Tag: plain English

Address your audience

Posted Elifnur UysalPosted in Sentences, Transcreation, Translation_Tips

If you wish to address your readers directly and captivate them, you should use pronouns, instead of using passive voice or “there is/are.” By using “you,” you make your sentences more relatable to your readers. Besides, they easily understand your point—and what should they do. Here are some examples: Source: Bir şirketi satmak için optimum tarihi şöyle belirlemeniz mümkün: Satış ve kar rakamı yüksek olmalı. Geçmişe dönük birkaç yıl boyunca büyüme trendi sergilenmiş olmalı. Translation: This is how to determine the optimal date […]

Sexism & Gender Neutrality – Editor Notes

Posted Burak BenkLeave a commentPosted in Editor Notes, Style, Translation_Tips

Notes from the Editor – April 2016 Using the singular “they” for gender neutrality English does not have a generic third-person pronoun, unlike, for instance, Turkish. This poses a problem when the person we refer to can be a male or a female. In the past, it was common to use pronouns he, him, and his when referring to persons of either sex. But “he” is no longer accepted as a generic pronoun; on the contrary, it is viewed as […]

Imperative Form – Editor Notes

Posted Burak BenkLeave a commentPosted in Editor Notes, Style, Translation_Tips

Notes from the Editor – March 2016 When to use the imperative form of a verb In some texts, for example, sets of instructions, web content, or advertising copy, it is more natural in English to address the reader directly using the imperative form of the verb. The source language of the text you are translating or editing may literally say that “you can” or “you may” do something in certain situations. However, it may not necessarily mean that you […]

Translating company names – Editor Notes

Posted Burak BenkLeave a commentPosted in Editor Notes, Style, Translation_Tips

Notes from the Editor – August 2015 Do not translate full company names Full company names are registered names of businesses in their country of incorporation and, therefore, should not be translated.* Canon Inc., for example, is the full company name of Canon in Japan. The company was incorporated in Japan as Canon Inc. So, if you come across Canon Inc. in the text you are translating, you should leave it as is. The same applies to Canon U.S.A., Inc. […]

Get the job titles right – Editor Notes

Posted Burak BenkLeave a commentPosted in Editor Notes, Localisation, Style, Translation_Tips

Notes from the Editor – June 2015 Get the job titles right Forget about translating job titles or using online dictionaries for that purpose! The ideal way to find a person’s professional title is to check the website of the company they are working at. We need to look for other reliable sources only when the company website is not comprehensive enough or when there is no English version of it. One of these reliable sources is LinkedIn. If you […]

Press Releases: Do’s and Don’ts

Posted dragomanLeave a commentPosted in Editor Notes, Translation_Tips

Get your message across The point of a press release is to communicate your message. What you write needs to be both read and understood. Writing and translating (or transcreating) press releases is a constant challenge. Every day, individuals are bombarded at home and in work with hundreds of media choices. They are forced to make decisions about what to read. Of those who are tempted by an article headline, about 60 percent will never read a single word of […]