Concordance
Concordance searches your translation memories for a word or phrase. It returns saved source passages alongside their translations so you can investigate how an expression was used before.
Quick steps
Select a word or phrase and open Concordance to search saved translation-memory pairs. Read the source and target together, then decide whether the earlier wording fits the current sentence.
A translation memory stores source–target pairs. Concordance searches those saved pairs rather than translating your query. It is useful when the current sentence is new but one expression in it has been translated before.
For example, your current source might say “Check the pressure relief valve before starting the machine.” An earlier memory pair might say “Replace the pressure relief valve every two years.” Searching for pressure relief valve can find that earlier pair even though the complete sentences differ. Read its target to learn how the component was named, then decide whether that wording fits the current job.
Choose Concordance, Matches, or a document filter
| Tool | What it searches or recognizes | Useful question |
|---|---|---|
| Matches | Saved memory pairs similar to the active segment's source | Have I translated a similar complete passage? |
| Concordance | A word or phrase in saved memory source or target text | How was this expression used and translated before? |
| Term Matches | Relevant terminology from glossaries | Which term is recorded for this concept? |
| Document table filters | Segments in the open file or View | Where does this wording occur in the document I am editing? |
Concordance can find previous work outside the open file. The document's row selection and table filters do not restrict it to those rows: selecting words supplies a search query, while the memory and language context define the resources searched.
Which memories Concordance searches
In the translation editor, Concordance uses the project's source and target language pair. When the project has attached memories, the search is restricted to those memories. Use Project home → Memories to check or change that resource selection.
When there are no attached memory IDs, the current search can look across available memories for that language pair in the active workspace. An empty attachment list is therefore not a guarantee of an empty Concordance search. Attach the intended resources when you want to restrict research to a particular client's previous work.
Only content saved in the searched memory resources can appear. A draft merely typed in another project, a glossary entry, or text in an unrelated document is not automatically a Concordance example. For saving approved pairs and importing previous work, see Translation memories.
Single-language review hides this bilingual tool. The glossary workspace has its own Concordance tab, which researches the selected term through memory examples rather than the translation project's attached-memory selection.
Search from the editor
- Check the project's memory attachments and language pair.
- Select a useful source or target phrase.
- Run Concordance from the available translation tools or segment toolbar, click its side-panel tab, or use the default F3 shortcut.
- Check the language-side control beside the query: source wording should be searched on the source side; translated wording on the target side.
- Edit the query if needed and press Enter to submit it.
- Read the source and target together in each returned pair.
Choose a distinctive phrase rather than a very common word. For example, “pressure relief” is more informative than “pressure” when researching a component name.
Searching the target is useful when you remember a translation but want to recover its earlier source contexts. The language-side control chooses which side to search; the results still show both languages.
The result-limit control starts at 100 and allows 1–1,000. The search returns up to that number of results. Increase the limit to look for more examples, or refine the phrase to narrow the search. This main search is separate from the fields that filter results already returned.
If F3 does not open the tool, check your saved shortcut under Settings → Shortcuts or the tab's supported shortcut controls.
Read results in context
Check whether the earlier sentence expresses the same concept, subject, and grammatical relationship. Consider whether its terminology belongs to the current client and language variety.
Do not copy a translation only because the same word occurs in both passages. “Charge”, for example, can describe different concepts in unrelated contexts.
The list shows the saved source and target, with a date. Highlighting helps you locate wording; it does not certify a term choice or the quality of the earlier translation.
Narrow the returned list
The result header offers separate source and target text filters. Enter text and press Enter to apply it. These are case-insensitive text filters; both sides' conditions must be satisfied. Negate a field when you want to exclude examples containing that wording.
For example, after searching for “valve”, add a source-result filter for “pressure” to inspect that subset. A target-result filter can then help compare examples using a particular translated expression.
These fields refine the returned results. If there are no useful results in the first place, change the original query or check the attached memories rather than only filtering an empty list.
Use a result field's clear control to remove that restriction. Clearing the main query removes the Concordance search instead. Neither is the document filter bar's Clear all action: Concordance's result filters are separate from the table of segments you are translating.
Selecting another phrase inside a returned source or target can start a new Concordance query from that selection. Watch the query and language-side control when exploring one expression through several examples.
Use a separate window
The panel offers an independent-window action when you want to keep memory research on another screen. Keep the main workspace open and use the companion window's return control when finished.
When no useful examples appear
Check the searched language side, the project language pair, the attached-memory scope, and whether the phrase has been saved in those resources. Clear extra result filters and try a shorter distinctive expression. Read any lookup error before interpreting an empty list as “never translated before.”
Raising the result limit can help when useful examples fall outside the returned sample. It cannot create memory content that was never saved or include an unattached memory while an attached-memory restriction is active.
Save a term found through Concordance
Use an example to inform the current translation, then adapt the target to its own sentence. If the choice should remain consistent, add a suitable glossary entry with an example. If the earlier memory unit is wrong, correct it in the memory rather than continuing to reuse the error.
Searching, selecting, or filtering Concordance results does not insert a translation into your current target or confirm the segment. Make and review the actual edit in the document, then confirm it when you approve it.