TRANSLATION PROBLEMS

Translation Problems

• Common Errors in Translation

Syntax/Grammar Errors

 These errors are produced when the translator is faithful to the syntax of the source language. The following is an example of inappropriate translation from English to Spanish in which the incorrect translation is motivated by faithfulness to the syntax of English. The error in the following example stems from the fact that, in English, a noun in the subject position (“charges”) is not preceded by an article (“the”). In Spanish, nouns in the subject position have to be preceded by an article (“Los costos”).

Vocabulary Errors

Some words sound similarly from language to language. For examples, “sensible” in English and “sensible”  in Spanish. However, they have totally different meanings: “intelligent” in English and “sensitive” in Spanish. These words are considered false cognates of these languages. If we use Spanish “sensible” to translate English “sensible”, we are making a translation error at the vocabulary level. In the following example, the word “pariente”, which means “relative” in Spanish, is incorrectly used to translate “parent” in English.

Spelling/Punctuation errors

These are not necessarily translation errors. They happen when the translator or the text creator does not follow the spelling / punctuation rules of the target language. These errors may result in loss of credibility in the information provided or the source of the material. In the following example, the Spanish word “proteja” is incorrectly spelled as “protega”. This error can have a very negative impact in the reader (in this case, the patient).

(Source: http://www.hablamosjuntos.org/sm/default.common_translation_errors.asp)