A Quick Guide on How Translation Memory Works | Argo Translation

Translation memory technology has been around for quite some time now, but we still run into clients who are not quite sure how translation memory (TM for short) benefits them as a buyer of translation services.

Translation memory serves two basic purposes.

1. Saves money for clients on updates and revisions of documentation

2. Increases consistency across projects

Translation memory can help to achieve these goals by storing translations on a sentence-by-sentence basis in a large database. When a new project is requested, the project manager can analyze the file or files to determine the number of Total Words, Repetitions, 100% Matches, and Fuzzy matches in the project. This data will help determine the client's final cost. Here is a sample of what the analysis report looks like (see featured image above).

It is also helpful to understand the difference between the three types of matches.

• • Repetitions are exact identical sentences within the same project. In other words, this would be the same sentence occurring more than once in the same project, which could be one file or multiple files. An example would be having the same warning appear multiple times in the same manual.

• • 100% matches are exact identical sentences as compared to the translation memory. In other words, this would be the same sentence occurring in this new project as compared to the same sentence as it occurred in a previous project.

• • Context matches are the same exact thing as 100% matches. The only difference is that the sentences before and after are also identical to the content you are translating. This gives you a higher degree of certainty.

• • Fuzzy matches are similar sentences as compared to the translation memory. In other words, this would be a similar sentence occurring in this new project as compared to a similar sentence that occurred in a previous project. An example would be:

NEW: Please select the print option to print out all selected reports.

OLD: Please choose the print option to print out all selected reports.

Notice that the sentences are slightly different, as indicated by the bold words in the NEW version versus the OLD version. This would generate a fuzzy match.

Discount levels typically differ for the three levels of matches. Please consult with your project manager to understand how these matches are illustrated in project estimates. You can learn more about how we report your savings in a compliance report at the end of every project in this short video.