Translate a quality procedure (SOP) into English

What changes when an SOP moves into English

Many source languages write procedural steps as infinitives or with a generic "must". English quality documents use a direct imperative and a modal verb matched to the strength of the requirement:

• A step such as "Verify chamber temperature" becomes Check the chamber temperature (2–8 °C).
• A duty assigned to a role becomes The Quality Manager shall approve the deviation.
• In ISO usage, shall states a requirement, should a recommendation and may a permission. If the same source verb ends up as must in one step and should in the next, an auditor will read two different levels of obligation.

Quality vocabulary is full of false friends, particularly from Romance languages: the word for a documented result is a record, not a registration; a routine check is an inspection or check rather than a control; a step-by-step method is a work instruction; a defect against a requirement is a nonconformity; releasing product is batch release. Local acronyms change as well (the French BPF becomes GMP, AQ becomes QA), so the abbreviations list at the front of the SOP needs to follow.

Dates, numbers, units and the choice of English

Figures in an SOP are acceptance criteria, so a misplaced separator changes a tolerance.

• Decimal separator: a continental 1 234,5 kg becomes 1,234.5 kg in English. Check every tolerance, concentration and duration.
• Dates: 05/06/2025 is 5 June in the UK and 6 May in the US. In the revision history and effective dates, an unambiguous form such as 5 June 2025 or 2025-06-05 avoids version mix-ups.
• Spelling: British (standardise, labelling, programme) or American (standardize, labeling, program). What matters is consistency across the SOP and your wider document set.
• Plurals: English has only two forms, one for 1 and one for everything else, and zero takes the plural: 0 samples. A source field written as "sample(s)" can simply become Number of samples.

English text usually runs 10 to 15 % shorter than French, so flowchart boxes and table columns tend to gain space rather than overflow.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not do

Your SOP is translated by Dédale, the engine specialised in technical documents. The file comes back in its original format (Word, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, RTF, HTML, Markdown, plain text or CSV) with its layout intact: title block, headers and footers, responsibilities table, revision history and step numbering. A typical procedure of around 3,500 words is delivered within minutes and kept in your client area.

What Manuce does not do:

• It cannot read a scanned PDF (an image with no selectable text). A flowchart pasted in as a picture raises the same issue.
• It does not produce certified or sworn translations. If an authority requires one signed by an accredited translator, you will need a sworn translator.
• It does not take glossaries or terminology instructions: for an equipment name or internal code that must stay unchanged, check the free sample and then the translation.
• It does not approve the procedure within your quality system: the English version remains a document to review, approve and distribute through your own process.

Preparing the file before upload

A well-prepared SOP translates more cleanly and is quicker to check.

• Upload the editable source (Word) rather than a locked PDF, especially if the English version is going into your document management system.
• Make sure flowcharts are built from shapes containing text, not from an image.
• Harmonise the source: if one role is called operator, technician and user in different steps, the English will inherit the inconsistency.
• Remove review comments and accept tracked changes so that only the current version is translated.
• List the items that must not change: form references (FO-QUA-012), equipment codes, ISO 9001 clause numbers. These are the first things to check.

The quote appears as soon as you upload, based on the exact word count of the file.

Checking the English version before release

Before the English SOP enters your system, have it read by someone with a quality background:

1. Modal verbs: search for shall, must and should and confirm each matches the intended level of obligation.
2. Approval block: it should read Prepared by / Reviewed by / Approved by, with the same job titles as the source.
3. Values: compare every tolerance, temperature and duration with the original, decimal separators included.
4. Dates and revision index: check the format and that the revision matches the source version.
5. Cross-references: references to other procedures and forms must point to the right documents, translated or not.

Then approve the English version as a controlled document in its own right, with its own revision index if your system requires it.

In practice

1. Export the SOP with selectable text, ideally as Word, current version only.
2. Upload it to Manuce: the quote appears immediately, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample: modal verbs, quality terms, codes and date format.
4. Pay, then download the translated file in its original format from your client area.
5. Have the English version reviewed and approved through your document control process.