What is a Translation Memory?

Translation memories work as part of a computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool, such as Trados Studio. When you open the document you want to translate (the source file), the translation memory checks to see whether any of the content has been translated before, and looks for any "100% matches" (identical matches) or "fuzzy matches" (similar, but not exact matches) that appear in the new source file. Any previously-saved translated text is instantly placed within the corresponding target segment within the Editor window of the CAT tool.

As you work your way through the source file, any suggestions from the translation memory can be either accepted or overridden with new alternatives. If a translation “unit” (a segment of source and target text) is manually updated, it can be saved to the translation memory for future use. In a similar way, all segments in the target file without a match would need to be translated manually. Once translated, these can then be added to the ever-growing translation memory.

Translation memories are perfect for anyone who localizes content from one language into another. When a translator's jobs regularly contain the same kinds of phrases and sentences, a translation memory will significantly increase the speed and quality of the translation.

Translation memories are very helpful when translating content out of context. An increasing number of organizations rely on Content Management Systems (CMS) to manage their information. A CMS allows individual blocks of text, rather than entire documents, to be created/edited and then published in a variety of different formats. A translation memory helps to make this process quicker and more consistent.

A translation memory stores segments of text as translation units. A segment can consist of a sentence or paragraph. The TM holds both the original and translated version of each segment for reuse.

Like a translation memory, a termbase is a searchable database. However a termbase contains a list of multilingual terms and rules regarding their usage. Terms can be anything specific to a company, such as the way that brand names or product names are translated, or indeed, should never be translated.

Translators typically use both a translation memory and a termbase within Trados Studio.