diff --git a/.changeset/sixty-dryers-bake.md b/.changeset/sixty-dryers-bake.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8a4a13224
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/sixty-dryers-bake.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"lingo.dev": patch
+---
+
+preserve list formatting in YAML files
diff --git a/packages/cli/demo/yaml-root-key/en/example.yml b/packages/cli/demo/yaml-root-key/en/example.yml
index 07119b426..08f0687ea 100644
--- a/packages/cli/demo/yaml-root-key/en/example.yml
+++ b/packages/cli/demo/yaml-root-key/en/example.yml
@@ -23,4 +23,33 @@ en:
         F: :@f
         M: :@m
         N: :@n
-        default: :m
\ No newline at end of file
+        default: :m
+  date:
+    abbr_day_names:
+      - "Mon"
+      - "Tue"
+      - "Wed"
+      - "Thu"
+      - "Fri"
+      - "Sat"
+      - "Sun"
+    abbr_month_names:
+      - null
+      - "Jan"
+      - "Feb"
+      - "Mar"
+      - "Apr"
+      - "May"
+      - "Jun"
+      - "Jul"
+      - "Aug"
+      - "Sep"
+      - "Oct"
+      - "Nov"
+      - "Dec"
+    formats:
+      default: "MM/dd/yyyy"
+      long: "MMMM d, yyyy"
+      short: "MM/dd/yy"
+      time: "h:mm a"
+      time_with_seconds: "h:mm:ss a"
diff --git a/packages/cli/demo/yaml-root-key/es/example.yml b/packages/cli/demo/yaml-root-key/es/example.yml
index dea56729c..80822b0e1 100644
--- a/packages/cli/demo/yaml-root-key/es/example.yml
+++ b/packages/cli/demo/yaml-root-key/es/example.yml
@@ -23,4 +23,33 @@ es:
         F: :@f
         M: :@m
         N: :@n
-        default: :m
\ No newline at end of file
+        default: :m
+  date:
+    abbr_day_names:
+      - "Lun"
+      - "Mar"
+      - "Mié"
+      - "Jue"
+      - "Vie"
+      - "Sáb"
+      - "Dom"
+    abbr_month_names:
+      - null
+      - "Ene"
+      - "Feb"
+      - "Mar"
+      - "Abr"
+      - "May"
+      - "Jun"
+      - "Jul"
+      - "Ago"
+      - "Sep"
+      - "Oct"
+      - "Nov"
+      - "Dic"
+    formats:
+      default: "dd/MM/yyyy"
+      long: "d 'de' MMMM 'de' yyyy"
+      short: "dd/MM/yy"
+      time: "H:mm"
+      time_with_seconds: "H:mm:ss"
diff --git a/packages/cli/demo/yaml/es/example.yml b/packages/cli/demo/yaml/es/example.yml
index 026872fe0..8bac4a7ac 100644
--- a/packages/cli/demo/yaml/es/example.yml
+++ b/packages/cli/demo/yaml/es/example.yml
@@ -5,15 +5,15 @@ user_profile:
   display_name: "John Doe"
   bio: Desarrollador de software
 navigation_items:
-  - Inicio
-  - Acerca de
-  - Contacto
+  - "Inicio"
+  - "Acerca de"
+  - "Contacto"
 product:
   name: "MyWidget"
   tagline: El mejor widget de todos
   features:
-    - Fácil de usar
-    - Rápido y confiable
+    - "Fácil de usar"
+    - "Rápido y confiable"
 settings:
   max_users: 100
   enabled: true
diff --git a/packages/cli/i18n.lock b/packages/cli/i18n.lock
index ca0332e05..c61629fc4 100644
--- a/packages/cli/i18n.lock
+++ b/packages/cli/i18n.lock
@@ -631,6 +631,30 @@ checksums:
     navigation/inflections/gender/M: 9ebdcb660f503bb2618ae7ae086617e2
     navigation/inflections/gender/N: 603743850a2510aaa6a5eb9dbfbe7416
     navigation/inflections/gender/default: 453a466f60641d9934bbee33dc4cd2b6
+    date/abbr_day_names/0: b29e2b72f74643194654961775178fec
+    date/abbr_day_names/1: b750502bab403473852a20cea73dcf2c
+    date/abbr_day_names/2: 4786ce2a2427ad9183ef1a6f7385fb24
+    date/abbr_day_names/3: ce25e3f9bfc6cfdc6017f791045da079
+    date/abbr_day_names/4: 4029492def3bd66fa5a9d1c693743b62
+    date/abbr_day_names/5: 0f0718f17b758ea9d5167c120c230be6
+    date/abbr_day_names/6: 3b32ac0f13383ecdf580b4db09773fda
+    date/abbr_month_names/1: 268e5f1e700c23c50b88e8c6aa754c88
+    date/abbr_month_names/2: c111dae80531454da886782893e71541
+    date/abbr_month_names/3: 3055ece906ba97d9b5050b4385d873a9
+    date/abbr_month_names/4: 7a76ba706f71adc981bc050190ccc63f
+    date/abbr_month_names/5: 320223c5afaaf28560a3a84d3527d51c
+    date/abbr_month_names/6: 47f51f7cecc9bd30eef853748a40f2e7
+    date/abbr_month_names/7: 5088467e6b771d6f02e1d4ea3550dd96
+    date/abbr_month_names/8: 160006d60703204ab06369352f5f2520
+    date/abbr_month_names/9: 91cac5f11e31c9907ea26a79fe5df889
+    date/abbr_month_names/10: 384ae5bd38358c3f8db4560d59405c70
+    date/abbr_month_names/11: a87c80252a5b03a82a0d16c510b5ed12
+    date/abbr_month_names/12: 2a7ffd15bea3a6fdb664dff36b0e8043
+    date/formats/default: df39f2ed8e14212ef5664e0603460e76
+    date/formats/long: 60dc8afda933eee168c7eb73bda1a296
+    date/formats/short: 05eb7bb8ee06c9de1435ba4cd1d81dcf
+    date/formats/time: 1407af7bd151a6fa95e2d51497454cc2
+    date/formats/time_with_seconds: f02992d40da922a1382859c45cb0231e
   1254631a73b754e11a1b9ca8f7362025:
     item_count/variations/plural: 2b2b1ff20c417ea68d07d66ba30a5c14
     notification_message/stringUnit: d14316154e233634917e317452c5f42c
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cli/loaders/yaml.ts b/packages/cli/src/cli/loaders/yaml.ts
index f6e7dc0e0..fcfe1b92c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cli/loaders/yaml.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cli/loaders/yaml.ts
@@ -236,44 +236,17 @@ function walkAndApply(
   }
 }
 
-// Type guards
+// Type guards using YAML library's built-in functions
 function isScalar(node: any): boolean {
-  if (node?.constructor?.name === "Scalar") {
-    return true;
-  }
-  return (
-    node &&
-    typeof node === "object" &&
-    "value" in node &&
-    ("type" in node || "format" in node)
-  );
+  return YAML.isScalar(node);
 }
 
 function isYAMLMap(node: any): boolean {
-  if (node?.constructor?.name === "YAMLMap") {
-    return true;
-  }
-  return (
-    node &&
-    typeof node === "object" &&
-    "items" in node &&
-    Array.isArray(node.items) &&
-    !("value" in node)
-  );
+  return YAML.isMap(node);
 }
 
 function isYAMLSeq(node: any): boolean {
-  if (node?.constructor?.name === "YAMLSeq") {
-    return true;
-  }
-  return (
-    node &&
-    typeof node === "object" &&
-    "items" in node &&
-    Array.isArray(node.items) &&
-    !("type" in node) &&
-    !("value" in node)
-  );
+  return YAML.isSeq(node);
 }
 
 function getKeyValue(key: any): string | number | null {