French → English Translation
French to English translation on macOS - nuanced, context-aware results from any application.
How It Works
Select your text
Highlight the text you want to translate in any application - email, a document, a browser tab, or a chat window.
Press the shortcut
Hit your configured Echoo keyboard shortcut. Nothing is copied to the clipboard and no window opens.
AI translates
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite unpacks French nominal constructions into the verb-driven phrasing English prefers.
Result appears inline
The English is pasted back in place with French formulas rendered as their English equivalents rather than translated word for word.
Example Translation
French (Original)
Veuillez trouver ci-joint le rapport annuel de notre entreprise. Les résultats du dernier trimestre sont particulièrement encourageants.
English (Translated)
Please find attached our company's annual report. The results from the last quarter are particularly encouraging.
Translating French to English
French is more nominal than English: it prefers noun phrases with de where English uses a verb, so a faithful rendering sounds bureaucratic even when every word is right. Business French also ends letters with elaborate formulas that have no English equivalent - translating them literally produces something absurd, so they have to be replaced with the plain English closing that does the same job. The tu/vous distinction disappears into you, taking the relationship marker with it. French punctuation spacing has to be removed rather than carried over, or the English arrives with stray gaps before its colons. False friends are frequent and confident: actuellement means currently, éventuellement means possibly, and sensible means sensitive.
Recommended Setup
Best model for this pair
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite handles French to English best in our testing. Any provider you have configured will work - this is the one to pick if you have a choice.
Voice dictation
Dictation is supported for French, so you can speak instead of typing and have the result translated in the same step.
Tips for Better Translations
French formal and informal registers are detected automatically - the AI adjusts English tone to match.
Les faux amis (false friends) between French and English are handled correctly - "actuellement" translates to "currently", not "actually".
Canadian French, Belgian French, and Swiss French are all understood without special configuration.
Complex French literary constructions (passé simple, subjonctif) are translated into natural English equivalents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. AI models correctly translate French-English false friends - words like "actuellement" (currently), "blessé" (injured), and "librairie" (bookshop) are handled accurately.
Yes. Echoo understands all French variants including Metropolitan, Canadian, Belgian, and Swiss French without needing configuration.
Yes. Select the French text in Preview or any PDF viewer, press your Echoo shortcut, and get the English translation instantly.
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Ready to Try It?
Download Echoo and start translating text with AI shortcuts.