor", &fake_ancestor,
-			"build a temporary index based on embedded index information"),
+			N_("build a temporary index based on embedded index information")),
 		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'z', NULL, NULL, NULL,
-			"paths are separated with NUL character",
+			N_("paths are separated with NUL character"),
 			PARSE_OPT_NOARG, option_parse_z },
 		OPT_INTEGER('C', NULL, &p_context,
-				"ensure at least <n> lines of context match"),
-		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "whitespace", &whitespace_option, "action",
-			"detect new or modified lines that have whitespace errors",
+				N_("ensure at least <n> lines of context match")),
+		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "whitespace", &whitespace_option, N_("action"),
+			N_("detect new or modified lines that have whitespace errors"),
 			0, option_parse_whitespace },
 		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "ignore-space-change", NULL, NULL,
-			"ignore changes in whitespace when finding context",
+			N_("ignore changes in whitespace when finding context"),
 			PARSE_OPT_NOARG, option_parse_space_change },
 		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "ignore-whitespace", NULL, NULL,
-			"ignore changes in whitespace when finding context",
+			N_("ignore changes in whitespace when finding context"),
 			PARSE_OPT_NOARG, option_parse_space_change },
 		OPT_BOOLEAN('R', "reverse", &apply_in_reverse,
-			"apply the patch in reverse"),
+			N_("apply the patch in reverse")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "unidiff-zero", &unidiff_zero,
-			"don't expect at least one line of context"),
+			N_("don't expect at least one line of context")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "reject", &apply_with_reject,
-			"leave the rejected hunks in corresponding *.rej files"),
+			N_("leave the rejected hunks in corresponding *.rej files")),
 		OPT_BOOLEAN(0, "allow-overlap", &allow_overlap,
-			"allow overlapping hunks"),
-		OPT__VERBOSE(&apply_verbosely, "be verbose"),
+			N_("allow overlapping hunks")),
+		OPT__VERBOSE(&apply_verbosely, N_("be verbose")),
 		OPT_BIT(0, "inaccurate-eof", &options,
-			"tolerate incorrectly detected missing new-line at the end of file",
+			N_("tolerate incorrectly detected missing new-line at the end of file"),
 			INACCURATE_EOF),
 		OPT_BIT(0, "recount", &options,
-			"do not trust the line counts in the hunk headers",
+			N_("do not trust the line counts in the hunk headers"),
 			RECOUNT),
-		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "directory", NULL, "root",
-			"prepend <root> to all filenames",
+		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "directory", NULL, N_("root"),
+			N_("prepend <root> to all filenames"),
 			0, option_parse_directory },
 		OPT_END()
 	};
diff --git a/parse-options.c b/parse-options.c
index 850cfa78c9b..ab70c29c49b 100644
--- a/parse-options.c
+++ b/parse-options.c
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ static int usage_argh(const struct option *opts, FILE *outfile)
 			s = literal ? "[%s]" : "[<%s>]";
 	else
 		s = literal ? " %s" : " <%s>";
-	return fprintf(outfile, s, opts->argh ? opts->argh : "...");
+	return fprintf(outfile, s, opts->argh ? _(opts->argh) : _("..."));
 }
 
 #define USAGE_OPTS_WIDTH 24
@@ -508,13 +508,16 @@ static int usage_with_options_internal(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *ctx,
 	if (!err && ctx && ctx->flags & PARSE_OPT_SHELL_EVAL)
 		fprintf(outfile, "cat <<\\EOF\n");
 
-	fprintf(outfile, "usage: %s\n", *usagestr++);
+	fprintf_ln(outfile, _("usage: %s"), _(*usagestr++));
 	while (*usagestr && **usagestr)
-		fprintf(outfile, "   or: %s\n", *usagestr++);
+		/* TRANSLATORS: the colon here should align with the
+		   one in "usage: %s" translation */
+		fprintf_ln(outfile, _("   or: %s"), _(*usagestr++));
 	while (*usagestr) {
-		fprintf(outfile, "%s%s\n",
-				**usagestr ? "    " : "",
-				*usagestr);
+		if (**usagestr)
+			fprintf_ln(outfile, _("    %s"), _(*usagestr));
+		else
+			putchar('\n');
 		usagestr++;
 	}
 
@@ -528,7 +531,7 @@ static int usage_with_options_internal(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *ctx,
 		if (opts->type == OPTION_GROUP) {
 			fputc('\n', outfile);
 			if (*opts->help)
-				fprintf(outfile, "%s\n", opts->help);
+				fprintf(outfile, "%s\n", _(opts->help));
 			continue;
 		}
 		if (!full && (opts->flags & PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN))
@@ -558,7 +561,7 @@ static int usage_with_options_internal(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *ctx,
 			fputc('\n', outfile);
 			pad = USAGE_OPTS_WIDTH;
 		}
-		fprintf(outfile, "%*s%s\n", pad + USAGE_GAP, "", opts->help);
+		fprintf(outfile, "%*s%s\n", pad + USAGE_GAP, "", _(opts->help));
 	}
 	fputc('\n', outfile);
 
diff --git a/parse-options.h b/parse-options.h
index da999f8995e..77a4a8b2e6d 100644
--- a/parse-options.h
+++ b/parse-options.h
@@ -66,12 +66,14 @@ typedef int parse_opt_ll_cb(struct parse_opt_ctx_t *ctx,
  *
  * `argh`::
  *   token to explain the kind of argument this option wants. Keep it
- *   homogeneous across the repository.
+ *   homogeneous across the repository. Should be wrapped by N_() for
+ *   translation.
  *
  * `help`::
  *   the short help associated to what the option does.
  *   Must never be NULL (except for OPTION_END).
  *   OPTION_GROUP uses this pointer to store the group header.
+ *   Should be wrapped by N_() for translation.
  *
  * `flags`::
  *   mask of parse_opt_option_flags.
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@ struct option {
 #define OPT_BOOL(s, l, v, h)        OPT_SET_INT(s, l, v, h, 1)
 #define OPT_SET_PTR(s, l, v, h, p)  { OPTION_SET_PTR, (s), (l), (v), NULL, \
 				      (h), PARSE_OPT_NOARG, NULL, (p) }
-#define OPT_INTEGER(s, l, v, h)     { OPTION_INTEGER, (s), (l), (v), "n", (h) }
+#define OPT_INTEGER(s, l, v, h)     { OPTION_INTEGER, (s), (l), (v), N_("n"), (h) }
 #define OPT_STRING(s, l, v, a, h)   { OPTION_STRING,  (s), (l), (v), (a), (h) }
 #define OPT_STRING_LIST(s, l, v, a, h) \
 				    { OPTION_CALLBACK, (s), (l), (v), (a), \
@@ -136,7 +138,7 @@ struct option {
 #define OPT_UYN(s, l, v, h)         { OPTION_CALLBACK, (s), (l), (v), NULL, \
 				      (h), PARSE_OPT_NOARG, &parse_opt_tertiary }
 #define OPT_DATE(s, l, v, h) \
-	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, (s), (l), (v), "time",(h), 0, \
+	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, (s), (l), (v), N_("time"),(h), 0,	\
 	  parse_opt_approxidate_cb }
 #define OPT_CALLBACK(s, l, v, a, h, f) \
 	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, (s), (l), (v), (a), (h), 0, (f) }
@@ -144,21 +146,22 @@ struct option {
 	{ OPTION_NUMBER, 0, NULL, (v), NULL, (h), \
 	  PARSE_OPT_NOARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG, (f) }
 #define OPT_FILENAME(s, l, v, h)    { OPTION_FILENAME, (s), (l), (v), \
-				       "file", (h) }
+				       N_("file"), (h) }
 #define OPT_COLOR_FLAG(s, l, v, h) \
-	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, (s), (l), (v), "when", (h), PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, \
+	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, (s), (l), (v), N_("when"), (h), PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, \
 		parse_opt_color_flag_cb, (intptr_t)"always" }
 
 #define OPT_NOOP_NOARG(s, l) \
 	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, (s), (l), NULL, NULL, \
-	  "no-op (backward compatibility)", \
+	  N_("no-op (backward compatibility)"),		\
 	  PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN | PARSE_OPT_NOARG, parse_opt_noop_cb }
 
 /* Deprecated synonym */
 #define OPT_BOOLEAN OPT_COUNTUP
 
 /* parse_options() will filter out the processed options and leave the
- * non-option arguments in argv[].
+ * non-option arguments in argv[]. usagestr strings should be marked
+ * for translation with N_().
  * Returns the number of arguments left in argv[].
  */
 extern int parse_options(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
@@ -222,15 +225,15 @@ extern int parse_opt_noop_cb(const struct option *, const char *, int);
 #define OPT__VERBOSE(var, h)  OPT_BOOLEAN('v', "verbose", (var), (h))
 #define OPT__QUIET(var, h)    OPT_BOOLEAN('q', "quiet",   (var), (h))
 #define OPT__VERBOSITY(var) \
-	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'v', "verbose", (var), NULL, "be more verbose", \
+	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'v', "verbose", (var), NULL, N_("be more verbose"), \
 	  PARSE_OPT_NOARG, &parse_opt_verbosity_cb, 0 }, \
-	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'q', "quiet", (var), NULL, "be more quiet", \
+	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 'q', "quiet", (var), NULL, N_("be more quiet"), \
 	  PARSE_OPT_NOARG, &parse_opt_verbosity_cb, 0 }
 #define OPT__DRY_RUN(var, h)  OPT_BOOLEAN('n', "dry-run", (var), (h))
 #define OPT__FORCE(var, h)    OPT_BOOLEAN('f', "force",   (var), (h))
 #define OPT__ABBREV(var)  \
-	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "abbrev", (var), "n", \
-	  "use <n> digits to display SHA-1s", \
+	{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "abbrev", (var), N_("n"),	\
+	  N_("use <n> digits to display SHA-1s"),	\
 	  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, &parse_opt_abbrev_cb, 0 }
 #define OPT__COLOR(var, h) \
 	OPT_COLOR_FLAG(0, "color", (var), (h))