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. Sentence form

Passive sentence is generally not used in Korean, it is only used to translate certain texts from English to Korean, unless the translated sentence does not make sense as an active sentence.

Example

Source text: I was forced to quit my job because of him.

✘ 나는 그 사람으로 인해 직장을 그만두게 되었다.

✓ 나는 그 사람 때문에 직장을 그만두게 되었다.

2.2. Postpositions

Postpositions (or particles) comes right after the noun or pronoun as a short word. Postpositions play two very important roles in Korean:

to indicate the role of a word in a sentence, i.e. it enables a word to have grammatical relations to other words in sentence;
to add special meaning to nouns and pronouns.

Note that it is common to see errors with postpositions in polite register. This is why it is important to be very conscious of which words in a sentence indicate correct polite register.

Example

Source text: If your game is broken, we will exchange it.

✘ 고객님의 게임께서 고장이 나시면 교환해 드립니다.

✓ 고객님의 게임이 고장이 나면 교환해 드립니다.

In many cases, postpositions can be removed, however, it is very important to do this correctly otherwise the meaning of a sentence could change significantly from the original text.

Examples

Source text: Cell does not make quality life.

✓ 휴대전화가 삶을 윤택하게 만드는 것이 아니다.

Source text: Cell does not make quality life.

✓ 휴대전화가 삶에서 윤택하게 만드는 것이 아니다.

Source text: Cell does not make quality life.

✓ 휴대전화가 삶에 윤택하게 만드는 것이 아니다.

As you can see in these examples, by changing the postpositions you can indicate different meanings or nuance in the sentences. Postpositions are very important in Korean for writing high quality texts.

2.3. Pronouns

Pronouns can be substituted for a noun, such as people, objects, perceptions etc. Pronouns are often removable in Korean sentences. They consist of two groups: one is to substitute words for objects or places; another is to substitute words for a person.

3. Orthography

3.1. Abbreviations

Abbreviations are generally not allowed if you write a formal text, Thus, they should be avoided. Nouns, company names or brand names are kept in English.

3.2. Foreign words

The way to write English words in Korean is 외래표기법. 외래표기법 is significant in order to produce a quality translation of a text. In general, things like brand names should be written as the original English name. If it is necessary to write an English word in Korean, then you should follow the international phonetic alphabet (국제 음성 기호) and 한글대조표. ㅆ, ㅉ, ㄲ, ㅃ, ㄸ should not be used.

3.3. Numerals

Comma (,) and space are used to indicate groups of thousands. It is necessary to write in korean next to in brackets.

Example

Source text: 10,000 won

✘ 10000원

✓ 10 000원 (일만 원)

✓ 10,000원 (일만 원)

3.4. Whitespaces

According to the rules of Korean spelling, the main principle for word spacing is to separate every word in a sentence. But since words can be formed by either one or several morphemes, there are confusing cases to distinguish among words.

In accordance with this POS set, we expect to have whitespaces separating every POS except for:

Postpositions (J), they should never be separated by whitespace from the preceding word.
Endings (E), the same as postpositions.
Prefixes (XP) and suffixes (XS), they should never be separated from the root they modify (X)

Note: the verb To Be (이다) is an exception because, unlike other verbs, it shouldn’t be separated from the unit they refer to.

Ex: My name is Paul.

✘ 제 이름은 Paul 입니다.

✓ 제 이름은 Paul입니다.

Also, there should be whitespace after Punctuation (S). No Hangul (O) should be treated as normal words, hence, separated by whitespaces.

4. Punctuation

4.1. How to use punctuation marks

This section briefly specifies the rules for the use of the following punctuation marks, with particular focus on the most problematic issues.

Comma

In Korean, the comma is used to list units with the same qualifications, to introduce an explanation, to distinguish elements in a text and to insert dependent clauses.

Examples

Source text: Snake, crocodile, and frog are reptiles.

✓ 뱀, 악어, 개구리 등은 파충류이다.

Source text: Punctuation is a method of displaying words or phrases using symbols or the like.

✓ 구두법은, 기호 등을 이용하여 단어 또는 구절 등을 표시하는 방법이다.

Source text: Economics and society, physics and chemistry can be selected.

✓ 경제와 사회, 물리와 화학은 선택하여 수강할 수 있다.

Source text: Let's look around the city today and look around the outskirts tomorrow.

✓ 오늘은 시내를 둘러보고, 내일은 외곽을 둘러보자.

Period: it is used at the end of the sentence.

Example

Source text: I fell asleep at 3 a.m. last night.

✓ 어젯밤 새벽 3시에 잠이 들었다.

Question mark

It is used in a interrogative sentence.

Example

Source text: Why did you sleep at 3 a.m.?

✓ 왜 새벽 3시에 잤니?

Hyphen

When listing a series of things in a row, use a hyphen between each unit. It is used when serial words are closely related. To write duration, distance and range, hyphens can be used instead of swung dash. In most cases, a comma can be used instead of a hyphen.

Examples

Source text: This paper, introduction, main, conclusion, is a coherent and well written.

✓ 이 논문은 서론-본론-결론을 통일성 있게 잘 쓴 글이다.

Source text: A month later, a summit meeting between South Korea and North Korea will be held.

✓ 한 달 후, 남한-북한의 정상회담이 개최될 것이다.

Source text: March 29 – April 2

✓ 3월 29일- 4월 2일

Quotation marks

There are two types of quotation marks: “ ” 큰 따옴표, ‘ ’ 작은 따옴표.

큰따옴표 is only used when quoting someone else’s words.

작은 따옴표 is used when a quote include other quoted words, or when you want to emphasis the meaning of a word.

Examples

Source text: "Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference."

✓ “돈은 유일한 해답은 아니지만, 차이를 만든다.”

Source text: My father gave me advice about my future: “Barack Obama once said that ‘money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference.’ It is important that you find something interesting but you should consider financial aspects.”.

✓ 아빠가 말씀하시길, “버락 오바마의 명언 중에 ‘돈은 유일한 해답은 아니지만, 차이를 만든다.’고 했다. 네가 흥미를 일에서 찾는 건 중요하지만 돈을 벌 생각도 했으면 좋겠다.” 하시며 나의 진로에 조언하셨다.

Source text: “Money” is important in life, but it is also important to find “meaning”.

✓ “인생에 ‘돈’도 중요하지만 ‘의미’를 찾는 것도 중요하다.

Brackets

They are used to add extra information; to write English words next to translated Korean word and to indicate that a removable word.

Examples

Source text: Plato (an ancient Greek philosopher) was a disciple of Aristotle.

✓ 플라톤(고대 그리스의 철학자)은 아리스토텔레스의 제자였다.

Source text: The International Police Agency is Interpol.

✓ 국제경찰기구는 인터폴(Interpol)이다.

Source text: When you call another, you should call sir.

✓ 상대방을 부를 때 선생(님) 이라는 말을 덧붙인다.

Note that semicolon and colon are not commonly used in Korean texts. The translator should decide whether the colon or the semicolon is necessary to make the text sound natural.

4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings

If there is a name or a title in the greeting, it should be at the beginning of the text followed by a period. If “안녕하세요” is added, it can be followed by a question mark. There is no direct translation of Dear Mr./Ms./Miss./Mrs + names in Korean, but “님” is added to either a name or title.

Example
Source text: Dear Emma Andersen,
✘ Emma Andersen,
✓ Emma Andersen 님 (또는 님께),

Example
Source text: Dear Emma Andersen, Hello
✘ Emma Andersen, 안녕하세요
✓ Emma Andersen 님 (또는 님께), 안녕하세요.
✓ Emma Andersen 님 (또는 님께), 안녕하세요?

When a greeting is combined with a name or title “+님”, a comma should be used to connect the two.

Example
Source text: Dear Dr. Andersen,
✘ Emma Andersen.안녕하세요?
✓ Emma Andersen님, 안녕하세요?

English closings, such as “Best Regards”, “Kind Regards”, “Many thanks”, “Kindly”, “Best” etc. can be translated as “감사합니다” into Korean. In those cases, please follow the punctuation of the source text.

Have a great day.	좋은 하루 되세요.
Best Regards,	감사합니다,
Kind Regards,	감사합니다,
Many thanks	감사합니다
Kindly,	감사합니다,
Best,	감사합니다,

To end a letter or text to someone, if there’s a date and/or a name, it should be at the end of the text.

Example

Source text: If you have any inconveniences, please contact us and we will help you immediately.

March 17, 2018

Emma Andersen

✘ 혹시 불편한 일이 발생할 시에 연락해주시면, 바로 도움을 드리겠습니다.

안녕히 계세요.

Emma Andersen

✓ 혹시 불편한 일이 발생할 시에 연락해주시면, 바로 도움을 드리겠습니다.

2018년 3월 17일

Emma Andersen 드림(또는 올림)

5. Register

5.1. Grammatical and Lexical Registers

Register refers to the level of formality and politeness used in the text. It reflects how our clients address their customers and contributes to the brand voice. Register may vary depending on the company, brand, service offered, customer base, and target language.

We distinguish between two main types of register: grammatical and lexical. The former involves the use of pronouns and verb person (in languages where this morphological feature is relevant), while the latter applies to lexical choices, since some words and expressions also carry a degree of formality or colloquialism.

In Korean, when using honorific register, it is crucial to write as if the reader is above you. Thus, honor your reader. Honorific register should only be used not only when addressing a person, but also in relation to objects or actions. There are several degrees of register, however, we primarily focus on the two main groups which are most often used in our work: formal and informal. It is important to note that when referring to informal speech, we do not mean Banmal (반말), which is very informal, we mean formal-casual speech.

5.2. Degrees of formality and politeness

Examples and explanations

Formal (존댓말)

Very Formal: Habshoche (하십시오체)

1. 저희 희사는 대기업이다 (Our company is a major conglomerate/big company)
2. 요즘 집 월세가 높아지고 있습니다. (Nowadays, rent prices are going up)

Verb changes
When employing this register there are two ways to address verbs:
Certain verbs have to obligatorily change into a honorific form:

마시다 (to drink) -> 드시다

자다 (to sleep) -> 주무시다

Other verbs are made formal by adding the honorific (으)시:

오다 (to come) -> 오시다,
만들다 (to make) -> 만드시다

Lexical Changes

Similar to verbs, some nouns undergo lexical changes to reflect higher formality:

생일 (birthday)-> 생신,
집 (house) -> 댁

Informal (반말)

Formal-casual: Haeyoche (해요체)

Example dialogue
A: 안녕하세요? (Hello?)
B: 어서 오십시오. 뭐 드릴까요? (Welcome. What would you like to have?)

A: 아이스 아메리카노 한잔 주세요. (I would like an Iced Americano please).
B: 네, 알겠습니다. 아이스 아메리카노 한잔은 7,000\이에요. (Ok, I understand. One Iced Americano is 7,000\ please.)

A: 네, 카드로 계산할게요. (Ok, I’ll pay by card)
B: 계산을 받았습니다. 아이스 아메리카노가 바로 준비드릴게요. (I confirm the payment. Your Iced Americano will be ready shortly)

A: 감사합니다. (Thank you!)

Neutral (giving orders): Haoche (하오체)
* 예를 봅시다 (Let’s see the example)
* 이 문제를 해결하기위해 아래 단계를 따르십시오. (To solve this issue, please follow the steps below)

하십시오체(habsoche)

Its use is mainly reserved for very formal settings such as the news, interviews, speaking to elders or professors, in a company setting (addressing superiors or clients), while giving presentations or speeches, etc. It used to be the speaking norm for every situation, however, nowadays that mindset has been slowly changing, with 하십시오체being seen as a very stiff and impersonal form of speech, and thus reserved mostly for those specific situations. Alongside 하십시오체, 하오체 is also used when we want to give orders or instructions in a polite manner.

해요체 (haeyoche)

Although it’s considered an informal register, it’s the most used in today’s Korean society. Although “informal”, it still elevates the person we’re speaking to/our reader, so it’s considered to be a polite, yet more relaxed way of addressing others. This register is suitable for interactions with strangers, (when their social status relative to you is unknown), colleagues at work and casual yet polite conversations with professors or clients.

It’s important to note that the use of 해요체 with clients can vary. While it might seem unusual for a company to address clients using 해요체, this register is actually preferred in more relaxed business environments, such as coffee shops or general stores. However, in more formal business settings, 하십시오체 might be more appropriate. The exception to this rule are certain words or expressions traditionally used in the 하십시오체 form, regardless of the overall speech level. Examples include formal greetings and expressions of gratitude like "안녕하십니까" (Hello), "감사합니다" (Thank you), and "만나서 반갑습니다" (Nice to meet you).

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.

The most important thing when translating an English word to Korean, is to follow the loanword orthography of Korean. An exception to this is only when the word already exists in Korean.

6.1.1. Persons

All names (foreign and Korean) should remain in English and are not supposed to be translated. If you have doubts about the pronunciation, please check in the Naver. There is no exception regarding names, even if the person is famous.

It is important to put nim (님) after the customers' names. All the official letters from companies should be formal in their register. The word nim at the end of the name can only be omitted when the context is very informal, such as casual notes exchanges among friends or when you describe yourself.

Examples
✘ 김정은
✘ 김정은 씨
✘ 귀하
✓ 김정은 님
✓ 김정은 고객님
✓ 김정은 사용자님
✓ 고객님, 사용자님

Source text: Hi, Peter, how can I help you?
✓ 안녕하세요 Peter님, 어떻게 제가 도와드릴까요?

6.1.2. Places

When translating English to Korean you cannot keep the untranslated name for a place. You need to follow the Korean loanword orthography (외래어 표기법). After translating the place name, you can keep the English word in brackets next to the translated word. If the spelling or pronunciation is very different, it is recommended to go with the pronunciation. Sometimes, place names exist as a different Korean word.

Examples

Source text: New York

✘ 뉴우욕

✓ 뉴욕

Source text: Aarhus

✘ 아르후스

✓ 오르후스

Source text: China

✘ 중화 인민 공화국

✓ 중국

6.1.3. Organizations

Names of organizations are often translated to Korean. Organizations should be written as they are pronounced, or they should be in brackets. If the name of an Organization is an abbreviation, the word can be used in the same way in the Korean text.

Examples

Source text: NGO

✘ 엔쥐오

✓ 엔지오 or 비정부기구

Source text: UN

✘ 유엔

✓ 국제 평화 기구 (UN) or 유엔 국제 평화 기구

Source text: Aarhus university

✘ 아르후스 대학교

✓ 오르후스대학교

6.1.4. Brands and products

Brands and products are mostly translated, however, depending on the context, the original English word can be recommended to use.

Examples

Source text: Sony

✓ 소니 or Sony

Source text: Playstation

✓ 플레이스테이션or Playstation

6.1.5. Other entities

Like brands and products, art, events and names of boats are translated to Korean.

Examples

Source text: Gustav Klimt, The kiss

✓ 클림트의 키스

Source text: Roskilde Festival

✓ 로스킬데 축제

Source text: Oktoberfest

✓ 옥토버페스트

Source text: Titanic

✓ 타이타닉

6.2. Acronyms and initials

Acronyms and initials are translated to Korean. Even if the acronym does not exist in Korean, the word should be translated as it is pronounced.

Examples

Source text: aids

✓ 에이즈

Source text: Alzheimer

✓ 알츠하이머 or 치매

6.3. Date format

English uses in general, the format mm/dd/yy. When you write a date in Korean the order should be yy. mm. dd (with a whitespace after the dot).

Example

Source text: 03/15/2018

✘ 15. 03. 18

✓ 2018. 03. 15

6.4. Time format

The Korean time format follows the am/pm format.

Example

Source text: 6 p.m. or 18:00

✘ 18시

✓ 오후 6시

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.

Depending on the object, different measure terms are used.

Examples

Source text: 25 cm

✘ 25 센티미터

✓ 25 cm (센티미터)

Source text: 5 ft

✘ 5 피트

✓ 5 ft(피트)

6.6. Currency

Currency values should be left as they are in the source text. However, the currency should be translated to Korean and have brackets with the currency symbols (€, $, £, etc.) or currency initials (USD, GBP, RUB, INR, DKK, NOK, etc.). Also note that these initials should never be translated as they are a convention accepted worldwide.

Example

Source text: 100 Euro

✘ 100 Euro

✓ 100 유로(€) or 100 유로(EUR)

6.7 Cultural Elements

6.7.1 Addressing Customers

When translating questions directed at customers in Korean, it’s better to avoid being too straightforward in order to sound less dry and more polite. As such, instead of using “했습니까” or “있습니까” it’s better to translate the sentences differently, as shown in this example:

Source: Were you still having issues streaming this title on your account?
✘ 여전히 고객님의 계정에서 이 타이틀을 스트리밍 하는 데 문제가 있었습니까?
✓ 여전히 고객님의 계정에서 이 타이틀을 스트리밍 하는 데 어려움을 경험하고 계신지 알려주시면 감사드리겠습니다.

7. Tricky cases

In Korean many parts of a sentence can be removed. Removing useless parts makes the sentence sound more fluent and natural. However, it is necessary to read the original text very carefully so you don’t remove important information.

Be aware of the purpose/context of the source material. Small mistakes do generally not make the reader feel uncomfortable reading it. The most important thing is to understand the purpose of the original text and translate the context in the right Korean form. It is fine to change the sentence structure, but keep the same mood, perspective and purpose.

8. Most frequent errors

One of the most common errors in translation is the occurrence of a whitespace between letters and words. In Korean, a whitespace is very difficult to get just right. It is necessary to double check this. Another common mistake the use of inadequate words when translating English to Korean.

Examples

Source text: Please refer to the manual for the product.

✘ 제품을 사용 할 때에 설명서를 참고해주십시오.

✓ 제품을 사용할 때에 설명서를 참고해 주십시오.

Source text: I have contacted you to resolve this issue.

✘ 이 건에 대한 문제 해결을 위해 연락드렸습니다.

✓ 이 문제에 대한 문제 해결을 위해 연락드렸습니다.

Source text: We contacted you because the amount you paid was incorrect.

✘ 귀하가 결제하신 건이 잘못되었다는 걸 알려드립니다.

✓ 고객님께서 결제하신 금액이 잘못되어 연락드렸습니다.