translation

1. Grammatical Problems in Translation

2. English and Arabic belong to two different language families,
their
grammar are sharply different .
Several grammatical features of English create variable
problems of translation into Arabic.
Experience shows that one of the primary mistakes committed
by the student of translation is their presupposition that English
grammar and Arabic grammar can translate each other in a
straightforward way.
To confirm that, the problem of translating the most prominent
points of English grammar into Arabic are discussed below .
All problems are followed by one or more solutions.

3. 1. Literal translation of “ am, is, are, was, were”
When these verbs are the main and only verbs in the sentence, they are
translated by many students literally into (‫)يكون‬, which is poor
translated. And the same thing when we used as auxiliary verbs to
form the present progressive tenes and the present passive voice. A
good number of students translate them literally; For example:
“She is kind” (
‫تكون‬ ‫هي‬
‫طيبة‬
)
“ I am leaving now” (
‫اآلن‬ ً‫مغادر‬ ‫أكون‬ ‫أنا‬
)
“They are put in the same situation” (‫نفسه‬ ‫الموقف‬ ‫في‬ ‫موضوعين‬ ‫يكونون‬ ‫)هم‬
…………………..
Verb “be” in the present simple is used to connect as much as equate
between two words. And usually dropped in Arabic, both as main as
well as auxiliary, it mostly unacceptable and poor in Arabic grammar
and word order.
Also, “- ing” ending for the main verbs have no equivalent in Arabic
grammar.
•
‫طيبة‬ ‫هي‬
•
‫اآلن‬ ٌ‫مغادر‬ ‫أنا‬
•
‫نفسه‬ ‫الموقف‬ ‫في‬ ‫موضوعين‬ ‫هم‬

4. There are two exceptions which they used the past simple of “
be”, are translated literally into ”
‫كان‬
“ both as well as auxiliary
which is writing as a main verbs and as auxiliary in the past
progressive but in the past passive voice sentence we should
dropped them:
As the main verbs:
“the child was ill” = “ ً‫ا‬‫مريض‬ ‫الطفل‬ ‫كان‬ ”
As auxiliary: the past progressive :
“Our guests were playing” = “‫يلعبون‬ ‫ضيوفنا‬ ‫”كان‬
BUT as the past passive voice :
“ The food was eaten” = “ ‫الــطـعـام‬ ‫كــل‬ُ‫أ‬ ”

5. 2. Translation of verb Do and Did :
As main verbs (do & did) doesn’t pose any grammatical problems.
However, as an auxiliary, poses more than one problem.
Verb “Do” is used in English to form the negative of all verbs except
“be”, “have” and the modal verbs. Do & Does used with the present
simple, whereas “ Did” with past simple. All these form meaningless in
Arabic , they have the function of indicating the tenes of the verb( past or
present) , and what is translated into Arabic is negative particle “not”( ,
‫لم‬
,
‫ما‬
,
‫ال‬ ) except in the questions it implies the question particle “ ‫؟‬ ‫”هـل‬
whether in the present or in the past.
1- Do in the negative: means ( ‫ال‬ ) , for example:
“ Some people (do not) smile” = ”
‫بعض‬
‫الناس‬
(
‫ال‬
)
‫يبتسمون‬
“
2- Did in the negative: usually translated into ( ‫لم‬ ) with the present, and
occasionally into ( ‫ما‬ ) with the past; for example:
“She (did not) eat much” = “ (
‫لم‬
)
‫تأكل‬
/
(
‫ما‬
)
‫أكلت‬
...
ً‫ا‬‫كثير‬
3- Do > did in question; means ( ‫هل‬ )
“ (Do) you sleep early?” = “ ‫هـل‬
ً‫ا‬‫بـاكـر‬ ‫تـنـام‬ ”
“ (Did) Ali visit you yesterday?” = “ ‫هـل‬
‫علي‬ ‫زارك‬
‫باألمس؟‬ ”

6. Translate “Do” as main verb:
1- as main verb “do” is meaningful in translation, usually it is translated as “ ‫يفعل‬ ”
for example:
“ I will do my best ” = “ ‫س‬
‫أفعل‬
‫بوسعي‬ ‫ما‬ ”
2- or it can be translated as “ write” = “‫…”يكتب‬
“ Some student do their homework’s quickly” = “ ‫بسرعة‬ ‫واجباتهم‬ ِ‫ة‬‫الطلب‬ ‫بعض‬ ‫”يكتب‬
At translating verb “Do” as an auxiliary verb, it has NO lexical meaning in Arabic,
but implies the grammatical question particle “‫”هل‬ . However, as a main verb , it
has a full lexical meaning.

7. 3. Translation of verb “Have”:
As a main verb, it can pose a few problems to the student of translation, it take different
meanings. What helps students distinguish between these meanings of “ have” is the
consideration of the word immediately after it “its object”. Together with its
object , “have” make especial combination in Arabic.
A-“She had a nice holiday” = “‫جميلة‬ ‫عطلة‬ ‫قضت‬”
B-“The students have left early today” = “‫اليوم‬ ً‫ا‬‫باكر‬ ‫الطالب‬ ‫”غادر‬
C- “She has the tablets on time” = “‫المحدد‬ ‫الوقت‬ ‫في‬ ‫الحبوب‬ ‫”تتناول‬
D- “she has money” = “‫نقود‬ ‫حوزتها‬ ‫”في‬ / “‫نقود‬ ‫”تملك‬ /“‫نقود‬ ‫”)هي(لديها‬
we cannot say “‫دواء‬ ‫”يملك‬ ‫بل‬ “‫دواء‬ ‫”يتناول‬
4. Translation of Modals”
Because there are many auxiliary verbs in English, so they create several problems of
translation for two major reason:
A- they don’t have one-to-one single semantic equivalent in Arabic, and there is no
grammatical class of verbs called Modal Auxiliary in Arabic.
B- they have several complex and complicated function in English.

8. 1- “ will, would, shall,” are not verbs in Arabic, these modals are used to refer to future either
in present “will, shall” or in the past “would”
it translated into “‫”سوف‬ or “ ‫”ســ‬ for example:
“ They will forgive us” = ”
‫سيغفرون‬
‫لنا‬
“
2-”can, may, must, could, might, ”: usually translated by students to mean one word each.
BUT the case is NOT so. They imply two words. Problem becomes clearer when students
translate them from Arabic into English, they’re translated into “ ‫أن‬ ‫يمكن‬
,
‫أن‬ ‫يجب‬
,
‫أن‬ ‫يستطيع‬ ”
because ‫أن‬ is implied in these verbs and needed in such combination in Arabic for e.g. :
“we can walk” = “‫نمشي‬ ‫أن‬ ‫نستطيع‬ ”
but we cannot say # ‫نمشي‬ ‫نستطيع‬
3-The confusion of “must have” and “should have”
the students understand these as having the same meaning in the past but it the
opposites. MUST HAVE = action which took place, whereas SHOULD HAVE
=“action didn’t take place” …. e.g.
“They must have finished work” = “ ‫العمل‬ ‫أنهوا‬ ‫أنهم‬ ‫البد‬ ”
“They should have finished work” = “ ‫العمل‬ ‫ينهوا‬ ‫أن‬ ‫عليهم‬ ‫”كان‬

9. 5- Translating of Question:
Questions in English are formed in two ways only:
A) Yes/No Questions (the answer to the question is "Yes" or "No")
B) Question Word Questions (the answer to the question is "Information")
The first problem appear in the possibility of imitating the question form: so the
students will find this not possible because simply there are NO such
equivalents in Arabic but just one word for Yes/No questions it is( ‫هــل‬ ). e.g. :
“Are you playing tennis?”
“Have you played tennis?”
“Do/Did you play tennis?”
OR the disappearance of (‫)هل‬ with WH-question:
when “do” and the subject –verb conversation are used in WH-question, they
are meaningless. “‫”هل‬ is on longer used in the Arabic translation here e.g.
“what have you said?” = “‫تقول؟‬ ‫”ماذا‬
“why they are crying?” = “‫يبكون؟‬ ‫”لماذا‬

10. 6. Translation of negation
she cannot pay money.
‫النقود‬ ‫تدفع‬ ‫أن‬ ‫تستطيع‬ ‫ال‬.
she will not pay money.
‫النقود‬ ‫تدفع‬ ‫لن‬.
she has not money.
ً‫ا‬‫نقود‬ ‫تملك‬ ‫ال‬.
All that glitters isn't gold.
ً‫ا‬‫ذهب‬ ‫يلمع‬ ‫ما‬ ‫كل‬ ‫ليس‬.
Do not, does not = ‫ال‬
Did not = ‫لم‬
Many people do not play chess
‫الشطرنج‬ ‫الناس‬ ‫من‬ ‫الكثير‬ ‫يلعب‬ ‫ال‬.
The children did not sleep early
yesterday
‫باألمس‬ ً‫ا‬‫باكر‬ ‫األطفال‬ ‫ينم‬ ‫لم‬.
‘Not’ has more than one
equivalent
Negation in English includes the following words "not , do not , does not , did not
, never , neither , nor & no ".
Do not, does not, did not

11. • ‫لن‬
+
ً‫ا‬‫أبد‬
/
‫ال‬
+
ً‫ا‬‫أبد‬
/
‫لم‬
+
ً‫ا‬‫أبد‬
we never give up.
‫أبد‬ ‫نستسلم‬ ‫لن‬
.
Neither…nor = ‫ال‬
..
‫وال‬
Either..or = ‫إما‬
..
‫أو‬
I like neither lying nor cheating.
‫الغش‬ ‫وال‬ ‫الكذب‬ ‫أحب‬ ‫ال‬.
You can either come with me or stay
here.
‫هنا‬ ‫البقاء‬ ‫أو‬ ‫معي‬ ‫القدوم‬ ‫باستطاعتك‬
.
Never Neither…nor, either…or
No
 ‫ممنوع‬
/
‫ال‬
/
‫ليس‬
No smoking.
‫التدخين‬ ‫ممنوع‬
.
She has no money.
‫نقود‬ ‫لديها‬ ‫ليس‬
/
ً‫ا‬‫نقود‬ ‫تملك‬ ‫ال‬
.

12. We hope you like it
Prepared by : Jamal Abed Elhadi
Abed Elhadi Abed Elhadi
To Dr. : Sha3ban El3omari
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