| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: When translating, how often do you turn one sentence into two, or vice versa? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "When translating, how often do you turn one sentence into two, or vice versa?".
View the poll results »
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:47
Spanish to English
+ ...
My working pair is ES-EN and Spanish is notorious for its lengthy sentences compared to English...
PS: In fact I had to split one up this morning in an academic paper I'm revising, as the way it was written originally by the author the meaning was unclear. I informed them in a note anyway, also asking them to confirm my understanding of the phrase.
[Edited at 2013-01-29 15:46 GMT]
| | | | Michael Harris 
Germany
Local time: 15:47
Member (2006)
German to English
I am not such a fan of such comments, but what stupid question is this?
If you need to cut the sentence then cut it .....
No more comment(s)
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If I think the text flows better with a more natural style as a result...
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Tatty
Local time: 15:47
Spanish to English
+ ...
Little bit of a strange question, but here goes. I translate mainly from Spanish into English. Spanish sentences tend to be lengthy and not to have a main focus. So I make my sentence in English have a main thrust, and then I use subordinations. Anything left over goes into a sentence of its own. But I do try to keep sentences as long as possible. I don't break them down into bite size chunks. This is because I'm trying to make the author as look as intellectual or as articulate as possible. Flo... See more Little bit of a strange question, but here goes. I translate mainly from Spanish into English. Spanish sentences tend to be lengthy and not to have a main focus. So I make my sentence in English have a main thrust, and then I use subordinations. Anything left over goes into a sentence of its own. But I do try to keep sentences as long as possible. I don't break them down into bite size chunks. This is because I'm trying to make the author as look as intellectual or as articulate as possible. Flow has a lot to do with it, naturally. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 16:47
Turkish to English
+ ...
I would say (almost) never when working as a legal translator, which is my main specialism, because, in my opinion, there must be a high degree of correspondence between a legal translation and the source text. If the translation is of a document that has been submitted in litigation and, for example, one of the parties argues that "the third sentence of the second paragraph on page six says ...", then it must be possible to identify this sentence in both the source text and the translation.
... See more I would say (almost) never when working as a legal translator, which is my main specialism, because, in my opinion, there must be a high degree of correspondence between a legal translation and the source text. If the translation is of a document that has been submitted in litigation and, for example, one of the parties argues that "the third sentence of the second paragraph on page six says ...", then it must be possible to identify this sentence in both the source text and the translation.
On the other hand, if the purpose is to produce a publishable end result, very different considerations come into play. ▲ Collapse
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I like this question!
This is exactly what I was doing a minute ago when I got overwhelmed and took a break to check today's poll. I was dealing with a sentence 130 words long with many clauses. This is a report for publication, not a patent or legalese.
For me, an important criterion is the number of embedded clauses. My 130-word sentence (in Spanish) had six embedded clauses. The English reader is simply not used to following such a convoluted line of thinking. Anoth... See more I like this question!
This is exactly what I was doing a minute ago when I got overwhelmed and took a break to check today's poll. I was dealing with a sentence 130 words long with many clauses. This is a report for publication, not a patent or legalese.
For me, an important criterion is the number of embedded clauses. My 130-word sentence (in Spanish) had six embedded clauses. The English reader is simply not used to following such a convoluted line of thinking. Another criterion is the relatedness of the clauses. In this case several quite different points were being made in the same sentence.
My guess is that this kind of writing is a product of stream-of-consciousness dictation.
[Edited at 2013-01-29 09:57 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Gudrun Maydorn (X)
Germany
Local time: 15:47
English to German
+ ...
| Frequently in technical manuals | Jan 29, 2013 |
With customer's approval.
| | | | Jean NICOLET
France
Local time: 15:47
English to French
+ ...
Interesting question indeed!
I tend to use it rarely when translating financial documents. But when faced to more creative content, say video games, I don't mind splitting, merging, and making everything upside down
| | | | Allison Wright (X)
Portugal
Local time: 14:47
Only if necessary, but there is definitely an art to it, and you need to have the correct tools:
How to deal with an endlessly convoluted sentence.
Wie man einen Bandwurmsatz behandelt.
| | | | mustafaer
Türkiye
Local time: 16:47
Member (2005)
| A little of both would be my choice | Jan 29, 2013 |
Like life itself: loyal but ugly or beautiful but not loyal; whichever suits you best...
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Helen Hagon
Local time: 14:47
Member (2011)
Russian to English
+ ...
I can see that it might be different for a technical or legal text, where a more literal translation is required. However, I am currently working on a literary text and have split several sentences already this morning. Russian is a much more succinct, 'tidy' language than English and so a translation is generally considerably longer than the original. Translating an already long, complex sentence into English often results in something quite unwieldy and difficult to understand. Therefore, ... See more I can see that it might be different for a technical or legal text, where a more literal translation is required. However, I am currently working on a literary text and have split several sentences already this morning. Russian is a much more succinct, 'tidy' language than English and so a translation is generally considerably longer than the original. Translating an already long, complex sentence into English often results in something quite unwieldy and difficult to understand. Therefore, for reasons of style and comprehension, it can much better to split the sentence into two. For similar reasons, I rarely find myself joining two sentences together. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alison Sabedoria (X)
United Kingdom
French to English
+ ...
| Often part of the brief | Jan 29, 2013 |
Many of the marketing and technical texts I translate will be read by customers who use English as a second language. Shorter sentences are usually a must.
In literary texts, I try to respect sentence length as part of the author's style. However, I might still cut or combine if the effect in English is more natural.
| | | | | All the time | Jan 29, 2013 |
I think it's a great question because the results really surprised me!
I chop and change text all the time. I think it is an essential part of being a human translator rather than a machine.
It is much more difficult to do using CAT, which is another reason why CAT tends to reduce translation quality.
I kind of agree with the legal objection, but joining/splitting sentences can still be essential to convey the meaning of the original accurately and unambigu... See more I think it's a great question because the results really surprised me!
I chop and change text all the time. I think it is an essential part of being a human translator rather than a machine.
It is much more difficult to do using CAT, which is another reason why CAT tends to reduce translation quality.
I kind of agree with the legal objection, but joining/splitting sentences can still be essential to convey the meaning of the original accurately and unambiguously. ▲ Collapse
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