The 8 Best Post-Editing Prompts for Machine Translation | A Practical Guide for Freelance Translators

Post-Editing Is Not Error Correction — It Is Reclaiming the Text

There is a fundamental difference between reviewing a human translation and reviewing machine output. When you review a human translation, you are looking for exceptions in an essentially sound text. When you review AI output, you are looking at a text that may be accurate in every detail and still lack something you cannot easily name — a voice, a presence, the sense that a person was here.

Professional post-editing means the ability to diagnose that absence precisely and fix it efficiently. A good prompt accelerates this process — it does not eliminate the translator’s role, but focuses their attention on what genuinely deserves their time.

What follows are eight prompts organized by problem type, with a suggested workflow that brings them together.

(See our article: How to Review Machine Translation and Turn It Into Professional Work for the broader methodological framework.)

Before the Prompt — What Do You Diagnose First?

The wrong prompt applied to the wrong problem wastes time and adds complexity. Before any editing session, read the machine output in full and identify the dominant pattern in its problems.

Symptoms You See	Diagnosis	Prompt to Use
Sentences correct but don’t flow naturally	Naturalness problem	Prompt 1
Same term translated three different ways	Consistency problem	Prompt 2
Text reads as translated from another language	Calqued source structures	Prompt 3
Sentences repetitive or unnecessarily long	Concision problem	Prompt 4
Cultural reference makes no sense in target language	Localization problem	Prompt 5
Style shifts between paragraphs	Stylistic inconsistency	Prompt 6
Register wrong for the target audience	Register problem	Prompt 7
Multiple scattered problems	Comprehensive review needed	Prompt 8

The Eight Prompts

Prompt 1 — Fixing Naturalness

For sentences that are grammatically correct but do not read as though they were written in the target language.

You are a language editor. This translation has a single problem: sentences are grammatically correct but do not read as originally written in English — they read as translated. Rephrase every sentence where you feel this, so each flows as naturally as something written by a native speaker for a native reader. Do not change the meaning, the terminology, or the paragraph order.

Source text:
[here]

Machine translation:
[here]

Prompt 2 — Unifying Terminology

For long documents where the model translated the same term in multiple ways.

The following translation has inconsistent terminology. Review it in full and apply the standardization list below at every occurrence without exception. Change nothing else in the text.

Standardization list:
- Use [Term A] in place of any other equivalent used for it
- Use [Term B] in place of any other equivalent used for it

[Translation here]

Prompt 3 — Removing Calqued Source Structures

For texts that visibly carry the syntactic fingerprint of the source language.

This translation carries Arabic syntactic structures transferred literally into English — such as inverted word order, misplaced time expressions, or noun-heavy constructions that feel awkward in English. Rephrase these structures to align with natural English sentence construction. Do not change the meaning.

[Translation here]

Prompt 4 — Compressing and Removing Padding

For outputs that repeat meaning or say in thirty words what could be said in fifteen.

Compress the following translation by removing repetition and padding, while fully preserving every substantive piece of information. Goal: the same meaning in fewer words. Do not remove any idea or argument — remove only what is said twice or adds nothing.

[Translation here]

Prompt 5 — Cultural Localization

For cultural references, examples, and metaphors that lose their meaning or feel alien to the target reader.

The following translation contains cultural references, examples, or metaphors originating in a non-English-speaking culture that feel odd or meaningless to an English reader. Replace them with equivalents that perform the same function for this audience. Target audience: [brief description]. Do not alter the context or overall length of the text.

[Translation here]

Localization does not mean changing the meaning — it means finding the path that carries the same meaning to a different reader.

Prompt 6 — Unifying Style

For longer texts where the model’s style drifted noticeably between sections.

Read the following translation in full. The first paragraph represents the required style. Rephrase the paragraphs that deviate from it so the entire text reads as the work of one writer from beginning to end. Do not edit the first paragraph.

[Translation here]

Prompt 7 — Adjusting Register

When the output is too formal or too simplified for the intended audience.

The following translation is [more formal / more simplified] than the target audience requires. Audience: [precise description]. Required register: [e.g., professional but not academic / scientifically precise but accessible to a non-specialist]. Adjust the register accordingly while keeping all information unchanged.

[Translation here]

Prompt 8 — Structured Comprehensive Review

When problems are multiple and you want one session to address them all in logical sequence.

You are a specialist language editor. Review the following translation in four layers, in order:
Layer 1 — Accuracy: Does the meaning match the source text exactly? Correct any deviation.
Layer 2 — Consistency: Is the terminology uniform throughout?
Layer 3 — Naturalness: Do sentences read as originally written in English? Rephrase any that feel translated.
Layer 4 — Style: Does the text speak with one voice from beginning to end?

When finished: give me the edited text alone, followed by a brief list of the most significant changes made in each layer.

Source text:
[here]

Machine translation:
[here]

Prompt 8 is not a shortcut for the seven before it — it is a different tool for a different situation: when you do not have time for separate diagnosis and need one session to get it done.

Suggested Workflow — From Machine Output to Delivery

Step	What You Do	Prompt Used	Typical Time
1	Full diagnostic read	No prompt — human reading	5–10 min per 1,000 words
2	Identify the dominant problem	Diagnosis table above	2 minutes
3	Apply the relevant prompt	Prompts 1 through 7	1 minute
4	Final human review	No prompt — translator judgment	10–15 min per 1,000 words

A Final Note — Build Your Personal Prompt File

Every translator works with recurring text types. The legal translator sees the same machine translation problems in every contract. The technical translator sees the same calqued structures in every software document. Over time, you will find that one or two of these eight prompts cover 80% of your work — save them in a form tailored precisely to your needs, and treat your prompt document as a living tool that grows with your experience.

In the final article of this series, we move beyond the single prompt to something deeper — how the next article turns Claude from a tool into a genuine creative partner.