Translation_Tips – Page 2 – Dragoman Transcreation

Use a comma after introductory adverbial phrases

Posted on April 28, 2020June 29, 2020 Translation_Tips

The following text is taken verbatim from the book, 300 Days of Better Writing: A daily handbook for improving your writing written by David Bowman (2010) “An introductory adverbial phrase is a phrase at the beginning of the sentence that tells something about the main verb, such as when it occurred, how, or to what degree. Consider this sentence. “After reading the newspaper, John felt relaxed.” The phrase “after reading the newspaper” tells when John felt relaxed. This phrase is an introductory […]

US English: Place ending punctuation inside the quotation marks

Posted on April 28, 2020May 8, 2020 Style

The following text is taken verbatim from the book, 300 Days of Better Writing: A daily handbook for improving your writing written by David Bowman (2010) “(Note to our friends in Great Britain: reverse the tip in the next paragraph, and you will probably do fine.) When providing a direct quote or using quotation marks to indicate that you are writing about a word or phrase, the comma or period that ends the phrase or sentence should be placed inside […]

Percentage vs. Percentage Point

Posted on April 12, 2020May 7, 2020 Word Usage

A percentage point or percent point is the unit for the arithmetic difference of two percentages. For example, moving up from 20% to 42% is a 22-percentage point increase, but is a 110 percent increase in what is being measured. Let’s see this with an example: Source Text: Trump’s job approval has risen from 44 percent on March 16 by 5 percentage points to 49 percent nine days later on […]

Drop That That

Posted on April 12, 2020May 3, 2020 Sentences

Using too many ‘thats’ will rob your sentences of their pace and spontaneity. This is especially true for verbs of speech or thought such as say, think, know and so on. Read or listen this example carefully: Bolton said that he will make a statement about the share repurchase plan on Monday. Better: Bolton said he will make a statement about the share repurchase plan on Monday. But not all thats are the same. Although some thats sound superfluous, not all […]

Avoiding Long Sentences

Posted on April 12, 2020May 3, 2020 Sentences

Writing long sentences will alienate your readers and would even cost you your customers. Try to shorten your sentences whenever possible: Long: The company will invest $2billion in a new semi-conductor manufacturing plant in San Jose, California, which will have living quarters for engineers, a school, a swimming pool and a recreation center. Better: The company will invest $2billion in a new semi-conductor manufacturing plant in San Jose, California. The plant will have living quarters for engineers, […]

Remote simultaneous interpreting on Zoom video meetings and webinars

Posted on April 12, 2020September 16, 2020 conference interpreting

Dragoman is a leading interpreting agency for Zoom meetings and webinars of any size and for any language combination. Our office can provide you with some of the very best conference interpreters from dozens of countries and in over 100 languages. We constantly test and vet our resources not only for their experience and interpreting skills, but also for their online-readiness. It is critical that interpreters work on decent computers, use broadband internet and high-quality headsets. Zoom has become an […]

as – Misused Words

Posted on December 21, 2019December 19, 2019 Translation_Tips

This article series aims to eliminate usage errors and help non-native speakers to write clearly and fluently. We suggest that you always do proper research and use style guides effectively. For anything you are not sure of, feel free to ask us. Misused word as Alternatives because Explanation “As” is sometimes used to mean “because.” But do not use it if there is any chance of ambiguity. In the example below, “as” could mean “because” or “when.” Example Avoid “We […]

while – Misused Words

Posted on December 20, 2019December 11, 2019 Translation_Tips

since – Misused Words

Posted on December 20, 2019December 11, 2019 Translation_Tips

actual – Misused Words

Posted on December 20, 2019December 19, 2019 Translation_Tips

This article series aims to eliminate usage errors and help non-native speakers to write clearly and fluently. We suggest that you always do proper research and use style guides effectively. For anything you are not sure of, feel free to ask us. Misused word actual Alternatives current, present. Explanation “Actual” is sometimes used to refer to something that is happening now. However, in English it means “real” or “existing”. Example Avoid “This appropriation is intended to cover basic salaries of […]