Bilingual Subtitles — Show Two Languages at Once
To make bilingual subtitles, open the file in the first language and add the one in the second. Each line of the second file is paired with the line it overlaps most in time and placed under it, or above, in italics if you like. You get one SRT or VTT that any player shows as two languages.
Make bilingual subtitles
Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded
Ways to Watch Two Subtitles at Once
There is more than one way to get two languages on screen. A combined file is the one that works everywhere, because to the player it is simply a subtitle with two rows.
| Method | Works where | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| One combined file (this page) | Any player, TV or platform that reads SRT or VTT | Lines get longer: two languages share the subtitle area |
| Two tracks in a player that supports it, such as mpv with --secondary-sid | Only in that player, on that device | Nothing to make, but every viewer has to set it up; mpv shows the second track at the top of the screen |
| Browser extensions for streaming sites | Only on the sites they support, with the subtitles those sites provide | Not for your own files, and nothing to download |
| Both languages burned into the video | Wherever the video plays, social apps included | Can’t be switched off; combine the files first, then burn them in |
The mpv option is described in its manual: a secondary subtitle is drawn at the top of the screen by default. Players that show only one subtitle track at a time still show both languages from a combined file.
Getting a Clean Bilingual File
Lines are paired by time, so the result is only as good as the two files you start with.
Same video
Both files timed to the same release
If the second language was made for another cut, its lines pair with the wrong ones. Play a line from each against the video first, and sync the second file if it is off.
Reading speed
Two languages make long subtitles
A two-row subtitle becomes three rows with the translation added. Press Check after combining: it flags lines over 2 rows, 42 characters in a row or 20 characters per second.
Leftovers
Lines with no partner
A line of the second file that overlaps nothing in the first — a sign, a song — stays as a subtitle of its own. The preview says how many lines were paired and how many were left alone.
How to Make Bilingual Subtitles
Three steps, all in your browser.
Open the first language
Drop the SRT or VTT you want as the main line. The window for two languages opens on its own.
Add the second language
Choose the other file. Pick Second language below or Above, and leave Second language in italics on to tell the two apart at a glance.
Combine and export
Press Combine, play a few lines with the video, then export one SRT or VTT. Ctrl/⌘+Z undoes the whole change.
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