is the translator on this website accurate?
ive been using the translator for a while and it gives me three totally different answers and im just confused on which one to use someone pleasee helppp thanks 
9 Answers
I agree with Gekko that it can be accurate up to a point sometimes but only as a rough guide... I wouldn't like my life to depend on it lol 
It would give you some kind of starting point if you were planning to write something that is literal in meaning such as The children are playing in the garden or, I like flowers/chocolate but don't expect much accuracy in translating idioms they will probably come out making little or no sense, as machine technology is usually incapable of making sense of such colloquial expressions and wildly ''off the mark.''.
Please remember that the translation machines must not be used when composing your own sentences for Picture of the Day or Word of the Day.
Any attempt to use it will disqualify your effort from being accepted beacuse it is your work that is being corrected not the translator and besides this last point, it would be consdired the height of rudeness and highly disrespecful to expect the kind moderators to waste their time on machine translations.
I am sure that you will appreciate this and I hope you enjoy your time learning here. 
Sometimes. It's helpful, but certainly not infallible.
Welcome to the Forum.
I have often wondered the same. I would also like to know which countries the words are from. Sometimes I think I know the word, and my choice isn't even an option. :(
If you really want to see how it can mangle translations try translating from Spanish to English. As an example try the introduction to the Learn English pages:
Bienvenido A Aprender La página de Aprender ofrece vídeos gratuitos y detallados de inglés. Si haces >las actividades de hablar, escribir, flashcards y vídeo de cada curso, ¡puedes >ganar puntos de aprendizaje!
The translator comes up with:
Welcome to learn Learn page offers detailed and free videos of English. If you do the activities of >speaking, writing, flashcards and video of each course, you can win points of >learning! Audio
Welcome to Learning Learning page offers free videos and detailed English. If you do the activities of >speaking, writing, flashcards and video of each course, learning can earn points! Audio
Welcome to Learn The page to learn offers free videos and detailed in english. If you do activities to >speak, write, flashcards and video of each course, you could earn learning points! Audio
As you can see it gives you an idea of the meaning but you wouldn't want to rely on it. I use if from Spanish to English if I am not sure of a meaning but I try to use the dictionary and conjugator for Spanish sentences.
It's much better from Spanish to English than English to Spanish. It's like a starting point... the grammar needs to be refined, word choice, etc. It's not wrong, but it's not completlely right. Don't get me wrong, it helps.. but check it. And check it twice.
Translators like this can only go so far. There will often be better ways to put things. However, it can give you a general idea of verbs and nouns to use and tenses. I wouldn't count on them ever to be totally accurate. I've had things sent to me that I know were translated from English to Spanish on a translator and the wording is often mixed up and somewhat hard to understand, so I assume it is the same from Spanish to English.
It is useful to help when reading, but don't try to write a letter with it.
Yes you can get 3 different "suggestions".
It is important to be very accurate with what you put into the translator.
Input correct English spelling and grammar.
Do not use contractions.
Do not leave out relative pronouns.
Do not input idioms.
Try not to input phrasal verbs.
Remember English only has one form of "you" - Spanish has 4.
etc etc etc
If all 3 Spanish suggestions are the same I suggest you copy one of them and put it back into the translator and see if all 3 English suggestions are also the same.
If they are then you are maybe ok -maybe but not always.
I would avoid the translator for phrases and full sentences. Instead try to write the sentence and then use the translator to find individual words you're not sure about.
