TRANSLATION I

REVERSE TRANSLATION

DEPARTAMENT DE LITERATURA I LLENGÜES MODERNES

 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

• When we translate, our mind is engaged on several different levels:

• Textual level: Transpose the syntax and lexis of the SL into their TL
equivalents. This might involve changing nouns into verbs or vice versa,
as well as changing the word order.
• Referential level: Consider what the text is about and what the writer’s
attitude is to the facts referred to.
• Cohesive level: Try to render the SL writer’s train of thought through
appropriate linkers and punctuation.
 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Level of naturalness: your text should read as though the original

did not exist. This means the word order, linking words, sentence
structure and collocation should be appropriate to the TL in order to
produce a natural rendering. You also need to consider the register of
the source text, i.e., is it formal or informal?
• The problem of translating into a second language is not just a
question of grammar and vocabulary but of knowing phrases that are
natural in particular contexts. The only way to expand your mental
lexicon of these phrases is to read as widely as you can in English
and notice the kind of language that is used.
 GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX

• One of the main problems when translating a text into English is

producing a text that is free of grammatical and syntactical errors.
Let’s go through the most common ones:
• One word in Spanish but more in English e.g. esperar can be translated as
hope, wait, expect, look forward to… depending on the context and
meaning.
• Definite articles: don’t use the for general statements and use the when
something has been mentioned before and you want to refer back to it or
define it: the house I rented for my holiday.
 GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX

• Sometimes we need to add or take away words to produce a natural equivalent:

• en los últimos años ➡️in the last few years

• Remember that the passive is more common in English than Spanish.

• Word order in English is less flexible. The main problems involve the position
of adverbs, which shouldn’t be placed between the verb and the object. Be
careful with the order of adjectives before a noun and don’t use auxiliaries in
reported questions and statements.
 GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX

• Don’t translate verb tenses literally but use the tense that best
serves the target text.
• Often the imperfect and the conditional can be translated using
the past simple in English.
• A present or past subjunctive is usually equivalent to a present or
past simple or continuous.
 ASSESSING YOUR WORK

• The main criteria for checking your work are:

• ACCURACY
• NATURALNESS
• CLARITY
• What is expected is a complete comprehension of the ST and the accurate
transfer of information as well as choosing the right words and
reproducing the style and register.
• Technical points such as spelling, grammar and punctuation will also be
taken into consideration, as your aim is to produce a faultless and
coherent text that reads well and doesn’t read like a translation.
 ASSESSING YOUR WORK

• Make sure to check your work thoroughly as you’re doing it and when
you finish. The best way to check for accuracy is to check your first draft
against the original and to make sure that you convey everything in the
ST without adding or omitting anything (copy names, dates and numbers
accurately).
• Then, concentrate on your text to make sure that it reads well and that it
will make sense to the reader. If it doesn’t, then you have to go back to
the original and think of a way to make it clearer.
• At this stage, you’re also checking your work for naturalness, which
involves word order, linking words, sentence structure and collocation.
 RESOURCES FOR TRANSLATION

• If you can’t think of the specific word, use a more general one to cover
the core meaning. If the word is particularly expressive, then you can try
to use a more neutral or less expressive word:
• Complain instead or grumble, moan
• Paraphrase information, but bear in mind that paraphrasing is
grammatically more complicated than coming up with a natural
collocation. Collocations express complex ideas very simply.
• Omit words when you feel that they are not essential for conveying key
information and if their inclusion will make your text sound too awkward
and unnatural.
 RESOURCES FOR TRANSLATION

• Often dictionaries can only point you in the right direction and the word
you require will not be found, as the meaning of some words may only be
determined from the context. It’s actually better sometimes not to use a
dictionary but to convey the information in your own words. Knowing
how things are said in a particular field is of far greater value than the
general definitions to be found in a bilingual dictionary.
• Use a thesaurus to get you thinking along the right lines if you get stuck.