Translations on the SD website...which to use?

Question

I notice when I type in a phrase in English or Spanish that I receive 3 different translations. Why is that and which do I believe? Thanks,

Thanks for that. So I still have work to do. I guess the translator can't differentiate between using "tu" and "usted" either. If my phrase is, "Where are you going?" It doesn't know if I am asking one person or a group or if I am talking formal or no - Ricardonuevo, Feb 27, 2013

That is correct. Also, Spanish is a romance language and has a great deal of feeling. That emphasis is something the machine translators can't give. It's discovered thru learning and experience with native speakers. - bandit51jd, Feb 27, 2013

Answer 1

That's a tough question.

I think it all depends on context.

Let's say that you have a sentence such as "He was holding a bat" and want it translated. What comes up could be a bat (bate de beisbol) or a bat ( murciélago).

This is when you need the dictionary because you'll see that murciélago means the little flying animal and the other means a baseball bat.