French and English have completely different styles of grammarīecause of its different language origins, these two languages are very different in basic grammar. Whether you’re trying to localize a product that is formal or informal, it would be helpful to find a translator with experience translating to a wide demographic range of audiences. In French, the formal pronoun to “you” (“vous” instead of “tu”) and a more elevated title are often used as a sign of respect or in a formal setting, depending on region. The level of formality built into every language is different. French has many cultural markers unique to its own language If you’re considering translating text that needs to fit to a specific length, like an app store description or interface text, it’s important to hire a professional translator who will be able to create shorter text while prioritzing your original messaging. Research shows that French translations are about 15-20% longer than their original English text. Some naturally have more words in the sentence structures than others. Not all languages are created at equal lengths. French is a longer languageĮver pick up a side-by-side translated text or bilingual book at the bookstore only to realize that the text for one language has many more pages than the other? When screening translators, make sure they have translation experience in the specific regions you are targeting. If you don’t do this, you risk your audience becoming confused, or worse, frustrated that you did not actually know them-and their language-well.

Solution:ĭepending on where your target user or reader is located, it’s worth identifying the specific French spoken and translating for that strand of the language specifically. While these differences are most apparent in pronunciation, there can be significant cultural differences in grammar, formalities, as well as names of food, clothing, and everyday objects. Just like there are variations in the English spoken in North America, the UK, and Australia, there are significant differences in the French spoken in France, Belgium, Monaco, the Middle East, Canada and the United States. There is no One True French - there are multiple. Here are 5 common challenges in English-French translation and how you can best prepare for them: 1. It is particularly challenging because of the different linguistic roots of the two languages. Translating to French is trickyįrench is a Romance language with its Latin roots-it just happens to also be widely known as the “language of love.” However, as with any language translation, making English fit into a French context is no easy courtship. Both of these facts, in combination with research showing that consumers prefer reading and making purchases online in their native language, makes the French-speaking market ripe for high-quality native, translated content. Many French-speaking countries rank low in English levels-including France itself. However, only about 4% of all internet content is in French. Opportunities in French-speaking marketsīloomberg reports that French is the second most useful language for business after Mandarin, with 27 countries having French as an official language. With this wide reach around the globe, it’s easy to see why businesses would be interested in translating materials into the French-speaking market. It is one of the 3 procedural languages in the European Union and is the only language used for proceedings of the European Union. With its detailed grammatical structures, French is considered an international “language of reference.” Among the 6 official languages of the United Nations, French is the only other working language used aside from English. Many words in the English language come from French influence. With its Italic-Romance roots, French is also, interestingly, the largest donor of words to English, with its Germanic heritage. In fact, it is the second most-spoken native language in Europe. It is the only language aside from English spoken on all 5 continents with more than 280 million speakers around the world, including 68 million native speakers.

Subscribe to our blog newsletter so you don’t miss out! Parlez-vous français?įrench speakers are virtually everywhere. We’ve written on Spanish translations, and future posts will cover other popular languages like German, Chinese, and many more. With each language, we’ll also offer some insights into the opportunities of localizing to that language. This post is part of our new series “Translation Challenges” highlighting the unique difficulties in translating to specific languages.

English to french translator sentences