The film wasn’t “synchronised”. It was dubbed.

You’re telling an English-speaking colleague about a film, the German version, with the voices replaced. So you reach for the word that sounds right. “It was synchronised into German.“

Close, but not quite. In German, that process is “synchronisieren“. In English, the word is “dubbing“. A film is dubbed into another language.

“Synchronise” exists in English too, but it means timing two things to happen together, like synchronised swimming. Use it for a film, and your colleague pictures swimmers, not voices.

Quick win: When you mean the German voice version of a film, say “it was dubbed” or “the dubbed version“. Save “synchronise” for clocks and swimmers.

💬 Which English film word always makes you pause?