# Good translator



## Captain Leaky (Jun 22, 2011)

Does anybody know of any good English to Spanish translator.

I have been using one to send e-mails to Spain and one of the contacts said it didnt make much sense.

I translated back into English what i had written and they were right it was nonsense.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Captain Leaky said:


> Does anybody know of any good English to Spanish translator.
> 
> I have been using one to send e-mails to Spain and one of the contacts said it didnt make much sense.
> 
> I translated back into English what i had written and they were right it was nonsense.


do you mean an online translator?

there's no such thing


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

You can try wwwspanishdict.com. The biggest issue with it seems to be the grammar changes you need to make to the original English to obtain reasonable Spanish. You could try re translating back into English a few times and then correcting until it comes out reasonably. All on line translators, of which there are many, don't like colloquialisms so try and avoid those.


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## Captain Leaky (Jun 22, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> do you mean an online translator?
> 
> there's no such thing


Well we all learn new things


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## Captain Leaky (Jun 22, 2011)

Calas felices said:


> You can try wwwspanishdict.com. The biggest issue with it seems to be the grammar changes you need to make to the original English to obtain reasonable Spanish. You could try re translating back into English a few times and then correcting until it comes out reasonably. All on line translators, of which there are many, don't like colloquialisms so try and avoid those.


Spanishdict is the one I have been using.
I will try your tip thanks.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Calas felices said:


> You can try wwwspanishdict.com. The biggest issue with it seems to be the grammar changes you need to make to the original English to obtain reasonable Spanish. You could try re translating back into English a few times and then correcting until it comes out reasonably. All on line translators, of which there are many, don't like colloquialisms so try and avoid those.


a lot of them are good with individual words - but once you try to put text into them - especially colloquialisms & idioms, they're lost

even when just using ordinary day to day language it can get messed up - but if your Spanish is basic you won't really realise

I just put this through googletranslate

_Where is the nearest beach? What is it like?_


which became.......
_
_
_¿Dónde está la playa? ¿Qué es?_



which actually means............




_Where’s the beach? What is it?_


so you see, even with something really simple, the meaning isn't quite the same....


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

Exactly the point I made. You have to be careful to use language which will translate into Spanish. Where is the nearest beach translates as Donde es la playa más cercana. What is it like - what are you like would both come out gobbledegook. What is the beach like comes out quite reasonably. It helps to use correct English as well.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Calas felices said:


> Exactly the point I made. You have to be careful to use language which will translate into Spanish. Where is the nearest beach translates as Donde es la playa más cercana. What is it like - what are you like would both come out gobbledegook. What is the beach like comes out quite reasonably. It helps to use correct English as well.


no, I'm sorry - none of these 3 translations is even close......

Spanish Translation | Spanish to English to Spanish Translator


_Donde es la playa_ isn't even Spanish 

strange as it may seem, you actually need a good working knowledge of a language to make best use of an online translator - you _can _have a lot of fun though with some of the howlers they produce


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

I have found Google Translate to be quite good. I do agree though that translating back into English to check is a good idea.

For example

Where is the beach? What is it like?

Translates into Spanish as ¿Dónde está la playa? ¿Qué se siente?

This translates back into English as Where's the beach? How does it feel?

If, however you put in Where is the beach? How is it?

Translates into Spanish as ¿Dónde está la playa? ¿Cómo es? Which is correct.

If the translation is for something important, I would recommend finding a person to translate it for you.

There are lots of companies who will translate documents for you


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> I have found Google Translate to be quite good. I do agree though that translating back into English to check is a good idea.
> 
> For example
> 
> ...


 exactly - but who would even think to put 'how is it?' into the translator if they didn't have a knowledge of Spanish??


btw - _¿Qué se siente?_ - is 'what does it feel?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

actually this is fun

even a fairly new beginner knows that if you want to know what someone is called you say
¿cómo te llamas? or ¿cómo se llama usted? (informal/formal)

Spanishdict gave me this.......


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> exactly - but who would even think to put 'how is it?' into the translator if they didn't have a knowledge of Spanish??
> 
> 
> btw - _¿Qué se siente?_ - is 'what does it feel?


I know, I was just saying how Google translated _¿Qué se siente?_


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> actually this is fun
> 
> even a fairly new beginner knows that if you want to know what someone is called you say
> ¿cómo te llamas? or ¿cómo se llama usted? (informal/formal)
> ...


But would you ask someone "what are you called". You are more likely to ask "What's your name?"


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> But would you ask someone "what are you called". You are more likely to ask "What's your name?"


true............. I tried that as well & it got it right :clap2:

which does underline that it depends how you say things - there _are _times when you might say 'what is it called? - the translators mess that up

one of my favourites is when you try 'liking' something.............


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> true............. I tried that as well & it got it right :clap2:
> 
> which does underline that it depends how you say things - there _are _times when you might say 'what is it called? - the translators mess that up
> 
> one of my favourites is when you try 'liking' something.............


Now that was funny


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

Well to go back to the beginning - we have established there actually are on line translators and if you use them they can come out with passable Spanish. Yes I know there is a difference between es and está but most sympathetic Spanish readers don't care whether you get the right form of to be or not providing they can understand what you are saying. Fine for basic communication. You could try looking forward to something or even , what seems to be the latest appalling phrase, I could of done it - now that does come out as gobbledegook.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Calas felices said:


> Well to go back to the beginning - we have established there actually are on line translators and if you use them *they can come out with passable Spanish*. Yes I know there is a difference between es and está but most sympathetic Spanish readers don't care whether you get the right form of to be or not providing they can understand what you are saying. Fine for basic communication.


 I guess we'll have to disagree on that one then - ime they hardly ever come out with passable Spanish & often it's so far from passable that it's either meaningless or means something completely different to what you want to say

and yes, rubbish in, rubbish out - but then, a person without some knowledge of English wouldn't know that _I could of done it _is rubbish

which sort of proves my point


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

Calas felices said:


> Well to go back to the beginning - we have established there actually are on line translators and if you use them they can come out with passable Spanish. Yes I know there is a difference between es and está but most sympathetic Spanish readers don't care whether you get the right form of to be or not providing they can understand what you are saying. Fine for basic communication. You could try looking forward to something or even , what seems to be the latest appalling phrase, I could of done it - now that does come out as gobbledegook.


The problem with getting ser and estar wrong is that it can change the meaning completely

For example

Estoy listo (ready) or soy listo (clever)

Está borracho (he is drunk) or Es borracho (he is a drunkard)

I am sure there are lots more examples but these were the first two I thought of


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

DunWorkin said:


> The problem with getting ser and estar wrong is that it can change the meaning completely
> 
> For example
> 
> ...


yes :clap2:

that works with _aburrido_ & _verde_ too.....

& how would a Spanish speaker know what you mean if you say '¿Dónde es tu marido?'

have you used the wrong verb or missed a word out?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

I just tried _I'm hot _in that translator :gossip:


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