English translation
British or American,
the choice behind every page
English is the working language of most multilingual projects, so it is both the commonest source and a frequent target. Writing for a British, American or international readership changes spelling, vocabulary, units, date order and some specialist terms; the variety is chosen from the readers, not from the translator’s habit.
As a source language, English hides ambiguity: noun strings in software, phrasal verbs, idioms and gender-neutral pronouns all need a decision before the text is translated into another language. Source questions are raised with the client rather than guessed.
Language and locale facts
English
conventions to specify
English is written differently on either side of the Atlantic, and many other markets follow one or the other. The chosen variety must stay constant from the first page to the last.
| Convention | English |
|---|---|
| Spelling | UK: colour, centre, licence (noun); US: color, center, license |
| Date | UK: 31 October 2026 or 31/10/2026; US: October 31, 2026 or 10/31/2026 |
| Numbers | Decimal point and comma as thousands separator in both; a billion is a thousand million in both today |
| Units | UK mixes metric and imperial; the US relies on customary units such as inches, pounds and °F |
| Quotation marks | UK publishing mostly uses single marks; US usage is double |
| Paper size | A4 in the UK; US Letter in the United States |
| Address | No T/V pronoun distinction; politeness comes from wording and sentence structure |
Typical source material
English documents
and their translation focus
English texts arrive from every industry. The material below shows what the translator and the reviewer check first in each.
| Material | Translation focus |
|---|---|
| Contracts and corporate records | Defined terms and party names held constant; common-law wording chosen to match the governing law |
| Technical manuals and specifications | Imperative mood for instructions, consistent part names, units converted only when the brief asks |
| Software strings and websites | Short labels read in context, avoiding noun stacks that are ambiguous without the screen |
| Marketing and product copy | Tone and idiom for the target market, with spelling and vocabulary matched to the chosen variety |
Language-specific checks
Details that change
the finished translation
Three English-specific checks matter before delivery.
UK and US vocabulary
Lorry or truck, pavement or sidewalk, autumn or fall: vocabulary differs as much as spelling. A reviewer working to one variety catches stray forms from the other.
Ambiguous source English
Words such as ‘order’, ‘release’ or ‘file’ switch between noun and verb, and strings like ‘Save changes’ lack a subject. Context is requested before such text is translated into another language.
Dates and units that misread
03/04/2026 is 3 April in Britain and 4 March in the United States. Written-out months and an agreed units policy prevent silent misreadings.
Settling the English variety and the source questions
An English brief starts with the readership: British, American or a mixed international audience that may need a house style. It also fixes the units policy, the date style and whether a serial comma is expected. For English as a target, the brief names the source language and any approved terminology; for English as a source, it flags text that is ambiguous or culture-bound.
Native English translators who live in the target country handle UK and US work separately, and a second linguist revises each text against its source. Contracts go through legal translation, and manuals and datasheets through technical translation; customer-facing copy suits marketing translation.
Buyer questions
Questions about
English translation
Should a company request British or American English?
Choose from the readers. British English suits the United Kingdom and markets that follow its spelling; American English suits the United States and audiences used to its conventions. Both are listed variants, and the brief should name one, because mixed spelling, date order and units inside a single document look careless and can cause misreadings.
Can English translation come from any of the 32 languages?
Yes. English is available as a target from every language on the agency’s list and as a source into every other. The project manager confirms direction, subject field and variant for each brief, then assigns a linguist whose mother tongue is the target language and who is experienced in that field.
Do UK and US English differ in contracts?
Often, yes. Spelling is the visible part, but vocabulary, punctuation and date style differ too, and legal drafting follows the governing law and house style. A contract should be translated into the variety its parties and jurisdiction expect, with defined terms and capitalisation held constant throughout the document.
How are units and currencies handled in English translation?
The brief decides whether measurements stay as in the source or are converted, since conversion changes figures that may appear in specifications or regulatory files. Currency symbols, thousands separators and decimal points follow English convention, while amounts in contracts are normally kept exactly as the source states them.
Why does short software text cause problems when translating from English?
Strings such as ‘Order’ or ‘Close’ can be a verb, a noun or a state, and English often omits the subject. Translators need screenshots, string keys or character limits to choose the correct meaning. Without that context, the target text can be grammatical yet wrong for the screen.
How does the agency check English translations?
Babylon Translations holds DIN EN ISO 17100 certification for translation services, so a second qualified linguist revises each translation against the source. For English, the reviewer also checks that one variety, one units policy and one date style run through the text, and that terminology matches any glossary supplied.