Style – Page 2 – Dragoman Transcreation

Industry vs Sector – Dragoman Style

Posted on October 1, 2019October 2, 2019 Style

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 […]

one-third but two-thirds

Posted on April 5, 2019July 13, 2019 Style

One-third is 1/3 or one out of three. It is singular (one). Two-thirds is 2/3 or two out of three. It is plural (two). Some style guides do not use hypen, Dragoman does.

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

Posted on November 7, 2018January 27, 2019 Style

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 on November 7, 2018January 27, 2019 Style

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 on November 7, 2018January 27, 2019 Style

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 on November 7, 2018November 10, 2018 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 on October 10, 2018October 10, 2018 Style

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 on October 10, 2018June 7, 2019 Style

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 on September 19, 2018September 22, 2018 Style

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, […]

Internet: To Capitalize or To Not Capitalize

Posted on September 19, 2018September 27, 2018 Style

Dragoman uses AP Style, and AP no longer capitalizes the word internet. Incorrect: The bogus article contained a software tool that could verify Internet addresses. Correct: The bogus article contained a software tool that could verify internet addresses. You can further explore this updated writing style topic here.