Translation guide
How to talk about machine translation in Japanese, from the technology itself to using it in conversation.
Referring to machine translation as a concept, technology, or field of study.
The standard term for machine translation. Used in technical, academic, and general contexts.
機械翻訳の精度は年々向上している。
The accuracy of machine translation is improving year by year.
Literally 'automatic translation'. Often used interchangeably with 機械翻訳, but can emphasize the automated aspect.
自動翻訳ツールを使えば、多言語のウェブサイトもすぐに読める。
If you use an automatic translation tool, you can read multilingual websites right away.
Referring to the result of machine translation, such as a translated sentence or document.
Means 'machine translation result'. A natural way to refer to the output.
機械翻訳の結果を確認してください。
Please check the machine translation result.
Means 'machine-translated text'. Useful when discussing the quality or characteristics of the output.
機械翻訳された文章は、ときどき不自然に感じる。
Machine-translated text sometimes feels unnatural.
Describing the action of translating something using a machine translation tool.
Simply 'to use machine translation'. The most straightforward way to express the action.
英語のメールを読むために、機械翻訳を使った。
I used machine translation to read the English email.
Literally 'to put through machine translation'. Implies running a text through a translation engine.
この文章を機械翻訳にかけてみよう。
Let's run this text through machine translation.
Means 'to translate using machine translation'. Emphasizes the method of translation.
この契約書を機械翻訳で訳すのは危険だ。
It's risky to translate this contract using machine translation.
Referring to a specific software, app, or online service that provides machine translation.
General term for 'translation tool'. Often implies machine translation in context.
最近は無料の翻訳ツールがたくさんある。
There are many free translation tools these days.
Specifically 'translation engine', the core technology behind machine translation services.
この翻訳エンジンはニューラルネットワークを使っている。
This translation engine uses neural networks.
Literally 'automatic translation machine'. Can refer to dedicated devices or older terminology.
旅行用の自動翻訳機を買った。
I bought an automatic translation device for travel.
While マシン is a loanword for 'machine', the established term is 機械翻訳. Using マシン翻訳 would sound unnatural and non-standard.
In very casual tech conversations, you might hear MT (エムティー) as an abbreviation, but it's not common in general speech.