Translate a tender document into English

What changes when a tender pack goes into English

A tender pack is not one continuous text: it is a set of documents with fixed names, and national procurement terms rarely map one-to-one onto English. The translation has to convey what each document does. A few typical equivalents, taking French as an example source:

• appel d’offres → invitation to tender (ITT) in British usage, request for proposal (RFP) in American usage;
• pouvoir adjudicateur → contracting authority; soumissionnaire → tenderer or bidder;
• mémoire technique → technical proposal or method statement;
• bordereau des prix → schedule of rates or bill of quantities, depending on content;
• date limite de remise → tender submission deadline.

British or American English is not a cosmetic choice: it affects spelling (programme / program, organisation / organization), vocabulary (tender / bid) and date order. Follow the language of the contract notice or the buyer, and keep it identical across every document.

Prices, dates and deadlines: the English-specific traps

These are what an evaluator reads first, and where a slip can sink a bid.

• Numbers: many European languages write 1 234 567,50 €; English writes €1,234,567.50. Comma and decimal point swap, and the currency symbol moves in front. Net and gross amounts become excl. VAT and incl. VAT.
• Dates: 05/03/2025 is 5 March in Europe but 3 May to an American reader. For a deadline, spelling out the month (5 March 2025) removes any doubt.
• Time limits: working days (British) or business days (American) versus calendar days. Mixing them changes a delivery schedule.
• Requirements: tender rules separate what is mandatory from what is preferred. In English, shall or must marks a requirement, should a recommendation; a phrase such as failing which the tender will be rejected must not be softened.
• Plurals: English has only two forms, but grouped references change: Lot 1, Lots 2 to 4.

English text from French typically runs 10 to 15% shorter, which helps when the technical proposal has a page limit, though the final page count still needs checking.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not

Tender documents go to Dédale, the engine specialised in technical texts. Accepted formats: Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF and CSV. Each file is returned in its original format with the layout kept: a Word method statement stays a Word file, an Excel pricing schedule stays a workbook.

A quote appears as soon as you upload, based on the exact word count; the example above is a tender pack of around 9,000 words, roughly 30 pages. For a bid actually sent to a buyer, the Professional or Premium level is the sensible choice; Essential is meant for internal understanding.

What Manuce does not do:

• it cannot read scanned PDFs (images with no selectable text), so signed declarations, company registration extracts or certificates in scanned form will not be translated;
• it does not provide certified (sworn) translation. If the tender rules require certified translations of company documents, you need a sworn translator;
• it takes no glossary or terminology instructions: consistency is checked on the free sample and then on the delivered translation.

Preparing the documents before upload

1. Keep documents separate: instructions to tenderers, contract conditions, technical proposal, pricing schedule. Each translated file is then easier to review, and you can translate only what the buyer requires in English.
2. Spot the scans: if you cannot select the text in a PDF, it will not be read. Use the source Word or Excel file rather than a printed-and-scanned copy.
3. Check the Excel pricing schedule: make sure amounts are true numeric values, not text typed as 12 500,00, otherwise English number formatting cannot apply properly.
4. Note the notice’s constraints: page limits, required font, mandatory headings (Methodology, Key personnel, Social value) that must appear in the English version.

Checks before you submit

Translation is delivered within minutes for a typical document; use the time saved for a document-by-document review.

• Free sample: before paying, one paragraph is translated at your chosen level. Pick a dense passage from the technical proposal to judge the result.
• Acronyms and official names: buyers sometimes expect a national acronym kept with an English gloss, such as CCTP (technical specifications). Check that each term is handled the same way in every document.
• Prices: compare English and source totals, line by line for the largest items.
• Dates and periods: submission deadline, contract term, tender validity period.
• Signatures and stamps: they are not translated; the form of tender must be signed in the version the buyer asks for.

In practice

1. Gather the source files (Word, Excel, text-based PDF), not scans.
2. Upload them: the quote appears from the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample on a technical passage of your proposal.
4. Pay, then download the translated files from your client area.
5. Check prices, dates, lot titles and page count before submitting.