I generally prefer named arguments, as it makes the format string clearer. Also, when you're writing a script, it's better to use the full name for arguments -- again, for clarity's sake. Something like:
```python
verbosity_map = {
    1: "--quiet",
    2: "",
    3: "--verbose",
}
babel_mako_cmd = 'pybabel {verbosity} extract --mapping={mapping} --add-comments="{tag}" --output={output} .'.format(
    verbosity=verbosity_map[args.verbose],
    mapping=BABEL_CONFIG,
    tag="Translators:",
    output=BABEL_OUT,
)
```