Skip to Main Content

MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Translations / Works in Another Language

Translations / Works in Another Language

Note: This is a Seneca Libraries recommendation. Always confirm with your instructor if you're permitted to use material that you have translated yourself or translated using an app or AI tool.

 

Using Your Own Translations / Translations Generated by Apps or AI Tools

Works Cited List Citation

If you're citing a work that is in another language, follow the citation rules for the type of source that you're using (e.g., article from a website).

Example

Landry, Angie. "Les risques de s’autodiagnostiquer un trouble de santé mentale avec les réseaux sociaux." Radio-Canada, 18 Aug. 2022, ici.radio-canada.ca/recit-numerique/4500/autodiagnostic-reseaux-sociaux-sante-mentale.

Note: In the example, the title follows capitalization rules for the French language.

In-Text Citation

If you've translated a quote yourself or by using an app (e.g., Google Translate) or AI Tool (e.g., Microsoft Copilot), include the following in your in-text citation: quote in the original language, a note about the translation, the author's last name(s), and page number (if available). 

For AI-generated translations, it would also be a good idea to acknowledge somewhere in your assignment that you used AI. For more information, see Citation Examples: Artificial Intelligence.

 

Example

This is "my translation of a quote from an article that's written in another language" ("original quote"; my trans.; Landry).

This is "a generated translation of a quote from an article that's written in another language" ("original quote"; Google Translate trans.; Landry).

Republished Translations of Works

Works Cited List Citation

If you're referring to a work written in another language which has been republished in English, cite the English version of the work.

Remember to follow the citation template for the type of source that you're using. In your citation, include the translator's name after the title.

Example

Murakami, Haruki. Norwegian Wood. Translated by Jay Rubin, Vintage International, 2000.

In-Text Citation

Follow the in-text citation template for the type of source that you're using. 

Example

(Murakami 77)

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.