Transfer vs. Translate — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 6, 2024
Transfer means to move something from one place or person to another, while translate involves converting text or speech from one language to another.
Difference Between Transfer and Translate
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Transfer refers to the act of moving something from one location or person to another. This could involve transferring physical items, like money between bank accounts, or intangible assets, such as data or rights. Translate, on the other hand, focuses on converting content between languages. It's the process of taking words in one language and conveying their meaning accurately in another.
When transferring objects or information, the core characteristics typically remain unchanged. For example, if you transfer ownership of a car, it's still the same car. However, translation requires interpreting and adapting content because languages have unique structures, vocabularies, and cultural implications.
Transfers usually maintain continuity in their original form or structure. For instance, data transfers attempt to keep the data intact. On the other hand, translations often involve creative adjustments to fit the cultural and linguistic norms of the target language.
Legal documents may require both transfers and translations. Ownership transfers may need legal documents translated to ensure the recipient understands the terms.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Move something from one place to another
Convert text/speech from one language to another
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Scope
Physical or abstract assets
Text or speech
Continuity
Maintains original form/structure
Adjusts content to fit target language
Contextual Needs
Legal, financial, digital
Linguistic, cultural
Examples
Bank transfers, data transfers
Document translation, interpreting speeches
Compare with Definitions
Transfer
Change ownership or rights.
They transferred the property title to their daughter.
Translate
Convert words or text between languages.
She translated the book from French to English.
Transfer
Apply credits or benefits.
Students can transfer their course credits to another university.
Translate
Express concepts differently.
The mathematician translated the problem into equations.
Transfer
Move an object or possession.
She transferred her luggage from the car to the hotel.
Translate
Interpret spoken language.
He translated the speech for the international delegates.
Transfer
Pass data electronically.
He transferred the files to an external hard drive.
Translate
Render meaning or intention.
It's challenging to translate humor into another language.
Transfer
Switch between locations.
The employee transferred to the New York branch.
Translate
Turn non-verbal cues into verbal explanations.
The archaeologist translated the ancient symbols into modern language.
Transfer
Move from one place to another
He intends to transfer the fund's assets to the Treasury
I went to sleep on the couch before transferring to my bedroom later in the night
Translate
To render in another language
Translated the Korean novel into German.
Transfer
Change to another place, route, or means of transport during a journey
Passengers have to transfer at Heathrow for onward international flights
Translate
To express in different, often simpler words
Translated the technical jargon into ordinary language.
Transfer
Make over the possession of (property, a right, or a responsibility) to another
We will transfer full planning responsibility to local authorities
Translate
To change from one form, function, or state to another; convert or transform
Translate ideas into reality.
Transfer
Change (the sense of a word or phrase) by extension or metaphor
A transferred use of the Old English noun
Translate
To express in another medium
Translated the short story into a movie.
Transfer
An act of moving something or someone to another place, organization, team, etc.
A transfer of wealth to the EU's poorer nations
A patient had died after transfer from the County Hospital to St Peter's
She asked her boss for a transfer to the city
Translate
To transfer from one place or condition to another
"His remains were translated to San Juan de Puerto Rico where they still rest" (Samuel Eliot Morison).
Transfer
A small coloured picture or design on paper, which can be transferred to another surface by being pressed or heated
T-shirts with iron-on transfers
Translate
To forward or retransmit (a telegraphic message).
Transfer
An act of changing to another place, route, or means of transport during a journey
Bus transfers between the airport and the city centre cost about £11
Translate
(Ecclesiastical) To transfer (a bishop) to another see.
Transfer
To convey or cause to pass from one place, person, or thing to another.
Translate
To convey to heaven without death.
Transfer
(Law) To make over the possession or legal title of (property, for example); convey.
Translate
(Physics) To subject (a body) to translation.
Transfer
To convey (a design, for example) from one surface to another, as by impression.
Translate
(Biology) To subject (messenger RNA) to translation.
Transfer
To move oneself from one location or job to another.
Translate
To make a translation.
Transfer
To withdraw from one educational institution or course of study and enroll in another.
Translate
To work as a translator.
Transfer
To change from one public conveyance to another
Transferred to another bus.
Translate
To admit of translation
His poetry translates well.
Transfer
Also trans·fer·al (trăns-fûrəl) The conveyance or removal of something from one place, person, or thing to another.
Translate
To be changed or transformed in effect. Often used with into or to
"Today's low inflation and steady growth in household income translate into more purchasing power" (Thomas G. Exter).
Transfer
One who transfers or is transferred, as to a new school.
Translate
Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.
Transfer
A design conveyed by contact from one surface to another.
Translate
(transitive) To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another.
Hans translated my novel into Welsh.
Transfer
A ticket entitling a passenger to change from one public conveyance to another as part of one trip.
Translate
(intransitive) To provide a translation of spoken words or written text in another language; to be, or be capable of being, rendered in another language.
Hans translated for us while we were in Marrakesh.
That idiom doesn’t really translate.
‘Dog’ translates as ‘chien’ in French.
Transfer
A place where such a change is made.
Translate
(transitive) To express spoken words or written text in a different (often clearer or simpler) way in the same language; to paraphrase, to rephrase, to restate.
Transfer
Also transferal(Law) A conveyance of title or property from one person to another.
Translate
(transitive) To change (something) from one form or medium to another.
The director faithfully translated their experiences to film.
Transfer
(transitive) To move or pass from one place, person or thing to another.
To transfer the laws of one country to another; to transfer suspicion
Translate
(intransitive) To change, or be capable of being changed, from one form or medium to another.
Excellent writing does not necessarily translate well into film.
His sales experience translated well into his new job as a fund-raiser.
Transfer
(transitive) To convey the impression of (something) from one surface to another.
To transfer drawings or engravings to a lithographic stone
Translate
To generate a chain of amino acids based on the sequence of codons in an mRNA molecule.
Transfer
To exit one mass transit vehicle and board another (typically one belonging to a different line or mode of transportation) to continue a journey.
Transfer to the Blue Line
Translate
Senses relating to a change of position.
Transfer
(intransitive) To be or become transferred.
Translate
To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.
Transfer
To arrange for something to belong to or be officially controlled by somebody else.
The title to land is transferred by deed.
Translate
To t=place in a trance, to cause to lose recollection or sense.
William was translated by the blow to the head he received, being unable to speak for the next few minutes.
Transfer
(uncountable) The act of conveying or removing something from one place, person or thing to another.
Translate
(analysis) In Euclidean spaces: a set of points obtained by adding a given fixed vector to each point of a given set.
Transfer
(countable) An instance of conveying or removing from one place, person or thing to another; a transferal.
Translate
To bear, carry, or remove, from one place to another; to transfer; as, to translate a tree.
In the chapel of St. Catharine of Sienna, they show her head- the rest of her body being translated to Rome.
Transfer
An act of exiting one mass transit vehicle and boarding another (typically one belonging to a different line or mode of transportation) to continue a journey.
Free transfers can be made between the Red and Orange Lines by walking from one of the station's platforms to another; in addition, riders using a fare card also get free transfers between bus and subway at the station.
Translate
To change to another condition, position, place, or office; to transfer; hence, to remove as by death.
Transfer
A paper receipt given to a rider of one bus (and historically also certain elevated or subway lines), allowing free entry onto another bus to continue a journey.
Translate
To remove to heaven without a natural death.
By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translatedhim.
Transfer
(countable) A design conveyed by contact from one surface to another; a heat transfer.
Translate
To remove, as a bishop, from one see to another.
Transfer
A soldier removed from one troop, or body of troops, and placed in another.
Translate
To render into another language; to express the sense of in the words of another language; to interpret; hence, to explain or recapitulate in other words.
Translating into his own clear, pure, and flowing language, what he found in books well known to the world, but too bulky or too dry for boys and girls.
Transfer
(medicine) A pathological process by which a unilateral morbid condition on being abolished on one side of the body makes its appearance in the corresponding region upon the other side.
Translate
To change into another form; to transform.
Happy is your grace,That can translatethe stubbornness of fortuneInto so quiet and so sweet a style.
Transfer
(genetics) The conveying of genetic material from one cell to another.
Translate
To cause to remove from one part of the body to another; as, to translate a disease.
Transfer
(bridge) A conventional bid which requests partner to bid the next available suit.
Translate
To cause to lose senses or recollection; to entrance.
Transfer
(sports) A person who transfers or is transferred from one club or team to another.
Translate
To make a translation; to be engaged in translation.
Transfer
To convey from one place or person another; to transport, remove, or cause to pass, to another place or person; as, to transfer the laws of one country to another; to transfer suspicion.
Translate
Restate (words) from one language into another language;
I have to translate when my in-laws from Austria visit the U.S.
Can you interpret the speech of the visiting dignitaries?
She rendered the French poem into English
He translates for the U.N.
Transfer
To make over the possession or control of; to pass; to convey, as a right, from one person to another; to give; as, the title to land is transferred by deed.
Translate
Change from one form or medium into another;
Braque translated collage into oil
Transfer
To remove from one substance or surface to another; as, to transfer drawings or engravings to a lithographic stone.
Translate
Make sense of a language;
She understands French
Can you read Greek?
Transfer
The act of transferring, or the state of being transferred; the removal or conveyance of a thing from one place or person to another.
Translate
Bring to a certain spiritual state
Transfer
The conveyance of right, title, or property, either real or personal, from one person to another, whether by sale, by gift, or otherwise.
I shall here only consider it as a transfer of property.
Translate
Change the position of (figures or bodies) in space without rotation
Transfer
That which is transferred.
Translate
Be equivalent in effect;
The growth in income translates into greater purchasing power
Transfer
A picture, or the like, removed from one body or ground to another, as from wood to canvas, or from one piece of canvas to another.
Translate
Be translatable, or be translatable in a certain way;
Poetry often does not translate
Tolstoy's novels translate well into English
Transfer
A pathological process by virtue of which a unilateral morbid condition on being abolished on one side of the body makes its appearance in the corresponding region upon the other side.
Translate
Physics: subject to movement in which every part of the body moves parallel to and the same distance as every other point on the body
Transfer
A drawing or writing printed off from one surface on another, as in ceramics and in many decorative arts.
Translate
Express, as in simple and less technical langauge;
Can you translate the instructions in this manual for a layman?
Is there a need to translate the psychiatrist's remarks?
Transfer
A soldier removed from one troop, or body of troops, and placed in another.
Translate
Genetics: determine the amino-acid sequence of a protein during its synthesis by using information on the messenger RNA
Transfer
The act of transporting something from one location to another
Transfer
Someone who transfers or is transferred from one position to another;
The best student was a transfer from LSU
Transfer
The act of transfering something from one form to another;
The transfer of the music from record to tape suppressed much of the background noise
Transfer
A ticket that allows a passenger to change conveyances
Transfer
Application of a skill learned in one situation to a different but similar situation
Transfer
Transferring ownership
Transfer
Move around;
Transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket
Transfer
Transfer somebody to a different position or location of work
Transfer
Move from one place to another;
Transfer the data
Transmit the news
Transfer the patient to another hospital
Transfer
Lift and reset in another soil or situation;
Transplant the young rice plants
Transfer
Cause to change ownership;
I transferred my stock holdings to my children
Transfer
Change from one vehicle or transportation line to another;
She changed in Chicago on her way to the East coast
Transfer
Send from one person or place to another;
Transmit a message
Transfer
Shift the position or location of, as for business, legal, educational, or military purposes;
He removed his children to the countryside
Remove the troops to the forest surrounding the city
Remove a case to another court
Transfer
Transfer from one place or period to another;
The ancient Greek story was transplanted into Modern America
Common Curiosities
Do translations alter the original meaning?
Translations aim to preserve the original meaning but often require adaptations for cultural or linguistic nuances.
Can transfers apply to languages?
No, transfers relate to physical or intangible assets, not directly to language changes, which are the domain of translation.
What is the difference between transferring and translating digital data?
Transferring involves moving data between storage systems, while translating data means converting it into a different format or code.
Are transfers limited to physical objects?
No, transfers can also include digital data, ownership rights, or responsibilities.
How does translation work for idioms?
Translating idioms involves finding equivalent expressions in the target language rather than direct word-for-word conversion.
Are translations always accurate?
Translations strive for accuracy but can differ due to language complexity and interpreter proficiency.
What are common types of transfers?
Financial transactions, file sharing, asset ownership changes, and educational credit applications.
Do transfers and translations have legal implications?
Yes, transfers can involve legal ownership changes, while translations must be accurate for contracts or legal documents.
Can software automate transfers and translations?
Software can automate many types of data transfers and basic translations, but nuances may require manual adjustments.
Do transfers always involve a recipient?
Yes, in transfers, there's always a receiving party or entity.
How can translation errors be minimized?
Proofreading, hiring experts, and understanding cultural context can help reduce translation errors.
How does localization relate to translation?
Localization involves adapting translations to fit the cultural context of the target audience.
Are transfers reversible?
Some transfers, like digital files or data, can be reversed, while others, like ownership changes, might not be.
Is translating only for professional linguists?
Not necessarily, though professional linguists provide more accurate translations due to their expertise.
Are transfers instantaneous?
Transfers can take time, depending on the method, such as bank transactions or file uploads.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat
