French Phrase Translator

From LoveToKnow French

There are many ways to find a French phrase translator. The internet is an excellent source for easy translations of short phrases. If you need longer groups of phrases translated you might need to purchase software or hire a translation service. You also might be able to locate translations of the documents you are looking for.

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Translation Technology

In the old days, not so long ago, any translation of French phrases required you to pull out your pocket French to English dictionary. Unless you were majoring in French you probably didn't have a very good, comprehensive translation dictionary so a lot was probably lost in translation.

Nowadays there is a variety of software available to assist you in parsing the true meaning of your French phrases.

Free French Phrase Translator

In all things, including translation, you get what you pay for. Provided you aren't trying to translate something like Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris or the entire French Constitution you can find some good free French translators. Most of the translators will translate anything from short phrases to web pages.

The translation feature allows you to enter a French word or phrase, or paste text into a box and have it immediately and automatically translated into English below. All of the following websites have this function:

Although Google and Yahoo are very efficient, they don't have the same technology or space that allows them to accurately translate long and complex documents.

Working with Phrases in French Translation Software

There are three key requirements for automatic translation or machine translation to be supremely accurate:

  • Volume: The more words you put into the system/machine, the more vocabulary is available to create accurately translated phrases.
  • Colloquialism: The machine has to learn how to recognize and translate colloquial phrases as well as idiomatic expressions such as C'est quoi, ça? (What's that?) or Ça va? (How are you doing?)
  • Rules and Exceptions: The machine has to have all of the rules of syntax and grammar in order to construct accurate phrases.

If you are willing to spend some money you can purchase translation software that will render a more accurate translation than what is available for free on the web. Companies like Systran and Promt, two of the top automatic translation software companies, offer state of the art translation technology based on natural language usages and large databases. Both companies provide detailed explanations of how their software operates at their websites:

These companies are comprehensive and provide automatic translators at their websites, as well as downloadable software programs. They also provide services to larger entities such as multinational corporations and research institutions.

Finding Translations of Documents, Books and Films

If you don't want to hire a translator or purchase software you might be able to a good translation of a well known resource, usually a publicly accessible document. There are a number of websites that provide this service:

Translation of films is either in the form of subtitling or dubbing. French films are very rarely if ever dubbed into English, although films that are produced in English are often dubbed into French. Most DVDs now come with a language choice option, so you can hear a dubbed version in the comfort of your own home.

There are any number of ways to get French phrases translated accurately as well as translations of longer French documents.

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Comments

A "tribute" is translated as un hommage. But you'd usually use "pour" in lieu of "a" here. So it would be un hommage pour Meghan.

-- Contributed by: Valorie Delp

Tribute to Meghan

-- Contributed by: Brad

Oui, je suis pretentieux (or euse). Just like the English word pretentious.

-- Contributed by: Valorie Delp
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