![]() ![]() Similar to other Romance languages like Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, French has formal and informal versions of both verbs and pronouns. The English language tends to be more informal and relaxed than French. False friends are one of the most common sources of errors in human translations, particularly with languages like English and French that share some words but have also developed separately in other ways.Įxample: The French words attendre, avertissement, supplier, and coin might look familiar to English speakers, but they mean ‘wait,’ ‘warning,’ ‘beg’ and ‘corner.’ 4. False friends are words that appear to mean the same thing in two languages but are used very differently.Įven if you know a French word that’s spelled the same as an English word you want to translate, you still need to confirm that it’s a suitable translation. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Some English and French words sound and look alike-for example, appartement in French means the same thing as ‘apartment’ in English. The French word merde literally means ‘shit,’ but its closest English equivalent is ‘break a leg.’ The French believe that wishing someone luck is bad luck, so they instead wish them ‘shit.’ The sentence merde pour ton examen is the best translation of ‘break a leg’ during your exam. When translated word for word, the French version is casser une jambe, which means ‘to break a leg.’ However, a French speaker would only use that phrase when discussing actual broken legs. Keep in mind that the French dictionary definitions of the words may be completely different, even if both phrases are generally used in similar situations.Įxample: English speakers use the phrase ‘break a leg’ to wish people good luck. Instead, you should do some extra research to find phrases that French speakers use to communicate the same message. This is another case where the literal meaning won’t convey the intended effect. On the other hand, non-native speakers may not know an equivalent idiom in the French language off the top of their heads. If you translate word for word, you might be left with something that has a different meaning to your target audience. Keeping the same tone in translation is notoriously difficult, and that’s especially true when it comes to idioms. The same sentence written with pour on your web page would stick out as machine translation to a French-speaking audience. With that in mind, a more accurate translation would be J’ai habité en Inde pendant cinq ans. However, native French speakers are more likely to use the word pendant instead of pour when discussing time. ![]() Google Translate and other translation tools and online translators often make mistakes involving these nuances.Įxample: ‘I lived in India for five years.’ The French word for ‘for’ is pour, so a translator might come up with j’ai habité en Inde pour cinq ans using a French-English dictionary. On the other hand, it’s important to remember that each language also has unique grammar and vocabulary rules that aren’t shared by the other. For example, both languages typically use the subject-verb-object pattern. Be Careful with English Grammar and Vocabulary RulesĮnglish and French are similar in a variety of ways. Translate English into French: 5 Best Practices 1. Continue reading to learn five key tips for translating English-language content into French. Even minor errors can hurt the quality of your website translations and negatively impact your brand image. Unfortunately, it’s easy to make certain rookie mistakes when translating English into French. Unsurprisingly, many companies around the globe choose to translate and localize their websites and apps into this beautiful language. Ah… la belle langue française! French is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world, behind only English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, and Bengali. ![]()
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