How the AI Translator works
You paste text, choose the target language and a tone, and the translator returns the text in that language. If you leave the source on auto-detect, the tool works out the language from the text itself. It aims for what a native writer of the target language would say, so idioms are not translated literally, and it keeps names, numbers, units and line breaks.
It is an AI translation, which means it is fast and useful for understanding and drafting, and it can be wrong.
Which tone should you choose?
| Tone | What it does | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Natural | Fluent, idiomatic phrasing; keeps the register of the source, so formal stays formal and casual stays casual | Most everyday texts, articles, emails |
| Formal | The formal register of the target language, with polite forms of address and no slang or contractions | Letters, applications, official or business emails |
| Casual | Relaxed everyday phrasing and informal address where the language has it | Messages to friends, social posts, chat |
Many languages mark politeness through grammar or vocabulary (for example tu and usted in Spanish, or du and Sie in German). The tone you choose decides which form the translation uses.
Check these before you rely on a translation
- Names, numbers, dates and currencies. Check that none changed, and that date formats (day-month-year or month-day-year) are what the reader expects.
- Legal, medical, financial and safety text. Use a qualified human translator. Do not treat machine output as certified.
- Idioms and humour. They are the first things to go wrong in any language pair.
- Less common languages. Machine translation tends to be stronger between widely used languages. We publish no quality scores per language, so have a speaker read anything important.
Tips for a better translation
- Translate whole sentences and paragraphs, not isolated words. Context helps.
- Fix typos first with the Spell Checker or Grammar Checker; errors in the source become errors in the translation.
- Translate back to the original language to spot meaning shifts.
- For individual words, use the Dictionary or Synonyms tool.
Limits
Each run takes up to 6,000 characters, so translate long documents in sections. The tool translates pasted text; it does not read files or images. Please do not paste confidential material that you are not allowed to share with an online service.