Humanizr/Humanizer · error · InvalidOperationException

Inflection lexeme '{id}' sense must be a non-empty scalar.

Error message

Inflection lexeme '{id}' sense must be a non-empty scalar.

What it means

The optional 'sense:' field disambiguates homographs; if present it must be a single non-empty, non-whitespace scalar string. ParseLexemes throws when 'sense:' is empty, whitespace-only, a sequence/mapping, or null.

Source

Thrown at src/Humanizer.SourceGenerators/Generators/ProfileCatalogs/InflectionCatalogParsing.cs:281

                }

                var countability = GetRequiredScalar(
                    lexeme,
                    "countability",
                    $"Inflection lexeme '{id}' must define countability");
                if (!Countabilities.Contains(countability))
                {
                    throw new InvalidOperationException(
                        $"Inflection lexeme '{id}' countability '{countability}' is unsupported.");
                }

                string? sense = null;
                if (lexeme.TryGetValue("sense", out var senseValue))
                {
                    if (senseValue is not SimpleYamlScalar senseScalar ||
                        string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(senseScalar.Value))
                    {
                        throw new InvalidOperationException(
                            $"Inflection lexeme '{id}' sense must be a non-empty scalar.");
                    }

                    sense = senseScalar.Value;
                }

                ValidateSources(lexeme, sourceIds, $"Inflection lexeme '{id}'");
                var forms = GetRequiredMapping(lexeme, "forms", $"Inflection lexeme '{id}' must define forms");
                ValidateProperties(
                    forms,
                    $"Inflection lexeme '{id}' forms",
                    "singular", "dictionaryPlural", "dictionary-plural", "display");
                var singular = ParseForm(forms, "singular", alternateName: null, id, ownerScripts, casing);
                var dictionaryPlural = ParseForm(
                    forms,
                    "dictionaryPlural",
                    "dictionary-plural",
                    id,

View on GitHub (pinned to ffc2b77c0f)

Solutions

1. Provide a non-empty scalar for 'sense:'
2. Remove the 'sense:' key entirely if no disambiguation is needed

Example fix

# before
        sense: ''
# after
        sense: 'the animal'
# (or remove the key)

foreach (var lexeme in lexemes)
    if (lexeme.TryGetValue("sense", out var s) &&
        (s is not SimpleYamlScalar sc || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sc.Value)))
        Report($"{locale}: lexeme '{lexeme.Id}' sense must be a non-empty scalar.");

static bool SenseValid(SimpleYamlMapping lexeme) =>
    !lexeme.TryGetValue("sense", out var s) ||
    (s is SimpleYamlScalar sc && !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sc.Value));

When it happens

Trigger: 'sense:' is an empty quoted string, whitespace-only, a list, or a bare 'sense:' that YAML parses as null.

Common situations: Leaving 'sense: ''' as a placeholder; writing 'sense:' with no value.

Related errors

• Inflection defines unsupported quantity selector; expected '
• Inflection quantitySelector 'exact-numeric-singleton' requir
• Inflection quantitySelector 'exact-numeric-singleton' cannot
• Inflection display category 'one' is unreachable without qua
• Active inflection bundle must define lexemes.

AI-assisted analysis of Humanizr/Humanizer@ffc2b77c0f (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9bcb70ff8e053886. Report an issue: GitHub.