There is one more reason to use gettext: it supports multiple plural forms.
E.g. in English: 1 answer, 2 answers, ..., 5 answers, ... - one plural form
in Russian: 1 ответ, 2 ответа, ..., 5 ответов, ..., 11 ответов, ..., 21 ответ, 22 ответа, ..., 25 ответов, ... - three plural forms