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Concordance search: find how a phrase was translated before

Search your existing translations from the translation toolbar to see how a word or phrase has already been translated, and keep your wording consistent. 2 min read

Concordance search answers a question translators ask constantly: “how did we translate this before?”

The Translation Memory suggests translations for the segment you are currently on. Concordance search is the manual counterpart: you type any word or phrase, and WebTranslateIt shows you every place it has already been translated, side by side with its translation.

Concordance search lives in the toolbar at the bottom of the translation interface.

  1. Click Concordance Search in the toolbar.
  2. Type the word or phrase you are looking for.
  3. Press Enter.

Results appear in the panel, so you can keep the segment you are translating in view while you search.

Reading the Results

Each result is a pair:

  • on the left, the source text that matched your search, with your search terms highlighted,
  • on the right, the translation of that text in the language you are currently translating into,
  • and a small badge showing the origin — the project whose translation memory the pair came from.

Up to 30 results are returned, so if you are searching for a very common word, narrow your search down to a longer phrase.

What Gets Searched

Concordance search looks at the same body of translations as your Project Translation Memory: your current project, plus any other project you have added as a Translation Resource.

You can change which projects are searched in your project settings, under the Language Resources tab. Adding sibling projects there is worth doing — it lets translators check the wording used across your whole product line, not just the project in front of them.

Segments that have been deleted, and segments belonging to deleted files, are never returned.

Concordance Search or Advanced Search?

The two look similar but answer different questions:

  • Advanced Search searches the project you are in, and gives you back a filtered list of segments to work on. Use it to find work.
  • Concordance search searches your translation memory, across every project you have made available to it, and gives you back source/translation pairs. Use it to find precedent.

Next Up: Dictionary Lookup. Look up the definition, synonyms and translations of a word without leaving the translation interface… »