How to cite a translated book in APA and MLA
By Michael Lip. I write in Polish and English every day, so translated sources are a normal part of my reading. The tool below builds the reference and the in-text citation for you, then the guide explains the rule behind each field.
Translated book citation generator
Fill in what you have. The tool builds both styles and three in-text variants, so you never hand-edit the parenthetical.
Which case is mine
Six situations cover almost every translated-source paper. Find yours in the first column, then follow the style cell.
| Your situation | APA 7th | MLA 9th |
|---|---|---|
| 1. You cite a published translation | Name the author, add the translation year after the original year in text, credit the translator after the title. See APA Style guidance on translated works. | Cite it like any book and add translated by with the translator name, as in Purdue OWL's MLA books guide. |
| 2. You quote a passage you translated yourself | Add your own translation note in the in-text citation. See APA Style guidance on translated works. | Add my trans. after the citation, per APA Style guidance on translated works and the MLA principle of naming your own role. |
| 3. No published translation exists | Give your own rendering of the title and note that it is yours. See APA Style guidance on translated works. | Give the original title with your translation in brackets, per APA Style guidance on translated works. |
| 4. The translation is the focus of your paper | See the translator-credit pattern in APA Style guidance on translated works. | List the translator as the author, then By plus the author name. Purdue OWL reserves this for writing where translation plays a central role. |
| 5. A later translated edition of an older work | Show both years in text, original slash translation. See APA Style guidance on translated works. | Insert the original publication date before the publication information, per Purdue OWL. |
| 6. Two translations of the same book in one paper | The translation year after the slash tells readers which one you used. See APA Style guidance on translated works. | Add the translator name in the in-text citation to tell the two apart, consistent with the MLA treatment in Purdue OWL. |
The one structural difference
APA re-dates in text to the translation year you actually read, written as original year slash translation year. MLA keeps the translation's publication year and handles your own rendering with my trans. Everything else in the matrix above follows from that single split.
Methodology, or how we know these rules are right
Every MLA rule on this page traces to Purdue University's Online Writing Lab guide to MLA works cited pages for books, and every APA rule traces to the APA Style blog post on citing translated works. The generator computes each entry in your browser from the values you type, so nothing is guessed or stored. I use both styles in my own Polish and English writing, and the tool exists because I kept retyping the same parenthetical formats by hand.
General sources too
For a plain book, the items to record are the author, other contributors such as translators or editors, the title, edition, publication date, publisher, and pagination, matching the fields in the generator above (Purdue OWL). MLA 9th uses commas instead of periods between publisher, publication date, and pagination, and places other contributors after the title (Purdue OWL).
Common questions
Do I put the translator first in MLA?
Only when your paper is about the translation itself. In that case you list the translator as the author, and Purdue OWL notes this format is reserved for writing where translation plays a central role (Purdue OWL).
Why does APA show two years in the citation?
Because APA points readers to the edition you read, so the in-text citation carries the original year and the translation year together, following the APA Style guidance on translated works.
What if I translated the passage myself?
Mark it. The generator's third in-text variant appends my trans. so your reader knows the rendering is yours, which follows the APA Style guidance on translated works.
Review any citation the tool produces before you submit it. AI generated suggestions can contain errors, so review text before you send or publish it. This tool supports everyday writing and is not a substitute for certified translation or legal review.