How to get the best results from online French translators

Free online foreign translation can be very inaccurate at times. This article shows you how to possibly get the most accurate French translation – you just need to know how to use the translator.

Best translators

There are many free web translation services that it is impossible to say which one is the best. FreeTranslate.com is probably the best for French, but you may also like to use Google.Translate.com. For an accurate translation of certain words or phrases, you can try WordReference.com. This is an excellent online dictionary, also available in other modern languages, which allows you to look up the exact meaning of words. Each dictionary entry is also accompanied by examples of the word in common usage, so colloquial words and phrases are easy to find and translate.

The problem

The problem with web translation is that it tends to translate literally from one language to the next, without taking into account the different modes of expression. For example (using FreeTranslate), if you type into the English box “My name is Sophie”, the site translates this phrase into French as “Mon nom est Sophie”. Though grammatically correct, the average French person would say, “Je m’appelle Sophie”, which literally translates as “I am called Sophie”. Here, the translator does not take into account the minor difference in French expression when introducing oneself.

Grammatical structures

This problem extends into matters of colloquial expression, or grammatical structures which are different in French. Obviously, it helps if you know basic structures so you can tell whether a translation looks correct or not. For example, in FreeTranslate, “I spoke to him” comes out as “Je lui ai parlé”, which is correct, as the pronoun must go before the auxiliary verb and past participle. It depends on the structure you are using, and whether the translator has been programmed to recognise it. Gender, prepositions and pronouns We English people are not always used to matching up the adjectives with the gender and quantity of the noun, or we may be unsure of the pronoun form (lequel, laquelle, lesquels – which one?). If you are stuck, you can type in your phrase to the translator and it will give you all the correct forms of adjectives or pronouns. E.g. “the pretty flowers” – “les jolies fleurs” “the pretty boy” – “le joli garçon”. Prepositions Some verbs are used with “de” or “à ”, and it can be tricky knowing which one to use. E.g. “Finissez de parler” (“finish speaking”), but “recommençez à lire” (begin reading). Use your existing French skills to work the translator to your advantage. Know what you are looking for, and what the translator is not likely to recognise.