Translate subtitles to French

Yes. French writes “vendredi ?” and “Waouh !”, and the translation did so in our test. When a subtitle is laid out again, a lone ? or ! stays on the line with the word before it, so no line starts with a stray mark.

The same care applies to amounts: French writes “1 250 $” with a space between thousands, and the layout avoids breaking a line inside it. Lines aim for 42 characters and break between words, 2 lines at most.

Vous, throughout our test: “Can you send me the report before Friday?” became “Pouvez-vous m’envoyer le rapport avant vendredi ?”, and “Please sit down, sir” became “Asseyez-vous, monsieur, s’il vous plaît”. For a family film or friends chatting, switch the lines that should say tu.

When English says so. “Our doctor said she would call back tomorrow” became “Notre médecin a dit qu’elle rappellerait demain”: the “she” survived as “elle”. Groups take the masculine, as in “Merci à tous d’être venus aujourd’hui”. Check lines where English gave no clue.

Yes. French runs about a tenth longer than English, but each subtitle keeps its original start and end and is laid out again in 2 lines at most. A longer translation fills those lines more fully instead of adding a subtitle.

NoteOwl understands French on your Mac: it transcribes French recordings with unlimited transcription, names each speaker and saves SRT subtitles. For subtitles of French speech in a video, start with the French subtitle generator.