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Revision: No 19 in a series about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English People sometimes ask me what revision means. “Editing a translation”, I say. We recommend revising translations of all important texts, especially ones for publication. But perhaps it’s not so easy for people outside the business to understand why this is so important. So here’s an example from real … Read more

No 18 in a series about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English Why do we use capital letters? The other day I was confronted with this translation: “The Ministry has strongly supported the Project, although the Contract has not yet been signed.“ Now, German starts every noun with a capital letter, but English doesn’t. I don’t pretend to be an expert … Read more

No 17 in a series about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English Some things seem straightforward, but in fact give rise to surprisingly frequent problems: adjectives are a case in point. Describe it with an adjective… An adjective is often used to describe a noun: a live cat; a dead rat; an infectious bat. But what if there is no adjective … Read more

No 16 in a series about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English Abbreviations can be awkward for translators. Different languages sometimes abbreviate different words. The Serbian ‘i sl.’, meaning ‘and similar’, has no equivalent in English that I can think of. Should you then, like one translator, make one up and write ‘& sim.’? I don’t think so. This cuts to … Read more

No 15 in a series of articles about translating into English In the previous article I made a reference to articles. Not the same kind of course, the word has several meanings. I was speaking of the article as a little word that can make a subtle or an obvious difference to the meaning of a phrase in many languages, but not in … Read more

No 14 in a series of articles about translating into English – Machine Translation Last year, as Covid-19 was making itself felt on procedures and instructions around the world, I was given a translation to revise: instructions for the treatment of household waste during a pandemic. It presented measures to be taken when you have a Covid patient in the house. Among others, … Read more

Business terms for the business of terms No 13½ in a series of articles about translating business terms from Serbian (and other languages) into English I didn’t quite get to finish the subject of business terms in the last post, so here’s an addendum. The common use of the term ‘citizens’ to mean ‘people’ (see previous post), when what is really meant may … Read more

No 13 in a series of articles about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English Business translation We recently translated a series of articles on the subject of doing business in Serbia. They were for a special edition of a magazine, and they all came together with short deadlines. I always wonder why this happens, there was no current news or anything … Read more

No 12 in a series of articles about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into British or American English US or UK – or neither Should we use British or American English? We often get asked for one or the other, and it can sometimes seem as if people think these are the only two there are. But a quick bit of research … Read more

No 11 in a series of articles about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English – Shall or will? Shall we or will you? Recently, I translated a simple sentence that said: ‘The company expects its suppliers to conform to…(certain standards)’. The client called and said: “Can’t we say: ‘The company shall expect its suppliers…’. It makes it so much more formal, … Read more

No 10 in a series of articles about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English – Time About time Time is one of those words whose meaning changes substantially with its article. Try asking a Brit: “Excuse me, what is time?” An honest answer may be something like: “an abstract concept that I would struggle to define”. While there is always a … Read more

No 9 in a series of articles about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English Time for one or two Serbian specialties. Some of them will not be restricted to Serbian, I suspect, but it’s in this context that I have encountered them (or Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin… BCMS, as some so inelegantly put it). Some words just don’t translate easily, often because … Read more

No 8 in a series of articles about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English – commas and uncountables Let’s turn to a couple of items that have nothing at all to do with each other: uncountableness and the comma. Uncountable nouns Unlike things like articles, this is something that shouldn’t be difficult, and I don’t think it is. But misuse of … Read more

No 7 in a series of articles about translating from Serbian (and other languages) into English Inflation of concept It’s funny how inflation can apply not only to currencies, but also to words. Sometimes, a word seems to offer insufficient emphasis, and a new one is made to correct this. Then people learn the new word, and use it where the old one … Read more

And or or: No 6 in a series of articles about translating into English Odds and ends, starting with when we use and or or Time to take a shufty, a butcher’s or just a look at some small phrases that are often misused simply because the difference between good and less good is overlooked. (The terms in the previous sentence, just by … Read more

All the President’s Persons – No 5 in a series about translating into English From the public to the president Titles do not necessarily translate directly from one language to another. In British English, a president is a head of state, the top figure in a country that has one. She or he can be an executive president (one that runs the government), … Read more

A few Odds and Ends in Frequent Use – No 4 in a series of articles about translating into English One of the things that make a text readable or not is its conciseness. Unnecessary guff tires the reader, so keep it simple. The use of over-precise terms can do that too. Simplicity is always a good idea, unless you have a cunning … Read more

That and which – No 3 in a series of articles about translating into English Double, double toil and trouble; Fire which burns or caldron that bubbles? (Sorry, Bill.) Out of that and which, a lot of people seem to have trouble deciding which to use. It can seem confusing, but it shouldn’t be, there is a clear rule. That doesn’t mean that … Read more

Source Sentence Structure – No 2 in a series of articles about translating into English One of the most common translation problems I’ve noticed comes with retaining a Serbian (or other) sentence structure when it’s inappropriate. It can be grammatically correct, but just not the way an English-speaking person would express it. It can also be confusing. When you come across a long, … Read more

Translating into English is the first article in a series. A personal view from my experience editing (mostly Serbian) translations into English over a couple of decades Over the years that we have been working with translation at Halifax, I have edited and proofread many texts on many subjects translated into English by good translators. At one point I began to be aware … Read more