Translation: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What translation is

A translator converts written documents from one language to another, preserving meaning, tone and formatting for your readers. People hire one for personal, business, legal and academic documents where a person needs to check the meaning and the tone.

Signs you need it

  • You need a document in another language for an official, school or business purpose and cannot check it yourself.
  • A website, brochure or product guide needs to reach customers who read another language.
  • You have a contract, certificate or record that someone must read in a different language.
  • You have a machine translation that reads oddly, and you need a person to check and correct it.
  • You need the translation to match the terms and tone your readers use in their own field.
  • You are preparing a document for a publisher, a government office or a school that expects a faithful translation.

What the pro does

  • Reads the source text and confirms the purpose, the readers, and the terms that must stay the same.
  • Builds a short glossary of names, product terms and recurring phrases, so each one is translated consistently.
  • Translates the full text, keeping the meaning, tone and formatting of the original.
  • Reviews the translation for accuracy, then checks that it reads naturally to the target reader.
  • Delivers the translation in the file format you need, with notes on anything that needs your decision.

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • Number of words or pages in the source document.
  • Language pair, and whether the work needs one translator or a team.
  • Subject complexity, such as legal, medical, technical or literary text.
  • Formatting, such as tables, layout, images or a file that must match the original.
  • Whether a review by a second translator is included.
  • Deadline, especially for urgent or same-day work.

What a written quote should spell out

  • The source word count or page count the quote is based on.
  • The language pair and the regional variety of the target language.
  • Whether a glossary is built, and who approves the terms.
  • Whether a second review is included.
  • The file format returned, and whether the layout is recreated.

Questions to ask before you hire

  • What is the purpose of the translation, and who will read it?
  • Which regional variety of the language do you use?
  • Do you work in my file format, and can you keep the layout?
  • Will a second translator check the work, and is that included?
  • How do you handle names, product terms and phrases that must stay the same?
  • Can you show a sample translation of a short passage on a similar subject?

Red flags

  • Offers a machine translation with no review and calls it a professional translation.
  • Cannot name the regional variety or the readers they are writing for.
  • Changes figures, dates or names in the text.
  • Promises that the translation will be accepted by an office without checking the office's requirements.
  • Will not share a sample or explain how they check their work.

What you can do yourself

You can check a rough version yourself for obvious errors, keep a list of your key terms, and send the text to a native speaker you trust to read it. Hire a translator when the document is official or will be published, when its meaning matters for a decision, or when the text is in a specialist field where one wrong word changes the sense.

Licenses and permits

Translation is not commonly licensed, so a license is usually not required for this work. Check with the office that will receive the document, since some offices set their own rules for certified translations, and ask the translator for samples in your subject as proof of skill.

Translation questions

Will a translation be word for word?

Usually not. A good translation keeps the meaning and tone, and changes word order and phrasing where the other language needs it. Ask the translator to explain the approach if particular wording matters to you.

Do I need a certified translation?

Ask the office or organization that will receive it. Some ask for a translator's signed statement of accuracy, and others accept a standard translation. Confirm this before you order.

Can I use an automatic translation tool instead?

For a rough understanding, yes. For anything official, published or important to a decision, a person should translate or check the text.

Pro reviewers

Pros who offer translation remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.

Edit history

How guide reviews work

How it works

  1. 1. Describe the job

    Pick the service, add your ZIP and a sentence about what is going on.

  2. 2. Pick the pros you want

    See screened pros who serve your ZIP and choose who you want to hear from.

  3. 3. They reach out

    They contact you the way you chose: phone, email or in-app messages.

More writing, editing and translation guides

Find a pro near you

Find a pro

About this guide

Request translation