How to Say "Translation" in Chinese

翻译

fānyì

The Chinese word for translation is 翻译 (fānyì).

翻译 is used to refer to the act of translating between languages.

Meaning: act of translating between languages (noun)

What does it mean word for word?

The word is composed of 翻 (fān), meaning to turn over or change and 译 (yì), meaning to translate or interpret.

In Cantonese, the term 翻譯 (faan1 jyu5) is commonly used.

The word 翻译 is versatile and can function as a noun meaning 'translation', a verb meaning 'to translate' or even a noun meaning 'translator'.

fānyì

While 翻译 is the standard term, you might hear people use the word 笔译 (bǐyì) specifically for written translation. This literally means 'pen translation', distinguishing it from spoken interpretation.
If you are translating orally, you would use the term 口译 (kǒuyì), which literally translates to 'mouth translation'.
In modern digital contexts, Chinese users often use the slang term 机翻 (jī fān), a shortening of 'machine translation', to describe translations that feel robotic or unnatural.

翻译是一门学问。
Translation is a scholarly discipline.
Tatoeba #1672212 by sadhen, translation #1689027 by shanghainese
翻译的挑战让我着迷。
I'm captivated by the challenges of translation.
Tatoeba #6682957 by basilhan, translation #6956842 by znc
我加了新的中文翻译。
I added a new Chinese translation.
Tatoeba #10024448 by GlossaMatik, translation #10379328 by DaoSeng
9 more sentences on Tatoeba

Two friends are discussing a book in a cafe.

梓涵 Zihan

你觉得这本书的翻译怎么样？
Nǐ juéde zhè běn shū de fānyì zěnmeyàng?
What do you think of the translation of this book?
俊杰 Junjie

我觉得翻译得非常自然。
Wǒ juéde fānyì de fēicháng zìrán.
I think the translation is very natural.
梓涵 Zihan

我也这么觉得，翻译质量很高。
Wǒ yě zhème juéde, fānyì zhìliàng hěn gāo.
I think so too, the translation quality is very high.
俊杰 Junjie

看来翻译者很了解中文。
Kànlái fānyìzhě hěn liǎojiě Zhōngwén.
It seems the translator understands Chinese very well.

Sources

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