1. Comparing English & Arabic A Translator’s Perspective
April 7th, 2015
Dania A. Salamah
Translator’s Club
College of Languages & Translation, KSU

2. Contents Articles Nouns and adjectives
Translating “Be” and other linking verbs
Translating “Have”
Subject-Verb Agreement
Practice
References

3. I Articles

4. Articles in Arabic.. Definite article: ال التعريف
همزة وصل
اتصال ال التعريف بالاسم يقتضي الاستغناء عن التنوين
Indefinite article: لا يوجد
التنوين دليل على التنكير

5. Articles in English.. Definite article: Indefinite article:
the
when the noun is known or clear to the listener/speaker
with certain words (e.g., the doctor, the bank, the army, the police, the airport
Indefinite article: A an
when referring to something for the first time
When the noun is not known to the reader/listener

6. Examples: I had a steak for dinner. The steak was delicious.
When we were on vacation, we stayed at a very nice hotel. However, the problem was that the hotel was very expensive.
The teacher told Amal to sit on a chair. So she sat on the chair near the window.
The window is opposite the door in our classroom.

7. The vs. A/An vs. ∅ Use “the” when there is only one of something
The moon, the sun, the universe
The longest, the shortest, the biggest
The only…
The sea, the sky, the ground
When we mean voyage sea with no “the”
No article with space (i.e., outer space) BUT The space is big enough for the sofa.

8. The radio, the theater, the cinema
BUT no “the” with television We watch television
UNLESS we mean the television set Please turn on the television
No “the” with the names of meals (i.e., breakfast, lunch, dinner)
We have breakfast at 9:00 every morning.
Dinner is always a family event.
BUT  I had a nice dinner with my friends

9. Use “the” with singular countable nouns to mean something in general
Types of animals/plants:
The elephant is a huge animal = Elephants are huge animals
The rose is a fragrant flower = Roses are fragrant flowers
Type of machine/invention:
The telephone was invented by Thomas Edison.
The car is the most common means of transportation in Saudi Arabia.

10. The + adjective
The meaning is always plural
the rich, the old, the blind, the sick, the injured, the poor, the young, the unemployed
But  a blind man, not a blind

11. The + nationality words
With some nationalities to mean the people of that country
the British, the English, the Spanish, the Dutch, the Irish, the French, the Swiss
the Chinese, the Japanese
(the) Italians, (the) Arabs, (the) Scots, (the) Turks, (the) Russians

12. The hospital vs. hospital
Hospital (the idea of hospital) someone goes to hospital or is in hospital if he is ill
The Hospital (a specific hospital) to visit someone there
No “the” with School, university, college, prison (the idea of these places)
BUT: She went to the school to apply for a job. (not as a student or to study)
BUT: Where is the university? (the location/building)
No “the” with bed, work, home
Go to bed.. She is in bed  the bed (furniture)
Go to work.. Be at work.. Start work..
Go home.. Come home.. Stay at home..

13. Countries and states no the
Geographical Names
Continents no the
Asia, Africa, North America
Countries and states no the
France, Saudi Arabia, Japan
BUT: Use the with names including republic, union, kingdom, and states
The United States of America, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of China
BUT: Use the with plural names
The Philippines, the Netherlands

14. Cities no the
Cairo, New York
Exception: The Hague (in the Netherlands)
Islands (groups) the
The Bahamas, the Canary Islands
Islands (single islands) no the
Bermuda, Sicily

15. II Nouns & Adjectives

16. Nouns and adjectives in Arabic..
الصفة تتبع الموصوف في اللغة العربية
الصفة تتوافق مع الموصوف في اللغة العربية من حيث:
التعريف والتنكير
التذكير والتأنيث
العدد (الإفراد والتثنية والجمع)

17. الحقيبة الكبيرة حقيبةٌ كبيرةٌ
الطبيب الماهر طبيبٌ ماهرٌ
المعلمات الحريصات معلماتٌ حريصاتٌ
الفنجان الزجاجي فنجانٌ زجاجيٌ
العاملين النشيطين عاملين نشيطين

18. Nouns and adjectives in English..
Adjectives occur before the nouns they modify in English
English adjectives do not agree with the nouns they modify
Blue ball
Small room
Hard-working student

19. III Translating “Be” and other linking verbs

20. Omitting the verb Linking verb Helping verb (present continuous tense)
I am a student.
She is kind
Helping verb (present continuous tense)
I am leaving now.
We are speaking English.

21. Translating the verb Main verb The child was ill.
The boys were one team.
Helping verb (past continuous tense)
Her mother was preparing lunch.
The guests were praying.

22. Linking verbs: become , seem , appear , get, turn, grow, feel, look, smell, taste, sound
They perform linking functions and need to be translated according to the meaning they represent in the sentence..
They seem upset because of what happened.
The food smells delicious.
The children feel happy.
The weather became cold.

23. IV Translating “Have”

24. As a helping verb  disregard the verb
The workers have already left.
The patient has seen the doctor.
As a main verb  understand the meaning and translate it accordingly
She has money.
He has breakfast at 8:00 every morning.

25. V Subject-Verb Agreement

26. Subject-Verb Agreement in Arabic..
When the verb occurs before the subject and it is in 3rd person (الغائب)
singular
كتب الولد
يكتب الولدان
كتب الأولاد
gender agreement
كتب الطالب كتبت الطالبة
يكتب المعلمون تكتب المعلمات
كتب الأستاذان كتبت الأستاذتان

27. With broken plurals (جمع التكسير)  feminine form of verb
Example:
ظهرت النجوم
UNLESS the plural refers to male human beings!
حضر الرجال
True gender is taken into consideration
أمر الخليفة بسجن السارق وليس
أمرت الخليفة بسجن السارق

28. When the verb occurs after the subject
gender and number agreement
البنات دخلن إلى الغرفة
الأولاد فتحوا الباب
المهندس حضر الاجتماع
الطبيبة فحصت المريض

29. Using the 3rd person plural verb..
When the plural subject is not mentioned
ذهبوا – أكلوا – درسوا
When the subject is placed first for emphasis
الطلاب خرجوا عندما انتهى وقت المحاضرة
When the subject has already been mentioned
اختبر الطلاب ثم ذهبوا لمنازلهم.

30. Subject-Verb Agreement in English..
Subjects and verbs must agree in number
The student is present.
The students are present.
She has spoken to her teacher.
They have finished their homework.
Third person singular subjects
Verbs that occur with third person singular subjects must take the (s) suffix
The student comes to school everyday.
She eats lunch with her family after school.

31. VI Practice

32. Translate the following sentences into English:
في الفصل طالبٌ
طالبٌ في الفصل
طالبةٌ ذكيةٌ
الطالبةُ الذكيةُ
الطالبة ذكيةٌ

33. الشارعُ الضيقُ
شارعٌ ضيقٌ
الشارعُ ضيقٌ
المدرسةٌ العالميةُ الجديدةُ
مدرسةٌ عالميةٌ جديدةٌ
المدرسةُ عالميةٌ وجديدةٌ

34. Translate the following sentences into Arabic:
You are her father.
He is eating an apple.
She is invited to the party.
The bird was beautiful.
My brother was writing a letter.
The two students have missed class.
Have a seat.

35. We grew tired as we were climbing the mountain.
The weather turns hot in July.
It sounds like they did not enjoy the trip.
Have fun!
Amal had a nice vacation.

36. Complete the following sentences with a/an, the, or ∅:
We went out for _______ meal last night. _______ restaurant we went to was excellent.
_______ President of the United States is elected every four years.
After _______ lunch, we went for a walk by _______ sea.
When I was _______ child, I used to be very shy.
He has _______ very long hair.
I visited _______ Bahamas, but I have never been to _______ Cyprus.
Have you finished with _______ book I lent you last week?

37. As I was walking along the street, I saw _______ $10 bill on _______ sidewalk.
_______ moon goes around _______ earth every 27 days.
I invited Amy to _______ dinner next week.
Can you turn _______ television down please? It's too loud.

38. References
Azar, B. S. (1999). Understanding and using English grammar (3rd ed.). New York: Longman.
Haywood, J. A. & Nahmad, H. M. (1976). A new Arabic grammar. UK: Lund Humphries London
Khalil, A. M. (1999). A contrastive grammar of English and Arabic. Jordon: Jordon Book Centre Company Limited..