

Ask HN: Google translate fail - swah

I'm trying to imagine what could make Google Translate do this, how it works, etc. Thing is, translating "manter" (the verb "to keep" in portuguese) from Portuguese to English gives me "Facebook". If I change it to "Manter" it gives me "Keep". How would you explain this? (Screenshot http://bit.ly/ewdyWn)
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cmelbye
Google Translate wasn't engineered to translate single words, it was
engineered to understand and translate entire sentences. It acts strangely
when I try to translate Spanish infinitive into English, and I usually have to
add "a " before them to force it to translate correctly. Use a dictionary for
individual words.

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swah
That explanation is plausible, but the expected words are there right below
Facebook: keep, maintain, hold.. :)

