Tips on translating in German to English part 4

Welcome back to my tips on translating. If you want to check out my last post, it can be found here, and it also contains links to earlier posts.

This time I am going to concentrate solely on a few errors that have cropped up recently. There may be some cross-over with general points I have made in earlier posts, but here I have picked up on specific examples so that I can give them a little more focus. (Once again, since these are examples taken from jobs completed for Gengo, any errors in examples, either German or English are not mine!) Where I have provided a suggestion for an alternative translation, it is not always the only option and you may come up with something different that is just as good, or even better.

Firstly, I want to talk about literal translations. As I have said before, there are many cases where a literal translation from the German sounds wrong in English and your translation needs to be more creative. A good example is the translation below – there is no need to include the original, as a native English speaker should instantly recognise that this is a translation:

This FFP2 mask convinces with maximum protection and wearing comfort.

This is a case where the entire sentence needs rewording: “convinces” and “wearing comfort” in particular are examples of German phrasing that does not sound right to the English ear. For instance:

This FFP2 mask provides maximum protection and is extremely comfortable, making it an excellent buy.

I could have expanded it to say the mask is “comfortable to wear”, but since the last part can be assumed it is usually unnecessary.

Similarly, the German tendency to add a phrase after a colon within a text is mostly better reworded. This is an example of what I mean:

Experts convinced: wearing a mask will be compulsory…

To the English ear this sounds more like a heading, and when contained in a text it needs to flow. E.g.:

Experts are convinced that wearing a mask will be compulsory…

A small change, but a big improvement. Keep the short, sharp version for headings and expand your text a little for ease of reading.

Next, I have said it before but it needs repeating. Be familiar with differences between German style and English styles – and, in particular, be familiar with the Gengo Style Guide. The British English version is here (in case you are not already aware, Gengo’s default for EN is American English). In many cases, knowing the guide will help you with things you might not have known before, such as numerical and currency formats. Examples of incorrect formats are:

€ 38,000.00

1,74 €

Which should read:

€38,000.00 or €38,000

€1.74

With the larger figure, and with many sums of money that do not contain cents after the euro figure, it is not generally necessary to add the zeros after the euros – as in my alternative version. In case you didn’t spot it, the larger figure in my first example had a space after the euro symbol and the second figure had a comma instead of a period/full stop before the cent figure, in addition to having the euro symbol in the wrong place (or as it is used in German).

Another example, which has cropped up in my text above, is the use of a dash or a hyphen. A hyphen is used to join two words as in, for example, a double adjective (a high-quality piece of furniture) and a dash is used as punctuation – like this. You can create a dash with your numerical keypad if necessary (alt 0150 is an en dash, and alt 0151 is an em dash). I am typing this in Word, which automatically inserts a dash for me in the right place, but the Gengo workbench doesn’t do that for you, so you need to be aware of when a dash is required.

Another thing to be careful about is adding or omitting text from the original. The following start of a sentence reads:

Da ich geschrieben hatte…

This was translated as

I had written…

The omission of “Da” may make a significant difference to the meaning of the text. Sometimes the omission is not so important (as in my example of omitting “to wear” above) but often it can make a real difference. In the case I have just quoted, it is necessary to the meaning.

Finally, another reminder – to proofread your translation carefully before you submit it. These two errors:

if instead of I

and

form instead of from

may only have been typos, but they make a big difference to the meaning of your translation. I am well aware that it is very easy to make typos – I do so myself pretty often – but it is extremely important to check what you have typed before you hit the submit button, and edit out any errors so that you can ensure that your translation is free of avoidable errors such as these.

That’s all this time. As always, please feel free to comment or ask questions. I will, of course, be happy to answer you.