Writing in more than one language
A multilingual grammar checker for Mac
Choose the regional variant you mean, decide which detected-language passages to skip, and translate text in the Floating Editor when a word won't come to you.
By Runju Huang, creator of Refine ·
Choose what happens to each language
Refine has 58 language and regional-variant choices for grammar and fluency. For each paragraph it can confidently recognize, Refine detects one of your configured languages, then checks or skips that passage.
Set the language you're writing in
Choose a language and regional variant for grammar and fluency suggestions.
Skip passages in another language
Exclude a language to skip paragraphs detected as that language. This doesn't protect an isolated code-switched word inside a paragraph detected as another language.
Translate text in the Floating Editor
In the Floating Editor, open the Translate menu and choose a language. Refine keeps the original text in the editor and shows the translation in a separate preview.
Pick the regional variant your reader expects
A document for London shouldn't be normalized to American English. Choose a regional variant when one is available. The model still matters, so results won't be equally strong in every language.
| Language | Available variants |
|---|---|
| English | American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South African, Indian, Irish, and Scottish |
| German | Standard, Swiss, and Austrian |
| French | Standard, Canadian, Swiss, and Belgian |
| Spanish | Spain, Mexican, Argentine, Colombian, and Chilean |
| Portuguese | European and Brazilian |
| Chinese | Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese Mandarin, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese |
| Italian | Standard and Swiss |
Other supported languages
- Afrikaans
- Arabic
- Bosnian
- Catalan
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- Finnish
- Greek
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Hungarian
- Indonesian
- Japanese
- Khmer
- Korean
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Romanian
- Russian
- Serbian
- Slovak
- Swedish
- Thai
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Vietnamese
Examples you can try in your own apps
01
Translate a sentence in the Floating Editor
In the Floating Editor, enter "Can we move the call to mañana?", open the Translate menu, and choose English. Refine keeps the original sentence in the editor and shows the translation in a separate preview.
02
The Spanish word is intentional
If "mañana" belongs in the final sentence, add it to the Dictionary; use custom instructions for broader terminology guidance. Excluding Spanish skips passages detected as Spanish—it doesn't protect one word inside an English paragraph.
03
Two clients use different conventions
Set British English for a London client and Canadian French for a Montreal client. For a one-off check, use a language shortcut to force that language instead of automatic detection.
Set up your languages
- 1
Add the languages you use
Choose the languages automatic detection can use. Exclude a language only when passages detected as that language should be skipped, and select regional variants where needed.
- 2
Try a document you know well
Check a real email or bilingual passage before settling on a language and model combination.
Where language checks run
Your language choices do not decide where text is processed. Tasks assigned to a downloaded local model run on your Mac; tasks assigned to a hosted BYOK provider go directly to that provider.
Using languages across Mac apps
Language settings work the same way across apps, but inline suggestions still depend on what each text field exposes through macOS Accessibility.
See how Refine works across Mac appsWhere Refine has limits
- Results vary by language, model, context, and hardware.
- Review translations carefully for legal, medical, academic, or published work.
Try it on a document you know well
Use the seven-day trial with your usual app. Check a regional variant, a mixed-language paragraph, and one missing-word example before you buy.