French translation services from €0.05/word French translation agency: 5 regional variants, 220+ languages.
Our French translation services work in both directions: French as the source or target language, paired with German, English or any of 220+ other languages. For the French of France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada or West Africa. Compliant with the Loi Toubon. Get a no-obligation quote.
Four ISO certifications · Based in HamburgTranslation partner to companies with high standards
- Language pairs: French as the source or target language, paired with German, English, Spanish or any of 220+ other languages
- Variants: metropolitan French (FR-FR), Belgian (FR-BE), Swiss (FR-CH), Canadian/Québec (FR-CA) and West African (OHADA region)
- Prices: MTPE from €0.05/word, specialist translation from €0.12/word. Certified translations at fixed prices through Sworn Translators
- Compliance: translations that meet the Loi Toubon (French language law), CE requirements and industry-specific standards
Why use a specialist agency for French?
France is the second-largest market for German exports
Germany is France’s largest trading partner, and France is the second-largest buyer of German goods after the United States. In 2024, Germany exported goods worth around €116 billion to France (source: Destatis). Around 3,000 German companies operate in France, employing more than 350,000 people. In the other direction, 2,600 French companies have staff in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. For these firms, France is not a niche market. It is often their most important export market.
Many companies overlook one thing: France has strict language laws. The Loi Toubon (Law No. 94-665) requires consumer information, employment contracts, product labelling and advertising in France to be in French. Breaches can be fined. If you sell products in France or employ staff there, translation into French is a legal obligation, not an optional extra.
5 regional variants of French
Each market has its own French
French is an official language in more than 30 countries, and its regional variants differ considerably. Québec says “courriel” where France says “e-mail”. Belgium and Switzerland say “septante” where France says “soixante-dix”. And OHADA business law in West Africa follows different legal conventions from the French Code civil. If you order “a French translation” without specifying the target variant, the result may sound wrong in your market or even create legal problems.
| Variant | Target market | Key points |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan (FR-FR) | France, international organisations (EU, UN, OECD) | Loi Toubon, ANSM (medicine), AMF (finance). The reference variant for most European projects. |
| Belgian (FR-BE) | Wallonia, Brussels, EU institutions | Language decrees. Its own number words (septante, nonante). Important for EU tenders. |
| Swiss (FR-CH) | Romandy (Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel) | Its own terminology (natel rather than portable, souper rather than dîner). Prices in CHF, not EUR. |
| Canadian / Québec (FR-CA) | Québec, New Brunswick, Canadian federal authorities | Bill 101 (Charter of the French Language). Its own way of avoiding anglicisms: courriel, magasinage, pourriel. |
| West African (OHADA) | Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and 14 other OHADA states | OHADA business law as a common legal framework. A growth market for European companies. |
With every French request, we clarify up front which variant you need. The translator we assign is a native speaker of that variant. Our terminology management keeps regional differences consistent throughout. For marketing copy, this can also mean transcreation: adapting tone and cultural references as well as word choice.
Every language pair with French
Well beyond German to French
After English, French is the language our clients ask for most often. And it rarely stays one-way. A German company has its contract translated into French for a client in Paris. Its Swiss subsidiary needs the same text in Swiss French. And the parent company in the UK wants a summary translated from French into English. We translate into and out of French paired with any of our 220+ languages.
| Common language pair | Typical use |
|---|---|
| German ↔ French | Contracts, technical documentation, annual reports, websites |
| English ↔ French | International groups with sites in France, Canada or West Africa |
| Spanish ↔ French | Maghreb markets (Morocco, Tunisia), EU institutions |
| Italian ↔ French | Border regions (Switzerland, Monaco), luxury goods, food |
| Any of 220+ other languages | French as a bridge language for global rollouts. Talk to us |
Loi Toubon: what companies need to know
What France’s language law means for exporters
The Loi Toubon (Law No. 94-665 of 4 August 1994) requires companies that sell products or employ staff in France to provide certain documents in French. The Délégation générale à la langue française (DGLFLF) oversees the law, and breaches are enforced with fines.
Product labelling & consumer information: instructions for use, ingredients, safety notices and warnings on products sold in France.
Employment contracts: every employment contract with an employee in France must be drawn up in French. Versions in other languages are not treated as legally binding.
Advertising & marketing material: ads, posters and digital advertising for the French market must appear in French. Slogans in other languages need a French translation.
Trade fair & conference material: anything handed out at trade fairs or conferences in France must include a French version.
The penalties are clearly defined: up to €750 for an individual and €3,750 for a company, per non-compliant document. One widely cited precedent: in 2006, the French subsidiary of GE Healthcare was ordered to pay €580,000 because technical documents and software manuals for its staff were not available in French. When employees are posted to France, administrative fines of up to €4,000 per employee can be added.
In Québec, Bill 96 (2022) tightened the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) further. Since June 2025, French must be “markedly predominant” on product labels and packaging. Standard-form contracts (terms and conditions, franchise agreements) must be presented to the other party in French first. Companies with 25 or more employees must register with the language authority, the OQLF. Fines range from CAD 3,000 to CAD 30,000 per offence and are charged per day if the offence continues.
In Belgium, the consequences go further still: employment contracts that breach the language decrees are void by law. A contract written only in English with an employee in Wallonia has no binding effect whatsoever before a Belgian employment tribunal.
For companies active in several French-speaking markets, language compliance is therefore an ongoing task, not a one-off translation job.
Specialist fields
Legal, technical and marketing translation into French
Employment contracts, NDAs, terms and conditions, M&A documents. Translators with a legal background who know both the French Code civil and the German BGB. Related: Legal translations.
Operating manuals, CE declarations of conformity, safety data sheets and software documentation for the French market. Related: Technical translations.
Instructions for use (IFUs), package leaflets, safety warnings and EU declarations of conformity under MDR 2017/745. The French health authority ANSM requires French for every document that concerns patients. Related: Medical translations.
Loi Toubon-compliant ad copy, website localisation, product descriptions and social media. With transcreation where needed.
Certified French translations
For authorities, courts and business partners
Many French translations need official certification: a commercial register extract for a French subsidiary, employment contracts to submit to URSSAF, or certificates for the French consulate. Certified translations are produced by a court-sworn translator and carry their stamp and signature.
Our English-language service for certified translations into and out of French, at fixed prices. Order at Sworn Translators →
Prices and turnaround times
Clear pricing for French translation
| Service | From | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| MTPE (ISO 18587) | €0.05/word | Product descriptions, support pages, internal reports |
| Specialist translation (ISO 17100) | €0.12/word | Contracts, CE documentation, annual reports, Loi Toubon texts |
| Certified translation | Fixed prices in the shop | Sworn Translators |
| TM matches | up to 70% off | Follow-up orders, version updates, recurring texts |
| Express (24 h) | +30% to 50% | Trade fair material, contract deadlines, campaign launches |
A worked example: a 20,000-word operating manual translated from German into French (specialist translation, metropolitan FR-FR) costs from around €2,400. For the Swiss version (FR-CH) of the same document, the translation memory recognises the matches with the FR-FR version, and you pay only for the passages that differ.
Frequently asked questions
French translation at tolingo
Need a contract, operating manual or website translated into French?
Send us your document. We check the subject area and the target variant, then come back to you with a specific quote.
ISO 17100 · 5 regional variants · Loi Toubon compliant · Reply in ~10 minutes (within business hours)Glossary
Key terms in French translation
- Loi Toubon
- France’s language law (Law No. 94-665 of 4 August 1994). Requires companies to provide consumer information, employment contracts and advertising in France in French. Named after Jacques Toubon, the culture minister at the time.
- OHADA (Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires)
- An organisation that harmonises business law across 17 African states, with French as a working language. It provides uniform commercial and company law for the West African economic area.
- Certified translation
- A translation by a court-sworn translator, bearing their stamp and signature. Required for documents submitted to authorities, courts or notaries.
- Translation memory (TM)
- A database that stores every translated segment. Particularly valuable for French projects in several variants: the FR-FR translation serves as the basis, and only the regional differences for FR-CH or FR-CA are translated again.