UNIT 1: SOME BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION

1. What is translation?
- Translation is the expression in another language (target language) of what has been expressed in
one language (source language), preserving semantic and stylistic equivalencies. (By Roger T. Bell).
- Translation is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an
equivalent text in a second language. (By Roger T. Bell).
The author continues and makes the problems of equivalence very plain:
Texts in different languages can be equivalent in different degrees (fully or partially different), in
respect of different levels of presentation (in respect of context, of semantics, of grammar, of
lexis, etc.) and at different ranks (word-for-word, phrase-for-phrase, sentence- for-sentence).
However, languages are different from each other; they are different in form having different codes
and rules regulating the construction of grammatical stretches of language and these forms have
different meanings.
To shift from one language to another is, by definition, to change the forms. Also, the contrasting forms
convey meanings which cannot but fail to coincide totally; there is no absolute synonym between words
in the same language, why should anyone be surprised to discover a lack synonym between languages.
- Translation is rendering a written text into another language in a way that the author intended the
text. (By Bui Tien Bao- Hanoi National University)
“Translators are concerned with written texts. They render written texts from one language into
another language. Translators are required to translate texts which arrange from simple items
including birth certificates or driving licenses to more complex written materials such as articles in
journals of various kinds, business contracts and legal documents.” (Bui Tien Bao- Hanoi National
University).
- Translation, by dictionary definition, consists of changing from one state or form to another, to turn
into one’s own or another’s language. (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 1974). Translation is basically
a change of form. When we speak of the form of a language, we are referring to the actual words,
phrases, sentences, paragraphs, etc. The forms are referred to as the surface structure of a language.
It is the structural part of language which is actually seen in print or heard in speech. In translation
the form of the source language is replaced by the form of the receptor/target language. But how is
this change accomplished? What determines the choices of form in the translation?
Translation consists of transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language. This is
done by going from the form of the first language to the form of the second language by a way of semantic
structure. It is meaning that is being transferred and must be held constant. Only the form changes. The
form from which the translation is made will be called the source language and the form into which it is to
be changed will be called the receptor language. Translation, then, consists of studying the lexicon,
grammatical structure, communication situation, and cultural context of the source language text, analyzing
it in order to determine its meaning, and then reconstructing this same meaning using the lexicon,
grammatical structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural context.
To do effective translation one must discover the meaning of the source language and use the receptor
language forms which express the meaning in a natural way.

2. Characteristics of language which affect translation

There are certain characteristics of languages which have a very direct bearing on principles of translation.
- Meaning components are packaged into lexical items, but they are packaged differently in one
language than in another. In most languages there is a meaning of plurality, for example the English -
s. This often occurs in the grammar as a suffix on the nouns or verbs or both. In Vietnamese,
however, plurality is expressed in an isolated word “những / các”’.
The same meaning component will occur in several surface structure lexical items. In English, the
word “sheep‟ occurs. However, the words “lamb‟, “ram‟ and “ewe‟ also include the meaning “sheep‟.

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 They include the addition meaning components of young (in “lamb‟, adult and male in “ram‟ and adult
and female in “ewe”
- One form will be used to represent several alternative meanings. Most words have more than one
meaning. There will be a primary meaning - the one which usually comes to mind when the word is
said in isolation - and the secondary meaning - the additional meanings, which a word has in context
with other words. In English, we can say “the boy runs‟, using “run‟ in its primary meaning. We can
also say “the motor runs, the river runs, and his nose runs‟, using runs in its secondary meanings.
This principle is not limited to lexical items for it is also true that the same grammatical pattern may
express several quite different meanings. For instance, the English possessive phrase “my house‟ may
mean “the house I built‟, “the house I rent‟, “the house I live in‟, or “the house for which I drew up in
my plans.‟ Only the larger context determines the meaning. Notice the following possessive phrases
and the variety of meanings:
my car ownership
my brother kinship
my foot part-whole
my singing action
my book ownership or authorship (the book I own, or, the book I wrote)
my village residence (the village where I live)
my train use (the train I ride on)
Whole sentences may also have several functions. A question form may be used for a non- question.
For example, the question: “Mary, why don’t you wash the dishes?” has a form of a question, and may
in some context be asking for information, but it is often used with the meaning of command rather
than a real question. A simple English sentence like “He made the bed.” May mean either “He made
(as a carpenter would make) the bed”, or “He put the sheets, blanket, and pillows in neat order on the
bed.”
Just as words have primary and secondary meanings, so grammatical markers have their primary
function and often have other secondary functions. The preposition “on‟ is used in English to signal a
variety of meanings. Compare the following uses of “on‟ in the following sentences John found the
book on the floor.
John found the book on mathematics.
John found the book on Tuesday.
John found the book on sale.
Compare also the following uses of ‘by’ John
was stopped by the policeman.
John was stopped by the bookstand.
In the first, by is used to signal the meaning that the policeman is the agent of the action. In the
second, by is used to signal that the bookstand is the location.
- A single meaning may be expressed in a variety of forms. For example, the meaning “the cat is black”
may be expressed by the following: the cat is black, the black cat, and, the cat, which is black,
depending on how that meaning relates to other meanings. In addition, the meanings of “Is this place
taken?” “Is there anyone sitting here?” and “May I sit here?” are essentially the same.
We have seen that even within a single language there are a great variety of ways in which form expresses
meaning. Only when a form being used in its primary meaning or function is there a one-to-one correlation
between form and meaning. The other meanings are secondary meanings or figurative meanings. Words
have these extended meanings and in the same way grammatical forms have extended usages (secondary
and figurative function).
This characteristic of “skewing”; that is, the diversity or the lack of one-to-one correlation between form and
meaning is the basic reason that translation is a complicated task. If there were no skewing, then all lexical
items and all grammatical forms would have only one meaning and a literal word-for-word and grammatical
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structure-for-grammatical structure translation would be possible. But the fact is that a language is a
complex set of skewed relationship between meaning (semantics) and form (lexicon and grammar). Each
language has its own distinctive forms for representing the meaning. Therefore, in translation the same
meaning may have to be expressed in another language by a very different form.
To translate the form of one language literally according to the corresponding form in another language
would often change the meaning or at least result in a form which is unnatural in the second language.
Meaning must, therefore, have priority over form in translation. It is meaning that is to be carried over from
the source language to the receptor language, not the linguistic forms.
The nature of language is that each language uses different forms and these forms have secondary and
figurative meanings which add further complications. A word-for-word translation which follows closely the
form of the source language is called a literal translation. A literal translation does not communicate the
meaning of the source text. It is generally no more than a string of words intended to help someone read a
text in its original language. It is unnatural and hard to understand, and may even be quite meaningless, or
give a wrong meaning in the receptor language. It can hardly be called a translation. The goal of a
translator should be to produce a receptor language text (a translation) which is idiomatic; that is one which
has the same meaning as the source language but is expressed in the natural form of the receptor
language. The meaning, not form is retained.
The following is a literal translation of a story first told in the Quiche language of Guatemala:
“It is said that being one man not from here, not known where the his or the he comes where. One day
the things he walks in a plantation or in them the coastlands, he saw his appearance one little necklace,
or he thought that a little necklace the very pretty thrown on the ground in the road. He took the
necklace this he threw in his mouth for its cause that coming the one person another to his behind
ness, for his that not he encounters the one the following this way in his behindness not he knows and
that the necklace the he threw in his mouth this one snake and the man this one died right now
because not he knows his appearance the snake or that the he ate this not this a necklace only
probably this snake.”
Now compare the above with the following less literal translation of the same story:
“It is said that there once was a man not from here, and I do not know his town or where he came
from, who one day was walking in a plantation (or in the coastlands). He saw a little necklace, or
rather, what he thought was a very pretty little necklace, lying on the road. He grabbed this necklace
and threw this into his mouth because there was someone coming along behind him, and he did not
want the other person to see it. He did not know that the necklace he threw into his mouth was really a
snake. The man died in short order because he did not recognize from its appearance that it was a
snake. He did not know that what he had put in his mouth was not a necklace, but rather a snake.”
In the first, each Quiche word was replaced by the nearest English equivalent. The result was nonsense. In
the second translation, the natural forms of English lexicon and grammar were used to express the meaning
of the Quiche story. Below the story is again rewritten in a more idiomatic English style.
“I am told that there once was a stranger from some other town who was walking in a plantation along
the coast. As he walked along he suddenly saw a very pretty little necklace lying on the road. He
snatched up this necklace and threw this into his mouth because there was another person walking
behind him and he did not want him to see the necklace. The stranger did not know that the necklace
was really a snake. The man died immediately. He died because he did not realize that it was a snake.
He did not know he put a snake into his mouth rather than a necklace.”
Anything which can be said in one language can be said in another. It is possible to translate. The goal of
the translator is to keep the meaning constant. Wherever necessary, the receptor language form should be
changed in order that the source language meaning should not be distorted. Since a meaning expressed by
a particular form in one language may be expressed by quite a different form in another language, it is
often necessary to change the form when translating.

3. Translation Methods a. SL emphasis versus TL emphasis

Peter Newmark (1988) generalized a number of translation methods as follow.
• Word-for-word translation
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 This is often demonstrated as interlinear translation, with The TL immediately below the SL words.
The SL word-order is preserved, and the words are translated singly by their most common
meanings, out of context. Cultural words are translated literally.
The main use of word-for-word translation is either to understand the mechanics of the source
language or to construe a difficult text as a pre-translation process.

• Literal translation
The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents but the lexical
words are again translated singly, out of context. As a pre-translation process, this indicates the
problems to be solved.
• Faithful translation
A faithful translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the
constraints of the TL grammatical structures. It 'transfers' cultural words and preserves the degree
of grammatical and lexical 'abnormality' (deviation from SL norms) in the translation. It attempts to
be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-realization of the SL writer.
• Semantic translation
Semantic translation differs from 'faithful translation' only in as far as it must take more account of
the aesthetic value (that is, the beautiful and natural sounds of the SL text, compromising on
'meaning' where appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition jars in the finished
version. Further, it may translate less important cultural words by culturally neutral third or
functional terms but not by cultural equivalents, and it may make other small concessions to the
readership. The distinction between 'faithful' and ‘semantic' translation is that the first is
uncompromising and dogmatic, while the second is more flexible, admits the creative exception to
100% fidelity and allows for the translator's intuitive empathy with the original.

• Adaptation
This is the 'freest' form of translation. It is used mainly for plays (comedies and poetry; the themes,
characters, plots are usually preserved, the SL culture converted to the TL culture and the text
rewritten. The deplorable practice of having a play or poem literally translated and then rewritten by
an established dramatist or poet has produced many poor adaptations, but other adaptations have
'rescued’ period plays.

• Free translation
Free translation reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the form of the
original. Usually, it is a paraphrase much longer than the original, a so-called 'intralingual
translation’, often prolix and pretentious, and not translation at all.
• Idiomatic translation
Idiomatic translation reproduces the 'message' of the original but tends to distort nuances of
meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where these do not exist in the original.
• Communicative translation
Communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a
way that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership.

SL emphasis TL emphasis
Word-for-word translation Adaptation
Literal translation Free translation
Faithful translation Idiomatic translation
Semantic translation Communicative translation

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b. Literal versus Idiomatic
Because a given text has both form and meaning, there are two main kinds of translation. One is
formbased and the other is meaning-based. Form-based translations attempt to follow the form of the
source language and are known as literal translation. Meaning-based translations make every effort to
communicate the meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of the receptor language.
Such translations are called idiomatic translations.
An interlinear translation is a completely literal translation. For some purposes, it is desirable to
reproduce the linguistic features of the source text, as for example, in a linguistic study of that
language. Although these literal translations may be very useful for purposes related to the study of
the source language, they are of little help to speakers of the receptor language who are interested in
the meaning of the source language text. A literal translation sounds like nonsense and has little
communication value. For example:
Vietnamese: Mời bạn về nhà tôi chơi.
Literal translation: Invite friend about house me play.
Idiomatic translation: Would you like to come to my home?
If the two languages are related, the literal translation can often be understood, since the general
grammatical form may be similar. However, the literal choice of lexical items may the translation
sounds foreign.
Except for interlinear translation, a truly literal translation is uncommon. Most translators who tend to
translate literally actually make a partially modified literal translation. They modify the order and
grammar enough to use acceptable sentence structure in the receptor language. However, the lexical
items are translated literally. Occasionally, these are also changed to avoid complete nonsense or to
improve the communication. However, the result still does not sound natural.
A person who translates in a modified literal manner will change the grammatical forms when the
constructions are obligatory. However, if he has a choice, he will follow the form of the source text
even though a different form might be more natural in the receptor language. Literal and modified
literal translations consistently in that they choose literal equivalents for the words, i.e., lexical items
being translated. Literal translations of words, idioms result in unclear, unnatural, and sometimes
nonsensical translations. In a modified literal translation, the translator usually adjusts the translation
enough to avoid the nonsense and wrong meanings, but the unnaturalness still remains.
Idiomatic translations use the natural forms of the receptor language, both in the grammatical
constructions and in the choice of lexical items. A truly idiomatic translation does not sound like a
translation. It sounds like it was written originally in the receptor language. Therefore, a good
translator will try to translate idiomatically. This is his goal. However, translations are often a mixture
of a literal transfer of the grammatical units along with some idiomatic translation of the meaning of
the text. It is not easy to consistently translate. A translator may express some parts of his translation
in very natural forms and then in other parts fall back into a literal form.
In one translation, the source text said, ‘‘Nhiều du khách nước ngoài giới thiệu cho chúng tôi về
khách sạn Hương Giang.’’ It was translated, “Many foreign tourists have introduced us about Huong
Giang Hotel.” It would have been translated idiomatically, “Huong Giang Hotel has been
recommended to us by a number of foreign tourists.”
The translator’s goal should be to reproduce in a receptor language a text which communicates the
same message as the source language but using the natural grammatical and lexical choices of the
receptor language. The basic overriding principle is that an idiomatic translation reproduces the
meaning of the source language in the natural form of the receptor language.
c. Translating grammatical features
Parts of speech are language specific. Each language has its own division of the lexicon into classes
such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and so on. Different languages will have different classes and
subclasses. It will not always be possible to translate a source language noun with a noun in the
receptor language. For example, English has many nouns which really refer to actions while
Vietnamese prefers to express actions as verbs rather than nouns.

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 In one translation, the source text said, “ There is a general agreement that the government has
given top priority to education .” It was translated, ‘‘Có một sự đồng ý chung rằng chính phủ đã
dành nhiều ưu tiên cho giáo dục’’. This would have been translated idiomatically, ‘‘ Ai cũng đồng ý
rằng chính phủ đã dành nhiều ưu tiên cho giáo dục.’’
Most languages have a class of words which may be called pronouns. Pronominal systems vary greatly
from language to language and the translator is obliged to use the form of the receptor language even
though they may have very different meanings than the pronouns of the source language.
In English, the first plural pronoun we is often used when the real meaning is second person you. The
reason for the use of we is to show empathy and understanding. The nurse says to the sick child, “ It’s
time for us to take our medicine now.” Clearly, the pronouns do not refer to the nurse but to the
children whom she is addressing you. In translating these pronouns into another language, a literal
translation with first person plural would probably distort the meaning. The translator would need to
look for the natural way to communicate second person and the feeling of empathy carried by the
source language.
Grammatical constructions also vary between the source language and the receptor language. The
order, for example, may be completely reserved. The following simple sentences from Vietnamese is
given with a literal English translations:
Chị sống ở đâu?

You live where?

Cô ấy thường mặc áo lụa màu xanh cỡ nhỏ.

She often wears shirt silk blue small.
It will readily be seen that understandable translations into English requires a complete reversal of the
order: She often wears a small blue silk shirt.
It is not uncommon that passive constructions will need to be translated with an active construction or
vice versa, depending on the natural form of the receptor language. For example, Vietnamese people
tend to use active constructions to express their ideas whereas English people prefer to use passive
constructions.
English:
A: What has happened to all your money after the will was settled and the business was sold?
(passive) B: The usual thing, false friends, fast-living style and bad investment.
Vietnamese:
A: Chuyện gì đã xảy ra với toàn bộ số tiền mà anh có được sau khi giải quyết xong chúc thư và
bán đi cả sản nghiệp? (active)
B: Cũng lẽ thường tình thôi, bạn bè giả dối, ăn chơi hoang đàn và đầu tư sai chỗ.
The above translated sentences are only examples to show some types of grammatical adjustments
which will result if a translator translates idiomatically in the source language. Certainly, there will be
times by coincidence they match, but a translator should translate the meaning and not concern
himself with whether the forms turn out the same or not.
d. Translating lexical features
Each language has its own idiomatic way of expressing meaning lexical items. Languages abound in
idioms, secondary meanings, metaphors, and other figurative meanings. For example, notice the
following ways in which a fever is referred to (literal translations are given to show the source
language form):
Greek: The fever left him.
Aguaruna: He cooled.
Vietnamese: He cooled. Or: The fever was no more in him.
Ilocano: The fever was no more in him.

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The English translations of all would be: His fever went down, or His temperature returned to
normal.
All languages have idioms, i.e., a string of words whose meaning is different than the meaning
conveyed by the individual words. In English to say that someone is bullheaded means that the
person is “stubborn‟. The meaning has little to do with bull or head. Similarly, in Vietnamese to say
that someone is cứng đầu cứng cổ means that the person is “stubborn‟. The meaning has little to do
with đầu or cổ. Languages abound in such idioms. The following are a few English idioms using in and
into: run into debt, rush into print, step into a practice, jump into a fight, dive into a book,
stumble into acquaintance, fall in love, break into society . In spite of all these combinations, one
cannot say the following break into debt, fall into print, rush into a fight, dive into debt, etc. The
combinations are fixed as to form and their meaning comes from their combination. A literal word-for-
word translation of these idioms into another language will not make sense. The form cannot be kept,
but the receptor language word or phrase which has the equivalent meaning will be the correct one to
use in the translation. The following idioms occur in Vietnamese. In the first column is a literal
translation from Vietnamese. In the second is an idiomatic translation. The literal English is misleading.
LITERAL IDIOMATIC
I don’t have my eye on you. I don’t remember you.
He is as strong as a buffalo. He is as strong as a horse.
I have buried my head into my business. I have been busy with my
work.
Translators who want to make a good idiomatic translation often find figures of speech especially
challenging. A literal translation of strong as a horse might sound really strange in a language where
the comparison between a strong person and a horse has never been use as a figure of speech. In
Vietnamese it would be more natural to say strong as a buffalo.
Names of animals are used metaphorically in most languages. But the comparison is often different
and so the figure will be misunderstood unless some adjustment is made. For example, when
someone is called a pig in English, it usually means he is dirty or a greedy eater. In Vietnamese, it has
different meanings. It could mean that the person is stupid or that the person is a greedy. Care would
need to be taken if pigs were used metaphorically or a wrong meaning might result in the receptor
language. Some lexical combinations of the source language may be ambiguous. The meaning is not
clear. For example, “It is too hot to eat,” could mean any of the following: The food is too hot to eat;
the weather is too hot for us to feel like eating; the horse is too hot after running a race and does not
want to eat. In the process of making an idiomatic translation, such ambiguities must often be
resolved and only the intended meaning communicated.
Conclusion
It is obvious that translation is a complicated process. However, a translator who is concerned with
transferring the meaning will find that the receptor language has a way in which the desired meaning
can be expressed even though it may be very different from the source language form.
Considering the complexity of language structures, how can a translator ever hope to produce an
adequate translation? Literal translation can only be avoided by careful analysis of the source
language: by, first of all, understanding clearly the message to be communicated. A translator who
takes the time to study carefully the source language text, to write analysis of it, and then to look for
the equivalent way in which the same message is expressed naturally in the receptor language, will be
able to provide an adequate, and sometimes brilliant translation. His goal must be to avoid literalisms
and to strive for a truly idiomatic receptor language text. He will know he is successful if the receptor
language readers do not recognize his work as a translation at all, but simply as a text written in the
receptor language for their information and enjoyment.

EXERCISES
A. List as many grammatical forms as you can which realize the same meaning as the one given
below. Then put the same meaning into a language other than English in as many forms as
you can.
Example: the cat is black

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 the black cat the cat,
which is black
1. the water jug
2. John bought a car
3. a hot day
4. mother’s long blue dress
5. Peter’s house
.
B. In each of the following pairs of sentences, which is more idiomatic English? How would the
meaning be expressed idiomatically in the language you speak?
1. (a) The storekeeper said that we will refund your money.
(b) The storekeeper promised to refund our money.
2. (a) A certain boy told me this little story at a party.
(b) He is one boy. He told the one little story. This is a game he said.
3. (a) An International Alphabet would inevitably bring about a spelling reform as well. How many
children have shed hot tears about spelling?
(b) An International Alphabet would inevitably bring about a spelling reform, too. And how
many hot children’s tears have not been shed on spelling?
4. (a) He then reported his misfortune to the police, who are searching diligently for the thief.
(b) He then his mishap reported to the police, who are the thief searching intensively.

C. Look for literalisms in the following translations into English and underline the words or
phrases that do not sound natural in English. Suggest a more idiomatic way of saying it.
1. Since the USA abolished the embargo against Vietnam, many foreign countries have been investing
in Vietnam.
2. Hue is famous about its delicious dishes and beautiful landscapes.
3. The participants discussed about the causes of pollution environment.
4. A robbery took place of a motorcycle rider at Kampung yesterday morning.

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 UNIT 2: COMMON PATTERNS AND SOURCES OF ERRORS

1. Common lexical errors

Lexical interference traps are common enough but more invidious are innocent looking collocations
which appear to make sense until one asks oneself what they mean in particular context. For example,
in English “to cook an account” translated as ‘‘nấu sổ sách’’ is meaningless and it must be translated
as ‘‘giả mạo sổ sách’’. Lexical interference is very dangerous because it can distort the meaning of a
sentence.
1.1. Context
The context itself determines the meaning of words. Therefore, their meaning should be solved in the
context. It is commonly known that a word may have equivalents and accordingly the analysis of its
meaning has to be made carefully in order to pick out the most appropriate word. There are many
ways of translating of some nouns related to professions, classes, fields in society. For example, the
word “clergy” should be translated as ‘‘giáo sĩ’’ for Catholicism but ‘‘ giới tăng đồ’’ for Buddhism. The
word “death” is normally translated as ‘‘ cái chết’’ but ‘‘vua băng hà” in “King’s death” and as for
Buddhism this word should be translated as ‘‘viên tịch’’.
Example: Translate the following sentences into English
1. Kha Luân Bố đã tìm ra Tân thế giới vào năm 1842.
2. Tôi đang tìm cuốn sách.
3. Michael Faraday đã tìm ra máy phát điện.
Obviously, there are many equivalents in English for the word ‘‘ tìm’’ such as “seek”, “look for”,
“search for”, “find”, “find out”. In addition, there are two more words related to this meaning:
“invent” and “discover”. However, in sentence (1) the word ‘‘tìm’’ has an equivalent in English as
“discover”. In sentence (2) the word ‘‘tìm’’ is understood as “look for”, “search for” or “seek”. In
sentence (3) the word ‘‘tìm’’ has an equivalent as “invent”.
The three above-mentioned sentences can be translated as follows.
1. The New World was discovered by Christopher.
2. I am looking for my book.
3. Michael Faraday invented the generator.
It is characteristic of word that a single lexical item may have several meanings. For example, the
word “head” in isolation means something like “ the upper part of the body”. But the same word used
in the context of talking about a company or an organization has nothing to do with the human body
though the idea of the upper position of something still remains.
Example:
1. He is the former head of the Chemistry Section of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission.
(leader) 2. Although he is the head of the company, he has no head. (leader - intelligence)
In brief, the translators have a habit of translating literally and depending largely on the meaning in
dictionary due to the mother-tongue interference. In order to avoid committing errors of context,
words should be solved in context and the analysis of their meaning has to be made carefully to pick
out the most appropriate equivalent.
1.2. Word collocation
Word collocation consists of the associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words
which tend to occur in its environment. Each language has its own principle in word collocation. For
example, the word “pretty” often goes with girls and women, while the word “handsome” often goes
with boys or men. It is the mother tongue interference that leads to the mechanic collocation which is
unacceptable in target language. In fact, each language has its own principles of word collocation.

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Neither English nor Vietnamese is an exception. Some translators do not realize this, which leads to
wrong and funny collocation.
For instance, in Vietnamese the word ‘‘ uống” (drink) can go with many different kinds of liquid
including water, beer, alcohol, medicine and even poison. However, in English there are clear
distinctions as follows:
Drink beer/ water/ wine/ coffee.
Take medicine/ poison.
Another example indicates that in Vietnamese the word ‘‘ nói” (say) can be collocated with ‘‘lời tạm
biệt’’ (goodbye), ‘‘lời chào hỏi’’ (hello), ‘‘dối’’ (a lie), ‘‘sự thật’’ (the truth), ‘‘tiếng Pháp’’ (French).
However, in English it is quite different.
Say hello/ goodbye/ yes/ no.
Tell a lie/ the truth/ a story.
Speak English/ French/ Chinese.
Similarly, the word “decision” can be collocated with many words such as “to make/ to reach/ to
arrive at/ to come to... a decision”.
In a word, it is inevitable for the translators to obey the principles of English and Vietnamese word
collocations. In order to avoid this type of errors, the translator should read as many English books
and magazines as possible to take notes of collocated words under the English standard.
1.3. Misuse of personal pronouns and prepositions
In Vietnamese, there are many ways to express the thoughts and feelings or attitude which differ
from those in English. The social status, age, sex, and the family order are distinguished clearly and
systematically. This is reflected in a number of words for addressing such as ‘‘ cụ, ông, bà, bác, cô,
chú,
thím, dì, dượng, cậu, mợ, anh, chị, quý vị, ngài, mày, em, .. ’’ Such words are generally expressed
by English people in one word “you”.
The following examples show clearly that the translators sometimes do not master the relationship
between the speaker and the hearer, which leads to a funny translation: A mother was taking care of
her child in hospital. She said: “ I love you very much, dear .” which was translated as ‘‘Em yêu anh
lắm,
cưng à.’’ instead of ‘‘Mẹ yêu con lắm, cưng à.’’
In Vietnamese, each preposition has a fixed meaning which does not change regardless of the noun,
adjective or verb preceding it. On the contrary, the meaning of a preposition in English depends on its
preceding word. This difference leads to errors in using prepositions of TL. For example, the
Vietnamese preposition ‘‘về’’ can be expressed by different prepositions in English:
a talk on history: một cuộc nói chuyện về lịch sử be disappointed with: thất vọng về be
interested in: quan tâm về lay emphasis/ stress on: nhấn mạnh về be worried about: lo
lắng về be proud of / take pride in: tự hào về be famous for: nổi tiếng về instead of
“disappointed about”, “proud about”, “famous about” as the translator may use.
Due to the mother tongue interference, the translators found themselves in a confusing situation when
they use prepositions in English. In order to avoid this type of errors the translators should learn the
prepositions going with nouns, adjectives or verbs by heart. If they do not know how to use
prepositions exactly, they tend to the Vietnamese ones into English or vice versa. As a result, the
translators should be provided with as many structures with prepositions systematically as possible to
help them take notes and draw out the formation and rules.
1.4. Misuse of synonyms
Some translators depend largely on the meaning in dictionary picking out the synonyms without
paying much to the context. In fact, the pairs of synonyms share at least one sense in common but do

10
not share all their senses. To some extent, they can hardly substitute for each other. The misuse of
synonyms makes the meaning of one of the following sentences unacceptable.
“You have my deep/ profound sympathy. (acceptable)
“The river is deep.” (acceptable)
“The river is very profound.” (unacceptable)
Another example shows that some translators do not realize the connotative meaning, which leads to
the distorting of the meaning of the sentence. Take “ famous’’(nổi tiếng) and “notorious” (khét tiếng)
as an example. While “famous” means “well-known / celebrated ”, and therefore contains some
features of positive meaning, “notorious” means “well-known” especially for unfavorable reason &
negative meaning.
The following can be seen as the misuse of the synonyms by some of the inexperienced translators.
1. “Cậu bé này rất bướng bỉnh.’’ (This boy is very stubborn / unyielding.) (right)
2. “Người Việt Nam có tinh thần bất khuất.’’ (The Vietnamese people are really stubborn.) (wrong)
3. Chính phủ có kế hoạch xây hàng ngàn ngôi nhà cho người vô gia cư.’’ (The government plans to
build thousands of homes for homeless people.) (wrong)
In Example 1 “stubborn” synonymous to “unyielding” means ‘‘cứng đầu / bướng bỉnh’’ in Vietnamese.
In Example 2 “stubborn” fails to evoke the features of positive meaning which praises the Vietnamese
people on their heroism expressing the speaker’s admiration. In contrast, it expresses the speaker’s
anger and discontent.
In Example 3 “home” and “house” are places where one lives, meaning ‘‘nhà’’ in Vietnamese.
However, in terms of the connotative meaning, they are quite different. “House” refers to the building
or structure while “home” refers to the atmosphere or feeling found in the house. For example:
- There is no place like home. (Chẳng có nơi đâu như ở nhà.)
- Home is where the heart is. (Nhà là nơi con tim trú ngụ.)
Most of the synonyms have the same meaning in certain context. If a translator uses synonyms
without referring to the context, he can make wrong and funny translation for his readers. In order to
avoid the misuse, the translator should carefully take the synonyms into consideration before using
them. In addition, it would be better for the translator to consider the differences of the pairs of
synonyms when translating.
1.5. Idioms and terminologies
The meanings of idioms are not definitely related to grammatical rules or the lexical meaning of each
word because they feature the metaphor and figures of speech. For example, “ wet blanket” should be
translated ‘‘người rầu rĩ’’ instead of “cái chăn ướt’’ or “to read one’s palm” translated as ‘‘xem chỉ
tay’’ instead of “đọc cái gì ở lòng bàn tay’’.
In fact, idioms can be translated satisfactorily by considering the context, if not, it is difficult to find
the exact meaning. An English idiom must be translated into Vietnamese by an equivalent one. It is
very important to be aware that we must not choose the equivalents of every word forming the idiom,
but we do find the equivalent ways of expression which exist in both languages. If we stick to each
word, the meaning becomes strange, unnatural and funny.
For instance, “to sell like a hot cake” is usually translated as ‘‘bán đắt như tôm tươi” instead of ‘‘bán
như bánh nóng”. “There is no time like present. ” is usually translated as ‘‘ Việc hôm nay chớ để ngày
mai’’ instead of ‘‘Không có thời gian như bây giờ’’. “Live and learn” is usually translated as ‘‘Còn sống
còn
học’’ instead of ‘‘Sống và học’’.
In addition to this, due to the limited knowledge of social background and some special fields, some
translators mistranslated the terminologies causing vagueness, inaccuracy to readers. It is not very
easy for some translators to translate the following terminologies if they are not familiar with business
texts.

11
 - cash flow: lưu lượng tiền mặt
- insurance policy: hợp đồng bảo hiểm
- acknowledgement: giấy báo cho biết đã nhận được
- credit terms: những điều khoản tín dụng
- hard currency: đồng tiền mạnh
- marginal: biên tế chênh lệch giữa giá mua và giá bán
- total working capital: tổng số vốn lưu động
- sales promotion campaign: chiến dịch khuyến mãi
In conclusion, some inexperienced translators committed the lexical errors mentioned above including
those of context, word collocation, prepositions, synonyms and idioms and terminologies. They are
committed by those who have little knowledge of both source language (SL) and target language
(TG). At the same time, they thought that although English is different from Vietnamese, both
languages have a one-to-one correlation of lexical items. In practice, in terms of translation, it can be
chosen the only one appropriate equivalent from this into that language. Even more, that equivalent
hardly keeps the meaning of the word itself but that of context.
In some dictionaries, the authors present series of synonyms of SL in comparison with TL. However,
the synonyms are those of the context in which they are operating. Another problem is that some
translators did not realize the linking meaning of word units. It is obvious that these units link together
to create a larger unit of meaning in a given text to be translated. The linking meaning itself does not
exist in separate word units but in the link of the units constituting the whole text.
2. Common structural errors
Each language has its own division of lexicon into classes such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
etc. It is not always possible to translate a SL noun with a noun in TL.
- In English, there is a tendency of using more nominal structures while verbal structures are used
more in Vietnamese. Some translators keep the same structures when translating, leading to
vagueness in TL texts.
For example:
“Thanks for your attention”  Cám ơn vì sự chú ý của mọi người.
(It should be “Cám ơn mọi người đã chú ý lắng nghe.”)
- In addition, there is also a tendency of using more passive constructions in English than in
Vietnamese.
For instance:
“The USA is said to be a powerful country”  Mỹ được nói là một cường quốc.
(It should be “Người ta nói rằng Mỹ là một cường quốc. ”)
As can be seen from the examples mentioned above, some translators focused on the structures of SL
so much that they fail to convey all the implicit meaning of TL. In fact, it is not necessary to keep the
form at all. The most important thing is that the translations must be done on the basis of the TL
grammar that is familiar to the readers. This principle suggests that the translator should not depend
largely on the structures of the SL but break them, conveying the meaning as much as possible in an
appropriate structure in the TL.
- Another problem is that some translators were not aware of the relationship between form and
function of language. It is commonly known that in some languages, one function is expressed by
many forms and vice versa.
For example:
You should / ought to…
If I were you, I’d…
12
 Giving advice You’d better…
I advise you to …
…
- In addition, some translators did not realize the conversational implicitly as follows.
1. What’s the time? (Why are you so late?)
2. Are you my teacher? (You want to teach me.)
3. Why don’t we go to the cinema? (a suggestion)
4. Why did you say so? (You should not have said so)
5. Unless he has done the work to my satisfaction, I will not pay him for this.
(If he has not done…)
Those sentences should be translated as follows.
1. Có biết mấy giờ rồi không?
2. Mày đòi làm thầy của tao à?
3. Chúng ta đi xem phim nhé?
4. Lẽ ra anh không nên nói vậy!
5. Nếu hắn không làm việc vừa ý tôi thì đừng hòng tôi trả lương cho hắn.
The structural difference between the SL and the TL is likely to make it difficult for the translators. The
translators were not aware of dividing or combining the sentences within a text to be translated. If
they try to keep the same punctuation of the SL text, the correspondent TL text will have clumsy,
runtogether, long and complex sentences. It is much better to divide long sentences into short ones
aiming at creating coherence, attraction for readers in the translations.
These are the translated sentences with their structural errors made by some of inexperienced
translators.
1. “The dividing gap between the rich and the poor as well as corruption and social unrest caused by
the relocation of people in industrialized areas, have made many people hesitate in further changes.”
 Khoảng cách lớn giữa người giàu và người nghèo cũng như tham nhũng và tình trạng bất an
của xã hội gây ra do sự phân bố lại dân cư ở các khu công nghiệp đã làm cho nhiều người phải do
dự khi chấp nhận những thay đổi lớn.
2. “It takes much time to deliver goods to remote areas by backward means of transport.”
 Nó lấy nhiều thời gian để phân phối hàng hóa đến các vùng xa xôi bằng các phương tiện giao
thông lạc hậu.
All above translated sentences should be corrected as follows.
1. Sự thay đổi chỗ ở tại các vùng công nghiệp hóa đã làm cho khoảng cách giữa người giàu và
người nghèo cũng như tham nhũng và tình trạng bất an của xã hội ngày càng lớn. Chính điều này
đã làm cho nhiều người phải do dự trước những thay đổi lớn hơn nữa.
2. Phải mất nhiều thời gian để phân phối hàng hóa đến các vùng xa xôi bằng các phương tiện giao
thông lạc hậu.
In order to overcome this type of structural errors, the most effective way for translators is to master
the structures of both languages. It is clear that a translator who is proficient in English cannot help
being good at Vietnamese and vice versa.
3. Style errors
Styles play an important role in formal translation and strongly affect the second language meaning.
Due to the context, text-type and audience, the levels of language in translation can be different - the
informal language used in informal situations; colloquial used in spoken language; familiar language
used among friends, relatives, members in a family; formal language used in formal texts such as
13
speeches in conference, legal documents, business letter & documents, research papers. The
examples given below clearly indicate that the same massage could be expressed in different styles.
1. Drop me a line. (informal)
2. Remember to write me a letter. (neutral)
3. I look forward to your letter. (formal)
4. They can escape from family supervision. (formal)
5. Their parents can’t keep an eye on them. (colloquial)
6. They are completely armed. (formal)
7. They are armed to teeth. (colloquial)
Style error is an acute problem to the translators. There are translators did not master the difference
when using various styles such as conversational, academic, scientific, literary styles. Many translators
failed when coming across the unfamiliar styles due to being unaware of degrees of formality (informal
or formal style), usage of vocabulary (informal, colloquial, formal)
These are some style errors taken out from some Vietnamese- English translations.
1. Nếu chúng tôi đặt hàng với số lượng lớn, liệu doanh nghiệp anh có bán với giá rẻ không?
 If we place substantial orders, can your enterprise get us with soft price?
It is impossible to use informal style in a business letter. Instead of using “soft price”, the translator
should use “cheaper price”.
2. Thời tiết ở Huế không thích hợp cho người già. Mùa hè trời nóng như thiêu đốt trong khi mùa đông
lạnh đến xương tủy.
 The weather in Hue is favorable for the old. It is burning hot in summer while it chills to the bones
in winter.
It is impossible to use informal style to translate a formal text. Instead of using “burning hot”, the
translator should use “exceedingly hot”.
4. Cultural errors
Culture could be understood as the total set of beliefs, attitude, customs, behavior, social habits etc. of
the member of a particular society. In the broad sense, it includes mode of production, production
activities, community organization, spiritual life, knowledge of nature and society, emotions, and moral
conceptions. Language is regarded as both a component of a culture and network through which other
elements of culture operate. Language, therefore, uses almost all other cultural elements so as to
perfect its universal and self-sufficient nature. It could be said that we will not translate from this to
that language perfectly unless we know its relation to its culture.
It is commonly known that “ao dai” is a traditional costume of the Vietnamese women and we never
find an equivalent word in English to translate “ao dai”. However, some translators translated
mechanically “ao dai” into “a dress”. How funny it is! It would be preferred to writing down “ao dai” to
express the cultural feature to making foreign people misunderstand “ao dai” as “a dress”.
“Trang phục truyền thống của người phụ nữ Việt Nam là chiếc áo dài tượng trưng cho sự duyên
dáng” should be translated as “The traditional costume of the Vietnamese women is ‘‘ao dai’’ which
symbolizes
the grace.”
Translation is a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and two cultural
traditions. As this statement implies, translators are permanently faced with the problem of how to
treat the cultural aspects implicit in a source text (ST) and of finding the most appropriate technique
of successfully conveying these aspects in the target language (TL). These problems may vary in
scope depending on the cultural and linguistic gap between the two (or more) languages concerned.
The cultural implications for translation may take several forms ranging from lexical content and
syntax to ideologies and ways of life in a given culture. The translator also has to decide on the
importance given to certain cultural aspects and to what extent it is necessary or desirable to translate
14
 them into the TL. The aims of the ST will also have implications for translation as well as the intended
readership for both the ST and the target text (TT).

EXERCISES A. Find the right collocation for the word “đàn” in the cases below
A __________ of birds/ sheep: đàn chim/ cừu
A __________ of cattle/ buffaloes: đàn gia súc / trâu
A __________ of dogs/ calves: đàn chó / bê
A __________ of fish/ chickens: đàn cá / gà
A __________ of lions/ deer : đàn sư tử / nai
B. Identify the errors in the following translations and correct them
1. “In 1999, some major commodities were stockpiled because of poor quality.”
‘‘Năm 1999 một số hàng hóa được lưu trữ do chất lượng kém.’’
2. “The Prime Minister has also assigned relevant agencies to formulate a law on industrial zones to
provide a complete legal background/frame for the operation of IZs and EPZs in Vietnam.”
‘‘Thủ tướng đã bổ nhiệm những chính sách thích hợp để đưa ra luật về khu công nghiệp để
cung cấp một bối cảnh hoàn toàn hợp pháp cho các hoạt động của khu công nghiệp và khu chế
xuất Việt Nam. ’’.
3. Chính phủ đã thực hiện nhiều biện pháp nhằm ngăn chặn việc buôn lậu ma túy. The
government has made many measures to stop the drug smuggling.
4. Chúng tôi phải hoàn thành nhiệm vụ trước khi tổ thanh tra kiểm tra chất lượng sản phẩm.  We
have to complete our duty before the investigators control the product quality.
5. Sau khi nghiên cứu thị trường, chúng tôi quyết định tung ra một sản phẩm ẩn tượng có sức cạnh
tranh với hàng ngoại nhập.
 After making a market research, we decided to launch an impressive product which can
compete against the imported ones.
6. “According to Mr Thien, his plant currently produces lubricants under the API (American Petroleum
Institute) standards”
Theo ông Thiện thì hiện nay nhà máy của ông đang sản xuất dầu nhờn dưới tiêu chuẩn của
Viện xăng dầu Mỹ.
7. “It is so easy to be misunderstood when talking on the phone.”  Nói chuyện trên điện thoại thì
dễ bị hiểu lầm.
8. ‘‘Tòa án nhân dân quyết định kết án chúng 15 năm về tội buôn lậu ma túy.’’
 The People‟s Court decided to condemn them to 15 years imprisonment about the drug
smuggling.
9. ‘‘Là giáo viên ưu tú trong nhiều năm, ông Nam có nhiều kinh nghiệm về việc
giảng dạy học sinh.’’  As a qualified teacher for many years, Mr. Nam is
experienced about educating and teaching the pupils.
10. ‘‘Chúng tôi thành thật chia buồn về sự ra đi của bố bạn’’  We really
condole with you about the loss of your father.
C. Translate the following sentences into Vietnamese
1. “Every time, we have our children’s birth certificates signed at the local People’s committee, we
have to go through a lot of red tape.”
2. “At first, we intended to stay at home. On the second thought, we decided to go out.”
3. “She rarely saves her time to do her homework. She often lets the grass grow under her feet.”

UNIT 3: STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATORS

1. How to deal with non-equivalence at lexical level
It is often the case that no direct equivalents can be found in Vietnamese for English words. It may be
that the concept or idea is new to Vietnamese translators. It may also be that the concept is known or
understood but there is no specific word in Vietnamese used to express it. Another difficulty is that, in
addition to their concrete meaning, some words have special connotations that are not conveyed by the
Vietnamese word for the same thing. The strategies listed below can be used to handle cases of
nonequivalence.
15
 1.1 Translating by a more specific word
In some cases, it may be appropriate or necessary to use a more specific word to translate an
English word into Vietnamese. This usually involves choosing among several different words, as
there may be many Vietnamese words that correspond to the general category or meaning
expressed by English word. For instance, the word “rice” can be translated by many different
Vietnamese words, depending on whether one is planting it ( lúa), harvesting it (thóc), cooking
it (gạo) or eating it (cơm)
1.2 Translating by a more general word
In other cases, it may be appropriate to use a more general word to translate an English word
with no specific Vietnamese equivalent. For example, English makes distinctions among
mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles, the latter having larger wheels and engines than both
mopeds and
scooters. Vietnamese, on the one hand, refers to all two-wheel, motorized vehicles as ‘‘ xe
máy’’.
1.3 Translating by using a loan word plus explanation
There is some objection to this strategy in Vietnam, as many translators prefer to coin new
words in Vietnamese rather than borrow English words. However, this strategy is very useful
when the translator deal with concepts or ideas that are new to Vietnamese audience, culture-
specific items, and proper names of diseases or medicines that are widely known in English
names. For instance, HIV and AIDS are two loan words that are frequently used in Vietnamese,
as they are referred to by their English names in almost every part of the world. Because these
words have been in common use in Vietnam for a long time, they are often used without any
accompanying explanation. Whenever a loan word is used, it is better to give an explanation.
Another example is the acronym for oral dehydration salts, or ORS, which is printed on every
package and hence easily recognized; this is normally written in English with an explanation in
Vietnamese: ORS (muối bù mất nước)
1.4 Translating by using a paraphrase
This strategy can be used when we translate an English word or concept that does not exist in
Vietnamese, or when the Vietnamese term for it does not include all the meanings conveyed by
the English term for the same concept. For example, in the sentence: “ Pregnant women should
avoid alcohol.”, the English “alcohol‟ includes all alcoholic drinks in its meaning. The
Vietnamese word “rượu” does not include beer in its definition, so the Vietnamese translation
should add the word beer to reflect the full meaning of the source language sentence.

1.5 Translating by omission

Though some translators may reject this strategy as too drastic, it is sometimes appropriate to
omit words or phrases that are not essential to the meaning or impact of the text. This is
especially true for words that would require lengthy explanations, awkward paraphrases, or
literal and unnatural translations, which would interrupt the flow of the text and could distract
the reader from the overall meaning. For example, the sentence “Much can be done even
without being physically present in the meeting.” is best translated into Vietnamese by, ‘‘ Có thể
làm nhiều việc
ngay cả khi không có mặt tại cuộc họp’’ which omit the word “physically” in the translation.
2. How to deal with idioms
Idioms and set expressions can be dealt with in the ways similar to those mentioned above. With
idioms, however, there is another difficulty that the translator may not realize that s/he is dealing with
an idiomatic expression, since more idioms may make sense when translated literally.
2.1 Using an idiom or a set expression of similar meaning and form
It is sometimes possible to find a Vietnamese idiom or expression with a similar meaning to an
English idiom or expression, and which is expressed in the same way. One example is the idiom
“to fight like cats and dogs”, which is expressed using the same words in Vietnamese: ‘‘ cãi nhau
như chó với mèo.’’ It is ideal if such a match can be found, but this kind of correspondence is not
16
 common, and it is usually necessary to use other strategies in dealing with idioms and set
expressions.
2.2 Using an idiom or a set expression of similar meaning but different form
It is possible and easy to find a Vietnamese idiom with a similar meaning for an English idiom or
set expression. A good example can be found is the translation for “ to carry coals to Newcastle”:
‘‘Chở
củi về rừng", which is translated as “to carry firewood to the forest.” The meaning here is clearly
the same for both idioms- to bring something to a place that has an abundance of that thing- but
the way in which each language expresses is bound to be the culture of that language. It is far
more cumbersome to translate this idiom literally into Vietnamese with an explanation that
Newcastle is a well-known coal-producing city in England (as was suggested by some Vietnamese
translators), which would unduly interrupt the flow of the text and greatly diminish the idiom’s
impact. By substituting a similar Vietnamese idiom, then, the flow and the impact of the source
text are retained in the translation.
3. How to deal with voice, number and person 3.1
Voice
The passive voice is used very often in English and poses some problems in Vietnamese
translation. Passive voice can be translated from English into Vietnamese in the following ways:
English: A to be done by B
Vietnamese: A bị / được / do B động từ
Examples:
o This house was built by Frank in 1930
Ngôi nhà này do Frank xây vào năm 1930 o
Tom is given a present by Mary.
Tom được Mary tặng món quà.
English: A to be done
Vietnamese: A bị / được động từ
Người ta / ai đó động từ A
o The CD has been broken.
Chiếc CD bị vỡ / Ai đó đã làm vỡ chiếc CD
The positive and negative connotation is not often conveyed in English, so it is difficult to know
what way used to translate into Vietnamese.
Example: The children were given injections.
Vietnamese translation : ‘‘Các cháu được tiêm.’’, or ‘‘Các cháu bị tiêm.’’ depending on
whether the receiving injection is considered a positive or negative experience.

In Vietnamese, there are some cases where one can see the words bị / được but they are not
translated into English passive sentences at all.
Examples:
Ông cụ bị ngã.  The old man fell.
Chị Lan bị ho.  Lan has a cough.
Hôm nay chúng ta được đánh chén no nê
 We had an enomous meal today.
3.2. Number
Though both languages have similar notions of number and countability, each language has its own way to
express these notions. In English, number is expressed as a grammar category; that is, there are different
grammatical forms for singular and plural nouns. In Vietnamese, however, no such distinction is
grammatically made.
Example: Phụ nữ: can mean either woman or women
In Vietnamese, some plural markers such as ‘‘các’’, ‘‘những’’, ‘‘mọi”,’’mỗi’’ can be used in addition to the
noun. ‘‘các’’ generally means all of the given category of things, whereas ‘‘những’’ refers only to some of the
total number of things being discussed. ‘‘mỗi’’ emphasizes the identity of the individual member of the
category without indicating anything of their totality; ‘‘mọi” expresses both the individuality of the items and

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the totality of the category. If it is clear from the English context which of these plural markers should be
used in the Vietnamese, then the translator should choose accordingly.

3.3. Person
Participants’ roles and forms of address are expressed in Vietnamese through a very complicated system of
personal pronouns based largely on kinship terms. Unlike English pronouns, Vietnamese pronouns bear a
number of semantic components depending on the relationship within a family, age, sex, familiarity, social
status, and even one’s particular mood or attitude in a given situation. These distinctions are not always
explicitly expressed in English and can usually be determined by the context in which the language operates.
If it is not possible to determine the distinctions of the English pronouns, the attention should be focused on
the tone and the overall purpose of the text to be translated.
Example: A book on healthcare contains many sections written especially for children and adults. In the
sections for children the pronoun “you” is translated as “em” or ‘‘các em’’. In the sections for adults, “you”
should be translated as ‘‘chúng ta’’.
4. How to deal with non-subject sentences (Vietnamese- English translation)
The following techniques could be used to translate the non-subject sentences in Vietnamese texts:
4.1. Passive voice
4.2. It + to be + Adj + to infinitive
4.3. There + to be...
Examples:
Cần đẩy mạnh công nghiệp hóa, hiện đại hóa
 Industrialization and modernization should be promoted.
Or: It is necessary to promote industrialization and modernization.
Vẫn chưa có cách chữa bệnh AIDS.  There has been no cure for AIDS.

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 EXERCISES
I. Are the following statements correct or incorrect?
1. In translation both the meaning that is being transferred and the grammatical structures must be
kept constant.
2. The goal of a translator is to use the natural form of the receptor language to convey the meaning
of the source language.
3. Words which are synonymous can be used interchangeably regardless of the context.
4. Translators are not allowed to divide or combine the sentences within the text to be translated.
5. Every single word in the source text must be translated into the receptor language.
6. Loan words are not accepted in translation as each language has its own lexical resource to convey
any meaning.
7. The principle that one form may represent several meanings is true for not only lexical items but
also grammatical patterns.
8. We cannot translate from a language to another perfectly unless we know its relation to its culture.
9. It is not uncommon to translate a passive construction with an active one and vice versa.
10. Translation is a complicated task because of the lack of one-to-one correlation between form and
meaning.
11. As a literal translation has little communication value, it is absolutely useless.
12. A secondary meaning is the one a word has in context with other words.
13. A translator shouldn’t give priority to either form or meaning. Both of them should be treated
equally.
14. Parts of speech must be kept the same in translation.
15. Every language has its own principles of word collocation.
16. Analysis of meaning can be conducted out of context.
17. A good dictionary is enough for choosing the most appropriate equivalent.
18. A variety of forms can be used to express a single meaning.
19. The fact that a question may be used with the meaning of command is an example of the primary
function of grammatical forms.
20. An interlinear translation is encouraged as it simplifies the process of translation.
II. Correct the mistakes in the following translations
1. Mom is feeling a little under the weather, so be quiet and let her rest!
 Mẹ đang cảm thấy dưới tác động của thời tiết nên hãy yên lặng để mẹ được nghỉ ngơi!
2. There’s a lot of sense in what Mary said.  Những điều Mary nói rất
có cảm xúc.
3. Con tàu bị va vào tảng băng.
 The ship was crashed against an iceberg.
4. Do bệnh tật mà em tôi phải bỏ dở việc học.
 Thanks to his illness, my brother could not continue with his studies.
5. Nhiều người nghĩ rằng dù ở nhà hay đi làm việc thì phụ nữ vẫn phải chu toàn bổn phận với gia đình.
 It is widely thought that women should fulfil their duties with the family whether they work or
stay at home.
6. A white lie is acceptable in such situation.
 Trong tình huống như thế thì một lời nói dối trắng trợn là có thể chấp nhận được.
7. It is also necessary to invest in increasing capability of battery production establishments to meet the
demand for automobile manufacturing and assembling in accordance with the localization program.
 Nó cũng rất cần thiết để đầu tư vào việc tăng năng suất của những cơ sở sản xuất ắc-quy để đáp
ứng nhu cầu dây chuyền sản xuất vào việc chế tạo ô tô và xe máy phù hợp với chương trình ở
trong nước.
8. Là trưởng nhóm, anh phải chịu trách nhiệm về sai sót này!
 As the group leader, he must take responsibility about this fault.
9. Hue was recognized as the world’s cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1994.
 Huế được nhận ra như là di sản văn hóa thế giới bởi UNESCO vào năm 1994.
10. Schools teach mathematics because of its very important roles.
 Trường học dạy toán bởi vai trò cực kỳ quan trọng của nó.

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 11. Critics say his paintings are valueless.
 Các nhà phê bình cho rằng các bức họa của ông ta là vô giá.
12. Viên cảnh sát về hưu nổi tiếng với những nghĩa cử cao đẹp. 
The retired policeman is notorious for his good deed.
13. Tôi thật sự thất vọng về kết quả này!  I’m really
disappointed for the result!
14. Mặc dù nhiều con đường đã được mở rộng nhưng nạn kẹt xe
vẫn tiếp tục diễn ra nghiêm trọng.
 Although many roads have been widened, but the problem of traffic jams still continues to be
serious.
15. Chúng tôi tuyển được 30 tình nguyện viên, trong đó đa số là sinh viên.  We
recruited 30 volunteers, in there the majority were students.
16. He’s a beautiful tennis player, but he’s rather hot-tempered.
 Anh ta là một tay chơi tennis đẹp nhưng anh ta khá nóng tính.
17. She looks down on people who haven’t been to college.
 Bà ta nhìn xuống những người không học đại học.
18. There should be “bottle banks” where empty bottles can be left for collection and recycling.
 Cần có “ngân hàng chai lọ” nơi chai lọ rỗng có thể được để làm bộ sưu tập và tái chế.
19. My grandmother is an economical woman.  Bà
tôi là một phụ nữ kinh tế.
20. Thằng bé vẫn chưa tìm thấy quyển sách. 
The boy hasn’t looked for the book yet.
21. Ai là người đã tìm ra định luật vạn vật hấp dẫn?
 Who found the law of universal gravitation?
22. Để bảo vệ chủ quyền lãnh hải, lực lượng hải
quân cần được vũ trang đầy đủ.
 To protect the sovereignty of the territorial sea, the navy needs to be armed to teeth.
23. Cần phải tạo điều kiện để mọi trẻ em đều được đến trường.  Need to create
conditions for all children to go to school.
24. No matter how she grows up, she is always the apple of her father’s eye.  Dù khôn
lớn nhưng cô ấy vẫn mãi là quả táo trong mắt cha mình.
25. It is widely believed that babies need to be exposed to the sun for their bone
strengthening.  Nó được tin rằng trẻ sơ sinh cần được tiếp xúc với ánh nắng để
xương cứng cáp.
26. Đừng bơi ở đây, nước sông sâu lắm.
 Don’t swim here. The river is very profound.
27. Nè, nhớ viết thư cho tui nghe.
 Hey, I’m looking forward to your letter.
28. Tính đến nay đã có hơn 80% dân số nước ta được tiêm đủ liều vắc-xin phòng Covid-19.
 Up to now, had more than 80% of the population of our country fully vaccinated against Covid-
19.
29. Your situation is a reminder for everyone to never judge a book by its cover.
 Tình huống của bạn nhắc nhở mọi người đừng bao giờ đánh giá một cuốn sách qua bìa của nó.
30. It is said that motorcycles are the main cause of traffic jam.
 Nó được nói rằng xe gắn máy là nguyên nhân chính gây ra tắc nghẽn giao thông.
III. Translate the following sentences into English
1. Trận hỏa hoạn đã gây ra thiệt hại đáng kể.
2. Bạn càng quen biết nhiều người thì càng có ít thời gian gặp họ.

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3. Hôm qua trời lạnh hơn bao giờ hết.
4. Phải mất rất nhiều thời gian và tiền bạc mới xây dựng được một nông trại hiện đại.
5. Nếu tôi biết tin đó thì tối qua tôi đã nói cho anh biết rồi.
6. Tôi rất biết ơn vị bác sĩ đã cứu sống mẹ mình.
7. Chúng tôi mất 2 giờ để dến Hà Nội bằng máy bay.
8. Phụ nữ bây giờ có nhiều cơ hội để cải thiện cuộc sống hơn trước đây.
9. Hôm qua anh tôi suýt nữa trễ tàu vì đồng hồ báo thức bị hỏng.
10. Rất nhiều người học Tiếng Anh nhưng chỉ có một ít là thành công
11. Cách đây ba thập niên, ai có thể mơ rằng đất nước ta sẽ là nước xuất khẩu gạo đứng thứ
ba trên thế giới?
12. Chúng tôi hết sức trân trọng sự giúp đỡ của ông.
13. Cần phải thi tuyển sinh bởi vì đại học không có đủ chỗ cho mọi học sinh trung học.
14. Trào lưu lấy chồng nước ngoài là một hiện tượng xã hội đáng báo động.
15. Sinh viên sẽ bị trừ 2 điểm trong bài luận nếu phạm lỗi ngữ pháp quá nhiều.
16. Trẻ em ở nông thôn thường tự lập hơn trẻ em ở thành thị.
17. Mục đích của chương trình này là bài trừ giặc dốt.
18. Nếu không may mắn, tôi đã bị thương nặng trong tai nạn đó.
19. Ngày nay có nhiều trường đại học đến nỗi học sinh thường phân vân không biết chọ
trường nào.
20. Nếu sinh viên mới tốt nghiệp không được thu dụng thì làm sao có được kinh nghiệm và kỹ
năng cần thiết?
21. Cha mẹ không nên quá nghiêm khắc mà phải gần gũi với con cái.
22. Dân chúng đổ ra đường để ăn mừng chiến thắng của đội tuyển bóng đá quốc gia.
23. Lái xe khi say rượu là phạm luật.
24. Sức khỏe của chúng ta tùy thuộc vào các nề nếp sinh hoạt hơn là thuốc men.
25. Hôm qua bố tôi đã được ngủ ngon sau nhiều ngày làm việc vất vả.
26. Vấn đề ô nhiễm đã lên đến mức báo động.
27. Chúng tôi đã đạt được mục tiêu bằng quyết tâm và lao động cật lực.
28. Sống chung mà không kết hôn đã trở thành một xu thế của xã hội hiện đại
29. Giáo dục là một trong những phương cách tốt nhất để loại bỏ các bất bình đẳng xã hội.
30. Phải mất hàng chục năm mới phục hồi được những cánh rừng bị tàn phá.

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