Translate instructions for use into English

What changes when instructions move into English

Many languages write instructions with infinitives or impersonal forms: French « Ne pas immerger », German Nicht in Wasser tauchen, Spanish No sumergir. English uses the plain imperative: Do not immerse, Connect the appliance, Remove all packaging before first use. A literal rendering such as “To connect the appliance” or “Not to immerse” reads as foreign and undermines trust in the product.

• Safety signal words. English instructions conventionally use DANGER, WARNING and CAUTION for decreasing levels of risk to people, and NOTICE for risk to property only. Each word stands for a severity level, so the same one must be used for the same hazard throughout.
• Punctuation. No space before a colon: French « Attention : » becomes CAUTION:. Angled quotation marks become “ ” or ‘ ’.
• Numbers. The decimal separator is a point: 2,5 l becomes 2.5 l; thousands take a comma or nothing: 1.200 W or 1 200 W becomes 1,200 W or 1200 W.
• Plurals. English has only two forms, but zero takes the plural: 0 batteries, 1 battery, 2 batteries. A parts line becomes 1 × AA battery (not included).

English text usually runs 10 to 15% shorter than French and often more than that against German. Warning boxes and diagram captions gain room, which avoids most overflow, but tightly designed pages may show noticeably shorter blocks.

British or American English: decide before uploading

The same leaflet does not read the same in Manchester and in Chicago, and the differences go beyond spelling:

• Spelling: colour/color, aluminium/aluminum, metre/meter, litre/liter.
• Vocabulary: socket/outlet, earth/ground, tap/faucet, torch/flashlight, mains lead/power cord.
• Dates: 03/04/2025 means 3 April in the UK and 4 March in the US. For a manufacturing or warranty date, write an unambiguous form in the source, such as 2025-04-03 or the month spelt out.
• Units: UK readers are comfortable with °C, cm and kg; US readers often expect °F, inches and pounds. If both are needed, add them to the source, for example 180 °C (356 °F), rather than relying on conversion.

Choose your target market, prepare the source accordingly, then check which variant appears in the free sample. Electrical ratings printed on the product (230 V ~ 50 Hz) are not something to translate: a 120 V model sold in the US is a different product with its own instructions.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

Your instructions are handled by Dédale, the engine specialised in technical content and familiar with the register of assembly, maintenance and safety instructions. Accepted formats: Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF and CSV. The file comes back in its original format with its layout: step numbers, warning boxes, troubleshooting tables and captions stay where they were.

The quote appears as soon as you upload, based on the exact word count. For instructions of around 2,500 words (8 pages), the translation is delivered within minutes and kept in your client area. Before paying, one paragraph of your file is translated free at the level you choose: pick one containing a warning, as that is where accuracy matters most. For instructions handed to customers, the Professional level matches the “ready to send” use.

Limits worth knowing:

• A scanned PDF with no selectable text is not read. Only selectable text is processed, so a caption drawn into a diagram as part of the image will stay as it is.
• Manuce does not produce sworn or certified translations. Instructions for use rarely need one, but if an authority asks for a translation certified by a sworn translator, you will need another provider.
• Manuce translates the text; it does not check whether your instructions meet the regulatory requirements of the target market, which remain the manufacturer's or importer's responsibility.

Preparing the file and checking the English

1. Start from the right file. The original Word document or a PDF exported from the layout software, never a scan of the printed leaflet.
2. Make the source consistent. If one part is called “motor block” on one page and “base” on another, the English may inherit two terms (motor unit, base) for a single component.
3. Check cross-references. “See fig. 3, item B” must still match the drawing, which itself does not change.
4. Review what carries liability first. Warnings, quantities (decimals, units) and the names of buttons and indicator lights: if the button on the device reads START, the text must say START, not Launch.
5. Check references. Model names and codes (MX-200, ref. 4471) should remain unchanged; confirm this in the free sample, then in the delivered translation.

Finally, print a page under real conditions: instructions are often read with the product in hand, and a step that wraps badly or runs too long is easier to spot on paper.

In practice

1. Export your instructions as a Word file or a PDF with selectable text.
2. Upload the file: the quote appears, based on the exact word count.
3. Choose a level and check the free sample, ideally a paragraph containing a warning.
4. Pay, then download the English version in its original format within minutes.
5. Review warnings, units and button labels before printing.