Category: Style

Punctuation: American vs. British English

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style, Translation_Tips

American English and British English may have quite odd differences. Learning diferences is spelling and punctuation is hard work and requires a lof of reading and practise. One of these differences is about using punctuation with quotation marks. Here is a comparison. Dragoman translators know that in American English, punctuation goes inside the quotation marks, regardless of whether it is part of the quoted sentence or not, and in British English, punctuation that is not part of the quoted sentence […]

Parallel Construction in Bullet Lists

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style, Translation_Tips

If you are building a bullet list in English, you also need to build a parallel construction in your bullet list. Now the source text may not always have it. This means you are expect to be a little creative to change the sentence structure. You do not have to delete or omit any part of the message. Check out this example: Incorrect: Our state-of-the-art hotel offers: Unparalleled location Matchless views of the Pacific You can check in anytime Correct: Our […]

UK vs. US Date Format

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style

When translating into English, we want Dragoman translators to check which English spelling style will be used in the translation. Your NUBUTO inbox shows UK or US English, so please pay attention to the target variety of English. English has many varieties, the most common being British English and American English. Although prefers American English in most of its Turkish to English translations, we also translate into British English (e.g. The British Council). We do not expect our translators to have a comprehensive grasp of […]

Order in a Sentence

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style, Transcreation

Dragoman translators prefer ordering elements of series in a sentence from short to long in order to make them easier to read. McKinsey has offices in 120+ cities in 60+ countries including the Czech Republic, Greece, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Better:   McKinsey has offices in 120+ cities in 60+ countries including Qatar, Greece, the Czech Republic and the United Arab Emirates. Goldman Sachs offers services in investment management, securities, asset management, prime brokerage, and securities underwriting. Better:   Goldman Sachs […]

Cutting the Fat: Avoid Superfluous Nouns

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style, Word Usage

Dragoman prefers to translate ideas as succinctly as possible. This means cutting superfluous nouns that add nothing to what we are trying to communicate to our readers. Translation Example 1: Many studies in the field of economics highlight the importance of transaction costs. Better:  Many studies in economics highlight the importance of transaction costs.   Translation Example 2: Weather conditions are expected to deteriorate over the weekend. Better:  Weather is expected to deteriorate over the weekend.   You can further explore how […]

Avoiding Gender Bias

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style, Translation_Tips, Word Usage

Dragoman prefers using gender-neutral vocabulary in its translations wherever possible. Inappropriate:      This small, soil dwelling, bacteria eating, unsegmented worm may be an important key in mankind‘s endeavor to explore space. Gender-neutral:   This small, soil dwelling, bacteria eating, unsegmented worm may be an important key in humankind‘s endeavor to explore space. Inappropriate:     In this edition, Elizabeth Warren, chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel, discusses TARP and the legacy of “too big to fail.” Gender-neutral:  In this edition, Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, […]

Contractions

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Sentences, Style, translation, Translation_Tips

The AP Stylebook recommends avoiding excessive use of contractions. Yet, it all depends on the context. If we are translating formal documents such as contracts, financial reports, user guides, journal articles and so on, we must never use contractions. Incorrect: The Parties agree that they shan’t discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, sex or national origin. Correct:     The Parties agree that they shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because […]

Noon and Midnight

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style, Translation_Tips

AP Style prefers using figures except for noon and midnight. In other words, we must use noon and midnight to refer to 12 a.m. and 24 p.m., respectively. We can also use the 24-hour clock to avoid confusing our readers. On the other hand, since the 24-hour clock is used in military and scientific contexts in the United States and Dragoman prefers U.S. English, we should be using the 12-hour notation. Incorrect:   The lecture scheduled to begin at 12 a.m. has just […]

a.m. and p.m.

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style, Translation_Tips

Dragoman and AP Stylebook differs slightly in expressing time. Although both styles prefer lowercase a.m. and p.m. for ante meridiem and post meridiem, Dragoman prefers the 24-hour representation of time, while AP Style prefers the 12-hour representation of time and Incorrect:  The meeting will start at 9:45 A.M. and end at 13:00 P.M. Correct:     The meeting will start at 9:45 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. You can further explore the topic by watching a YouTube video featuring Mignon Fogarty, […]