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French translations - Certified French German translator for documents

Languages › French

French Translation Services — French ⇄ German.

French translation services deliver certified German ⇄ French documents, produced by sworn, court-authorised translators for authorities, courts and partners here. The certifying stamp carries a German Regional Court (Landgericht) appointment, which registry offices and the courts accept without further formality. The right variety and register are kept, from a French acte to a Swiss or Belgian contract. Pricing is transparent from €0.89 per standard line.

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Native French specialists · every variety (France · Belgium · Switzerland · Québec) · certified translations recognised by German authorities

DIN EN ISO 17100registered · Reg. 7U517
France · BE · CH · CAevery variety, exact register
Price up frontbinding fixed price
ConfidentialGDPR-compliant · NDA on request

Short & clear

Certified French translations by sworn, native-speaker translators.

Reviewed by specialists · FÜD editorial team · kept current

French is a world language with several written standards — the variety and the register decide whether a text reads as authentic. Whether it is a birth certificate (acte de naissance) for a German registry office, a diploma for recognition, a contract with a partner in Paris, Brussels or Geneva, or English-language project documentation: the work is done by native French specialists with a proven field — in the variety your target country actually uses.

We work in both directions and both pairings. French ⇄ German is what German authorities, courts and local partners need — including certified translations and names kept exactly as in the passport, accents on capitals included. French ⇄ English covers international life and business in Germany: applications, employer paperwork, contracts and documentation that circulate in English.

Who it's for

Living in Germany, working in more than one language.

Most people who search for this in English are already fluent French speakers dealing with a German system — or internationals and companies who use English as the working language. Both are covered.

French → German, for the authorities

Birth, marriage and name-change certificates, diplomas and police records for a registry office (Standesamt), the immigration office or recognition of qualifications — as a certified German translation, with accented names matched exactly to the passport.

French ⇄ English, for international life

Job applications, employment contracts, references and company documents that an employer, university or partner abroad expects in English rather than German. Same specialists, same care with variety and terminology.

German → French, for the target country

German certificates, contracts, powers of attorney and rulings to be presented in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg or Québec — in the variety and legal register valid there, not a one-size-fits-all French.

Business across borders

Companies trading with France, Belgium or French-speaking Switzerland, or teams that run in English while the paperwork is German or French. We assign a specialist for the direction, variety and field you actually need.

Language & script

One language, several standards — and a punctuation of its own.

French is a Romance language written in the Latin alphabet, but it is not monolithic: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Québec and much of Africa each have their own administrative usage — Belgian and Swiss French even count differently (septante, nonante, Swiss huitante). The register matters too: the language of a French acte or a court ruling is far removed from everyday speech, and an official document has to sound official.

French also has a typography of its own: a narrow non-breaking space before ; : ! ? and inside the guillemets « … », accents kept on capital letters (É, À), the decimal comma and a space as the thousands separator. For official use, an authorised translator issues a certified translation; whether an apostille is also needed is something we check in advance — it is issued by the competent authority, not by the translation agency.

Quality you only notice at the receiving end

What only a native French specialist catches.

French looks familiar — and that is the trap: false friends, a punctuation of its own, legal forms that must not be swapped, and regional varieties that a receiving office notices at once. Each pitfall below is specific to French and demonstrable.

Typical pitfalls in French translation and how a specialist resolves them
PitfallWhy it goes wrongHow the FÜD solves it
False friendsactuellement means "currently", not "actually"; éventuellement means "possibly". Translate by the look-alike and the meaning flips.We translate by meaning, not by resemblance, and check the classic false friends against context.
The wrong regional varietyBelgium and Switzerland use septante / nonante (and Swiss huitante), and administrative wording differs by country. France French sent to Geneva or Brussels reads as foreign.We set the variety of the target country — France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg or Québec — in wording, numerals and terminology.
French spacing and guillemetsFrench puts a narrow non-breaking space before ; : ! ? and inside « … ». Leave the German quotes or straight quotes and the text reads as machine output.Guillemets, protected spacing and punctuation are set to the French norm, not carried over from the German source.
Accents on capitalsFrench keeps accents on capital letters (État, À). Dropping them — a frequent shortcut — is a spelling error in an official text and can alter a name.Accented capitals are written correctly, and names are matched character-for-character to the passport.
Legal forms and institutionsA GmbH is not a SARL or SA; a Landgericht is not a tribunal of the same order. Swap the institution and the document misstates the legal reality.Company forms, courts and offices stay demonstrable, with an explanatory equivalent where needed — never silently replaced.
Numbers, decimals and datesFrench separates thousands with a space and uses the decimal comma: 1,000,000.50 becomes 1 000 000,50, and the date is day-first. Left in the English pattern, figures are misread.Number, decimal and date formats are converted to the French convention, so amounts and dates cannot be misread.
Capitalisation rulesMonths, weekdays, languages and nationality adjectives are lower-case in French (lundi, français). English or German capitalisation looks wrong to a native reader.Capitalisation follows French rules, so the text reads as written by a native, not converted from another language.

Why “school French” won’t do here

None of these is a simple typo — most survive any spell-check. They arise where a familiar-looking language hides its own punctuation, its own legal vocabulary and several national standards, and they only surface at the receiving end: the registry office, the French court, the Swiss or Belgian authority. That is exactly where native professional translation earns its place.

The difference shows not in the text, but at the receiving end.

So: native speakers with a field, the right variety, and passport-matched, accent-exact names.

Certification & recognition

“assermenté”, “juré”, “authorised” — what counts where.

Reviewed by specialists · FÜD editorial team · kept current

For submission to German authorities and courts, a court-authorised translator (in German, ermächtigter Übersetzer, publicly authorised under German state law) produces a certified translation with stamp, signature and certification note — recognised nationwide. In France that role is filled by a traducteur assermenté (an expert judiciaire listed by a cour d'appel); Belgium keeps a register of sworn translators, and in Switzerland certification is typically notarial.

So a German authorised translator is not automatically admitted in France, Belgium or Switzerland, and vice versa. We clarify before the project which country the document is for and set the form valid there — following FÜD's documented quality process; where the service is delivered under DIN EN ISO 17100, the required second-person revision is included. Whether an apostille is additionally required we check in advance; the apostille itself is issued by the competent authority — the FÜD does not issue apostilles.

Use cases

French to German translation: three typical cases from practice.

Variety, target country and register decide the wording, terminology and form of certification. Three common jobs — from the starting point to the result.

Registry office & family

Birth & marriage certificate French → German

Starting point
For a marriage or naturalisation, a French acte de naissance or acte de mariage is needed in German, with the name exactly as issued.
Process
An authorised translator renders the certificate, keeps accented characters and matches the name to the passport; the certification note makes it ready for the authority.
Result
A certified translation the registry office accepts, its name spelling identical to the ID — no follow-up query.

Careers in English

Diploma & CV French → English

Starting point
A professional from France, Belgium or Switzerland applies to an international employer or programme in Germany that works in English and needs a diplôme, references and CV rendered accurately.
Process
Degrees, subjects and titles stay in the original with an explanatory equivalent; the register is kept formal; terminology is handled by a specialist in the field.
Result
Documents an English-speaking employer can place correctly — without misrepresenting a foreign qualification.

Law & trade

Contract & power of attorney German → French

Starting point
A German company signs with a partner in Paris, Brussels or Geneva; legal form, deadlines and terminology must be precise in the right variety of French.
Process
Legal terms stay demonstrable, company forms are not swapped, and French spacing and number formats are applied; a legal specialist checks the terminology.
Result
A contract that is legally readable in the target country without replacing German legal institutions with foreign ones.

Quote & price

What does a French translation cost?

We review volume, field, language direction and variety and name a binding fixed price. Standard certificates are usually a flat fee per document; longer texts are priced per standard line — certification on request, advance PDF and postal delivery included.

Binding fixed price
from € 0.89 / standard linestandard certificates at a flat fee per document
Price up front · no unannounced extra costs
Native French professional translation✓included
Correct regional variety (France · Belgium · Switzerland · Québec) & register✓included
Certification by an authorised translator on request✓included
Advance PDF & postal delivery of the original✓included
Quality management & final check✓included

French is priced in language Group 1, from € 0.89 per standard line (55 characters incl. spaces); we name the exact amount after a brief review. How the price is made up →

Request a quote

French documents & texts

Certified French document translation.

We translate French – German and French – English – from certified records to specialist texts. Commonly requested from French: acte de naissance (birth certificate), acte de mariage (marriage certificate), permis de conduire (driving licence), diplôme (diploma), extrait de casier judiciaire (police clearance certificate), jugement de divorce (divorce decree).

Certificates & personal records

Law & business

Technology, web & IT

Medicine & marketing

FAQ

French translation – frequently asked questions.

Do you translate both French to German and French to English?

Yes. French to German is the usual pairing for German authorities, courts and business partners; French to English covers international contexts – applications, contracts and documentation exchanged in English. A native-speaker specialist is assigned to each direction.

Do you offer certified French translations?

Yes. For certificates, diplomas and official documents an authorised translator (ermächtigter Übersetzer, authorised by a German court under state law) issues a certified translation with a certification note, recognised by German authorities and courts nationwide.

Do you translate for France, Belgium, Switzerland or Québec?

Yes. We set the variety of the target country in wording, numerals and terminology – Belgian and Swiss French differ from France French, and the administrative register differs again. We clarify the target country before we start.

Are French certificates certified for German authorities?

Yes. A French acte or diploma issued in French is rendered into German by an authorised translator and provided with a certification note, so a Standesamt, university or court accepts it. Whether an apostille is also needed we check in advance.

How are French names written for a German registry office?

Accents are kept, including on capitals, and the name is matched exactly to the spelling in your passport, so the document is accepted without a query.

What does a French translation cost?

The price depends on volume, field, direction and deadline. After a brief review we name a binding fixed price; standard certificates are usually a flat fee per document, from € 0.89 per standard line.
The Swiss employment contract was rendered into German in exactly the right register — legal forms kept, not guessed — and the Standesamt accepted the certified birth certificate with the accents on my name intact.
★★★★★

C. Lefèvre · relocation from Geneva, Frankfurt

Next

Where to go next: services, fields, documents and languages.

Services

Interpreter serviceProofreadingWebsite localisationScientific translation

Specialist fields

Medical translatorTechnical translationCertified legal translationPharma translator

Documents

Marriage certificate translationDivorce certificate translationDegree recognitionTranslate contracts

Languages

English to German translationRomanian–German translationCertified Turkish translationLithuanian to German translation

Work with us

Already a native French speaker? Become an authorised translator.

Our French translations are produced by native-speaker specialists — the reason German authorities, universities and courts accept them without queries. Beyond the language itself, that rests on German at C2 level, a specialist field the translator can defend, and — for certified work — court authorisation. If you bring that combination rather than bilingualism alone, we work with French translators employed and freelance, and the way in is also open through an internship.

The path

German to C2, plus a field

Native French is your starting capital; the market rewards what you build on top. German at C2 — the level at which you read a German ruling or a medical report without hesitation — is the real gate, because certified work means rendering official German with precision, not just understanding it. Add a field you can defend (law, medicine, technology, finance) and its terminology. That combination, not language alone, is what a registry office or a court relies on.

Why it holds up

Authorisation, and work automation can’t touch

For certified translations you apply to the competent Regional Court (Landgericht) to be authorised under state law. And French rewards a specialist's judgement: the right national variety, the right register, legal forms that must not be swapped and accent-exact names. Careful human work here is not nostalgia — it is what the receiving authority requires.

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