1. GRAMMATICAL PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATION 1. Translation of verb ‘BE’ 2. Translation of verb ‘DO’ 3. The translation of verb ‘HAVE’ 4. The Translation of Modals 5. Translation of questions 6. Translation of negation 7. Translation of word order 8. Translation of adjectives 9. Translation of tenses 10.The change of word classes Translation 1 (Eng 212) Dana Al-Sudairi

2. 1. Translation of verb ‘BE’ (am, is, are / was, were / be, been ) I am a student. He is eating an apple. They are put in the same situation. أنا أكون طالباً X هو يكون يأكل X هم يكونون يوضعون في الموقف نفسه. X am, is, are (present) It is mostly unacceptable and poor in Arabic grammar to translate the present verb ‘be’ into يكون

3. The child was ill. our guests were praying. But: The food was eaten. The boys were dismissed. كان الطفل مريضاً. كان ضيوفنا يصلون. كان الطعام مأكولاً. X كان الأولاد مطرودين. X Was, were The past simple of ‘be’ are translated literally into كان Yet literal translation is unfavorable when these verbs are used as auxiliaries to form the past passive voice.

4. Where have you been? أين كنت كائناً؟ X been be He will be with us. سوف يكون معنا. - The dictionary meaning of ‘been’ as كائن is strictly not advisable to use. - The full form of the verb ‘be’ is always literally translated.

5. 2. Translation of verb ‘DO’ (do, does, did) That girl doesn’t comb her hair. The horse does not fall down. The horse did not fall down. تلك الفتاة لا تمشط شعرها. لم يسقط الحصان. ما سقط الحصان. Do and did in the negative Do and did in the question هل تنام باكراً؟ هل انتظرك علي ليلة أمس؟ Do you sleep early? Did Ali wait for you last night?

6. I will do my best. Some students do their homework quickly. سأفعل ما بوسعي. يعمل / يكتب بعض الطلبة واجباتهم بسرعة. Do as a main verb At translating verb DO, the translators see whether it has a grammatical function (i.e. auxiliary), or as a main verb. As an auxiliary, it has no lexical meaning in Arabic, but implies the grammatical question particle هل As a main verb, it has a full lexical meaning.

7. Muslims do recite the Holly Koran everyday. The girls did behave well. يتلو المسلمون القرآن كل يوم بالتأكيد. لا شك أن الفتيات قد أحسنّ التصرف. Do as an emphatic device Arabic emphatic words and phrases: فعلاً, حقاً, بالتأكيد, من المؤكد, لا شك, مما لا شك فيه, لا ريب, وما إلى ذلك.

8. 3. The translation of verb ‘Have’ (have, has, had) The worker has left today. The patient has had the medicine. غادر العامل باكراً اليوم. أخذ / تناول المريض الدواء. Have as an auxiliary Verb HAVE used as an auxiliary is meaningless in Arabic.

9. She has money. She has her breakfast at 7 AM everyday. She has just had the ticket. She had a telephone call. She had a nice holiday. Have a good journey. لديها نقود / معها نقود. تتناول فطورها عند الساعة السابعة. حصلت على التذكرة للتو. تلقت مكالمة هاتفية. قضت عطلة جميلة. أتمنى لك رحلة ممتعة / استمتع برحلة جميلة. Have as main verb What helps students to distinguish between these meanings of " have" is the consideration of the word immediately after the object. Together with object " have " makes a special combination in Arabic

10. 4. The Translation of Modals (can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, ought to) He will forgive me! سـ / سوف يغفر لي / يسامحني ! will, would, shall (future particles) can, may, must (literal translation) Shall, should (Obligation= must) could, would, might (possibility) يستطيع / يمكن / يجب we may walk. يمكننا أن نمشي. The defendant shall appear before the court at once. يجب على المدعى عليه أن يمثل فوراً أمام المحكمة I should believe my parents يجب علي أن أصدق والدي she could blame herself. she would blame herself. she might blame herself. قد / يمكن أن تلوم نفسها

11. They must have finished work. لابد أنهم أنهوا العمل. They should have finished work. كان عليهم أن ينهوا العمل. Must have, should have Action which did not took place Action which took place

12. 5. Translation of questions Are you playing tennis? هل تلعب التنس ؟ Have you played tennis? هل لعبت التنس ؟ Do you play tennis? هل تلعب التنس ؟ Why = لماذا What = ماذا Who = من When = متى Where = أين One word for Yes/No Qs Different words for WH Qs

13. 6. Translation of negation she cannot pay money. لا تستطيع أن تدفع النقود. she will not pay money. لن تدفع النقود. she has not money. لا تملك نقوداً. All that glitters isn't gold. ليس كل ما يلمع ذهباً. Do not, does not = لا Did not = لم Many people do not play chess لا يلعب الكثير من الناس الشطرنج. The children did not sleep early yesterday لم ينم الأطفال باكراً بالأمس. ‘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

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

15. 7. Translation of word order God likes us. الله يحبنا. The diplomat left for London. غادر الدبلوماسي إلى لندن. Nominal word order The order of the words of the sentence : In Arabic: verb + subject + object/complement. In English: subject + verb + object/complement. Verbal word order

16. 8. Translation of adjectives: That tall man is my cousin. ذاك الرجل الطويل ابن عمي. A. An adjective-noun order: The adjective occurs before the noun in English, whereas in Arabic it comes after the noun.

17. Throw that small, round ball. He read a big, popular, useful book. ارم تلك الكرة الصغيرة المدورة ( المدورة الصغيرة ). قرأ كتاباً كبيراً شعبياً مفيداً ( مفيداً شعبياً كبيراً ). B. The ordering of a series of adjectives: Successive adjectives in English can be translated either from left to right, or from right to left in Arabic.

18. Her dress is blue, soft, comfortable and cheap. ثوبها أزرق وناعم ومريح ورخيص. C. Imitation of the English sequence of adjectives: When ‘and’ is used before the last adjective in English, it is repeated before every adjective in Arabic.

19. The rich should help the poor. يجب على الأغنياء أن يساعدوا الفقراء. D. The use of adjectives as nouns: Adjectives used as collective nouns are translated into plural nouns in Arabic, not into adjectives or singular nouns.

20. 9. Translation of tenses The wend is blowing now. تهب الرياح الآن Present simple present Present progressive Simple present and present progressive:

21. We heard the news. We have heard the news. We had heard the news. سمعنا ( قد / لقد سمعنا ) الأخبار. Past simple, present perfect and past perfect: Past simple Present perfect Past Past perfect

22. The horses were jumping. The soldiers have been fighting. The tailor had been sewing all night. كانت الخيول تقفز. كان الجنود يقاتلون طوال اليوم. كان الخياط يخيط طوال الليل. Past progressive, present perfect progressive and past perfect progressive: Past progressive كان + مضارع Present perfect progressive Past perfect progressive

23. 10.The change of word classes: The president palace القصر الرئاسي / قصر الرئاسة Nerve cell خلية أعصاب / خلية عصبية Adjectives as nouns adj → adj / N Nouns as adjectives N → N / adj

24. They gave their agreement. أعطوا موافقتهم / وافقوا English is easy to understand. الانجليزية سهلة الفهم / أن تفهم Nouns as verbs N → N / V Verbs as Nouns V → V / N