English translations from €0.05/word English translation services: 220+ languages, ISO 17100.
English translations with English as either the source or the target language, paired with German, French, Japanese and more than 220 other languages. For contracts, annual reports, technical documentation and websites. Native-speaker specialist translators, based in Hamburg, with your data processed in Germany. Ask for a quote, no obligation.
Four ISO certifications · Based in HamburgThe translation partner for companies with high standards
- Language pairs: English as the source or the target language, paired with German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and 220+ others. British English (EN-GB) and American English (EN-US)
- Subject areas: legal English (contracts, NDAs, terms and conditions), technical English (manuals, specifications), business English (reports, investor relations, pitch decks)
- Cost: MTPE from €0.05/word, specialist translation from €0.12/word. Certified translation at a fixed price through Juristra
- Where we are: tolingo GmbH, Hamburg. ISO 27001, GDPR compliant, German jurisdiction
Why use a specialist agency for English?
What a specialist translator adds after DeepL
English is the language translation buyers ask for most. It is also the language companies are most likely to think they can muddle through on their own. For an internal email, they usually can. For a licence agreement, a CE declaration of conformity or an investor relations page, they cannot.
The reason is that business English is not the English anyone learned at school. The German "Rückstellung" comes into English as "provision", never "reserve". "Haftungsausschluss" can be a disclaimer, an exclusion of liability or a limitation of liability, depending on the legal system. And a safety warning in an operating manual has to be worded one way under the British BS EN 82079-1 and another way under the American ANSI Z535. That is the gap a specialist agency closes: translators who have English as their mother tongue and know their subject in that language.
Every language pair involving English
German into English is only the starting point
English is the language tolingo is asked for most. Customers rarely need only one direction, though. A German machine builder has its operating manual translated into English. Its French supplier has a data sheet translated from French into English. And the joint subsidiary in Japan needs the English version as the pivot into Japanese. We translate out of and into English in combination with any of our 220-plus languages.
| Common pair | Typical use |
|---|---|
| German ↔ English | Contracts, annual reports, technical documentation, websites |
| French ↔ English | Companies with sites in France, Belgium, Canada or West Africa |
| Spanish ↔ English | The bilingual US market, Latin America, Spanish subsidiaries |
| Chinese ↔ English | Import and export, supply chain documentation, investor communications |
| Japanese ↔ English | Automotive, electronics, mechanical engineering (OEM documentation) |
| 220+ more languages | English as the pivot language for global rollouts. Talk to us |
Subject areas
Legal, technical and business English
For English translation, tolingo uses native speakers who have proven expertise in the field the text belongs to. The three most common specialisations:
Contracts, NDAs, terms and conditions, patent specifications, M&A documents and GDPR notices. Translators with a legal background who know both common law and civil law. Related: legal translation.
Operating manuals, CE declarations of conformity, software documentation and safety data sheets. Engineers and technical writers doing the translating. Related: technical translation.
Annual reports, investor relations, pitch decks, websites and marketing campaigns. Translators with a commercial background who know how to address the CFO of a US company.
British vs American English
Why the choice matters for your company
The differences between British and American English go well beyond "colour" and "color". In legal language, British contracts use different clauses and turns of phrase from American ones. In technical documentation, different standards apply (BS EN as against ANSI). And in corporate communications, a British audience expects a different tone from an American one.
| Dimension | British English (EN-GB) | American English (EN-US) |
|---|---|---|
| Spelling | colour, organisation, catalogue, licence (noun) | color, organization, catalog, license |
| Legal conventions | Common law (England & Wales), GDPR terminology | US federal and state law, SEC terminology |
| Technical standards | BS EN and ISO standards (European context) | ANSI, ASME, UL standards |
| Date format | DD/MM/YYYY (14 March 2026) | MM/DD/YYYY (March 14, 2026) |
| Typical target market | UK, Ireland, Australia, India, international bodies (EU, UN) | USA, Canada, parts of Latin America |
On every English enquiry we settle the variant before work starts. If you are publishing into both markets, we produce separate versions. For marketing copy that can extend to transcreation, where the tone and the line of argument are adapted along with the spelling.
Certified English translations
For authorities, courts and international business partners
Plenty of English translations need official certification: commercial register extracts for a foreign branch, contracts to be filed with US authorities, annual accounts for international auditors. A certified translation is produced by a translator authorised by a German court and carries that translator's stamp and signature.
Our dedicated shop for companies and law firms. Certified translation of commercial register extracts, annual accounts, contracts and NDAs at a fixed price, with no quoting process. Order direct from Juristra →
Take a photo of the document and order the certified translation online, with 24-hour express if you need it. For diplomas, certificates, driving licences and personal papers. Order direct from Beglaubigung24 →
Our English-language shop for international customers who need a certified translation into or out of German. Order at Sworn Translators →
Cost and turnaround
Clear pricing for English translation
English is among the language pairs we are asked for most often. The translator network behind it is wide, and that works in your favour on price. What a job actually costs depends on the subject area, the length of the text and how quickly you need it.
| Service | From | Suited to |
|---|---|---|
| MTPE (ISO 18587) | €0.05/word | Product descriptions, support pages, internal reports |
| Specialist translation (ISO 17100) | €0.12/word | Contracts, annual reports, technical documentation |
| Certified translation | Fixed prices in the shop | Juristra (companies) · Beglaubigung24 (private) |
| TM matches | Up to 70% off | Follow-up jobs, version updates, recurring text |
| Express (24 hours) | +30% to 50% | Time-critical contracts, trade fair material, deadlines |
Worked example: a licence agreement of 8,000 words from German into English (specialist translation, legal English) costs from approx. €960. When an updated version of the same contract arrives six months later, the translation memory recognises that 70% of the text is unchanged. You pay only for the passages that changed.
Why work with an agency?
What ISO certification changes about the day-to-day
There are plenty of good freelancers. On larger projects the difficulty is scale, cover and an audit trail. What happens when your freelancer is on holiday and a contract has to go out this week? Who steps in without knowing your company's terminology?
Your documents are handled by a dedicated team that already knows your terminology. When someone covers, the project manager works from the glossary and termbase on file.
Where the job calls for it, a second subject expert checks the text as well; in the premium service to ISO 17100 that revision is included as standard. Documented and auditable.
Encrypted upload, an NDA, German servers. For confidential contracts, M&A documents and annual reports.
Express delivery within 24 hours. Ten or more languages translated at once: a freelancer works through them one after another, we run them side by side.
Common questions
English translation at tolingo
Contract, annual report or website to translate into English?
Send us the document. We will check the subject area and the variant, then come back with a firm quote.
ISO 17100 · British & US English · 220+ language pairs · Reply in ~10 minutes (within business hours)Glossary
Terms used in English translation work
- Legal English
- The technical language of common law jurisdictions. It differs considerably from general English: fixed clause formats, archaic wording such as "whereas" and "hereinafter", and terms that only carry meaning inside one legal system. What works in the UK does not automatically work in the US.
- Certified translation
- A translation produced by a translator authorised by a court and issued with that translator's stamp and signature. Required for documents submitted to public authorities, courts or notaries.
- Native-speaker rule
- A quality requirement under ISO 17100: the translator works into their mother tongue. It is what keeps the text both accurate and natural to read.
- Translation memory (TM)
- A database that stores segments you have already had translated. On follow-up jobs or new contract versions the system spots the identical passages and does not charge for them again. Saves up to 70% on recurring text.