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Fake Translations?

Posted
Herbert Bruderer

See the prior post, Google Translate Does Not Understand the Content of the Texts, for background on this.

 

Einführung (German source text)
Ich habe versucht, zwei einfache Sätze vom Deutschen in die Sprachen Englisch, Französisch, Italienisch und Spanisch zu übersetzen. Dabei muss das Programm zwischen der 2. Person Einzahl, der 2. Person Mehrzahl und der Höflichkeitsform unterscheiden. Das Englische unterscheidet nicht zwischen diesen Formen, daher sind die Übersetzungen problemlos. Die Programme erkennen die Unterschiede vor allem bei der Übertragung ins Italienische und Spanische nicht. Die rot gekennzeichneten Sätze sind mangelhaft.

Automatic translation (not revised):

Introduction (Google Translate)
I tried to translate two simple sentences from German into English, French, Italian and Spanish. The program must distinguish between the second person singular, the second person plural, and the courtesy form. The English does not distinguish between these forms, so the translations are easy. The programs do not recognize the differences, especially when transferring to Italian and Spanish. The sentences marked in red are inadequate.

Introduction (DeepL)
I have tried to translate two simple sentences from German into English, French, Italian and Spanish. The program has to distinguish between the 2nd person singular, the 2nd person plural and the courtesy form. English does not distinguish between these forms, so the translations are easy. The programs do not recognize the differences, especially when translating into Italian and Spanish. The sentences marked in red are inadequate.

 

Weißt du, wann das Haus gebaut wurde?

Google Translate
Do you know when the house was built?
Savez-vous quand la maison a été construite?
Sai quando è stata costruita la casa?
¿Sabes cuándo se construyó la casa?

DeepL
Do you know when the house was built?
Savez-vous quand la maison a été construite ?
Sai quando è stata costruita la casa?
¿Sabes cuándo se construyó la casa?

 

Wisst ihr, wann das Haus gebaut wurde?

Google Translate
Do you know when the house was built?
Savez-vous quand la maison a été construite?
Sai quando è stata costruita la casa?
¿Sabes cuándo se construyó la casa?

DeepL
Do you know when the house was built?
Savez-vous quand la maison a été construite ?
Sai quando è stata costruita la casa?
¿Sabes cuándo se construyó la casa?

 

Wissen Sie, wann das Haus gebaut wurde?

Google Translate
Do you know when the house was built?
Savez-vous quand la maison a été construite?
Sai quando è stata costruita la casa?
¿Sabes cuándo se construyó la casa?

DeepL
Do you know when the house was built?
Savez-vous quand la maison a été construite ?
Sai quando è stata costruita la casa?
¿Sabes cuándo se construyó la casa?

 

Bitte gib dieses Paket deiner Schwester, wenn sie nach Hause kommt.

Google Translate
Please give this package to your sister when she comes home.
S'il vous plaît donner ce paquet à votre soeur quand elle rentre à la maison.
Per favore consegna questo pacchetto a tua sorella quando torna a casa.
Por favor, dale este paquete a tu hermana cuando regrese a casa.

DeepL
Please give this package to your sister when she gets home.
S'il vous plaît, donnez ce paquet à votre soeur quand elle rentrera à la maison.
Per favore, dai questo pacco a tua sorella quando torna a casa.
Por favor, dale este paquete a tu hermana cuando llegue a casa.

 

Bitte gebt dieses Paket eurer Schwester, wenn sie nach Hause kommt.

Google Translate
Please give this package to your sister when she comes home.
S'il vous plaît donner ce paquet à votre soeur quand elle rentre à la maison.
Per favore consegna questo pacchetto a tua sorella quando torna a casa.
Por favor, dale este paquete a tu hermana cuando regrese a casa.

DeepL
Please give this package to your sister when she gets home.
S'il vous plaît, donnez ce paquet à votre soeur quand elle rentrera à la maison.
Per favore, dai questo pacco a tua sorella quando torna a casa.
Por favor, dale este paquete a tu hermana cuando llegue a casa.

 

Bitte geben Sie dieses Paket Ihrer Schwester, wenn sie nach Hause kommt.

Google Translate
Please give this package to your sister when she comes home.
S'il vous plaît donner ce paquet à votre soeur quand elle rentre à la maison.
Per favore consegna questo pacchetto a tua sorella quando torna a casa.
Por favor, dale este paquete a tu hermana cuando regrese a casa.

DeepL
Please give this package to your sister when she gets home.
S'il vous plaît, donnez ce paquet à votre soeur quand elle rentrera à la maison.
Per favore, dai questo pacco a tua sorella quando torna a casa.
Por favor, dale este paquete a tu hermana cuando llegue a casa.

 

Folgerungen (German source text)
Die maschinellen Übersetzungen müssen überprüft werden. Die Nutzung des automatischen Übersetzers setzt die Kenntnis von Ausgangs- und Zielsprache, sonst drohen Fehler.

Automatic translation (not revised):

Conclusions (Google Translate)
The machine translations must be checked. The use of the automatic translator sets the knowledge of source and target language, otherwise errors threaten.

Inferences (DeepL)
Machine translations must be checked. The use of the automatic translator sets the knowledge of source and target language, otherwise errors threaten.

 

Ergänzung (German source text)
Wie ich nachträglich festgestellt habe, hat es im deutschen Wortlaut einen Fehler, das Wort „voraus" fehlt: Die maschinellen Übersetzungen müssen überprüft werden. Die Nutzung des automatischen Übersetzers setzt die Kenntnis von Ausgangs- und Zielsprache voraus, sonst drohen Fehler. Menschliche Übersetzer/innen würden im Unterschied zu den beiden Programmen diesen Mangel natürlich sofort bemerken.

Automatic translation (not revised):

Supplement (Google Translate)
As I have subsequently stated, it has an error in the German text, the word "advance" is missing: The machine translations must be checked. The use of the automatic translator presupposes knowledge of source and target language, otherwise errors may occur. Of course, unlike the two programs, human translators would immediately notice this deficiency.

Supplement (DeepL)
As I have subsequently stated, there is an error in the German wording, the word "voraus" is missing: The machine translations must be checked. The use of the automatic translator requires knowledge of the source and target languages, otherwise errors may occur. In contrast to the two programs, human translators would of course immediately notice this deficiency.

Herbert Bruderer is a retired lecturer in didactics of computer science at ETH Zürich. More recently, he has been an historian of technology. bruderer@retired.ethz.ch, herbert.bruderer@bluewin.ch

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