translation of "real"

[Joakim Rosqvist]

I fed this into google translate:

"I have found the real lemon"   ->    Je l'ai trouvé le vrai citron

The result looks wrong to me, I had expected something like  J'ai trouvé le vrai citron

thinking that   Je l'ai trouvé   would mean "I found it".  Surely, we can't have the object on both sides of the verb ?!

And then there's the issue of how to translate "real":

"I have found the real lemon"   ->    Je l'ai trouvé le vrai citron

"I have found the real lime"  ->  Je l'ai trouvé le véritable chaux

"I have found the real toilet paper"  ->  Je l'ai trouvé le papier de toilette réel

How come there were three different translations of the word "real"? Does french somehow mandate this or is it just that google translate picks synonyms at random?

(yes, I know that the fruit "lime" is citron vert and that chaux is related to lime stone)

[Antoine Olivier]

You can say Je l'ai trouvé le vrai citron to insist on it.

Real is "vrai" or "réel", these words have not exactly the same meaning but it's more le vrai citron here. For véritable it's just a synonym.

[Vedas]

Hello,

As a matter of fact the same object on both sides of the verbs is quite common in informal French or in everyday conversation (just like a double subject).

I have found the real lemon: le vrai citron je l'ai trouvé / Je l'ai trouvé le vrai citron, you could add an exclamation mark at the end of both sentences. 

J'ai trouvé le vrai citron is only factual whereas the other alternatives have more to do with the point of view and emotional state of the speaker (aspectual value)  who wants to insist on something as Antoine pointed out.

The difference betwwen vrai and véritable is roughly the same that exists between real and genuine.

As you said  the translation of lime in this context is indeed  tilleul or citron vert but not chaux ! 

And chaux is feminine so it should be la véritable chaux.