To translate Instagram captions, comments or Stories, first check the post’s actual context. Where Instagram displays See Translation, use it to understand a caption or comment. If you are publishing your own post in another language, prepare a reviewed version that preserves the people, visual references, facts, dates, links and actions. Translating an Instagram caption does not automatically translate Reel speech, on-screen text or interactive Story stickers.
People searching for how to translate Instagram captions, Instagram comments translation, translate Instagram Stories and Instagram Reels captions need more than literal word replacement. Instagram content is visual, interactive and social, so correct interpretation depends on authorship, photos, timing, emoji, hashtags and whether a statement is a personal claim or verified fact.
This guide explains how to read available translations and create accurate multilingual Instagram content. The examples are instructional rather than borrowed customer reviews, and Instagram’s exact options may change with language and app versions. The aim is to help readers understand and creators publish truthful content with a natural voice.
Quick answer: preserve meaning, media and next action
Identify the approved original, translate the first useful sentence, protect handles and links, inspect every visual label and test interactive components. For consequential statements, verify the original. If a target caption leads readers to a different price, location or permission than the source, it is not ready.
A practical guide to Instagram’s language surfaces
How to see translation on Instagram
To read a caption or comment in another language, open the original post and check whether Instagram displays a See Translation option. Availability varies by content, source language, app version and product support. Where a translation is displayed, read it alongside the photograph or Reel it describes. A short phrase like ‘we made it’ is ambiguous without knowing whether the creator completed an assignment, reached a destination or launched a product.
An automated rendering is for understanding, not independent fact verification. If a post concerns purchases, official permissions, a safety warning or an allegation about someone, compare the original wording with an appropriate competent reader. Do not invent a translation button that your particular app version does not offer; use current help documentation or a permitted alternative.
How to publish your own caption in another language
A creator should start with one approved source brief identifying the image, subject, core claim, date, named people and intended next action. Prepare a natural target-language caption rather than exchanging individual words in isolation. If two languages appear in the same post, distinguish them clearly. A separate localized post is another option where the audience and campaign justify it.
Publishing a translated caption does not translate on-image labels, stickers, audio or external resources. Prepare these separately where relevant. Check that the target’s first visible line gives accurate information and that a reader does not have to scroll past a wall of hashtags to find a date, price or link condition.
A caption must match its photograph or carousel
Visual context determines reference. A pronoun may point to a specific person in one slide, or ‘this’ may mean an object shown in the final frame. Check every such reference against the approved media before choosing target grammar. For a carousel explaining a process, preserve slide order, step numbers and which diagram each paragraph describes.
Images are not proof of every fact. A food photograph cannot verify an allergen declaration, and a product shot does not establish that an accessory is included. Translate the author’s confirmed statement and ask for clarification before adding unverified visual inferences.
Stories combine text with actions
Instagram Stories can include polls, questions, link stickers, countdowns, mentions or place labels. Each text surface has a different function. A poll about a preferred date is not an event registration, and a countdown must point to the actual event instant. Translate the visible question and its options without changing the task a viewer performs.
Preview the target Story on a narrow screen. Longer text may be clipped, especially inside interactive components. Confirm that option labels are distinguishable, account names and URLs remain correct, and any time-zone information is explicit when needed. If a feature is unavailable, do not claim it is supported.
Reels caption and Reel speech are not equivalent
A Reel’s post description, spoken dialogue, captions, subtitles and overlaid graphic text are separate assets. A French description below an English-spoken Reel does not make its audio French. A creator should identify exactly which surfaces have been translated and describe language availability truthfully. Where the viewer needs to follow a tutorial, subtitles should be checked against the actual audio and action sequence.
Automatic transcription may mishear negation, names and numbers. Fix the source transcript before translating rather than polishing a wrong number. For high-stakes topics, use a knowledgeable reviewer to confirm that safety instructions and scope remain correct.
Hashtags are not always words to translate
An @handle and a brand campaign hashtag are identifiers. A descriptive hashtag may have a natural equivalent in the target language, but an established campaign tag should remain in its approved form. Unrelated trending tags can mislead people about content and provide no reliable guarantee of discoverability. Keep information useful even to readers who never follow the hashtags.
Protect codes, URLs, product IDs and personal names from automatic substitution. In right-to-left languages, use appropriate text direction without reversing literal characters. Test the clickable handle and destination after publishing.
Keep emoji and slang in context
A laughing emoji can soften a joke, underline frustration or simply reflect a sender’s style. It does not have the same meaning everywhere. Read the surrounding sentence, image and conversation before selecting target slang. Do not intensify a teasing phrase into a personal attack or turn an ironic complaint into glowing praise.
A heart, reaction or silence is not automatically permission to publish a private image or use a testimonial commercially. Keep exact consent language and avoid inventing an agreement for the sake of a smooth caption.
Translate comments with clear speaker attribution
Comments may include praise, disputes, questions and a creator’s official response. Preserve the author of each statement. ‘I think the store closes at six’ is one follower’s belief, not a verified operating schedule. A quoted allegation should remain attributed and uncertain where the original is uncertain.
Nested replies can make an isolated ‘yes’ or ‘same’ unclear. Read the previous message before translating, or flag the missing context. Do not create fake reviews or multiply one customer’s translated comment into apparent independent endorsements.
Respect sponsorships, offers and disclosures
An influencer’s paid partnership or affiliate link may require an understandable disclosure. Translate the existing material relationship and let the responsible publisher check market-specific obligations. Avoid making the translation sound like spontaneous independent advice if the source discloses compensation.
Preserve offer qualifiers, currencies, end dates and eligibility. ‘Up to 30% off selected items’ is not ‘30% off everything’; ‘may help’ is not a universal health guarantee. A target audience should receive the same real terms.
Preserve time and place identities
An Instagram place tag may refer to a particular branch, venue or neighbourhood. Do not replace it with a different nearby business simply because it is easier to name in the target language. Keep official station, road and unit references recognizable. A business’s old post is not proof that its present opening hours are unchanged.
Relative words such as tomorrow and next Friday are anchored to the original posting date. For an international live event, include an approved date and time zone rather than silently assuming each viewer’s local time. Check live schedules independently before making current claims.
Translate graphic text and accessible descriptions
Important words inside a photograph or infographic require a separate localization process. A translated caption does not change a chart’s English legend, a medical warning on the graphic or a discount label inside the image. Keep arrows, numbers and categories attached to the correct visual components.
Use truthful alt text where supported and needed, describing meaningful visible content without guessing identities or emotions. Test mobile legibility, target-language fonts, contrast, text expansion and bidirectional punctuation. Do not delete a condition merely to make a sticker look neat.
Protect private messages and personal data
Direct messages and Story replies may include addresses, phone numbers, medical details or sensitive family information. Translating one sentence for understanding does not authorize uploading or publicizing the entire conversation. Use approved tools and share only the necessary extract.
If republishing a message or image, obtain the appropriate permission and protect third-party identities. Preserve ‘please do not forward’ and similar boundaries exactly. A translation that widens permission is not faithful.
The translation quality-control workflow
Collect the approved source and media; identify speaker, date, claims and next action; protect exact identifiers; translate in natural target language; have someone verify meaning and tone; inspect the real phone layout; and test destinations or stickers. Use a separate check for commercial claims, attribution and privacy. This sequence catches errors that ordinary spell-checking cannot.
A target reader should understand the same event, person, offer, uncertainty and required action as a source-language reader. If the two groups would purchase different products, arrive at different times or infer different permissions, revise before release.
Instagram translation checklist
Review every caption’s first visible line, the linked media, credits, hashtags, tagged location, handles, dates, numbers, promotional terms, video-language availability, Story stickers, comments, privacy, consent and accessible text. Accuracy is a reader’s ability to understand and act on the same post, not the number of words translated.
Explore the wider series: Master Art of Translation · Social Media Caption Translation · Instagram Help Center.
Thirty-two Instagram examples that reveal translation mistakes
Every case is hypothetical. Its purpose is to help a creator or reader see where a natural-sounding translation can change meaning, location, privacy or action. Compare the complete media context with the target rather than trusting isolated strings.
1. A crowded carousel and an unclear pronoun
Situation: Three people appear in a photo carousel, and the caption says ‘she designed it’.
Why it matters: A literal target phrase may imply the wrong person authored the design; a photograph alone does not verify the intended referent.
Good practice: Ask the creator to identify the person or provide a slide reference. Check that a target-language reader credits the same individual as the approved source.
2. A promotional percentage with qualifications
Situation: A caption announces ‘up to 40% off selected products’ for a specific weekend.
Why it matters: Replacing this with ‘40% off everything’ changes both the maximum and the eligible items, not merely the level of enthusiasm.
Good practice: Keep the limit, scope and date. Open the actual offer and compare a full-price item with a discounted one before publishing.
3. A Story poll about scheduling preference
Situation: Followers choose Morning or Afternoon in a poll about future lessons.
Why it matters: A translation saying ‘Choose your confirmed class’ wrongly turns an opinion survey into a booking or attendance commitment.
Good practice: Preserve that the user is expressing a preference. Test each sticker option in the rendered Story and check what a voter believes happens next.
4. A countdown that crosses time zones
Situation: A Story countdown refers to a live event announced for 7 p.m. in the organiser’s country.
Why it matters: A caption saying ‘7 p.m. your time’ can send international followers to the wrong instant when the event is not scheduled in each local zone.
Good practice: Verify the actual event date and time zone, and keep the countdown aligned. Test a viewer in a second country with a valid conversion.
5. Speech and subtitles disagree on a number
Situation: A Reel’s speaker says fifteen, but automatically generated captions show fifty.
Why it matters: An AI translation of the mistaken transcript can sound fluent while materially changing a quantity or instruction.
Good practice: Listen again, repair the original transcription, then translate. Ask a reviewer to verify the number at the matching moment in the audio.
6. A Reel only has translated metadata
Situation: The description under an English-spoken Reel has been rewritten in Spanish.
Why it matters: Saying that the entire Reel is ‘in Spanish’ promises audio, subtitles or on-screen wording that may not exist.
Good practice: Describe exactly which assets are Spanish and which remain English. Play the actual Reel in the intended viewer context before releasing the claim.
7. A campaign hashtag is a fixed identifier
Situation: A branded hashtag uses a familiar English noun as part of a recognized campaign name.
Why it matters: Word-for-word translation creates a different tag and separates the localized post from the official campaign.
Good practice: Keep the official spelling, localizing only relevant general-topic tags. Open the tag to verify it points to the intended campaign.
8. The account handle contains a normal word
Situation: An Instagram @username resembles a translatable phrase.
Why it matters: Replacing the word translates the username into a different account or an invalid identifier, even if the sentence reads better.
Good practice: Copy the handle character for character. Test the actual target link and preserve bidirectional rendering for mixed scripts.
9. Two prices appear in different currencies
Situation: The image says $80 and the translated caption casually says €80.
Why it matters: A new symbol does not perform a currency conversion and may misrepresent the sale.
Good practice: Keep the verified denomination or use an separately approved conversion with date and rounding. Confirm the listing, checkout and target caption agree.
10. A sarcastic comment about waiting
Situation: A follower writes ‘Lovely—only an hour in line again’ under a crowded-event post.
Why it matters: A literal compliment can reverse the expressed criticism and make the visitor sound delighted.
Good practice: Preserve the irony and the specific reported wait without creating a new accusation. Ask a native reader whether the target commenter seems pleased.
11. A customer likes a proposed photo share
Situation: The creator proposes reposting a private portrait and receives a heart reaction.
Why it matters: Translating that reaction into ‘I give permission’ invents consent and could expose another person’s image.
Good practice: Treat the heart as the reaction it is. Seek clear authorization through an appropriate channel when public use requires consent.
12. A private DM contains a phone number
Situation: A customer sends kind feedback with unrelated contact details.
Why it matters: Republishing the entire translated message can reveal personal information that the original recipient was not authorized to share publicly.
Good practice: Work with only an approved extract and redact irrelevant details. Verify permission and the final image at full size before posting.
13. A location tag names one branch of a chain
Situation: The source post tags the waterfront location of a restaurant with multiple outlets.
Why it matters: A translated caption that substitutes the central branch can send people to the wrong destination.
Good practice: Keep the exact verified branch identity and location tag. Compare the map address to the translated venue description.
14. An old highlight says ‘tomorrow’
Situation: A Story from many months earlier announces ‘See you tomorrow’ and remains in a permanent Highlight.
Why it matters: New viewers may interpret the translated wording as a current event, even though it was anchored to a historical posting date.
Good practice: Preserve the old context or add an authorized absolute date. Do not treat archived content as real-time availability.
15. The chart legend swaps revenue and spending
Situation: A carousel graphic contains two similarly colored lines.
Why it matters: If translated labels are pasted into the wrong positions, a reader could draw the opposite business conclusion while every number remains unchanged.
Good practice: Compare target legend-to-series associations with a known value and inspect the rendered chart at mobile width.
16. A sponsored recommendation lacks disclosure
Situation: The creator received payment for a featured product, and the source post acknowledges that arrangement.
Why it matters: The localized caption’s removal of the commercial relationship changes how readers interpret the endorsement.
Good practice: Keep the substance of the disclosure and seek the publisher’s review of market-specific wording. Do not pretend a paid post is an independent testimonial.
17. A follower asks about a refund
Situation: The question reads ‘Would I qualify for a refund if delivery is late?’
Why it matters: A confident target sentence such as ‘My refund is approved’ transforms an inquiry into an answer or promise.
Good practice: Preserve the question and conditional logic. Direct factual replies to the business’s verified policy instead of making a decision on the follower’s behalf.
18. A recipe image omits its ingredient list
Situation: A food Reel shows a sauce but does not identify all ingredients.
Why it matters: Calling the recipe allergy-safe or vegan because of its appearance adds unsupported safety information.
Good practice: Translate only documented ingredients and ask the creator for verified details. Do not infer allergen absence from a video frame.
19. A tools tutorial reverses a prerequisite
Situation: The Reel says to disconnect power before opening equipment.
Why it matters: A target-language instruction that puts disconnection afterward changes the procedure and may create risk.
Good practice: Preserve sequence and prohibitions. Have a qualified expert review consequential technical content against the source action and audio.
20. A Story link goes to another language
Situation: The link sticker opens an English-only workbook, while the Story overlay is in Arabic.
Why it matters: Claiming that the workbook itself is Arabic misleads readers, even when the surrounding overlay has been translated.
Good practice: Keep the true resource language or link to an actually verified translated edition. Test the download rather than assuming it exists.
21. A graphic contains a deadline inside the image
Situation: The caption is translated, but a poster image still shows the original-language registration deadline.
Why it matters: The reader may miss the date or incorrectly assume the caption overrides the graphic.
Good practice: Localize meaningful graphic text separately or repeat a verified deadline clearly in the caption. Check both visual and prose versions.
22. An award title is mistaken for a job title
Situation: A caption mentions a named prize that happens to contain a word like ‘Manager’.
Why it matters: Literal translation can describe the recipient as holding a position rather than receiving an award.
Good practice: Preserve the official prize identity and explain its category if needed. Do not invent professional rank.
23. A collaboration credit disappears
Situation: A portrait was photographed by one person and styled by another.
Why it matters: Removing a credit for brevity changes who receives recognition and can obscure agreed attribution.
Good practice: Keep names and approved handles. Review source credits and target publishing permissions together.
24. A teasing joke becomes abusive
Situation: Two close friends use mild teasing language followed by laughing emoji.
Why it matters: A harsh literal target phrase could read as serious hostility rather than friendly banter.
Good practice: Preserve social register using context, or flag uncertainty. Avoid caricaturing dialect or inventing abuse.
25. A follower reports second-hand information
Situation: The commenter says ‘Someone told me the shop is closed, but I haven’t checked’.
Why it matters: Changing the target to ‘The shop is closed’ makes a hearsay claim appear verified.
Good practice: Retain attribution and uncertainty, and direct live-hours questions to current business information.
26. A reply says yes with a condition
Situation: A participant says ‘Yes, if the date moves to Sunday’.
Why it matters: Reporting this as confirmed attendance removes the condition and can lead to an incorrect guest list.
Good practice: Translate the dependence clearly. Test a scenario where the date remains unchanged; the participant has not confirmed.
27. A donation matching cap is omitted
Situation: A fundraiser says donations may be matched until an overall limit is reached.
Why it matters: Removing may or the cap creates a stronger financing promise than the campaign has approved.
Good practice: Retain the exact matching condition and direct viewers to the current official donation terms.
28. An educational slide shows a cause-and-effect chain
Situation: Three stages are connected by arrows, but the target phrases are placed in reverse order.
Why it matters: Even grammatically accurate translations can make the process run backward when the labels are moved.
Good practice: Compare arrow direction, step numbers and explanatory text with the original figure after layout.
29. A health claim is strengthened
Situation: The creator writes ‘This may help some people feel more comfortable’.
Why it matters: The target ‘This cures everyone’ invents both certainty and medical efficacy.
Good practice: Preserve qualifiers and seek appropriate expertise for health-related claims. Do not offer unverified assurances to grow engagement.
30. A discount applies to one product variant
Situation: The caption advertises a price for the smallest size of an item with several options.
Why it matters: The target title’s omission of ‘from’ makes every size appear available at the base price.
Good practice: Link the displayed amount to the correct variant, and test the chosen size in checkout.
31. A phrase depends on a previous comment
Situation: A short reply of ‘same here’ appears under a nested conversation.
Why it matters: Without the parent comment, the phrase may be attached to a different problem or opinion.
Good practice: Read the original thread and maintain the reply relationship, or indicate that context is unavailable.
32. An alternate text description invents a motive
Situation: A photo shows someone looking away from the camera.
Why it matters: Calling the person ‘anxious about losing a job’ invents a private emotion and circumstance not visible in the image.
Good practice: Describe observable content relevant to the post. Leave motives and sensitive interpretations out of translated accessibility text.
Instagram translation workflow
Prepare a source brief
Record the original caption, every photograph or video, the intended audience, key claims, next action, and any commercial or privacy rules. Check the creator’s stated facts against their authorized materials.
Protect identifiers and constraints
Mark @handles, URLs, product codes, contest rules, dates, currency, measurements, names, technical warnings and consent restrictions. Keep them stable unless a documented approved conversion or correction is made.
Draft each language surface separately
Write the target caption for natural reading. Prepare translations for Story stickers, visual overlays, alt text and subtitles where applicable. Do not imply translated Reel speech if only the description was localized.
Check attribution, tone and truth
A native reader should recognize the same jokes, complaints, named speakers and qualified claims. Have a subject reviewer verify important technical, legal, promotional or safety claims.
Test in the finished app
Inspect first-line truncation, caption expansion, carousel order, Story voting choices, links and visual text on a phone. Correct layout rather than sacrificing meaning.
Update connected language versions
When the creator changes a deadline, price or location, revise all approved language versions or clearly mark older material. Old Highlights and translated announcements can outlive the event they describe.
Exercises for translation quality
The source-versus-target decision test
Give two readers the same fictional offer in different languages. Ask each to identify the item, amount, eligibility, deadline and required action. Their answers should agree. An ambiguity caught before publication is cheaper than a correction after customers rely on it.
The Story sticker rehearsal
Create a mock poll with two distinct answers and a link. Translate the text, inspect the preview and select both options. Confirm that the target records the same kind of choice rather than a sign-up or formal agreement.
A Reel transcript audit
Use a short harmless instructional clip with several numbers and a ‘do not’ statement. Correct the source transcription first, translate subtitles and replay the clip. Check that the sequence and negation remain intact.
An image-label cross-check
Take a fictional educational carousel with two chart series and a three-step process. Translate the visible labels, then compare each new label with its arrow, color and numerical value. A wrong association makes the entire figure misleading.
Hashtag classification
Separate sample hashtags into brand, campaign, descriptive and unrelated categories. Translate only the appropriate generic topics and preserve official strings. Ask a new reader whether the main caption still says something useful without the tags.
Consent and privacy review
Translate an imagined private message containing permission to share a summary but not a photograph. A target-language reviewer should identify exactly what is allowed and forbidden. Do not broaden consent through polite simplification.
Mobile layout inspection
Read a translated Story on a narrow screen with enlarged text. Check that disclaimers, sticker answers, handles and date labels do not disappear. Repair presentation constraints instead of deleting important information.
Emotional tone test
Collect fictional comments with direct praise, mild irony, disappointment and uncertainty. Translate them with parent comments visible, then ask an independent reader to identify sentiment and strength. The target should preserve nuance rather than flatten every post into praise.
Frequently asked questions
How can I see Instagram captions translated?
Where Instagram offers See Translation for the content and language, select it. Availability varies. If a phrase matters for a serious decision, compare the original and its context.
Can I publish an Instagram caption in two languages?
Yes, write and review both versions, making their structure understandable. Preserve the same facts, linked destination and commercial conditions.
Does translating the post description also translate the Reel?
No. Audio, subtitles, on-image text and the post description are separate. Describe the actual language availability without implying a missing audio track exists.
Should I translate an Instagram hashtag?
Keep campaign and brand tags in their approved form; use natural descriptive equivalents only when relevant. Avoid unrelated tags and promises of guaranteed reach.
Is automatic translation safe for agreements or refunds?
It can help understand the message but does not certify a promise, consent or policy. Verify important details with the responsible party and a competent translator.
What if a Story sticker text is too long in the target language?
Use an approved concise equivalent or adjust layout while preserving the actual choice or condition. Test in the real Story preview.
Can I translate customer comments into testimonials?
Only with appropriate permission and faithful attribution. Do not fabricate reviews, change ratings or erase critical passages.
What is the final acceptance test?
A target-language reader should understand the same people, offer, uncertainty and next action and should reach the same links as someone using the original.
Final publication checklist
Confirm the approved source media and wording, names and handles, times, dates, tagged locations, prices, exact links, uncertainty, promotional conditions, privacy, consent, comment authorship, hashtag identities, Story interaction semantics, Reel audio and subtitles, graphic labels, accessible descriptions and the final mobile layout. A polished sentence is not enough if it promises the wrong thing or leads to the wrong place.
The purpose of multilingual Instagram content is to make one honest post understandable to more people. Sentence structure can change, but the creator’s claims, audience rights and practical outcomes must remain faithful. Accurate language and responsible publishing belong together.
Continue: Master Art of Translation · General Social Caption Translation · Instagram Help Center.
When one word has three meanings in an Instagram post
Short captions often depend on words such as ‘live’, ‘story’, ‘follow’, ‘save’ and ‘close’. On Instagram, live can describe a broadcast, a person’s location or an active promotion. Story can be an interactive temporary post or a narrated anecdote. Follow may refer to an account action or an instruction to obey steps. A translator should inspect the component and the user’s expected action rather than choosing one standard dictionary equivalent. In multilingual teaching posts, for example, ‘save this for revision’ usually asks readers to bookmark the post, not to download an actual editable file. The result should tell the target-language reader precisely what the creator wants them to do.
The same caution applies to ‘link in bio’. It refers to a destination associated with the account profile, not a biological term. A literal rendering may sound strange or incorrectly imply a website address is printed in a photograph. When this call to action appears, verify that the profile actually offers the named resource. If the page requires registration or payment, the translated wording should not promise a free instant download. A good target phrase can be explanatory without introducing a commitment that the actual link does not support.
What to do when the source caption is itself wrong
Translation quality does not mean faithfully spreading a factual mistake without question. If the source gives an inconsistent date, price or product detail, flag it to the creator and ask which fact governs. Record the corrected source and translate from that approved revision. Do not silently fix only one language version; that leaves audiences seeing incompatible promises from the same account. The distinction between source correction and translation is especially important for school schedules, event registrations, promotions and public announcements. A language reviewer may identify a problem, but the responsible organizer or product owner must confirm the actual fact.
For a post that has already been shared, the owner may need an explicit correction or updated caption rather than an invisible replacement. This is true for old Highlights, reposted graphics and links copied into messages. A viewer who saved the original post may still act on it. The translator’s responsibility is to keep meaning accurate across versions and advise the creator of any discovered contradiction. Maintaining an approval log for important campaigns is often simpler than trying to reconstruct which language edition contained which promise after the deadline has passed.
A quick review for readers before sharing translated Instagram content
If you are reading a translated post before forwarding it, check four things. First, can you identify the source account and whether the speaker is the creator or a commenter? Second, is the statement an observed fact, a joke, an allegation or a personal opinion? Third, do the date, location and links still refer to the same event? Fourth, are you sharing someone else’s private words or photograph without their permission? A translated caption can make content easier to circulate, but wider circulation does not make the original statement more reliable. When any of these questions remains unresolved, share the source with context or seek clarification rather than presenting a guessed interpretation as settled fact.
Finally, remember that every language version reaches someone with different assumptions about politeness, humour and cultural references. The best translation helps readers understand the creator’s own voice without impersonating the audience or introducing stereotypes. It can be warm, concise and friendly while keeping every condition and source attribution intact. A useful caption is one that helps the target reader know what happened, what is being offered and what they may appropriately do next. That outcome is more valuable than technical word-for-word resemblance.