Prompts
Translate a document and keep the terms consistent
Produces a translation, a table of the terms it chose, and a list of the places it was unsure, so a fluent colleague can check it in minutes instead of rereading everything.
What may go into it: Only after identifying details are removed
The prompt
Answer in [ANSWER LANGUAGE], even if the material below is in another language. You are translating for a civil society organisation. Translate the text below from [SOURCE LANGUAGE] into [TARGET LANGUAGE]. Rules: 1. Translate the meaning, not word by word. Keep the register formal and plain. 2. Add nothing, remove nothing, soften nothing. If the source is vague, stay vague. 3. Copy every name, number, date and quotation exactly as it appears in the source. Keep each number in the digit form the source uses, and say so where the source mixes digits: ١٢٣ alongside 123. 4. The first time a legal or technical term appears, put the original word in brackets after your translation. 5. Mark anything you are unsure about with [CHECK] inside the translation. Give me, in this order: A. The translation. B. A table with two columns: the source term, and the wording you chose for it. C. Every [CHECK] you marked, with one line each saying why. If you are reading on a phone, replace the table with one block per row: a heading line, then one short labelled line per column. Text to translate: [PASTE THE TEXT]
Opens a new chat in that tool with this prompt already typed in. Fill in every box first, and read the line at the top about what may go into it.
20 minutes · Gives you short sections · How much to paste at once: Paste about 1,000 words at a time, roughly two pages. If the translation stops mid sentence, or the term table never appears, the answer was cut off: send the next part on its own.
Read the answer against the checks below before you use it in anything that leaves your organisation.
What to fill in
- [ANSWER LANGUAGE]: the language you need the answer in, for example Arabic, Kurdish Sorani or English. The source can stay in another language.
- [SOURCE LANGUAGE] and [TARGET LANGUAGE], for example Arabic into English.
- [CHECK] is the marker the model writes for itself. Leave the word in the prompt so uncertain wording is flagged instead of hidden.
- [PASTE THE TEXT]. Remove names and identifying details first unless the document is already public.
Before you trust the answer
- Read the [CHECK] list before you read the translation. That is where the errors are.
- Compare every number, date and proper name against the source yourself. Machine translation drops and swaps them silently.
- Have a fluent speaker read the first and last paragraph before this leaves your organisation, and keep the term table to paste back in next time.
When it goes wrong
It will hand you a smooth translation that renders the same legal term two different ways in two places, with no [CHECK] on either one.
Tools this is written for
Written 2026-09-01Nobody has run this prompt in this language yet, so read the answer twice.
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Only approved or redacted sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq, but not fully
Where to go next
- The task this belongs toTranslation into and out of local languages
- Staying safeClassify the material first
Written forLegal work and accountabilityResearcher or analystCommunications and campaigns