Traduccion-general (+ EJERS CLAS...

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Traducción General Directa e Inversa

2º Grado en Lenguas Modernas y sus Literaturas

Facultad de Filosofía y Letras

Universidad de Oviedo

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 Topic 1. Before translating. The source text (ST): selection, reading and analysis.
Intertext (IT) management: translation and revision. Common problems. Basic
resources and techniques. The target text (TT): editing criteria.

Translation vs interpretation
Translation is the delayed transmission of the meaning of a written source text (wST) into a
written target/translated/translation text (wTT) by means of equivalence mechanisms.

Interpretation is the near-simultaneous or consecutive transmission of the meaning of an oral

source text (oST) into an oral target/interpreted/interpretation text (oTT) by the same means.

Interpreting antedates translating. Translation began after the appearance of the written
word.

Direct/ reverse general translation

Translators usually translate into their own language. This is called direct translation (DT).
Quite often however they also do reverse translation (RT), when they translate into a foreign
language.
In this course we will translate from English into Spanish, and from Spanish into English. For
the vast majority of the course participants, whose L1 is Spanish and whose L2 is English,
this will mean doing DT and RT respectively.
General Translation means that the texts to be translated belong to the 'common core' of the
language, not to specialist registers.

More on “source text” (ST) and related concepts

The source text (ST) is the text to be translated, and the translation, translated or target text
(TT) is the text resulting from the translation process.
The translation process often yields an intertext (IT) or provisional text to be managed and
reworked several times (cf PLA 1).
The ST and the TT should be equivalent (ie, have the same communicative value)

A ‘word for word‘ or ‘literal’ translation of a text is practically impossible. At best it results in a
calque, something in principle to be avoided. ‘Free' translation is paraphrasis or adaptation,
not true translation.
A stereotype to be avoided when analysing a TT is this: *I have chosen this word because it
sounds more natural (?). I have chosen this term because it is accurate in terms of linguistic
equivalence

Selecting, reading and analysing the source text (ST): A few tips

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 ● ST Selecting: Use reliable platforms & formats (beware of old editions, the internet
etc; look for canon).
● ST Reading: Read ST (a) as a text and (b) as a text to be translated
● ST Analysing: Solve main doubts before translating. Use dictionaries & other tools.
Decide on initial vs final equivalence. Think in terms of specific equivalences
(linguistic, cultural, literary). [see below].

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On the importance of ST selection: An Example

More on “intertext (IT) management”, related concepts and common problems

Intertext (IT): provisional text(s) between the ST and the TT.
● Be aware that the IT is dynamic, provisional, and may have errors.
● Be prepared to ‘manage’ and rework the IT.
● Apply resources and e-resources as needed.
● Consult doubts.

Intertext management is carried out as a quest for equivalence. Equivalence [Sp.

Equivalencia] is the single most important concept in translation. Two things are equivalent
[Sp. equivalentes] when they have similar or identical effects; equivalence is therefore the
state or condition of being equivalent. In translation, through IT management, the ST and the
TT must be equivalent.

More on equivalence: other concepts to used in the course

(1) Two basic orientations (KÖnigs)

SL ORIENTATED OR INITIAL - TL ORIENTATED OR FINAL
Foreignizing-domesticating
(2) THREE BASIC TYPES (Rutherford)
LINGUISTIC (equivalencia lingüística)
CULTURAL (equivalencia cultural)
LITERARY (equivalencia literaria)
(3) A NOTE ON PRAGMATIC EQUIVALENCE

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Traducción General Directa e...
Banco de apuntes de la
 Si se inclina la traducción hacia la SL, estamos realizando “foreignizing”, mientras que si nos
inclinamos hacia la TL, se trata de “domesticating”.

An example of SL orientated vs TL oriented equivalence.

ST: Foreign Office Secretary
TT1: Secretario del Foreign Office

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TT2: Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores

TT1 uses SL orientated equivalence It leads to foreignizing and uses calques (“secretario”)
and even SL words without change (“Foreign Office”).
TT2 uses TL orientated equivalence. It leads to domestication and avoids calques (it uses
“ministro” instead) and SL words (“Asuntos exteriores” is TL vocabulary).

Esta diferencia depende del tipo de texto, el público al que está dirigido y los factores
contextuales o psicológicos.

An example of linguistic equivalence: translate into Spanish

The cat sat on the mat

Todas estas opciones corresponden a la equivalencia lingüística. Las equivalencias

culturales y literarias, las utilizaremos para reducir estas posibilidades.

Cultural equivalence will help the translator narrow down the multiple choices offered by
purely linguistic equivalences. “Cultures” do not translate easily, though.

Literary equivalence:
The cat sat on the mat
X/X/X

(IAMBIC RHYTHM + ALLITERATION)

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 A run-on example of *non-literary equivalence

ST: “She was in no way a remarkable person. Her appearance was not particular and yet
she was without any feature that could displace”.
Angus Wilson, an extract from A little Companion, 1968.

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TT1: “ No era de ninguna manera una persona notable. Su apariencia no era
particularmente distinguida y sin embargo no tenía ninguna característica que pudiese
disgustar”.

TT2: “No destacaba en ningún sentido. Su porte no era precisamente conspicuo. Sin
embargo, nada en ella provocaba desagrado”.

A final note on equivalence: pragmatic equivalence

There are many more classifications of equivalence. For the purposes of this practical
course they can be ignored, since the one seen above is quite comprehensive and clear.

The partial exception is pragmatic equivalence. There is pragmatic equivalence between two
expressions, paragraphs, texts… in different languages if they have the same meaning value
and perform the same function (even if their respective languages forms, structures, words…
are quite different from each other). Compare:

“Perdona, ¿tienes fuego?”

“Can you give me a light, please?”

Pragmatic equivalence can be considered an aspect of linguistic equivalence, though it

sometimes involves cultural aspects. Obviously it must be paid due attention when
translating. These translation from the STs adove are not possible

Translation of names (places, people)

Naturally, names may appear in just any kind of translation, general or specialist. Here we
deal with the translation of names in general translation (Sp-En). Rather than either
translating names or not, some fairly established criteria are applied.

Place names:
Name of countries, states, provinces, cities and general geographic points are translated
when there is an “established” equivalence in the TL.
Examples of names originally in English: Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Irlanda, Islas
Marshall(las), Rhodesia…

● US states (and similar): Nuevo México, Dakota del Norte, Carolina del Sur, Nueva
York, Nueva Jersey, Nueva Inglaterra, Pensilvania, Misisipi, Misuri, Nueva Escocia
(“Nova Scotia”), Nueva Gales del Sur…

● Regions: Escocia (“Scotland”), Cornualles (“Cornwall”)...

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 ● Capitals and other cities: Londres, Filadelfia, Nueva Orleans, Edimburgo… but
Washington, Houston, Glasgow…

● Other: Islas Caimán (“Cayman Islands”), Las Hébridas (“The Hebrides”), Hawái
(“Hawaii”)...

We do not translate names of parks , streets or squares: Hyde Park, Central Park, Wall
Street, Knightsbridge, Washington Square, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus… Exceptions
include: La Quinta Avenida (Nueva York).

Examples from names originally in Spanish include:

● Countries: Spain, Mexico, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Peru, Argentina…

● States (Esp-Mexican): Baja California, Campeche, Morelos…

● Autonomous communities, Regions: Catalonia, Basque Country, Andalusia, Aragon,

Extremadura, (Principality of) Asturias…

● Capitals and other cities: Seville, Saragossa, Corunna, Cadiz… but Madrid,
Barcelona, Valencia, Oviedo… The translated names of the capitals depend on the
historical importance of these cities in England.

● Other: Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Falkland Islands (“Islas Malvinas”)...

● Names of parks, streets, squares: Manzanares Park, Sabatini Park, Saint Isidore
Cemetery… but Calle de Alcalá, Plaza de Cibeles...

We translate the name of a place, city, square… ONLY when there is an already established
translation for this name.

People’s names:
When translating names, an important distinction should be made between historical/real
names and fictitious/literary names.

When dealing with real names of popes, royals, saints and universally known people,
translating the names is the norm.
E-S
● Queen Elizabeth II (“La reina Isabel II de Inglaterra”)
● Pope John XXIII (“El papa Juan XXIII”)
● Pope Francis (“El papa Francisco”)
● St Francis of Assisi (“San Francisco de Asís”)

But S-E
● El rey Juan Carlos I (“King Juan Carlos of Spain”)
● El rey Felipe VI (“King Felipe VI”)

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 Literary authors and literary characters also present a variety of options.

More on “resources and techniques”

Traditional and eMonolingual dictionaries of Spanish (DRAE, María Moliner, Espasa-Calpe
etc.) and English (Collins Cobuild, Oxford, Longman).

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Bilingual dictionaries (Collins, Larousse). WordReference.com | Online Language
Dictionaries. Other Encyclopaedic dictionaries, glossaries, synonyms. dictionaries, style
manuals, machine translators.
Dorothy Kelly A handbook for translator trainers (Manchester: St Jerome, 2006). BUO

AN ADVISABLE TECHNIQUE WHEN TRANSLATING: A few do’s

(1) Produce a 1st draft as close to the ST as possible.
(2) Ignore the ST and change your 1st draft into a 2nd draft as close to the Target Language
(TL) and its rules as possible.
(3) Produce a 3rd and final draft which is the result of checking your 2nd draft against the ST.
(4) Ask someone else to read (3)

AN ADVISABLE TECHNIQUE: A few don’ts

(1) Avoid mistranslations
(2) Avoid under translations
(3) Avoid over translations
(4) Avoid leaving blanks or untranslated words

An example:
Before translating. Selecting, reading and analysing the source text (ST). Intertext
management: Writing and revising. Common problems. Basic resources and techniques. the
translation text (TT): Editing criteria.

Intertext

*Un ejemplo.

Antes de traducir: Seleccionando, leyendo y analizando el texto fuente (TF). Gestión de

intertexto: Escribiendo y revisando. Problemas comunes. Recursos y técnicas básicas. El
texto meta (TM): Criterios de edición.

Final text

Ejemplo

La pre-traducción. Preparación, lectura y análisis del Texto Origen (TO). El intertexto:

composición, revisión, correcciones, problemas más comunes. Técnicas y recursos
básicos. El Texto Meta (TM): criterios fundamentales de edición textual. TRADGEN T

The TT: Editing criteria

TT is the final result, but it has to be “prepared for publication or presentation” (“edited”).
Editing criteria will vary depending on:

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 (a) The means of transmission of TT.
(b) The intended audience.

(a) + (b) will have a bearing on:

● General layout (product format, size, type…)
● Specific layout (front type & size, margins…)

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● Presence/absence of introduction, footnotes...

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 Topic 2: General translation practice (English↔Spanish). Problem-solving techniques.
Punctuation: language specific conventions. Lexicon: false friends, idioms, proverbs,
euphemisms and cases of collocation.

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Punctuation: language-specific conventions

Rewrite the following text according to the rules of punctuation in English:

My name is Arian Webber. I am forty two and I was born in Delhi, India. This was due to the
fact that my father had spent most of his adult life in India, in the Indian police, up to that
time. I have a sister who is eight years older than myself. She was also born in India. And
my childhood was very varied and quite happy, as I remember.

Me llamo Arian Webber. Tengo 42 años y nací en Delhi, la India. Ello se debe a que mi
padre pasó la mayor parte de su vida adulta en la India, trabajando en la policía hindú hasta
ese momento. Tengo una hermana que me lleva ocho años. Nació en la India también.Mi
infancia fue muy especial, y muy feliz, por lo que recuerdo.

False friends

a) Pilar trabajaba en una librería y por las tardes estudiaba en la biblioteca.

Pilar used to work in a bookshop and in the afternoon she studied in the library.

b) Mis padres tienen muchos parientes.

My parents have a lot of relatives.

c) Había una carpeta encima de la alfombra.

There was a folder on the carpet.

d) Esa pareja pretendía fingir que estaban casados.

That couple intended to pretend they were married.

e) Cuando llegaron se dieron cuenta de que habíamos realizado la mayor parte del trabajo.
When they got there, they realised we had done most of the work.

f) No puedo soportar a los que apoyan el racismo. I can’t stand racism supporters/those
who support racism.

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 a) He has gained quite a few kilos since he started earning money.
Ha engordado bastantes kilos desde que empezó a ganar dinero.

b) We were in front of the house when we saw her standing opposite us.
Estábamos delante de la casa cuando la vimos frente a nosotros.

c) They are very young at present. Actually they are only in their teens.
Son muy jóvenes. En realidad, son solo adolescentes.

d) He is very comfortable in his new accommodation.

Está muy cómodo en el alojamiento de ahora.

e) The wall was badly built; to be more specific, it should have been covered with concrete.
La pared estaba mal hecha; en concreto, deberían haberla cubierto de hormigón.

f) This writer gave an interesting lecture at the annual conference, which included readings
of some of his poems.
Este escritor dio una conferencia interesante en el congreso anual. Incluyó la lectura de
algunos de sus poemas.

Idioms and related concepts

COED:
•Idiom: group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those
of the individual words (e.g. over the moon).

DRAE:
• modismo: expresión fija, privativa de una lengua, cuyo significado no se deduce de las
palabras que la forman (p. ej., hasta las narices)

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Modisms Idioms

Está tan claro como el agua It’s as clear as crystal/ crystal water

Le costó un ojo de la cara It cost him an arm and a leg

Estaban en las nubes They had no idea

Empezaron la casa por el tejado They put the cart before the horse

Ella tenía la sartén por el mango She ran the show

Vete al grano Get/go to the point

He slept like a log Durmió como un tronco/lirón

It’s a small log El mundo es un pañuelo

She hit the nail on the head Dio en el clavo

Out of the frying pan, into the fire Salir de Guatemala para ir a guatepeor

They turned a blind eye Hicieron la vista gorda

Proverb: short, wise saying or admonition providing guidance and embodying some
commonplace fact or experience: refrán.

A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda The early bird catches the worm

Zamora no se hizo en una hora Rome wasn’t built in one day

Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente Out of sight, out of mind

El último que ríe, ríe mejor He who laughs last, laughs longer

El tiempo es oro Time is money

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 Más vale prevenir que curar Better safe than sorry

No hay mal que por bien no venga Every cloud has a silver lining

Whenever possible, an idiom translates an idiom and a proverb translates a proverb. This is
related to pragmatic and cultural equivalence.

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Euphemisms and politically correct language: words used to replace other words which are
considered offensive or hurtful, in areas related to taboo subjects. They are often culturally
bound. Human body, sex, gender, religion, war, ethnic minorities, menial jobs, disabilities…

“I used to think I was poor. Then they told me I wasn’t poor, I was needy. They told me it was
self-defeating to think of myself as needy, I was deprived. Then they told me underprivileged
was overused. I was disadvantaged. I still don’t have a dime. But I have a great vocabulary.”
(Jules Feifer)

Nursing home…
Assisted living facility Instituto gerontológico

Convalescent home Residencia

(Long-term) Rest/care home Residencia geriátrica

Retirement facility Residencia de mayores

Residence for the eldery Residencia de Ancianos

Skilled Nursing facility (SNF) REsidencia para la tercera edad

Old Folks /people’s home

Alshouse Asilo (de ancianos)

Refuse/garbage collector, disposal operative, sanitation person (UK), sanitation engineer

(USA)
Basurero -> recolector de desechos

Jail Prison correctional / secure facility

Cárcel/prisión/centro penitenciario/institución correccional/centro de reinserción social

Prisoner
Preso recluso interno

‘Disease’ (avoided) - ‘condition’ (allowed)

Enfermedad

Old man, elderly man, elder person, ged man, senior citizen
Viejo, anciano, entrado en años, mayorde la tercera edad

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 Euphemisms also include ‘deformed’ versions of a the taboo word (Gosh! Frigging… Me
caso en ros…) ALL THIS MUST BE TRANSLATED. A EUPHEMISM TRANSLATES A
EUPHEMISM.

Collocations
A collocation is a typical or habitual combination of lexemes. It refers to the tendency for

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certain words to occur together and also to certain restrictions to some combinations.
● Spanish: agujero hondo/profundo
honda/ profunda simpatía
● English: deep/ profound hole, but only
profound sympathy (abstract concepts with abstract collocations)

English Spanish

Black and white Blanco y negro

Temble with fear Temblar de miedo

Quiver with excitement Temblar de emoción

Make the bed Hacer la cama

Do the housework Hacer la casa/limpieza

Do damage Causar daños

Do wrong Perjudicar
Do one’s duty Complir con mi/tu/el… deber

Make trouble Causar problemas

Make an excuse Dar una excusa
Make a decision Tomar una decisión

Topic 2.1: Grammar: language-specific usage of determiners, pronouns, prepositions,

voice and mood. Topic 2.2. Grammar: Language-specific usage of determiners,
pronouns, prepositions, voice (active/passive) and mood (indicative/ subjunctive)

Partes del Parts of the Objetos Personal Relaciones Personal

cuerpo body personales items personales relationships

Rompió la He broke Llévate el Take your Mi país My country

pierna his/her leg abrigo coat

Se tiñó el He dyed his Le robaron They stole Mi/la familia My family

pelo hair la cartera his/her wallet

Le reventó la She blew his Olvidó el She forgot Mi/el My teacher

nariz nose sombrero his/her hat profesor

Se quemó el She burnt Perdió el He lost Mis/los My friends

dedo her finger paraguas his/her amigos
umbrella

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 ¡Levantad la Raise your Mostró el He/she Mi/el jefe My/the boss
mano! hands! pasaporte produced
his/her
passport

But: “algo le dió un golpe en la cabeza”=”Something hit her on the head” (PP related to
personal object “her”). “Her” is already said, so it would seem repetitive.

Pronouns

Spanish English

Pronombres personales. Se usan Personal pronouns. Always used, with the

solamente para hacer hincapié cuando imperative mood, only for emphatic
funcionan como sujeto. reasons.
“Fue él, no fui yo” “Do as I say”- “You do as I say*”

El mío/ tuyo/ suyo/ nuestros/vuestros Mine/ yours/ his/hers /ours/theirs

La mía/tuya/ suyo/ nuestras/vuestras
Los míos/tuyos/ suyos/ nuestros/ vuestros
Las mías/ tuyas/ suyas/ nuestras/ vuestras

Reflexivos: me/te/se/nos… Reflexives: myself/yourself/itself…

Estructura reflexiva: “Me lavo las manos” Non-reflexive structure: “I was my hands”
Estructura reflexiva: “Se hizo daño” Reflexive structure: “She hurt herself”

Demostrativos, tres rangos: Demonstratives, two types:

● Este/esta/esto ● This/these
● Esa/eso/esa ● That/those
● Aquel/aquella/aquello

Spanish “se”
1. Personal pronoun: “Se lo dije” ( “I told him”)
2. Reflexive pronouns: “Se afeita” (He’s shaving)
“Ayudaos” (Help yourself)
3. Reciprocal: “Se escriben todos los días”(They write to each other daily)
4. Impersonal: “Aquí se come bien” (You can have a good meal here)
5. Passive (“refleja”): “Se les enviará una carta” (They will be sent a letter)

Prepositions
They are usually more precise in English:

“At-type” On-type In-type

Place: a point Place: A line (in terms of Place: An area (territory

length) or a surface (in enclosed by boundaries) or
terms of length and width). a volume (in terms of length,
width, height or depth)

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 He was at the bus stop Soldiers were fighting on the The tiger was in the jungle
Italian front.

The cat sat on the mat.

The translation in Spanish in all these cases is “en”, which causes a lot of confussion in

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Spanish speakers when we want to use these prepositions.

Spanish English

Está en la mesa It is on the table

Está en el cajón It is in the drawer

Están en el parque They are in the park

Está en la parada de bus She is at the bus stop

Están todos en clase They are all in the classroom

Están entrando en el aula They are getting into the classroom

Structures: Pre?-positions

Spanish English

● ¿Con quién vives? ● Who do you live with?

● No sabemos con quién vive ● We do not know who she lives with
● ¿Qué miras? ● What are you looking at?
● Eso es lo que busco ● That’s what I am searching for
● Es ahí a donde vamos ● That’s where we’re going to
● ¿A dónde? ● Where to?

Voice: passive voice

English Spanish

● This book sells well ● Este libro se vende bien

● I was asked not to smoke ● Me pidieron que no fumase
● We were taken to hospital ● Nos llevaron al hospital
● Taxes won’t be reduced ● Los impuestos no van a bajar
● He was thought to be Polish ● Pensaban que era polaco
● I want this to be understood by ● Quiero que todo el mundo entienda
everybody esto
● She doesn’t like being stared at ● No le gusta que la miren fijamente

Passive is often used in English, whereas it’s rarely used in Spanish.

Mood: subjective

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 ● Spanish: a variety tenses and clauses
Presente: vea, veas, vea, veamos, veáis, vean.
Pret. Perfecto: haya visto… Cuando vea/haya visto lo que hacen, tomaré una decisión
Imperfecto: viera/viese… Si viera/viese lo que hacen, tomaría una decisión
Pluscuamperfecto: hubiera/ hubiese visto… Si hubiera/hubiese visto lo que hacen, habría
tomado una decisión

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Futuro [rare]: viere a quien viere y entendiere/donde fueres…
Futuro perfecto [very rare]: hubiere visto. Quien hubiere ultrajado un símbolo patrio sufrirá
pena de prisión

● English: a finite but tenseless clause

The main verb occurs in the bare form: the subjunctive is reflected by a clause type rather
than a distinct inflectional paradigm.

It is important that we attend the meeting: es importante que asistamos a la reunión

Exception: AmE be, after demand, , require, insist, suggest… They suggested that Bruce be
dropped from the team (Sugirieron que se expulsase/expulsara a Bruce). BrE They
suggested to drop/dropping Bruce from the team .

Mood: Conditional tenses, conditional sentences

Spanish: -ria ending is used English: would is used

● Type 1.1: Si estudias apruebas ● Type 1.1: If you study, you pass
● Type 1.2: Si estudias aprobarás ● Type 1.2: If you study, you will pass
● Type 2.1: Si estudiaras, aprobarías ● Type 2.1: If you studied, you would
Type 2.2:Si estudiaras, habrías pass
aprobado ● Type 2.2: If you studied, you would
● Type 3: Si hubieras/hubieses have passed
estudiado, habrías aprobado ● Type 3: If you had studied, you
would have passed

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 Topic 2.3. Text: language-specific textuality factors.

Text, discourse. Cohesion, coherence. Transposition, modulation, compensation in

translation
Text is the correctly built and semantically meaningful verbal utterance produced by
addressers and presented to addressees, either orally or in writing.

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KEEP OFF THE GRASS
This is a text because it is a well-formed utterance with a well-defined meaning. But it has to
be congruent as well --adopting the form of a sign, clearly visible, posted in the lawn of a
garden in an English-speaking country (or very similar circumstances).

If and only if this is done, this text will become contextualised and acquire pragmatic
significance, beyond its purely semantic meaning. Meaningful text is what we call discourse.
A ‘Keep Off the Grass’ sign in the middle of the desert is text but not discourse.

Discourse may consist of texts which are... a word (EXIT), a phrase (A Tale of Two Cities) a
sentence either simple (Keep off the grass) or multiple (All's well that ends well). But these
are micro-discourse levels. Discourse analysis focuses on longer stretches of meaningful
text beyond the level of sentence and considers the following textuality factors:
Intrasentential cohesion, the internal organisation of sentences.
The different ways of organising sentences in English and in Spanish often result in the need
for intrasentential rearrangement in the translation process. Intersentential cohesion, the
relation between sentences. Again, intersentential rearrangement is often required in the
translation process. Coherence, the overall meaning and value of sentence sets. The need
to produce a coherent TT sometimes demands pragmatic, rather than linguistic equivalence.

The preceding textuality factors are the same but may work in different ways depending on
the specific languages, which affects translation. In order to solve the problem, we use
different translation strategies. Some authors call them translation procedures. The main
ones are TRANSPOSITION, MODULATION and COMPENSATION.

Transposition
Transposition means that, when translating, a change in the word category must often be
made in order to keep linguistic equivalence between ST and TT. Transposition may be
optional (for idiomaticity) or obligatory. There are many kinds of transposition, depending on
the word class affected:

1. ST adverb > TT verb

Hopefully it won’t rain — Espero que no llueva
I merely asked his name — Me contenté con preguntarle el nombre
He'll be back soon — No tardará en llegar

2. ST adverb > TT noun

Early last year — A principios del año pasado
It is commonly believed that … — La gente cree que …

3. ST adverb > TT adjective

He unconcernedly went through customs — Despreocupado, pasó la aduana

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 That wall paints very easily — Esa pared es fácil de pintar

4. ST verb > TT noun

Civilization has been made by humankind — La civilización es obra de la humanidad
We haven't heard from him for a long time — No hemos tenido noticias suyas por mucho
tiempo

5. ST noun > TT verb

Without the slightest hesitation — Sin vacilar en lo más mínimo
At 12:30 they stopped for lunch — A las 12:30 pararon para comer

6. ST adj > TT noun

If the message is to be meaningful — Para que el mensaje tenga significado
A medical student — Un estudiante de medicina

7. ST adj > TT verb

But victory was short-lived — Pero el triunfo duró poco
It's getting dark — Comienza a oscurecer

Modulation
In any two languages, the meaning of a given utterance can be the same, but the ways to
express it can be different, which obviously affects translation. Modulation (‘modulating’) is
changing from one way of expression in the ST to another in the TT as appropriate, without
changing the meaning.
Modulation often involves that a given expression in the ST requires a different perspective
or point of view in the TT (examples below). Modulation is related to pragmatic equivalence,
with or without added cultural content.

Compensation
Sometimes it is difficult to to produce a straight TT where the progression form & meaning
follows exactly the same grammatical flux as in the ST. It often happens that part of a ST
sentence needs to be undertranslated or even omitted (zero-translation) for the sake of
idiomaticity and accuracy in the TT --for instance, if the TT lacks an equally expressive
equivalent. This must be compensated by overtranslating or even adding some element to

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 the sentence, or another related sentence. This is called compensation, and it affects both
cohesion (intra- and intersentencial) and coherence.
Compensation (‘compensating’) therefore means to make up for the loss of an element in
the translation by balancing or counteracting the effects of such loss, thus avoiding a ‘weak’
translation.

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Topic 3: General translation practice (english-Spanish). Narrative texts and related

text forms: report, biography. Translation, revision and analysis.

The general structure of narrative texts

Now we will take one more step ahead and consider specific text shaping; that is, the
concrete, analysable types that the abstract category “text” may in point of fact acquire.
Different mixtures of the main functional tenor or language functions (emotive, referential,
directive) and of the main notions conveyed through language (such as time or space) will
produce different types of texts.

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 In this light, five text types are generally recognized: narrative, descriptive, expository,
argumentative and directive or instructional, while another term, dialogic, refers to features
variably shared by all texts rather than a separate category.
Leaving thus aside the latter, these five types of text may be sorted into four basic categories
according to the classification criteria “concrete” vs “cognitive” and “real” vs “potential”.

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Texts types verbalise Concrete Cognitive (abstract
combinations of abstract knowledge)
categories

Real Narrative (time) Expository

Descriptive (space)

Potential Directive Argumentative

Narrative texts, our specific concern here, are those that deal with facts (rather than ideas)
within a temporal (rather than spatial) framework geared towards the past.
Narrative texts, or simply narratives, can be seen as those answering the question “What
happend?”, that is, texts which tell a story.
Narrative texts deal with concrete facts and events rather than with abstract concepts, and
develop along a chronological or time sequence, geared towards the past, rather than being
organised in spatial terms. It is immaterial whether a narrative is fictional (as in a fairy tale or
novel) or nonfiction (as in a newspaper report).
Narrative texts differ from most other types of texts in that they often relate a connected
series of events, either real or fictional, in a more or less orderly manner.

Traditional narratives often use set phrases (“frases hechas”) to introduce or connect series
of events:
Érase una vez, en un reino muy lejano, una niña que tenía los cabellos de oro.

These must be translated into the equivalent set phrases:

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 Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a young girl whose hair was made
of gold.

Mode
Mode/modo is the means through which a message is transmitted. It can be oral, written,
sign, and virtual (single or combined).

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Narrative texts may be transmitted in all of the above. A play or film script is written language
meant to be acted. Folktales, originally oral, are often set down in writing. In general, oral
narrative texts (a joke, for instance) are shorter, more informal and dialogic than witten
narrative texts (a historical novel, for example).

Conversations (in telephone calls, chat rooms, stc) often involve story-telling or, in other
words, narrative texts. When we are talking casually about ourselves or about somebody
else, we often narrate events that took place sometime before.

In face-to-face interaction, plays, videchats… narration is often supported by gesture and

intonation.

All this is of obvious interest to the translator of narrative texts.

Narrative texts and modes: a few examples

Mode In English In Spanish

Oral Jokes Chistes

Gossiping Cotilleos
Packing (over loudspeaker) Anunciar (por altavoz)

Written Biographies Biografías

Texting (mobile) Mandar/recibir un texto (por
el móvil)

Oral-Written Traditional folktales Cuentos tradicionales

Minutes (of a meeting) Actas de reunión

Field (no direct questions in the exam)

Fils is what the text is about. Narrative texts are about facts.

A useful way to determine the fields covered by the different text types is the Universal
Decimal Classification (“Clasificación Decimal Universal”). The UDC (“CDU”) is a
classification representing the systematic arrangement of all fields and branches of human
knowledge.

UCD fields in bold types are the ones most likely to contain narrative texts:
● 0 generalities
● 1 Philosophy. Psychology.
● 2 Religion. Theology.
● 3 Social Studies

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 ● (4 not used at the moment)
● 5 Mathematics. Natural Science.
● 6 Applied Sciences. Medicine. Technology.
● 7 The Arts. Recreation. Entertainment. Sport
● 8 Language. Linguistics. Literature
● 9 Geography. Biography. History

Narrative texts tend to follow a canonical structure. The “facts” section (no 3) is obligatory
but other , non-obligatory sections often come along.

1. An abstract, indicating that the story is about to begin (“introducción, sumario”).

2. An orientation, setting the scene and introducing the main characters (“orientación).
3. The complicating action or plot, i.e., the main events (“argumento, acción”).
4. A resolution or outcome (“resolución, consecuencias”).
5. An evaluation, explaining the point of the story, and (“evaluación, juicio”).
6. A coda, signalling that the story is over (“final, coda”)

This was found by Lobov when analysing folk tales but can be applied to any narrative text.

Functional tenor
The functional tenor (or simply function) of a text is its purpose.
Linguistics (Cook and others) have distinguished macro functions that are associated with
the main text types. The macro function associated to the narrative text type is the referential
macro function, which consist in carrying information.
We call that “función referencial” or “informativa” in Spanish. All this is of obvious interest to
the translator of narrative texts. Your TT must fulfil exactly the same function as your ST. In
this case, the referential macro function.

Personal tenor
Finally, the personal tenor of a text is its formality level. Texts, including narrative texts, can
be (very) formal or (very) informal, with a wide range of intermediate possibilities.

The formality level of narrative texts depends on their intended audience and its relationship
with the sender or author: a narrative composition written as part of a final exam will
probably adopt a more formal approach than a personal message narrating the addressee's
latest holidays.

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 Different formality levels imply various possibilities for lexical and grammatical choice. As for
lexicon, the situation in English is quite clear: as a rule, the more Latinate the more formal
vocabulary is or, put the other way around, the more Anglo-Saxon the more informal. We
only have to compare narrative reports of the same event by, say, The Times and The Sun to
clearly realise how true this is. Spanish is less predictable in this respect- why?

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This naturally, and crucially, affects translation and crucially, affects translation. Formality
levels must be translated.

Narrative texts and formality levels (a few ENG-ENG examples)

Informal Formal

and then she ran away and then she escaped

Anybody hurt? Is someone wounded/injured?

(purpose) to move things forward In order to advance in the process

Narrative texts and formality levels ( a few ENG-SPA examples)

Informal Formal

And then she ran away y luego salió corriendo

and then she escaped y entonces se escapó/se fugó/se dio a la

fuga

Anybody hurt? ¿Algún herido?

Is someone wounded/injured? ¿Hay alguien que haya sufrido

heridas/resultado herido?

To move things forward Para seguir adelante

In order to advance in the process Con el fin de seguir avanzando

The combination of mode, field and tenor is called register.

The grammar of narrative texts, 1: verb forms

Narrative texts typically make extensive use of generalised past tense reference, realised in
a variety of verb tenses and forms:
● Simple past: “he ate the chicken”
● Present perfect: “he has eaten the chicken”
● Past progressive: “he was eating chicken”
● Present perfect progressive: “he has been eating chicken”
● Past perfect: “he had eaten chicken”
● Past perfect progressive: “he had been eating chicken”

Focus on “pretérito imperfecto”

● Simple past
● Past progressive

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 ● Would+ infinitive
● Used to+ infinitive
● Past perfect (with for or since)

“Mientras leía despacio”: “While he read slowly”

“Buscaba algo”: “He was looking for something”

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“Se sentaba confiadamente”: “He would sit down confidently”
“Íbamos andando al colegio”: “We used to walk to school”
“Regía el mismo presupuesto desde 2010”: “The same budget had been in operations since
2010”

The grammar of narrative texts, 2: modal verbs forms

Extensive use of the “would” and “used to” constructions for past habits and abilities:
“He would (frequently) eat chicken”
“He used to eat chicken (a long time ago)”

Past-oriented modal verb forms also include “could”:

“He could eat a lot of chicken when he was younger…”

Careful with “could”: often to be ignored when translating from English to Spanish,
particularly with verbs of the senses and also when referring to abilities:

“We could hear ourselves”: “Podíamos oírnos a nosotros mismos*”

“Nos oíamos a nosotros mismos”
“I couldn’t see a thing”: “No podía ver nada”
“No veía nada”
“He could run a mile in 6 min”: “Podía correr una /la milla en 6 min”
“Corría una/la milla en 6 min”

On the contrary, this “could” expressing ability in the past tends to be overlooked (especially
by native speakers of Spanish) when translating from English into Spanish:

● Mi abuelo tocaba el piano

My grandpa played the piano
Grandpa could play the piano

● Había mucho ruido y no se oía nada

It was very noisy and we didn’t hear anything
It was quite noisy and we couldn’t hear a thing

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 The grammar of narrative texts, 3: other uses of verbs forms
Frequent use of the historical present (for past reference, in storytelling, jokes… looking for
immediate and effect):

“So the guy eats his chicken, and then goes and says…”

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Frequent use of the passive forms in English:

“The chicken was/was being eaten the chicken has/had been eaten, the chicken has/had
been being eaten... “

Some narrative verb tenses SP-EN

The grammar of narrative texts, 4: sentence patterns

What is most characteristic of narrative texts is the sequencing of events in which dynamic
verbs occur in the simple form of the past (“the boys visited us”), often combined with other
grammatical forms equally associated with the past. More specifically:

● time-when adjuncts, which can be of a number of types:

yesterday (adverb)
on Saturday (prepositional phrase)
last week (noun phrase)
three weeks ago (noun phrase + ago,back…)
whenever they needed money (adverbial clause)

● time-when conjucts:
Adverbials like meanwhile, at the same time, later, afterwards… which link sentences
expressing different possibilities of chronological progression: “The boys invited us.
Meanwhile, the girls visited their friends. Afterwards, we all went for lunch”

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 And also those which provide the connected sentences with a specifically sequencing sense,
such as first, second(ly), third(ly), and then, after that … “First the boys visited us, and then
we all went to see the girls. After that we had lunch together.”

● Subordinate adverbial clauses of time.

They are introduced by subordinating conjunctions which express time, such as when,
before, after, as soon as… “The boys visited us when they arrived; the girls had been with us
before the boys came. As soon as they all finished, we went for lunch.”

● Juxtaposed and co-ordinate sentences. Often, juxtaposed sentences reflect a

temporal succession of events: “Come, follow me”.

● Finally, the coordinating conjunction and frequently has a temporal function as well:
“He came home, had a snack, and went to bed. “

Translating past actions (compare English-Spanish)

1. Olvidó las llaves en casa y perdió el autobús.
She/He forgot/left the keys at home and she/he missed the/his/her bus.
2. The teacher told the students not to chew gum in class
El/La profesor/profesora dijo/pidió a los alumnos que no comiesen/mascasen chicle
en clase/en el aula.
3. Me dejé los libros en la mesa del despacho
I left/forgot the/my books in/on the office
4. They spent the afternoon running through the park.
Se pasaron/Pasaron/Estuvieron toda la tarde corriendo por el parque.
5. Le siguió durante un rato y (luego) desapareció.
She followed him for a while and (then) disappeared
6. Venía detrás de nosotros, siguiéndonos durante un rato. Después de unos minutos
(se) paró.
She came behind us, followed us for a while and stopped after a few minutes
7. They caught the man redhanded, which brought home several important points.
Le cogieron con las manos en la masa, con lo cual se aclararon muchas cosas.
8. El ambiente en el vestuario principal había cambiado. Ahora era mucho más ruidoso.
The atmosphere in the main changing room had changed. It was now much noisier.

Translating past actions: ambiguity

What does 'them' refer to? 1) The handles 2) The machines

And the gamblers stood, and clawed at the Y los jugadores, de pie ante las máquinas,
handles of the machines as if they hated tiraban con tanto furor de las manivelas
them. como si las odiasen.

What does 'them' refer to? 3) Both

And the gamblers stood, and clawed at the Y los jugadores, de pie ante las máquinas,

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 handles of the machines as if they hated tiraban con tanto furor de las manivelas
them. como si odiasen todo aquello.

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The basic word order for statements is similar in English and in Spanish ([A]SVO/C[A]).
However, Spanish is less SVO canonical than English:

Regía el mismo presupuesto (V+S).

The same budget had been in operation (S+V).
Sin embargo, al jefe (Con + O)
Our boss, however, (S + Con)
le engañaron, a primera vista, el sello y el sobre (Op+V+Adv+S)
was deceived, apparently, by the stamp and the envelope (V+Adv+Agent)

Careful with when/that as relative pronoun, often used in narrative texts:

The moment [when/that] I knew, I started taking measures > Empecé a tomar medidas el
mismo instante en que/cuando lo supe

The same happens with other relative forms, also often used in narratives:
El hombre que nos observaba resultó ser un colega > The man [who/that was] watching us
turned out to be a college.

So, [be] careful with ellipsis in English, [which is] frequently used in narrative texts with
when, who, that etc. In Spanish the corresponding words are obligatory.

Narrative texts forms

Text forms are the particular outside shapes that text types may adopt.
Text forms thus include any physical format, oral or written, which is culturally recognized as
such --e-mail messages, mobile phone texts, WhatsApp text and voice IMs, poems,
prospectuses, songs, dictionaries, letters or interviews are all text forms.
Often-occurring text type/text form combinations include, among others, narrative/news
report, argumentative/essay, or dialogic/drama.
Text forms may not coincide among cultures. In that case, translation may need localization
(adapting to local ways). Examples include Bible translation, advertising slogans etc.

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 -jokes
-anecdotes
-gossiping
-compositions
-letters
-news stories and reports

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-emails -biographies
-most plays and films
-epic poetry
-many types of fictional writing: legends, traditional tales, short stories, novels etc.

NB. -some of these text forms may be more 'literary' than others, and thus make more or
less extensive use of literary techniques, meant for artistic effect, such as metaphor,
metonymy, allegory, symbol, and of accompanying rhetorical devices such as juxtaposition,
rhythm or parallelism, including cataphoric templates for dramatic effect. Most of these
devices are in effect used in novels, short stories and other types of creative narrative
writing.

Topic 4: Translating descriptive texts

General translation practice. Descriptive texts. Related text forms: information
leaflets, guidebooks. Translation, revision and analysis.

Text types.
Descriptive texts deal with facts within a spatial (rather than temporal) framework, being thus
geared towards the present, or just having no specific time-reference.
Descriptive texts or descriptions are thopse answering the question what is it like?
(or “what is he/she like”). They give an account of someone or something focusing on what
they are or what they look like.

Descriptions are representations of objects, beings, situations or happenings in their spatial

rather than temporal dimension. They locate persons and things in space, give information
on what lies to the left or right, in the foreground or background, or provide a framework for
narration.
Descriptive texts deal with concrete facts and qualities rather than with abstract concepts. A
description refers to the look, sound, or smell of something or someone.
Notions likely to take on a descriptive form typically include: quantity, quality, degree,
comparison, manner, means and location in space.
It is immaterial whether a description ---

Mode
Descriptive texts may be oral, written or combined. Also transmitted through sign language
and virtually.

Oral Written Oral/Writing

Descriptive Fashion shows Lost property ads Tourist guide texts

texts

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 Field
Descriptive texts tend to cover the following areas in the UCD:
0 generalities
3 Social sciences

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5 Natural Sciences
7 The arts
8 Languages, Linguistics and literature
9 Geography. Biography. History

Funcional tenor
Referential macro function: Micro Functions associated with the descriptive text types.
● Establishing the tone or mood of the passage
● Describing places and objects
● Locating people, objects and places in space
● Comparing people, objects and places
● Describing actions
● Contributing to characterization
● Conveying setting-relevant information.

Notions likely to take on a descriptive form typically include:

Notion English Spanish

Quantity There was five of us Éramos cinco/ Había cinco de

nosotros

Quality Most roses are red La mayoría/ La gran parte de/

Casi todas las rosas son rojas.

Degree A very old man was sitting Un hombre viejísimo/ muy

viejo/ mayor/ anciano estaba
sentado allí

Comparison This topic is more interesting than Este tema es más interesante
the preceding one. que el anterior.

Manner and means He writes quite well with this Escribe muy bien con este
pencil lápiz.

Location in space We were in the room Estábamos/ Nos

encontrábamos en la
habitación.

Descriptive texts are often found in narrative frameworks:

1. An abstract, indicating that the story is about to begin.
2. An orienting, setting the scene and introducing the main characters (descriptive).
3. The complicating action, i.e. the main events.

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 4. A resolution, or outcome.
5. An evaluation, explaining the point of the story.
6. A coda, signalling that the story is over.

Two main possibilities:

● Description combined with narrative / Descripción combinada con narrativa.
After the grilled fish followed an excellent meat dish, with assorted garnishings, then a
separate vegetable course, the roast fowl, a nice pudding, and lastly good cheese and
fresh fruit.

Después del pescado a la parrilla vino un excelente plato de carne, con guarniciones
variadas, luego un plato de verduras aparte, luego un asado de ave, un sabroso puding y,
por último, buen queso y fruta fresca.

En Español podemos ver que colocamos los adjetivos delante o detrás del sustantivo,
dependiendo si lo queremos enfatizar. Otra diferencia es que encontramos un mayor
número de adjetivos en inglés (en español usamos un sintagma adjetival preposicional, “a la
parrilla”).

● “Descriptive pause” (used in narrative)

Tom went into the hall he had heard so much about. The hall was rather narrow in
proportion to its length, and opened into a sort of lobby in which serving table were
placed. He walked into one of those.

Tom entró en el pasillo del que tanto había hablado. El salón era algo estrecho en
proporción a su longitud y daba a una especie de vestíbulo en el que se habían
colocado mesas de servicio. Se acercó a una de ellas.

Personal tenor
The personal tenor or formality level of descriptive texts can be very varied and will depend
on their intended audience and its relationship with the sender or author. Differences in
personal tenor become apparent when comparing descriptions:

The room is at No 241 on the ground floor in Building 6. There are two beds in it, and
there are also two desks, a book-shelf and two chairs. The window opens to the North. My
desk and bed are on the right. There is an overhead lamp. The book-shelf stands near the
window in the middle of the wall. There are two pictures on the left wall and there is a
calendar on the partition wall near the window.

My shared room is at No 241 on the ground floor (quite noisy) in Building 6. There are
naturally two beds in it, and also two desks, but they are quite basic, and there’s only one
book-shelf; the two chairs are particularly old. Unfortunately, the window opens to the
North. My desk and bed are on the left, which is the worse part of the room. There is a
horrible overhead lamp. The small book-shelf stands near the window in the middle of the
wall –very uncomfortable and space-consuming. There are two scruffy pictures on the left
wall. Luckily the calendar on the partition wall is useful.

Differences. The second text is longer, and uses a larger quantity of adjectives (sometimes
with intensifiers “particularly old”), which are also negative (the author had a negative

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 experience). This makes the description quite subjective and informal. This must be reflected
in the TT. Give the Spanish equivalent:
Shared: compartida
Quiet noise: bastante ruidoso
Naturally: por supuesto
Quite basic: demasiado sencillo/ austero

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Only one: sólo uno
Particularly old: especialmente viejo
UnfortunatelY: desgraciadamente/ desafortunadamente
Worse: horrible
Small: pequeñajo/ pequeño
Small- very uncomfortable and space-consuming
Scruffy: desgastado/ viejo/ roñoso…
Luckily: afortunadamente
Useful: útil

As is well known, these adjectives are serially organised so that their position with respect to
the noun they qualify or quantify is not random but follows rather strict rules in English. In
Spanish, however, the organisation can be quite different.

Semantic fields English Spanish

Shapes round, oval, long , short... redondo, ovalado, largo,

corto...

Sizes large/big, small/little, tiny, gran(de), pequeño, menudo,

enormous, broad, narrow, enorme, amplio/ancho,
huge... estrecho, grandísimo…

Colours and hues white, coloured, reddish, blanco, coloreado/de color,

pale, brown... rojizo, pálido,
marrón/moreno

Numbers and expressions one, the second, a great uno, el segundo, (una) gran
of quantity amount, a lot... cantidad, mucho...

Positions in front of, behind, not far delante, detrás, no dejos de,
from, below... debajo...

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 Semantic fields English Spanish

Hair long, straight, curly, short, wavy, largo, liso, rizoso, corto,
dark, fair, grey-haired, thinning... ondulado, oscuro, rubio, canoso,
ralo...

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Eyes greenish blue, hazel… azul verdoso, color avellana...

Mouth wide, thin lips, full lips... grande, labios finos, labios
gruesos

Nose ong, aquiline, turned up, snub larga, aquilina,

nose respingona/respingada,
achatada

Chin prominent, receding prominente,hundido/ retraído

Build thin, slender, slim, muscular, delgado/flaco/fino,

heavily built/hefty, plump, musculoso/musculado, rollizo,
overweight... fuerte/robusto, con sobrepeso

Semantic fields English Spanish

Height tall, of medium height, alto, de mediana estatura,

short... bajo...

Age young, middle-aged, elderly, joven, de mediana edad,

old, in his early thirties, in mayor, viejo, de treinta y
her mid-fifties, in their late pocos , cuarenta y tantos,
forties... cincuenta y muchos...

General appearance good-looking, pretty, bien parecido, bonita,

beautiful, handsome, hermosa, guapa, atractiva,
attractive, plain, well sencilla, bien vestido/ con
dressed/ casually dressed... ropa informal...

Personal qualities serious, cheerful, worried, serio, alegre, preocupado,

friendly... amistoso...

Semantic fields like ‘personal qualities’ verge on the abstract, thus making a descriptive text
acquire an added ‘expository’ quality.

From (b) a morphological point of view the standard descriptive template is likewise
predictable:

Moph. structures English Spanish

Perfect and progressive He was peacefully dreaming Estaba durmiendo/dormía

verb forms (typically give when the fire broke out. plácidamente cuando
background information) empezó el fuego/se declaró
el incendio.

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 Use of definite articles for The fridge is by the door (it La nevera está junto a la
information considered would be odd to say: There puerta.
“given” or taken for granted is a fridge, and there is a
even if not previously door, and the fridge is by the
mentioned: door).

Use of compound A blue-eyed, brown haired Una mujer de ojos azules y

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adjectives, also equivalent woman (= a woman that has pelo castaño.
to the with/in/relative clause blue eyes, with brown hair).
expressions

Intensifiers It was very cold outside, the Hacía mucho frío fuera y la
(very/pretty/too/rather/quite house was pretty cold, too. casa estaba también
…)premodifying adjectives bastante fría.
and adverbs.

Finally, the language we may expect to find in most descriptions includes (c) these syntactic
structures:

Structures English Spanish

Copular sentences The house is large and the La casa es grande y los
neighbours are nice. vecinos son amables.

Relative clauses There is a table lamp Hay una lámpara de mesa

which/that/… I don’t like it at que no me gusta nada.
all.

Prepositional and adverbial To the right we have an A la derecha tenemos un

clauses (in locating objects, armchair. sillón.
shifting focus…)

Existential-there sentences There were three cats and Había tres gatos y dos
or representatives (to list two dogs outside the house. perros fuera de casa.
people, animals, objects…)

Structures English Spanish

Cleft sentences (to It was to the left that the Era a la izquierda donde
emphasise something other tower stood. estaba la torre.
than the verb) A la izquierda estaba la
torre.
La torre no estaba a la
derecha sino a la izquierda.

Adverbials, introduced by A woman with blue eyes Una mujer de ojos azules y
prepositions like with and in, and brown hair (= A woman pelo castaño.
which are equivalent to who has blue eyes and Un hombre con una
relative clauses. brown hair). A man in a grey chaqueta gris.
jacket (=A man who is El hombre de la chaqueta
wearing a grey jacket). gris.

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 Comparative structures. The flat is smaller than their El piso es más pequeño que
house. su/la casa.

Text forms
The combination of the specific modes, fields, and functional and personal tenors that
descriptive texts may take will manifest itself in terms of different text forms. Text forms that
descriptions typically acquire (probably in combination with narrative and/or other text types)
include:
● Jokes
● Anecdotes
● Gossiping
● Compositions
● Letters
● Fashion shops
● Tourist guiding
● Museum guides
● Brochures, prospectuses, leaflets
● Parts of fictional writing (descriptions in novels, poems etc.).
● Trading, buying and selling language
● Fashion show, fashion design
● Maps, mapping, ordnance surveys
● Architectural plans and sketches
● Telling the way
● Advertising
● Lost property ads
● Speeches (when opening a new building for instance)
● Programmes

Text forms may not coincide among cultures. In that case, translation may need localization
(adapting to local ways)

Puntos característicos de un “resumen”, a tener en cuenta antes de traducir.

1. Construcciones y léxico telegráfico, con elipsis, que trata de reflejar sólo la idea
principal
2. Es frecuente la subordinación, incluyendo la expresión de causa-efecto…
3. Léxico y giros típicos de este trabajo: “el presente trabajo”, “la investigación”, “se
intenta”, “ofrece una nueva perspectiva”, “está basado en”, “planteamiento”, “las
fuentes”...
4. Palabras claves: caso extremo de expresión muy concisa
5. Puede haber términos y expresiones culturalmente marcadas: Guerra de la
Independencia, Guerra Peninsular...

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 Topic 5:General translation practice (English↔Spanish). Expository texts. Related text
forms: abstracts and essays. Translation, revision and analysis.

Expository texts deal with ideas (rather than facts) and are geared towards the present, the
past, or have no specific or marked space-time reference.

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Expository texts, or expositions, can be seen as those answering the question “how is it?”.
They present ideas, giving a simple or detailed explanation of a concept from a more or less
objective point of view, discussing a problem on the basis of intuition and knowledge,
summarising ideas, etc.

Expositions are geared towards comprehension: they identify and characterise phenomena,
they are subject-matter oriented and organised through logical linkage, they do not
necessarily have a marked personal reference, and time or space dimensions are not local
for them.

Mode

Oral Written Oral/Written

Expository texts Presentations Expository Explanations

Talks (Charla, conferencia) Essays Summaries
Lessons Definitions Text
Seminars Interpretations
Round tables

Expository texts may be oral, written or combined. Also, transmitted through sign language,
and virtually. Oral ET’s often have some written/virtual support.

Field
Expository texts tend to cover the following areas in the UCD (Universal Decimal
Classification of Knowledge Areas):
1 Philosophy, Psychology
2 Religion, Theology
3 Social Sciences
5 Natural Sciences
6 Technology

Functional tenor
Expository texts tend to fulfil the referential, the metalinguistic and or the contextual macro
functions of language, sometimes combined. An introductory book on English linguistic will.
Carry information on the basic notions associated with that field (referential macro function):
the notions of verb, adverb, preposition…
Sp: las nociones de verbo, adverbio, preposición...

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 Quite often, those basic notions will be defined in terms of other associated notions. For
instance “phrasal verbs in English are combinations of verbs plus particles”. (metalinguistic
function).
Sp: Los verbos pluri semánticos en inglés son combinaciones de verbos más
partícula.

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Such notions will often acquire peculiar meanings as conditioned by the context. For
example, the word “particle” above meaning “preposition or adverb” in this specific linguistic
context.
Sp: Partícula = preposición o adverbio

Sp: Partícula= minúscula porción de materia más pequeña que el átomo

The referential, meta linguistic and contextual macro functions do not focus on the sender of
the message, so expository texts often make use of the personal pronoun system in a way
which may be quite different from other text types:

(1) “Expository texts identify and characterise phenomena. As such they include text forms
such as definitions, explications, summaries, and many types of essay. They may be
subjective (essay) or objective (summary, explication, definition).”

(2) “When Prince Prospero’s dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his
presence a thousand light-hearted friends among the knights and dames of his court, and
with these he retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castles.”

Use of personal pronouns in expository texts is scarcely deictic. A non-personal 3rd person
point of view is preferred to the 1st-person point of view (seen as too personal and direct),
which is why some expository texts use the 1st-person-plural pronoun, the ‘editorial we’, not
to be seen as making deictic reference to more than one person, or confused with the ‘regal
we’ (‘We, the King’), but as a rhetorical device used to de-personalize the text.

Something similar happens when readers/hearers are addressed by the author: while deictic
reference to ‘you’ –to the concrete audience or readership— is a very common narrative
device, 2nd person references (if any) in expository texts tend to be ‘impersonal’.

This monologic, impersonal you tends to be substituted, in expository texts, by alternative

impersonalising devices, such as the pronoun ‘one’, the passive voice, etc. And in Spanish
“se” is most frequent.

Personal tenor
Expository texts tend to be not excessively informal, ungrammatical or imprecise. Neutral,
formal and technical styles tend to be used rather than colloquial or semi-colloquial registers.
A formal definition of the concept tense is given by a general lexicographic work, the CCBª:

“The tense of a verb is the form that shows whether you are referring to the past or the
present”.

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 Sp: El tiempo verbal es la forma que indica si nos referimos al pasado o al presente.

A technical definition of the same concept is included in Finch’s specialised lexicon Linguistic
Terms and Concepts.

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“Tense: a category used in the description of verbs that refers to the location of an action in
time (as distinct from aspect, which is concerned with its duration”.

Sp: Tiempo verbal; categoría que se utiliza en el análisis del verbo y que se refiere a la
localización de la acción en el tiempo (como opuesto a aspecto, relativo a duración).

The first definition is less technical than the second, but it will be improbable, perhaps
impossible, to provide a minimally accurate definition of tense which is even more informal
than the first one.

Since expository texts tend to be formal, we are bound to find numerous specialised lexicons
with a high proportion of Neo-LAtin and Neo-Greek lexical formations. These are typically
“international” in nature, standardised, unambiguous and non-emotive. They lend
themselves to process of word formation and derivation, and incorporate symbols.
● Telegram: telegrama
● Analgesic: analgésico
● Carbon dioxide: dióxido de carbono
● Abiogenesis: abiogénesis
● Acrophobia: acrofobia
● AIDS: SIDA
● DNA: ADN
● Pandemics: pandemia

As for grammar, expository texts will make use of the possibilities available depending on the
way we want to present ideas or analyse phenomena. We need to be able to:

(1) State an idea, identify or present it for the first time in the discourse. If this is the case,
we will use existential clauses, identifying statements with state verbs or epistemic
modals:

“There are two main causes for global warming. This phenomenon has a strong impact on
the planet, and may consist of several related phenomena”.

“Hay dos causas fundamentales para explicar el calentamiento global. El fenómeno tiene
un fuerte impacto en el planeta y puede constar de varios fenómenos relacionados entre
sí”.

Notice repetition in SP too: more acceptable than in other other text types

(2) Refer to characteristic activities or qualities. In that case the verbs we use, both state
and dynamic, go in the simple or “intemporal” present tense:

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 “Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are responsible for the “Greenhouse effects”. They destroy
the ozone layer at a mean speed of 0.006 mm an hour”.

“Los Clorofluorocarbonos (CFC) son responsables del efecto invernadero. Destruyen la

capa de ozono a una velocidad media de 0,006 mm por hora”.

(3) Develop an idea, reformulate it, offer side aspects,etc. By linking two or more clauses
or linking a sentence to some previous part of the text. In order to do this, we use additive
connectors:

“The release of gases into the atmosphere may cause irreparable harm. In other words,
we are destroying the ozone layer”.

“Los daños que ocasiona la liberación de gases a la atmósfera pueden resultar

irreparables. Dicho de otro modo, estamos destruyendo la capa de ozono”.

(4) Clarify ideas or specific further. Relative clauses are used for that purpose.

“The rain forest functions like a balanced organism that recycles most of its nutrients”

“La selva tropical funciona como un organismo equilibrado que recicla la inmensa mayoría
de sus nutrientes”.

(5) Order the presentation of ideas, summarise the main points, and draw conclusions. For
this, sequential connectors are especially useful:

“There are many factors involved in global warming. First of all, there is the burning of the
rainforest in the Amazon”.

“Los factores relacionados con el calentamiento global son numerosos. En primer lugar
está la quema de la selva tropical amazónica”.

(6) Explain reasons, describe effects. If such is the case, causal connectors are used.

“Global temperature is increasing because more and more heat is being trapped in the
atmosphere by CO2”.

“La temperatura global va en aumento debido a que en la atmósfera cada vez queda más
calor atrapado por el CO2”.

(7) Express different degrees of certainty about an idea. In order to do this, attitude
markers and modal auxiliaries are used.

“The effects of climatic change may be felt sooner than we expect”.

“Los efectos del cambio climático podrían manifestarse antes de lo esperado”.

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 “Puede que los efectos del cambio climático se manifiesten antes de lo que esperamos”.

(8) Make reference to a concept previously mentioned in the text, avoiding repetition.
Cohesive devices are used to this end.

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“The rainforest has an amazing capacity to flourish. It functions like a delicately balanced
organism”.

“La selva tropical tiene una capacidad asombrosa para florecer. Funciona como un
organismo equilibrado de forma sutil”.

If expository texts are of the more “objective” type, such as scientific articles, research
reports, etc. We will find grammatical features typically associated to “English for Science
and Technology”.

*”being spherical” nominalization “sphericity” “esperifidad”

*Engine with a Complex noun “Compressor “Motor de turbina a

turbine of gas which phrases diffused gas turbine gas difundido por
is diffused with a engine” compresor”
compressor.

*I carried the Use of the passive “The experiment “El experimento se

experiment during voice. was carried out llevó a cabo durante
24 continuous during 24 24 horas sin
hours” continuous hours”. interrupción”.

EXPOSITORY TEXTS: LANGUAGE EXPONENTS, A SUMMARY

● Classifying adjectives, as well as intensifiers
● Comparative structures
● Adversative, additive, sequential and causal connectors
● Use of substitution words so and not
● Deictics and other reference words (personal, demonstrative, comparative &
temporal)
● Ellipsis
● ‘Existential there’ sentences
● Epistemic modal verbs would, could, might, may, can
● Passive voice
● Conditional clauses, clauses of purpose, result…
● Relative clauses
● Frequent use of coordination for some areas (objective)
● Frequent use of subordination for more subjective topics

Related text forms (formas de texto asociadas)

The combination of the specific modes, fields, and functional and personal tenors that
expository texts may take will manifest itself in terms of different text forms, the particular
outside shapes that text types may adopt. Text forms include any physical format, oral or

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 written, which is culturally recognized as such. Text forms that expositions typically acquire
(often in combination with other text types) include:

● Leading articles: editorial (el periódico da su opinión sobre un tema)

● Newspaper report: reportaje
● Scientific articles: artículos científicos

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● Research reports: reportaje de investigación
● Dictionaries, thesaurus: diccionarios y diccionarios de sinónimos
● “Popular science” magazines, talks or TV programmes: “divulgación científica”
● School lessons, seminars or round tables: Clases, seminarios o mesas redondas
● Course programmes and class outlines: Programas de curso y esquemas
● Definitions: definiciones
● Presentations: exposiciones
● Explanations: explicaciones
● (Expository) essays: ensayos (expositivos)
● Abstracts, summaries: “abstract”, resumen
● Tweets

Warning!
Text forms may not coincide among cultures. In that case, translation may need localization
(adapting to local ways).

Focus on an expository text form:

An expository essay is a short piece of writing on one particular subject. Such subject is
identified and characterised in a more or less objective way but not necessarily judged or
argued about, as is the case with argumentative essays.

Un ensayo expositivo es un escrito breve acerca de un asunto específico. Dicho asunto se

identifica y analiza de modo más o menos objetivo, si bien el contenido no necesariamente
se juzga, o se refuta, al contrario de lo que sucede con el ensayo argumentativo.

Essay writing is often madre in an artistic form. If such is the case, we can talk about essays
as a literary genre, normally (but not always) written in prose. Individual essays are often
collected into anthologies that have an author and/or a theme in common (for instance:
Ruskin’s essays On Modern Painters).

El ensayo se escribe a menudo con un estilo relativamente artístico. Cuando ello sucede,
puede decirse que el ensayo es un género literario escrito en prosa (aunque esto último no
siempre es así). Con frecuencia una serie de ensayos independientes se recogen en
antologías que tienen un autor y/o una temática común.

Well-known essay writers in English include such distinguished personalities as Francis

Bacon, David Hume, John Locke, Charles Lamb or Bertrand Russel, to cite but a few.

Entre los ensayistas en lengua inglesa más famosos se encuentran personalidades tan
destacadas como Francis Bacon, David Hume, John Locke, Charles Lamb o Bertrand
Russel, por mencionar solamente unos pocos.

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 Do language exponents for this expository text form coincide in English and in Spanish?
● Passive forms don’t coincide
● Ellipsis in articles
● False friends
● Sintaxis (sometimes)
● (we don’t find possessives as it is a expository text)

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Topic 6. General translation practice (English↔Spanish). Argumentative texts. Related
text forms: Discussion and debate. Translation, revision and analysis.

Discussion: (1) If there is a discussion about something, people talk about it, often in order
to reach a decision. (2) A piece of writing or a lecture in which someone talks about it in
detail.
Discusiones: (1) Exámenes atentos y particulares de una materia. (2) Alegatos de razones
contra el parecer de alguien.

Debate: (1) A discussion about a subject on which people have different views (2) A formal
discussion.
Debates: (1) Discusiones de opiniones contrapuestas entre dos o más personas. (2)
Contienda, lucha, combate.

Text types

Concrete Cognitive

Real Narrative (time) Expository

Descriptive (space)

Potential Directive Argumentative

Argumentative texts may be oral, written, or combined --also, transmitted through sign
language, and virtually. Oral AT’s sometimes have some written/virtual support (a ‘proof’ of
evidence). Argumentative texts tend to be highly dialogic.

Argumentative or argumentative texts (textos argumentativos), answer the question: what is

the alternative? They depart from the assumption that the receiver’s beliefs must be
changed.They are therefore related to the cognitive process of judging in answer to a
problem.

An argument (un argumento) is a set of statements in support of an opinion or proposed

course of action: argumentation, consequently, implies supporting (or weakening) another
statement whose validity is questionable or contentious. In other words, argumentative texts
develop propositions in implicit or explicit opposition to deviant or alternative propositions.

Argumentative texts: “suasive” vs “persuasive” language

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 Suasive is an adjective that denotes a class of verbs, for example “insist”,whose meaning
includes the notion of persuading and that take a subordinate clause whose verb may either
be in the subjunctive or take a modal.

Persuasive is an adjective as well, that means being good at persuading someone to do or

believe something through reasoning or the use of temptation. For example, “an informative
and persuasive speech”or “She was very persuasive!”

Since their main function is “to persuade” (cognitive world), argumentative texts often use
suasive verbs and in general, persuasive language (verbos o lenguaje de persuasión).

Mode

Oral Written Oral/Written

Argumentative Debates (parliamentary…) Book reviews Morality plays o

texts Oral Papers Doctoral Theses moralidades
Interviews Newspaper (written to be
Discussions Leaders performed, moral,
Arguments lessons)
Disputes

Argumentative texts may be oral, written, or combined -also, transmitted through sign
language, and virtually. Oral AT’s sometimes have some written/virtual support (a”proof” of
evidence). Argumentative texts tend to be highly dialogic.

Field
1 Philology. Psychology
2 Religion. Theology

Apart from 1 and 2, practically all other areas include sub-areas (those dealing with scientific
argumentation, contentious theories…) which are of a clearly argumentative nature.

Functional tenor
Argumentative texts tend to fulfil the referential (función referencial) and directive macro
functions of the language, quite often in a combined form.

Argumentation is often expected to include text-structuring devices such as giving a preview

of what is to come, or referring to what has already been dealt with. Here too belongs the
use of procedural lexical items, such as “problem”, “issue”...

Personal tenor
The formality level, therefore the specific grammatical and lexical choices, of argumentative
texts varies enormously. Even the dictionary definitions of argument tend to reflect this wide
variation. In the CCD, the first sense of argument is:

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 1. An argument is a set of statements in support of an opinion or proposed course of
action. It is expressed in an orderly way, and it is used to try and convince someone
that the opinion or course of action is correct.
2. An argument is also a disagreement over a particular matter between two or more
people, sometimes resulting in them shouting angrily at each other.

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1 Argumento: Razonamiento para probar o demostrar una proposición, o para convencer de
lo que se afirma o se niega. [DRAE]. [Careful argumento plot!]
2 Disputa, discusión, bronca, riña, pelea.

● Many argumentative texts are dialogic (vs monologic) in nature (Sp. dialógico vs
monológico).
● Dialogic means that (pragmatic) meaning is jointly built by several participants.
● A conversation, a debate, a quarrel… are forms of argumentative text which are
highly dialogic. They make no sense unless several parties (two at least) participate.
● This cuts across formal boundaries. Casual conversation may be extremely informal,
while a technical debate can be highly formal.

As for grammar, argumentative texts make use of the range of possibilities available very
much depending on the way particular ideas are supported or criticised. In producing
argumentative texts, we may need to be able to:

(1) Introduce comments that reflect our attitude towards the topic. In that case, attitude
markers are used:

In my opinion, such behaviour is intolerable (alternatives include from my point of view,

personally, as I see it- tal y como yo lo veo, as far as I am concerned…)

En mi opinión, un comportamiento como ese es intolerable/inaceptable (alternativas: a mi

juicio, según yo lo veo, desde mi punto de vista, por lo que a mí respecta, para mi…)

(2) Add arguments or present further evidence; support an opinion by giving examples;
establishing comparisons. If such is the case, additive connectors are used.

In addition, one should not forget the terrible consequences of war. In the same way, one
would have to find excuses for everybody (likewise/incidentally/by the way)

Además, no deberíamos olvidar las terribles consecuencias de la Guerra. Igualmente,

tendríamos que encontrar excusas para todos (del mismo modo/por cierto/a propósito)

(3) Express a contrasting opinion, fact, etc. for that purpose, contrast connectors are used.

However, we must also be understanding. (But/nonetheless/notwithstanding/despite that/in

spite of the fact that/even though)

No obstante, también hemos de ser comprensivos. (Aunque/pero/sin embargo/a pesar de

todo/ a pesar de ello/ incluso aunque…)

(4) Present an argument as better/worse than another, or as the best/worst. In order to do

that, we use a variety of comparative and superlative adjectives, clauses, etc.

Your point of view is interesting, but mine is I think more realistic.

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 Tu punto de vista es interesante , pero el mío, creo yo, es más realista.

(5) Advise, suggest, exonerate… when this refers to contrasting opinions, taking sides,
coming to a conclusion… if we need to do this we use modal verbs involving those
notions, and hypothetical constructions of the type ‘if I were you’, ‘I’d rather they
wouldn’t, we’d better not’

Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad.
If I were you, I would consider those decisions

Yo de ti, me replantearía esas decisiones

(6) Describe reason, purpose or possible consequences of an action or situation as well as

conditions involved. If such is the case, we use causal connectors.

As a result, many people lose their jobs.

En consecuencia, puede que mucha gente pierda el trabajo.

(7) Order and summarise ideas or evidence and draw conclusions: in that case, sequential
connectors are used.

In short, it is my belief that this advertisement should be banned.

Para abreviar, estoy convencida de que se debería prohibir este anuncio (resumiendo, en
fin…)

(8) Involve the address in the addresser’s line of argumentation. For that, inclusive ‘we’,
impersonal ‘one’, or possessive ‘our’ are used.

However, we must be understanding

No obstante, (todos nosotros) tenemos que ser comprensivos

(9) Offer comments and give suggestions for future action. In that case, use is made of
potential would:

In such circumstances, one would have to look elsewhere

En tales circunstancias, habría que mirar en otros sitios

The combination of the specific modes, fields, and functional and personal tenors that
argumentative texts make manifests itself as different text forms- the particular outside
shapes that text types adopt. Text forms include any physical format, oral or written, which is
culturally recognized as such. Text forms that argumentations typically acquire (often a
combination with other text types) include

● An argumentative essay
● A book review
● A doctoral thesis
● A definition (if implicitly or explicitly offered as the valid alternative)
● A scientific paper (if offered as the alternative)
● A newspaper leader
● A letter to the editor (often argumentative)
● A morality play (or similar)
● And advertisement (partly argumentative)
● A philosophical discussion

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 ● A religious debate
● A formal debate (as held in parliaments, councils, corporations…)
● An oral papers in a public examination (if discussion follows)
● An interview (often, partly argumentative)
● A rhetorical dispute
● A public trial
● A ‘hot’ debate (at home, or as a radio or Tv programme)

Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad.
● An ‘argument’ (in the sense of strongly manifested disagreement between people)
● A tweet

02/12 trad general

Appendix topic 5

Expository Argumentative Either Neither

A public trial

A scientific paper (most of

them are only expository)

A biography
(objective narrative
text)

An abstract
(summarises the main
ideas)

A leaflet
(predominantly
descriptive)

A dictionary
(definitions should be
expository)

Name of grammatical Example in Spanish Example in English

feature

Attitude markers Tal y como yo lo veo As I see it

Cause/effect connector En consecuencia In consequence…

Additive connector Además/ Por añadidura In addition

Contrastive connector Aunque/ sin embargo/ Aun However

así…

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 The Amazon Washington post and three lowlife reporters, (…) wrote another Fake News
Story, without any resources (pure fiction), about Bill Barr and myself. We both deny this
story which they knew before they wrote it. A garbage newspaper!

El Washington Post vendido a Amazon y tres reporteros de baja estofa… publican un bulo
más, sin citar ninguna fuente (puro camelo), sobre Bill Barr y yo. Ambos desmentimos el
cuento, cosa que ya sabían antes de publicarlo. ¡Típica prensa basura!

● Transposition: fake (adj)- bulo(noun). this (dem.adj)-el (def.art)

● Modulation: three low life reporters- tres reporteros de baja estofa
● Compensation:

A garbage newspaper!- ¡Típica prensa basura!

NP (indef.art, noun, noun)-NP (adj,noun, apposition)
Partial transposition, and modulation (whole for part)
Also notice exclamation marks!

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Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad.