# What translation is the most accurate?

**URL:** <https://classicaltheravada.org/t/what-translation-is-the-most-accurate/2180>\
**Category:** Textual Scholarship\
**Created:** [February 6, 2026, 5:19am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/what-translation-is-the-most-accurate/2180 "2026-02-06T05:19:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/67e7ee/32.png) [@HappinessSeeker](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/HappinessSeeker)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 5:19am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/what-translation-is-the-most-accurate/2180/1 "2026-02-06T05:19:09Z")

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I want to memorize some suttas. I was wondering what translation should I choose. What translation is the most accurate one?

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**Author:** ![Paññādhammika](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/pa%C3%B1%C3%B1%C4%81dhammika/32/972_2.png) [@Paññādhammika](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/Pa%C3%B1%C3%B1%C4%81dhammika)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 6:38am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/what-translation-is-the-most-accurate/2180/2 "2026-02-06T06:38:30Z")

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Can just memorize the Pāli, of course that means learning the language too, then you’re not tied to a translation.

I think people who memorize suttas generally don’t memorize in English. It’s one thing to know dhamma so well that one can easily ace any exams based on it, but memorizing is a whole next level for it is verbatim. No paraphrasing. No missing words, no adding words, exact. No translation is worth that kind of effort.

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**Author:** ![bksubhuti](https://classicaltheravada.org/user_avatar/classicaltheravada.org/bksubhuti/32/19_2.png) [@bksubhuti](https://classicaltheravada.org/u/bksubhuti)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 9:26am UTC](https://classicaltheravada.org/t/what-translation-is-the-most-accurate/2180/3 "2026-02-09T09:26:45Z")

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You can memorize the basic structure and then do the Pāḷi for exact. We don’t memorize English. But I’m not sure about the Westerner Suttanta only monks.. I think they might do english.