Alfred provides a range of useful web search functions, from Google Maps and Apple Maps to IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. These can be triggered by keywords followed by your search terms.
You may also have favorite websites that you use frequently, which is a convenient place for custom searches.
You can create a custom search by looking at the URL at the top of the search bar. The goal is to replace the search term {query} so that Alfred knows where to insert the search term into the URL.
I often use Google Translate to translate multiple languages, and using the keyword "translate" in Alfred is the fastest way to get a translation. However, Google must best guess the language I want to paste and the language I want to translate it into.
Instead of letting Google play Russian roulette, I created some custom searches to specify the language I want Google to use. This special custom search ensures that Google predictably knows that I’m typing a French sentence and wants the results to be displayed in English.
Launch Alfred's preferences in Features> Web Search, where you can create your own custom search.
Copy the following URL format to create a custom search from French to English:
Translate "{query}" from French to English
https://translate.google.com/#fr/en/{query}
This is the translation URL from English to French:
Translate "{query}" from English to French
https://translate.google.com/#en/fr/{query}
You can adjust "fr" and "en" to any language you want to use, and adjust some custom search preferences. For example, some websites encode spaces differently, so you need to experiment.
Create some of them and you will instantly become a multilingual person! (If you need to check the meaning of "polyglot", please don't forget to use Alfred's "define" keyword...)