Category: Style

Industry vs Sector – Dragoman Style

Posted Burak BenkLeave a commentPosted in Style, Translation_Tips, Word Usage

Which one is correct? Industry is smaller, more focused, single business area. Sector is broader. A group of industries form a sector. In Turkish to English translations, authors mainly talk about industries and they use the word “sektör” in Turkish. As a rule, use industry in your translations and not sector, except for “public or private sector.”   Examples: healthcare industry              healthcare sector entertainment industry       entertainment sector banking industry                   banking sector […]

Replace “–tion” Endings With “–ing” for Impactful Sentences

Posted Serdar DundarPosted in Style, Word Usage

Dragoman translators know that using “-tion of” endings will only result in clunky sentences. It also violates EU Guidelines on Clear Writing. The acquisition of a new language will help you improve your job prospects. Better: Acquiring a new language will help you improve your job prospects. You can further explore how you can avoid nominalizations and cast more active sentences here. Nominalization, or using a hidden verb as a noun is a common problem with uninitiated Turkish to English […]

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, […]