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2.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person (for verbs)
2.1.2. Gender and number (nouns and adjectives)
2.1.3. Case (nouns and prepositions)
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings
5.1. Grammatical and Lexical Registers
1. Post-edition at Unbabel
At Unbabel we have a unique approach to translation: each text submitted by a customer is translated by our Machine Translation system, and then corrected by our community of editors in an online platform. By editing the output of the software, the editors ensure the quality of the translations and confirm that the message is accurate (i.e., has the same meaning as the original), fluent (i.e., can be easily understood and sounds natural) and is in line with the style requested by the clients (i.e. respects their register and terminology). In order to help editors do the best job possible, we provide various types of information:
- Customer instructions, which include the identification of the client and his requests to personalize the translation, such as the register that must be used to address the recipient of the message. Following these instructions is vital to deliver translations that match the client’s expectations.
- Glossaries, which correspond to specific vocabulary and expressions used by the client, and that must be respected by the editors.
- Translation Memories, which correspond to stored segments (expressions, sentences or paragraphs) that have previously been translated and accepted for customer usage. They are useful for ensuring consistency across translations.
We also have Smartcheck, which is an application that checks the grammar, morphology, orthography and style of the translations while being edited. By using a large set of rules, Smartcheck flags words or groups of words that may present some kind of issue.
Finally, in order to deliver the best possible translation, we also provide these guidelines about your language specifications. Please, read them carefully and always follow these instructions in your editions.
2. Grammar
2.1. Agreement
2.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person (for verbs)
Predicate and subject agree in number and person. These attributes are determined by the subject and followed by the finite verb in the predicate.
The feature ‘first person’ or ‘second person’ occurs only if the subject is expressed by a ‘first person’ pronoun or a ‘second person’ pronoun. In all other cases, the feature ‘third person’ is used (also in subjectless sentences, as can be seen in the example below).
Example
Source text: There will be work tomorrow.
✘ Morgen wirst gearbeitet.
✓ Morgen wird gearbeitet
The formal form addressing Sie requires a plural form in the finite verb, even if the subject refers to a single person.
Example
Source text: Would you like something else, Ms. Maier?
✘ Wünscht Sie noch etwas, Frau Maier?
✓ Wünschen Sie noch etwas, Frau Maier?
If the subject consists of multiple noun phrases, the subject is usually seen as a plural subject. In this case, there is a hierarchy within the person features: first person > second person > third person.
Examples
Source text: You and I are happy.
✘ Du und ich freut euch.
✓ Du und ich freuen uns.
Source text: You and the others are happy.
✘ Du und die anderen freuen sich.
✓ Du und die anderen freut euch.
If there are several subjects occurring, but only a single finite verb, the verb usually agrees with the closest subject.
Example
Source text: There was a book on the left, a stack of papers behind it.
✘ Links lagen ein Buch, dahinter ein Stapel Papiere.
✓ Links lag ein Buch, dahinter ein Stapel Papiere.
If a pronoun is used as a placeholder, the finite verb agrees with the postposed subject.
Example
Source text: There were some screws missing.
✘ Es fehlte einige Schrauben.
✓ Es fehlten einige Schrauben.
If company names contain abbreviations (‘AG’, ‘GmbH’), only the company name itself is considered for agreement.
Example
Source text: The Teesieb-Werke AG is looking for employees.
✘ Die Teesieb-Werke AG sucht Mitarbeiter.
✓ Die Teesieb-Werke AG suchen Mitarbeiter.
But:
Example
Source text: The Teesieb-Werke Aktiengesellschaft is looking for employees.
✘ Die Teesieb-Werke Aktiengesellschaft suchen Mitarbeiter.
✓ Die Teesieb-Werke Aktiengesellschaft sucht Mitarbeiter.
Tense and mood are utterance specific features that are only expressed by the predicate.
2.1.2. Gender and number (nouns and adjectives)
Noun and adjective phrases agree in number, gender and case. If there are multiple adjectives or a combination of determiner and adjective occurring, the following rules are applied:
- If gender, number and case are expressed by the determiner, the adjective(s) is/are inflected weakly (= carries agreement information).
Example
Source text: the cold (black) coffee
✘ der kalter (schwarzer) Kaffee
✓ der kalte (schwarze) Kaffee
- If gender, number and case are not expressed clearly by the determiner, the adjective(s) is/are inflected strongly (= carries agreement information).
Examples
Source text: cold (black) coffee
✘ kalte (schwarze) Kaffee
✓ kalter (schwarzer) Kaffee
Source text: my cold (black) coffee
✘ mein kalte (schwarze) Kaffee
✓ mein kalter (schwarzer) Kaffee
2.1.3. Case (nouns and prepositions)
A preposition is always followed by a noun phrase and determines its case. It can either be dative, accusative or genitive. Most prepositions determine the noun phrase to be in a single particular case.
Example
Source text: by bicycle
✘ mit den Fahrrad
✓ mit dem Fahrrad
But there are other prepositions that determine different cases. Within these, there are two different groups.
- Prepositions with a second case (‘Nebenkasus’)
In this group, the noun phrases of different gender still express the same meaning, varying only in style: a genitive expression is formal, while a dative expression is more informal.
Example
Source text: because of the money
✘ wegen den Geld
✓ wegen des Geldes (formal)
✓ wegen dem Geld (informal)
- Changing Prepositions (‘Wechselpräpositionen’)
These prepositions can determine an accusative or a dative. Both alternatives imply a significant difference in meaning.
Example
Source text: She hangs up the picture on the tree.
✘ Das Schild hängt an des Baumes.
✓ Das Bild hängt an dem Baum. (state)
✓ Sie hängt das Bild an den Baum. (process)
If two prepositions occur in the same syntactic position, the latter preposition determines the case of the noun phrase.
Example
Source text: She walks to the entrance.
✘ Sie läuft bis zu den Eingang.
✓ Sie läuft bis zu dem Eingang.
2.2. Determiners
Determiners always refer to a noun and agree with it in case, number and gender. They always precede the noun, although they don’t not need to be adjacent.
Examples
Source text: The book
✘ Buch das
✓ Das Buch
Source text: The beautiful book
✘ Schöne Buch das
✓ Das schöne Buch
There might be elliptic constructions, where a determiner occurs without a close noun.
Example
Source text: I buy the old book, not the new one.
✘ Ich kaufe das alte, nicht das neue.
✘ Ich kaufe das alte, nicht das neue Buch.
✘ Ich kaufe das alte Buch, nicht das neue Buch.
✓ Ich kaufe das alte Buch, nicht das neue.
In this example, the phrase das neue refers to Buch in das alte Buch, so Buch does not have to occur explicitly in the second noun phrase.
Determiners can be definite (der, die, das) or indefinite (ein, kein, niemand, manche, etc.). For agreement of determiners with adjectives and nouns within a noun phrase, please see section 1.b. Gender and number (nouns and adjectives).
Usually, a noun takes only one determiner. There are, however, some cases where multiple determiners are allowed.
- The combination ‘Ein jeder’:
Example
Source text: Every man
✘ Der jeder Mann
✓ Ein jeder Mann
- ‘all’ + definite determiner:
Example
Source text: All the things
✘ All viele Sachen
✓ All die Sachen
- ‘all’ + demonstrative determiner/possessive determiner:
Example
Source text: All these things of mine
✘ All die meine Sachen
✓ All diese meine Sachen
- Lists of possessive and demonstrative determiner:
Example
Source text: Your things and mine
✘ Die und meine Sachen
✓ Deine und meine Sachen
Usually, all nouns are preceded by an agreeing determiner, except for proper names.
2.3. Prepositions
For agreement properties of prepositions, see section 1.c Case (nouns and prepositions).
Usually, prepositions express a certain meaning: there are temporal, modal, causal and local prepositions. There are, however, simple prepositions (such as an or auf), which can be required by verbs and adjectives without expressing their original meaning.
Examples
Source text: hope for
✘ hoffen über
✓ hoffen auf
Source text: proud of
✘ stolz in
✓ stolz auf
Some common combinations with verbs are:
achten auf, hoffen auf, lachen über, sich ärgern über, leiden unter, bitten um, sich sehnen nach, garantieren für, erschrecken vor, sich fürchten vor, träumen von, sich verlieben in, rechnen mit, sich interessieren für.
Some common combinations with adjectives are:
arm an, stolz auf, froh über, aufgeschlossen gegenüber, fähig zu, übereinstimmend mit.
Especially with verbs, prepositions can form a fixed expression:
✘ bestehen für
✓ bestehen in (to consist in)
✓ bestehen aus (to consist of)
✓ bestehen auf (to insist)
If a preposition is followed by a noun phrase containing a determiner, some prepositions can blend together with the determiner:
Example
Source text: We meet on Monday.
✘ Wir treffen uns an dem Montag.
✓ Wir treffen uns am Montag.
This blending often has an informal character, so it should be used carefully in formal texts.
2.4. Pronouns
There are different kinds of pronouns. Their basic function is to replace a reference noun by agreeing with it in number, gender and person.
- Personal Pronouns: refer to a previously mentioned noun.
Example
Source text: Mathilda is lying in the bed. She sleeps.
✘ Mathilda liegt im Bett. Ihr schläft.
✓ Mathilda liegt im Bett. Sie schläft.
- Reflexive Pronouns: refer to the same agent.
Example
Source text: Mathilda washes herself.
✘ Mathilda wäscht Mathilda.
✓ Mathilda wäscht sich.
- Possessive Pronouns: work as a determiner and express possession. They agree with the reference noun in case, number and gender.
Example
Source text: Mathilda sees your dog.
✘ Mathilda sieht deine Hund.
✓ Mathilda sieht deinen Hund.
- Demonstrative Pronouns: work as a determiner and have a demonstrative function. They agree with the reference noun in case, number and gender.
Example
Source text: Mathilda sees this dog.
✘ Mathilda sieht diese Hund.
✓ Mathilda sieht diesen Hund.
- Relative Pronouns: introduce a relative clause and are always preceded by a comma.
Example
Source text: Mathilda sees your dog, (which is) called Pontus.
✘ Mathilda sieht deine Hund der Pontus heißt.
✓ Mathilda sieht deinen Hund, der Pontus heißt.
- Interrogative Pronouns: introduce a question. They work as a determiner, too. They agree with the reference noun in case, number and gender.
Example
Source text: Which dog is yours?
✘ Welche Hund ist deiner?
✓ Welcher Hund ist deiner?
2.5. Verbs
For agreement properties of verbs, please see section 1.a. Tense, mood, aspect, person (for verbs).
For the relationship of verbs and prepositions, please see section 3. Prepositions.
Verbs carry the grammatical information of person, number, tense and mood. Verbs build the predicate of a sentence. With their valence property, they significantly determine the composition of the sentence. There is a differentiation between:
- Intransitive verbs: They require a subject, but no mandatory object.
Example
Source text: Mathilda is sleeping.
✘ Mathilda schläft Selma.
✓ Mathilda schläft.
- Transitive verbs: They require a subject and an accusative object.
Example
Source text: Mathilda sees Selma.
✘ Mathilda sieht.
✓ Mathilda sieht Selma.
- Ditransitive verbs: They require a subject, an accusative object and a dative object.
Example
Source text: Mathilda lends Selma a book.
✘ Mathilda leiht.
✓ Mathilda leiht Selma ein Buch.
However, not all verbs belong to one of these categories exclusively:
Example
Source text: Mathilda eats (the apple).
✘ Mathilda isst Selma der Apfel.
✓ Mathilda isst.
✓ Mathilda isst den Apfel.
The predicate can be formed by a single verb (see examples above) or by a combination of verbs (see examples below). In combined predicates, one constituent carries the agreement information (and only a small amount of the lexical information; often occupied by auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, etc.), while the others carry mostly the lexical information (and only a small amount of the grammatical information; occupied by full verbs).
Examples
Source text: Mathilda has eaten an apple.
✘ Mathilda isst einen Apfel gegessen.
✓ Mathilda hat einen Apfel gegessen.
Source text: Mathilda can eat an apple.
✓ Mathilda kann einen Apfel essen.
Source text: What Mathilda must have eaten!
✓ Was Mathilda alles gegessen haben muss!
Regarding prepositions, English has some ‘verb + preposition’ combinations that have only a ‘verb’ equivalent in German. For example, the English verb ‘last for’ has a non-predicate equivalent in German: halten.
3. Orthography
3.1. Abbreviations
The orthography of an abbreviation depends on its kind. Shortened words are written without a period, have a gender and are inflected.
Examples
Source text: I read a thriller in the garden.
✘ Ich lese Krimi. im Garten.
✓ Ich lese einen Krimi im Garten.
Source text: I work for a GmbH.
✘ Ich arbeite bei G.m.b.H..
✓ Ich arbeite bei einer GmbH.
Words with a shortened orthography (e.g. Dr. Müller instead of Doktor Müller) are written with a period. The only exception here are physical measures such as kg for Kilogramm.
Examples
Source text: Dr. Müller gives a lecture.
✘ Dr Müller hält einen Vortrag.
✓ Dr. Müller hält einen Vortrag.
Source text: I buy 10 kg of apples.
✘ Ich kaufe 10 k.g. Äpfel.
✘ Ich kaufe 10 kg. Äpfel.
✓ Ich kaufe 10 kg Äpfel.
Special cases are loaned shortened words if the full form is rarely known in German. Those words are treated as loanwords in German:
Example
Source text: I see that on the radar.
✘ Ich sehe das auf R.a.d.a.r..
✓ Ich sehe das auf dem Radar.
3.2. Apostrophes
In German, the use of apostrophes is less common than in English. The following cases allow the occurrence of an apostrophe:
- Building the genitive form of a proper noun, whose nominative case ends in ‘s, ss, ß, tz, z, x, ce’. In this case, the use of an apostrophe is only valid if the proper noun is not preceded by a determiner.
Example
Source text: This is Jens’ cat.
✘ Das ist Jenss Katze.
✘ Das ist des Jen’s Katze.
✓ Das ist Jens’ Katze.
- If several elements are omitted within a word.
Example
Source text: Ku’damm (an avenue in Berlin)
✘ Kudamm (instead of ‘Kurfürstendamm‘)
✓ Ku’damm (instead of ‘Kurfürstendamm‘)
The use of apostrophes is not permitted for the following cases:
- For blendings of prepositions and determiners.
Example
Source text: To the sea
✘ An’s Meer
✓ Ans Meer
- For the plural form of nouns and proper nouns.
Example
Source text: The cars
✘ Die Auto’s
✓ Die Autos
- For the genitive form of nouns, proper nouns and abbreviations (apart from the exception described at the beginning of this chapter).
Example
Source text: Selma’s dog
✘ Selma’s Hund
✓ Selmas Hund
3.3. Capitalization
Similar to English, word forms are usually written in lowercase letters in German. There are some exceptions, which are listed in the following:
- Nouns and proper nouns are capitalized.
Examples
Source text: I see Selma.
✘ Ich sehe selma.
✓ Ich sehe Selma.
Source text: The road construction office is looking for employees.
✘ Das straßenbauamt sucht mitarbeiter.
✓ Das Straßenbauamt sucht Mitarbeiter.
- Pronouns used for the formal addressing are capitalized.
Example
Source text: Please show me your ID.
✘ Bitte zeigen sie mir ihren Ausweis.
✓ Bitte zeigen Sie mir Ihren Ausweis.
- Sentence-initial word are capitalized.
Example
Source text: She said, ‘Nice to have you here!’.
✘ sie sagte: ‚schön, dass du da bist!‘.
✓ Sie sagte: ‚Schön, dass du da bist!‘.
3.4. Compounds
Compounds are written as a single word. In contrast to English, they are never written with whitespaces, except for foreign word compounds (see the next paragraph). There are some cases, in which compounds can be written with a hyphen:
- If the first constituent is a letter or a formula (mandatory).
Example
Source text: y-axis
✘ yAchse
✓ y-Achse
- To increase the readability (optional).
Example
Source text: Lottery counter
✘ Lotto Annahmestelle
✓ Lotto-Annahmestelle
- To emphasize constituents referring to proper nouns.
Example
Source text: Opel factory
✘ Opel Werke
✓ Opel-Werke
- If the first constituent of a compound refers to a group of words.
Example
Source text: Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
✘ MundzuMundBeatmung
✓ Mund-zu-Mund-Beatmung
Concerning the orthography of foreign words in compounds, the foreign word is usually kept untranslated and not written with any hyphen:
Example
Source text: Cordon bleu
✘ Cordon-bleu
✓ Cordon bleu
If a foreign word forms a compound with a German word, there is a hyphen between the foreign word and the German word:
Example
Source text: Cordon bleu Schnitzel
✘ Cordon-bleu-Schnitzel
✓ Cordon bleu-Schnitzel
Around 30% of German compounds have ‘joint elements’. The form of the joint element depends on the morphosyntactic category of the first constituent.
Example
Source text: Beauty ideal
✘ Schönheitideal
✓ Schönheitsideal
Only the final constituent word of a compound is inflected.
Example
Source text: Beauty ideals
✘ Schönheitenideale
✓ Schönheitsideale
3.5. Foreign words
The orthography of foreign words depends on two features:
- The foreign word‘s frequency in a particular domain. Frequent words are not translated, as they have a similar status as loanwords.
Example
Source text: Cordon bleu
✘ blaue Schnur
✓ Cordon bleu
- If a foreign word refers to a place, building or name, the foreign word is not translated.
Example
Source text: Empire State Building
✘ staatliches Imperiumsgebäude
✓ Empire State Building
It is possible to write foreign words in inverted commas. This depends on the style of the text.
If foreign words are well-established, they might adapt to German orthography in some points. For example, the orthography can get closer to the word‘s phonetic form.
Example
Source text: sauce
✘ sauce
✓ Soße
But this is not true for all loanwords.
Example
Source text: Jeans
✘ Dschiehns
✓ Jeans
Foreign words are inflected according to German inflection rules.
3.6. Numerals
Regarding numerals format (written in numbers or words), despite the fact that in standard German it is common to write numbers lower than thirteen in letters, please keep in mind that you must always respect the source text: if they are written as digits in the source text, this should be maintained in the translation; on the other hand, if they are written as words, they should be translated to the target language.
Examples
Source text: There are two people walking by.
✘ Da spazieren 2 Leute.
✓ Da spazieren zwei Leute.
Source text: There are 2 people walking by.
✘ Da spazieren zwei Leute.
✓ Da spazieren 2 Leute.
Large numbers are marked with periods to increase the readability:
Example
Source text: 20,000
✘ 20,000
✓ 20.000
Within the group of large numbers, beware of false friends regarding the translation from English to German. For example, the English term ‘billion’ refers to the German term Milliarde, while the German term Billion refers to the English term ‘trillion’.
The comma, however, is exclusively used to express decimal numbers, which is a crucial difference to English:
Example
Source text: 2.5
✘ 2.5
✓ 2,5
3.7. Symbols
Symbols (%, /, €, °C) usually are preceded by a whitespace.
Examples
Source text: The increase was 10%.
✘ Die Steigerung betrug 10%.
✓ Die Steigerung betrug 10 %.
Source text: It was 10 °C outside.
✘ Draußen herrschten 10°C.
✓ Draußen herrschten 10 °C.
4. Punctuation
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
- Comma:
The comma aims at structuring the sentences. It is mandatory in preceding subordinated clauses or listings. The comma is followed by a whitespace and the following word is only capitalized if the capitalization rules apply to it.
Example
Source text: I saw that she was laughing.
✘ Ich sah dass sie lachte.
✓ Ich sah, dass sie lachte.
- Colon:
The colon indicates the following of relevant content. It creates a close connection between sentences. The colon is followed by a whitespace and the following word is capitalized as long as it introduces an independent clause or direct speech.
Example
Source text: I said, ‘Nice to have you here.’
✘ Ich sagte, „schön, dass du da bist.“.
✓ Ich sagte: „Schön, dass du da bist.“.
- Semicolon:
The semicolon is used between sentences and parts of sentences, where the use of a period is too strong and the use of a comma is too weak. The semicolon is followed by a whitespace.
Example
Source text: The food is spicier today; the chilis have a distinctive note.
✘ Das Essen ist heute schärfer, die Chilis sind deutlich herauszuschmecken.
✓ Das Essen ist heute schärfer; die Chilis sind deutlich herauszuschmecken.
- Period, exclamation point, question mark:
These symbols mark the end of a sentence. While the period is used for declarative sentences, the question mark refers to questions and the exclamation mark expresses exclamations, commands or urgent wishes. These marks are followed by a whitespace and the following word is capitalized.
- Hyphen:
The hyphen can be used to mark compounds. It is neither preceded nor followed by whitespaces.
Example
Source text: E-mail
✘ E - Mail
- En dash:
The En dash is used for structuring enumerations or to mark reduction of words. It is followed by a whitespace.
Example
Source text: Tea and coffee specialties
✘ Tee-und Kaffeespezialitäten.
✓ Tee- und Kaffeespezialitäten.
- Em dash:
The Em dash marks pauses, interruptions, elisions or insertions. It is preceded and followed by a whitespace.
Example
Source text: “Turbo-Abitur”, overcrowded classrooms - there are many drawbacks to demonstrate against at schools.
✘ Turbo-Abitur, überfüllte Klassen–Grund genug zum Demonstrieren gibt es an den Schulen.
✓ Turbo-Abitur, überfüllte Klassen – Grund genug zum Demonstrieren gibt es an den Schulen.
- Quotation marks:
Quote marks are used to mark direct speech, citations or to emphasize parts of the text. The initial quotation mark is preceded by a whitespace, but not followed by a whitespace. The opposite is true for the final quotation mark.
Example
Source text: I said, "Nice to have you here."
✘ Ich sagte: „ Schön, dass du da bist. “.
✓ Ich sagte: „Schön, dass du da bist.“
- Brackets:
Brackets mark additions that are not integrated into the sentence or text structure. Generally, the context they are comprising is rated as secondary by the writer. They can be used as an alternative to commas and Em dashes. The initial bracket is preceded by a whitespace, but not followed by a whitespace. The opposite is true for the final bracket.
Example
Source text: Pluck the leaves from the stem (it should be about 12 leaves).
✘ Zupfe die Blätter vom Stängel ( es sollten etwa 12 Blätter sein ).
✓ Zupfe die Blätter vom Stängel (es sollten etwa 12 Blätter sein).
4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings
Greetings can be closed with a comma or with an exclamation mark. If a comma is used, the following word is written in lowercase letter. If an exclamation mark is used, the following word must be capitalized.
Example
Source text: Hello,
Thank you for your message.
✘ Guten Tag,
Ich danke Ihnen für Ihre Nachricht.
✓ Guten Tag,
ich danke Ihnen für Ihre Nachricht.
Closings are never followed by any punctuation mark.
Example
Source text: Best regards,
Selma
✘ Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Selma
✓ Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Selma
5. Register
5.1. Grammatical and Lexical Registers
Register refers to the level of formality used in the text. It shows how our clients address their customers and contributes to the voice of the brand itself. Register may vary depending on the company, the brand, the service they offer, the customers, and the target language.
We make a first main distinction between grammatical and lexical register: the first one regards the use of pronouns and verb person (for the languages to which this morphological feature is applied), while the latter is related to lexical choices, since some words and expressions also have a degree of formality or colloquialism.
Both these registers are also divided into formal and informal, as shown below.
5.2. Formal Register
|
Category |
Examples |
Type of Register |
|
Personal pronouns |
Sie |
Grammatical |
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb) |
Second person plural |
Grammatical |
|
Possessive pronouns |
Ihr |
Grammatical |
|
Greetings |
Sehr geehrte/r Frau/Herr, |
Lexical |
|
Closings |
Mit freundlichen Grüßen |
Lexical |
|
Contractions |
Contractions are not used |
Lexical |
5.3. Informal Register
|
Category |
Examples |
Type of Register |
|
Personal pronouns |
Du |
Grammatical |
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb) |
Second person singular |
Grammatical |
|
Possessive pronouns |
dein |
Grammatical |
|
Greetings |
Several options: Hallo, Hi, Hey, |
Lexical |
|
Closings |
Several options: Viele Grüße, Beste Grüße, Schöne Grüße |
Lexical |
|
Contractions |
Contractions can be used |
Lexical |
6. Localization challenges
6.1. Proper nouns
Proper nouns refer to unique entities, such as persons, places, organizations, brands, events, etc. As foreign proper nouns are concerned, languages may adopt different rules regarding whether they should be translated or kept in the original language. When editing a text, you should follow your languages rules for all different types of proper nouns listed below. However, please note that if there is a glossary provided by the client that includes these types of units, you should always apply the glossary items.
6.1.1. Persons
Names are not translated, even if there is an equivalent name available in German. However, names are provided with a Latin alphabet conversion if the name is originally written in another alphabet. Grammatically, they are adapted to the person’s gender, which is reflected in pronouns and inflection:
Example
Source text: This is John Smith. His car is in front of the house.
✘ Das ist Johann Schmidt. Ihr Auto steht vor dem Haus.
✓ Das ist John Smith. Sein Auto steht vor dem Haus.
6.1.2. Places
The translation of cities and places is not conventionalized. For example, Verona has the same orthography in German as in Italian, but Milano is translated to Mailand. The same is true for places: Piazza San Petro is translated to Petersplatz, but Piazza Farnese keeps the Italian form. It is likely that the translation of places is motivated by historical reasons.
If cities and places are originally written in another alphabet, they are provided with a Latin alphabet conversion. Countries are translated.
Example
Source text: Sweden
✘ Sverige
✓ Schweden
6.1.3. Organizations
Organizations are usually translated. If the source name differs significantly from the German equivalent, it is possible to provide the source name in quotation marks or parentheses, too.
Example
Source text: The Swedish Tax Office (Skatteverket)
✘ Das schwedische Finanzamt Skatteverket
✓ Das schwedische Finanzamt „Skatteverket“
✓ Das schwedische Finanzamt („Skatteverket“)
6.1.4. Brands and products
Brands and product names are always kept untranslated. The words integrate the German sentence structure by following the grammatical rules of German.
Example
Source text: Apple’s new product
✘ Apfels neues Produkt
✓ Apples neues Produkt
6.1.5. Other entities
Artworks (like paintings or theatre plays) are often translated, but not always. Similar to foreign cities and place names, their handling is not conventionalized. Festivals and boats are usually kept untranslated.
Examples
Source text: The painting “Garçon à la pipe“
✓ Das Gemälde „Junge mit Pfeife”
✓ Das Gemälde „Garçon à la pipe“
Source text: Download festival
✘ Das Herunterladen-Festival
✓ Das Download-Festival
6.2. Acronyms and initials
Abbreviations are kept untranslated.
Example
Source text: DIY magazines
✘ Mach-es-selber-Magazine
✓ DIY-Magazine
6.3. Date format
The German format for date is ‘dd.mm.yyyy’ or ‘dd.mm.yyyy’.
Example
Source text: We meet on 11/23/2018.
✘ Wir treffen uns am 11.23.2018.
✓ Wir treffen uns am 23.11.2018.
6.4. Time format
In contrast to English, German uses a 24 hour format. The format can be ‘hh.mm’ or ‘hh:mm’. The format is always followed by a whitespace and the unit Uhr.
Example
Source text: We meet at 4 p.m.
✘ Wir treffen uns um 4 pm.
✓ Wir treffen uns um 16.00 Uhr.
✓ Wir treffen uns um 16:00 Uhr.
6.5. Measures
Measures should always keep the format of the source text and should never be converted. You should only translate them when they have an equivalent term in your language.
Even if a measure unit is not common or available in German, no conversion should be made in translation. In all cases, measure units of the original text should directly be conveyed.
Example
Source text: We need 5 ft. of cloth.
✘ Wir benötigen 1,5 m Stoff.
✘ Wir benötigen 1,5 m (5 ft.) Stoff.
✓ Wir benötigen 5 ft. Stoff.
6.6. Currency
In German, the currency symbol follows the currency value. Usually there is a whitespace between the currency value and the currency symbol (€, $, £, etc.). The same is true for currency initials (USD, GBP, RUB, INR, DKK, NOK, etc.). Also, you should never translate these initials as they are a convention accepted worldwide.
Examples
Source text: €1
✘ € 1
✓ 1 €
Source text: 1 USD
✘ USD 1
✓ 1 USD
If neither the symbol nor the initial of a foreign currency is used, the currency name is translated:
Example
Source text: 1 Peso (Argentina)
✘ 1 Peso (Argentina)
✓ Ein argentinischer Peso
7. Tricky cases
There are certain specificities about German grammar that can cause some difficulties during translations.
It is important to realize that capitalization can be deciding about a word’s morphosyntactic category, e.g. the adverb weg (‘away’) and the noun Weg (‘way’).
Examples
Source text: I am leaving.
✘ Ich gehe Weg.
✓ Ich gehe weg.
Source text: I walk along the way.
✘ Ich gehe den weg entlang.
✓ Ich gehe den Weg entlang.
Also, regarding morphology, there are difficulties, too. Here, the use of affixes is not always motivated in a comprehensive way.
Examples
Source text: Health
✘ Gesundkeit
✓ Gesundheit
Source text: Loneliness
✘ Einsamheit
✓ Einsamkeit
The use of determiners is often problematic, especially for translations from English to German. The determiners of German take many different word forms, which are not always clearly motivated. Also, the use of a determiner can decide about a word’s meaning.
Examples
Source text: The lake
✓ Der See
Source text: The sea
✓ Die See
Regarding compounds, the joint element can have different forms. The correct form is not always obvious:
Examples
Source text: The textbook
✘ Das Schulesbuch
✓ Das Schulbuch
Source text: The day trip
✘ Die Tagreise
✓ Die Tagesreise
8. Most frequent errors
The most frequent errors refer to capitalization, grammatical register and lexical selection.
- Capitalization
Example
Source text: I walk along the way.
✘ Ich gehe den weg entlang.
✓ Ich gehe den Weg entlang.
- Grammatical Register
Examples
Source text: Do you want anything else? (formal)
✘ Wünscht du noch etwas?
✓ Wünschen Sie noch etwas?
Source text: Do you want anything else? (informal)
✘ Wünschen Sie noch etwas?
✓ Wünscht du noch etwas?
- Agreement
Example
Source text: Do you want anything else?
✘ Wünschen du noch etwas?
✓ Wünscht du noch etwas?
9. Useful online resources
Bilingual dictionaries
English verb conjugator
English grammar guide
English dictionaries
Thesauruses
German grammar guide
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