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2.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person, number (for verbs)
2.1.2. Gender, number, case (for nouns, adjectives and articles)
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
For a text to be syntactically correct, there has to be agreement between specific parts of each sentence in terms of several grammatical categories, depending on the part of speech. These categories are listing bellow.
2.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person, number (for verbs)
As far as verbs are concerned, they need to agree with their subject(s) in terms of grammatical person and number.
Examples
Source text: Do not hesitate to contact us.
✘ Μη διστάσετε να επικοινωνήσουν μαζί μας.
✓ Μη διστάσετε να επικοινωνήσετε μαζί μας.
Source text: This usually stands for all transactions.
✘ Αυτό συνήθως ισχύουν για όλες τις συναλλαγές.
✓ Αυτό συνήθως ισχύει για όλες τις συναλλαγές.
In cases when the subject is a collective noun in the singular that can be accompanied by a verb either in the singular or in the plural in English, it should be accompanied by the verb in the singular in Greek, so as to comply with the language rules. Such nouns typically represent groups of people (e.g. ο κόσμος, ο στρατός, ο λαός, η αστυνομία, η κυβέρνηση, οι αρχές) or animals/things (e.g. το κοπάδι, το σερβίτσιο, το σύμπαν).
Examples
Source text: The police are investigating the case.
✘ Η αστυνομία διερευνούν την υπόθεση.
✓ Η αστυνομία διερευνά την υπόθεση.
Source text: The government agreed to raise the minimum wage.
✘ Η κυβέρνηση αποφάσισαν να αυξήσουν τον κατώτατο μισθό.
✓ Η κυβέρνηση αποφάσισε να αυξήσει τον κατώτατο μισθό.
When a sentence has more than one subject, they are accompanied by a verb in the plural, which agrees with the ‘strongest’ person in the sentence (i.e. the first is considered to be stronger than the second, which is stronger than the third person).
Source text: Program changes and restarting the computer might help.
✘ Οι αλλαγές στα προγράμματα και η επανεκκίνηση του υπολογιστή ίσως βοηθήσει.
✓ Οι αλλαγές στα προγράμματα και η επανεκκίνηση του υπολογιστή ίσως βοηθήσουν.
✓ Οι αλλαγές στα προγράμματα και η επανεκκίνηση του υπολογιστή ίσως βοηθήσουν.
Source text: You and Eleni stand out for your achievements.
✘ Εσύ και η Ελένη ξεχωρίζουν για τις επιδόσεις σας.
✓ Εσύ και η Ελένη ξεχωρίζετε για τις επιδόσεις σας.
Last but not least, when two or more verbs refer to syntactically ‘equal’ situations (i.e. time of action/state, temporal flow, modality), they should agree with each other in tense, aspect, and mood respectively.
Examples
Source text: You can either call us or leave us a message.
✘ Μπορείτε να μας τηλεφωνήσετε ή να μας στέλνατε μήνυμα.
✓ Μπορείτε να μας τηλεφωνήσετε ή να μας στείλετε μήνυμα.
2.1.2. Gender, number, case (for nouns, adjectives and articles)
If a sentence has a predicate which, according to traditional grammar, completes the subject, the two (i.e. subject and predicate) should agree with each other. If the predicate is an adjective, it agrees with the subject in gender, number, and case. If the predicate is a noun, it agrees with the subject in case.
Examples
Source text: The country is small.
✘ Η χώρα είναι μικροί.
✓ Η χώρα είναι μικρή.
Source text: Children are happiness.
✘ Τα παιδιά είναι ευτυχίες.
✓ Τα παιδιά είναι ευτυχία.
✘ Τα παιδιά είναι ευτυχίες.
✓ Τα παιδιά είναι ευτυχία.
When there is more than one subject, the predicate is mostly in the plural form.
Example
Source text: Venus and Mars are planets.
✘ Η Αφροδίτη και ο Άρης είναι πλανήτης.
✓ Η Αφροδίτη και ο Άρης είναι πλανήτες.
Adjectives should always agree with the nouns they refer to in grammatical gender, number, and case.
Examples
Source text: We will take every necessary measure.
✘ Θα λάβουμε όλα τα αναγκαία μέτρο.
✓ Θα λάβουμε όλα τα αναγκαία μέτρα.
Source text: Consult with your travel agent.
✘ Συμβουλευτείτε τον ταξιδιωτικό σας πράκτορας.
✓ Συμβουλευτείτε τον ταξιδιωτικό σας πράκτορα.
In more complex constructions, where there are multiple nouns with different genders, there are two general rules: (a) if the nouns represent persons/animals, the adjective appears in the masculine, (b) if the nouns represent inanimate things, the adjective appears in the neutral.
Examples
Source text: Every schoolgirl and schoolboy was present.
✘ Όλοι οι μαθητές και οι μαθήτριες ήταν παρούσες.
✓ Όλοι οι μαθητές και οι μαθήτριες ήταν παρόντες.
Source text: The apples and the bananas are ripe.
✘ Τα μήλα και οι μπανάνες είναι ώριμες.
✓ Τα μήλα και οι μπανάνες είναι ώριμα.
The aforementioned rule also applies in the case of articles, which should also always agree with the nouns they refer to in grammatical gender, number, and case.
Examples
Source text: We will take every necessary measure.
✘ Θα λάβουμε όλα το αναγκαία μέτρα.
✓ Θα λάβουμε όλα τα αναγκαία μέτρα.
Source text: Consult with your travel agent.
✘ Συμβουλευτείτε τα ταξιδιωτικό σας πράκτορα.
✓ Συμβουλευτείτε τον ταξιδιωτικό σας πράκτορα.
The same applies when the article appears combined with the preposition σε, which is rather common in Greek. In this case, the resulting word takes different inflected forms and is grammatically treated as an article.
Example
Source text: You will find more information at the following link.
✘ Περισσότερες πληροφορίες θα βρείτε στα παρακάτω σύνδεσμο.
✓ Περισσότερες πληροφορίες θα βρείτε στον παρακάτω σύνδεσμο.
2.2. Prepositions
Mistranslating prepositions is very common in the English-Greek language pair. The reason behind this phenomenon is the intuitive tendency to select the most common use of each preposition without giving it a second thought. Prepositions should follow the syntactic rules of Greek so as to sound fluent and natural.
Example
Source text: Her name begins with A.
✘ Το όνομά της αρχίζει με Α.
✓ Το όνομά της αρχίζει από Α.
Another common mistake is reproducing prepositions that are not necessary in the Greek translation.
Example
Source text: It depends on him.
✘ Εξαρτάται πάνω του.
✓ Εξαρτάται από αυτόν.
2.3. Pronouns
Pronouns follow the same agreement rules as adjectives, i.e. they need to agree with the noun they refer to in grammatical gender, number and case.
Example
Source text: John met Mary. He met her at the train station.
✘ Ο Γιάννης συνάντησε τη Μαρία. Τους συνάντησε στον σταθμό των τρένων.
✓ Ο Γιάννης συνάντησε τη Μαρία. Την συνάντησε στον σταθμό των τρένων.
✘ Ο Γιάννης συνάντησε τη Μαρία. Τους συνάντησε στον σταθμό των τρένων.
✓ Ο Γιάννης συνάντησε τη Μαρία. Την συνάντησε στον σταθμό των τρένων.
If the pronoun refers to a proposition then the neuter singular pronoun is used.
Example
Source text: Doctors are on strike. It was in the news.
✘ Οι γιατροί απεργούν. Τα είπαν στις ειδήσεις.
✓ Οι γιατροί απεργούν. Το είπαν στις ειδήσεις.
Source text: Doctors are on strike. It was in the news.
✘ Οι γιατροί απεργούν. Τα είπαν στις ειδήσεις.
✓ Οι γιατροί απεργούν. Το είπαν στις ειδήσεις.
As Greek is a null subject language, it is neither necessary nor natural to always follow the English syntax by constantly repeating the personal pronoun.
Example
Source text: We do not support this browser.
✘ Εμείς δεν υποστηρίζουμε αυτό το πρόγραμμα πλοήγησης.
✓ Δεν υποστηρίζουμε αυτό το πρόγραμμα πλοήγησης.
However, it should be noted that this rule always depends on the context, as in some cases the personal pronoun is essential to convey meaning.
Example
Source text: She has blue eyes, but I have brown eyes.
✘ Έχει γαλάζια μάτια, αλλά έχω καστανά.
✓ Αυτή έχει γαλάζια μάτια, αλλά εγώ έχω καστανά.
2.4. Verbs
As in all translation tasks, it is very important to first grasp the meaning of the original text and then try to convey the right message by editing the translation. One of the most important things, especially when dealing with customer support emails, is to understand the exact tense, mood, and aspect of verbs. Always make sure that you capture the differences between simple and perfect, simple and continuous, active and passive, etc.
Examples
Source text: Are you getting any error messages?
✘ Έχετε λάβει μηνύματα λάθους;
✓ Λαμβάνετε μηνύματα λάθους;
Source text: We tried to solve the problem.
✘ Προσπαθήσαμε να λύνουμε το πρόβλημα.
✓ Προσπαθήσαμε να λύσουμε το πρόβλημα.
Another tricky point can be the spelling between active and passive forms as, in some cases, the third person in the active plural sounds the same as the third person in the passive singular, although they are spelled in different ways.
Examples
Source text: It is believed that they will resign.
✘ Πιστεύετε ότι θα παραιτηθούν.
✓ Πιστεύεται ότι θα παραιτηθούν.
Source text: You take care of your family.
✘ Φροντίζεται την οικογένειά σας.
✓ Φροντίζετε την οικογένειά σας.
Finally, keep in mind that deponent verbs may be in the passive voice, but they have an active meaning and, therefore, should be treated accordingly:
Examples
Source text: Your request is being processed.
✘ Το αίτημά σας επεξεργάζεται.
✓ Το αίτημά σας είναι υπό επεξεργασία.
Source text: This device is easy to use.
✘ Αυτή η συσκευή χειρίζεται εύκολα.
✓ Αυτή η συσκευή είναι εύκολη στη χρήση.
3. Orthography
3.1. Abbreviations
Generally speaking, abbreviations in the original should be replaced with the respective ones in the target language unless no such abbreviation exists in this language. In these cases, you can either leave the original abbreviation (if widely known) or translate it in full words. Please, follow the rules of the Greek language in terms of abbreviations rather than keeping the format of the original.
Example
Source text: Αn identification card, a passport, etc. may be used.
✘ Μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί ταυτότητα, διαβατήριο κλπ.
✓ Μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί ταυτότητα, διαβατήριο κ.λπ.
3.2. Apostrophes
Apostrophes in Greek always show omission of letters rather than having the additional use of showing possession like in English. The missing letter is always a vowel and can either be found at the beginning or at the end of a word. Thus, the apostrophe practically replaces the missing vowel. Do not forget to check where the apostrophe is placed in the translated text.
Example
Source text: I did not know it, so I looked it up.
✘ Δεν το ήξερα, γι ’αυτό το’ ψαξα.
✓ Δεν το ήξερα, γι’ αυτό το ’ψαξα.
3.3. Capitalization
In Greek, capital letters are used at the beginning of sentences, all kinds of proper names, most acronyms, etc., as in English. However, there are certain differences between the two languages, which should be reflected in translations:
- While the first letters of words showing ethnicity or other type of origin, as well as language names are capitalized in English, in Greek, however, nouns showing origins are capitalized, but adjectives are not.
- As far as language names are concerned, both orthographic variants are accepted in Greek. It should be stressed, however, that your choice should always be consistent within tasks.
Examples
Source text: This car is German.
✘ Αυτό το αυτοκίνητο είναι Γερμανικό.
✓ Αυτό το αυτοκίνητο είναι γερμανικό.
Source text: I speak French and Spanish.
✘ Μιλάω γαλλικά και Ισπανικά.
✓ Μιλάω γαλλικά και ισπανικά.
Example
Source text: My father-in-law is German.
✘ Ο πεθερός μου είναι γερμανός.
✓ Ο πεθερός μου είναι Γερμανός.
Source text: My father-in-law is German.
✘ Ο πεθερός μου είναι γερμανός.
✓ Ο πεθερός μου είναι Γερμανός.
In case a word that is normally capitalized (or is capitalized in the text for the sake of emphasis) is translated as a phrase, all the words in that phrase should be capitalized.
Example
Source text: I have a problem with the Timezone.
✘ Έχω πρόβλημα με τη Ζώνη ώρας.
✓ Έχω πρόβλημα με τη Ζώνη Ώρας.
3.4. Compounds
Compound words are usually not hyphenated in Greek. Following the English original form with the hyphen is a very common mistake and it should be avoided.
Examples
Source text: She is a multi-millionaire.
✘ Αυτή είναι πολυ-εκατομμυριούχος.
✓ Αυτή είναι πολυεκατομμυριούχος.
Source text: This is a socio-economic problem.
✘ Αυτό είναι κοινωνικο-οικονομικό πρόβλημα.
✓ Αυτό είναι κοινωνικοοικονομικό πρόβλημα.
Hyphens can be found in Greek in certain noun phrases, which should not be confused with compounds. These usually correspond to similar noun phrases in English, not necessarily in the same word order, though.
Examples
Source text: They asked me for the key word.
✘ Μου ζήτησαν τη λεξηκλειδί.
✓ Μου ζήτησαν τη λέξη-κλειδί.
Source text: All the member-states are represented.
✘ Εκπροσωπούνται όλα τα κρατημέλη.
✓ Εκπροσωπούνται όλα τα κράτη-μέλη.
3.5. Diacritics
There is only one accent in Modern Greek. Multi-syllabe words are stressed on one of their three final syllables. Single-syllable words are not accented. Exceptions: the conjunction ή (not to be confused with the feminine article η), the conjunctions πού and πώς (ONLY when denoting direct or indirect questions; not to be confused with που and πως).
Examples
Source text: No one knows who he is.
✘ Κανείς δεν γνωρίζει ποιός είναι αυτός.
✓ Κανείς δεν γνωρίζει ποιος είναι αυτός.
Source text: I was very glad to see her.
✘ Χάρηκα πολύ πού την είδα.
✓ Χάρηκα πολύ που την είδα.
When there are enclitics, as when a word stressed in the antepenult is followed by the weak type of the possessive pronoun, a second stress is added on the final syllable of the first word.
Example
Source text: Please, give me your address.
✘ Σε παρακαλώ, δώσε μου τη διεύθυνση σου.
✓ Σε παρακαλώ, δώσε μου τη διεύθυνσή σου.
The dieresis is only used to accompany ι or υ, when they are pronounced separately from the preceding vowel, i.e. as two syllables. Please, keep in mind that, in some cases, the dieresis can be combined with the accent.
Examples
Source text: Add a little parsley.
✘ Προσθέστε λίγο μαιντανό.
✓ Προσθέστε λίγο μαϊντανό.
Source text: It’s the 11th of May.
✘ Είναι 11 Μαίου.
✓ Είναι 11 Μαΐου.
3.6. Foreign words
In general, foreign words should be translated into Greek, when a known translation exists. In case there is no standard translation (for instance, if the word is very recent), the second best option is to transliterate the word using Greek characters. If such transliteration is non-existent or unusual, then the term is left in the original English.
Examples
Source text: I bought a new modem.
✘ Αγόρασα καινούργιο modem.
✓ Αγόρασα καινούργιο μόντεμ.
Source text: They are fighting against the HIV virus.
✘ Αγωνίζονται ενάντια στον ιό έιτς άι βι.
✓ Αγωνίζονται ενάντια στον ιό HIV.
Please, note that, when in doubt, the ultimate criterion should always be standard dictionaries or other reference works in the target language. If the search item is not found there, online searches can serve as a statistical measure of how frequent each version is.
3.7. Numerals
Regarding numerals format (written in numbers or words), 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.
Please, keep in mind that, while English uses a comma to indicate groups of thousands, Greek uses a dot. On the contrary, while English uses a dot as a decimal symbol, Greek uses a comma.
Examples
Source text: The city has a population of 400,000.
✘ Η πόλη έχει 400,000 κατοίκους.
✓ Η πόλη έχει 400.000 κατοίκους.
Source text: It only cost me 5.5 euros.
✘ Μου κόστισε μόνο 5.5 ευρώ.
✓ Μου κόστισε μόνο 5,5 ευρώ.
3.8. Symbols
Different symbols follow different orthographic rules in Greek.
The percentage symbol (%) follows the number without a whitespace in between. The same rule applies for the symbols + and –, which precede the number they accompany without a whitespace in between. However, in case of a mathematical equation, there are whitespaces between symbols such as +, –, x, ¸, =.
There is never a whitespace between the @ symbol and the rest of the email address, Twitter account, etc. Symbols showing temperature or angle degrees are also never preceded by whitespaces.
Examples
Source text: There was a 5% increase.
✘ Σημειώθηκε αύξηση 5 %.
✓ Σημειώθηκε αύξηση 5%.
Source text: The temperature is 20° C
✘ Η θερμοκρασία είναι 20 °C.
✓ Η θερμοκρασία είναι 20° C.
4. Punctuation
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
Commas, colons, semicolons, periods, exclamation marks, and question marks always follow a word without a whitespace in between. Please, note that the Greek question mark is identical to the English semicolon; the two should not be confused. There is one word in Greek whose letters are separated by a comma with no whitespaces: ό,τι as opposed to the similar ότι.
Examples
Source text: I am unemployed, as you know.
✘ Είμαι άνεργος , όπως γνωρίζετε .
✓ Είμαι άνεργος, όπως γνωρίζετε.
Source text: They will come, too; it’s only natural.
✘ Θα έρθουν κι εκείνοι · είναι απολύτως φυσικό.
✓ Θα έρθουν κι εκείνοι· είναι απολύτως φυσικό.
Source text: What is the time?
✘ Τι ώρα είναι?
✓ Τι ώρα είναι;
Source text: Surprise!
✘ Έκπληξη !
✓ Έκπληξη!
Source text: You may choose whatever you want.
✘ Μπορείτε να επιλέξετε ότι θέλετε.
✓ Μπορείτε να επιλέξετε ό,τι θέλετε.
Hyphens (-), en dashes (–) and em dashes (—) can be either preceded and followed by a whitespace or added with spaces only before the first one (opening) and after the second one (closing) depending on the situation. This is the same rule that applies to quotation marks and brackets.
Hyphens are used in noun phrases and are not preceded or followed by a whitespace. An exception to this rule is the noun phrase κράτος μέλος.
Examples
Source text: His teachers called him a wonderchild.
✘ Οι δάσκαλοί του τον αποκάλεσαν παιδί - θαύμα.
✓ Οι δάσκαλοί του τον αποκάλεσαν παιδί-θαύμα.
Source text: Greece is one of the member states.
✘ Η Ελλάδα είναι ένα από τα κράτη-μέλη.
✓ Η Ελλάδα είναι ένα από τα κράτη μέλη.
To note the distance, space, radius, range and time period between two variants:
- A hyphen is used without whitespaces when the same metric unit is used between the two variants
- A hyphen is used with whitespaces when a different metric unit is used between the two variants.
Examples
Source text: My ideal weight is 60 to 70 kg.
✘ Το ιδανικό μου βάρος ειναι 60 - 70 κιλά.
✓ Το ιδανικό μου βάρος ειναι 60-70 κιλά.
Source text: The stroller is ideal for babies aged 6 months to 2 years old.
✘ Το καρότσι είναι ιδανικό για μωρά 6 μηνών-2 ετών.
✓ Το καρότσι είναι ιδανικό για μωρά 6 μηνών - 2 ετών.
An en dash is used when collocating units that have some connection, yet each has their own autonomous meaning. No whitespaces are used, unless any of the collocated units consists of at least two words.
Examples
Source text: Crisis in EU and Qatar relations.
✘ Κρίση στις σχέσεις Ε.Ε. – Κατάρ.
✓ Κρίση στις σχέσεις Ε.Ε.–Κατάρ.
Source text: Crisis in European Union and Qatar relations.
✘ Κρίση στις σχέσεις Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης–Κατάρ.
✓ Κρίση στις σχέσεις Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης – Κατάρ.
A pair of em dashes is used to separate a word, phrase or sentence to denote emphasis. In this case no whitespaces are used. If the separated units are at the end of the sentence, then only one em dash is used.
Examples
Source text: I know – she told me herself – that she’s coming.
✘ Το ξέρω – μου το είπε η ίδια – ότι θα έρθει.
✓ Το ξέρω —μου το είπε η ίδια— ότι θα έρθει.
Source text: I know that she’s coming – she told me herself.
✘ Το ξέρω ότι θα έρθει —μου το είπε η ίδια—.
✓ Το ξέρω ότι θα έρθει —μου το είπε η ίδια.
4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings
In Greek, the punctuation used after greetings in letters and messages is either the full stop (.) or the exclamation mark (!).
Example
Source text: Hello,
✘ Γεια σας,
✓ Γεια σας.
✓ Γεια σας!
As far as closings are concerned, you can use the comma (,) for single units and the exclamation mark (!) for phrases.
Examples
Source text: Regards,
✘ Χαιρετισμούς.
✓ Χαιρετισμούς,
Source text: Have a nice day,
✘ Καλή σας μέρα,
✓ Καλή σας μέρα!
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
In formal register, the vocabulary tends to be more impersonal, ‘official’ or scientific as opposed to the more personal, everyday vocabulary of informal register. In particular, as far as terminology is concerned, it is important to always use the official term with consistency throughout a task, to avoid confusion.
When addressing other people in formal register, the pronouns to be used are the polite plural pronouns. The corresponding verbs should also be in the second person plural for agreement reasons. This is reflected both in greetings and closings of messages as well as in the rest of the text.
|
Category
|
Examples
|
Type of Register
|
|
Personal pronouns
|
εσείς, εσάς
|
Grammatical
|
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb)
|
second person plural
|
Grammatical
|
|
Possessive pronouns
|
σας
|
Grammatical
|
|
Greetings
|
Χαίρετε, Καλημέρα σας,
Καλησπέρα σας, Γεια σας
|
Lexical
|
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Closings
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Με θερμούς χαιρετισμούς, Χαιρετισμούς, Με φιλικούς χαιρετισμούς, Με εκτίμηση
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Lexical
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Contractions
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not to be used
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Lexical
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5.3. Informal Register
In informal register, the vocabulary tends to be more personal, relaxed and ‘everyday’ as opposed to the more impersonal and official vocabulary of formal register. Therefore, the word ‘kids’ could easily replace the word ‘children’, and so on and so forth.
When addressing other people in informal register, the pronouns to be used are the friendly singular pronouns. The corresponding verbs should also be in the second person singular for agreement reasons. IMPORTANT NOTE: Although customer support messages should be treated in an informal manner, please keep in mind that the polite plural should be used when addressing the customer.
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Category
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Examples
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Type of Register
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Personal pronouns
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εσύ, εσένα, σένα
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Grammatical
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Verbs (person used to
conjugate the verb)
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second person singular
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Grammatical
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Possessive pronouns
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σου
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Grammatical
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Greetings
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Γεια, Γεια χαρά, Γεια σου, Καλημέρα
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Lexical
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Closings
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Γεια, Φιλιά, Τα λέμε
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Lexical
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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
As a general rule, names of persons in customer support messages are not to be translated unless otherwise instructed by the client. However, names of celebrities or other generally known people should be translated when there is a recognizable equivalent in Greek.
Examples
Source text: Hello Dolores.
✘ Γεια σας, Ντολόρες.
✓ Γεια σας, Dolores.
Source text: His name is Donald Trump.
✘ Το όνομά του είναι Donald Trump.
✓ Το όνομά του είναι Ντόναλντ Τραμπ.
Please, take extra care so that names of persons agree in grammatical gender with the rest of the terms in the task.
6.1.2. Places
Names of countries, cities, and other places should be translated when a known equivalent exists in Greek; otherwise, they should either be transliterated (if this is intuitive) or left untranslated.
Examples
Source text: He is in London.
✘ Βρίσκεται στο London.
✓ Βρίσκεται στο Λονδίνο.
Source text: They come from Dkar-lho.
✘ Κατάγονται από το Ντκαρ-ίχο.
✓ Κατάγονται από το Dkar-lho.
6.1.3. Organizations
Names of organizations should also be translated when a known equivalent exists in Greek; otherwise, they should either be transliterated (if this is intuitive) or left untranslated.
Examples
Source text: The University of Exeter
✘ Το Πανεπιστήμιο του Exeter
✓ Το Πανεπιστήμιο του Έξετερ
Source text: The Gannan Xiahe Airport
✘ Το αεροδρόμιο Γκάναν Σιάχε
✓ Το αεροδρόμιο Gannan Xiahe
6.1.4. Brands and products
Brand and product names should never be translated in Greek.
Example
Source text: I found her on Facebook.
✘ Τη βρήκα στο φέισμπουκ.
✓ Τη βρήκα στο Facebook.
6.1.5. Other entities
Works of art (such as paintings or monuments), events (such as festivals or tournaments), films, songs, plays, books, etc. should be translated when a known equivalent exists in Greek; otherwise, they should either be transliterated (if this is intuitive) or left untranslated.
Examples
Source text: The Titanic is a great movie.
✘ Το Titanic είναι υπέροχη ταινία.
✓ Ο Τιτανικός είναι υπέροχη ταινία.
Source text: I am listening to Hello by Adele.
✘ Ακούω το Χελόου της Αντέλ.
✓ Ακούω το Hello της Αντέλ.
6.2. Acronyms and initials
Generally speaking, abbreviations in the original should be replaced with the respective ones in the target language unless no such abbreviation exists in this language. In these cases, you can either leave the original abbreviation (if widely known) or translate it in full words. Please, follow the rules of the target language in terms of abbreviations rather than keeping the format of the original.
Usually, initials are spelled with dots between letters or syllables and with no whitespaces in between. However, it is far from unusual for initials to appear without the dots, even in some dictionaries, so it is not strictly considered to be a mistake anymore. Even so, it should be stressed that all acronyms are to be treated with absolute consistency throughout tasks.
Example
Source text: The Council was established by the UN and consists of UN members.
✘ Το Συμβούλιο ιδρύθηκε από τον Ο.Η.Ε. και αποτελείται από μέλη του ΟΗΕ.
✓ Το Συμβούλιο ιδρύθηκε από τον Ο.Η.Ε. και αποτελείται από μέλη του Ο.Η.Ε.
As in all cases, when there is doubt whether an acronym is correctly translated or not, it is always useful to turn to recognized dictionaries, encyclopedias, other reference works or official websites to check. Only leave the original abbreviation untranslated when it is absolutely certain that no standard acronym exists in the target language.
6.3. Date format
English differs from other languages by using, in general, the format mm/dd/yy. This means that references to date need to be changed to a dd/mm/yy format when translating into Greek.
Examples
Source text: 3/15/77
✘ 3/15/77
✓ 15/3/77
Source text: March 15, 1977
✘ Μαρτίου 15, 1977
✓ 15 Μαρτίου 1977
Please, also remember to use the appropriate conventions, when dealing with years, decades or centuries.
Examples
Source text: ’65
✘ ’65
✓ το ’65
Source text: the 1940s
✘ τα ’40
✓ η δεκαετία του ’40
6.4. Time format
Time should be shown using one of the usual conventions in Greek.
Examples
Source text: 4:55 pm
✘ 16:55 μμ
✓ 4:55 μ.μ.
✓ 16:55
✘ 16:55 μμ
✓ 4:55 μ.μ.
✓ 16:55
Source text: a quarter past ten
✘ ένα τέταρτο μετά τις δέκα
✓ δέκα και τέταρτο
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. If measures are expressed in abbreviations rather than full words, these should be kept in the translation.
Examples
Source text: 50m
✘ 50 μ
✓ 50 μ.
Source text: 12 km
✘ 12 χλμ
✓ 12 χλμ.
Source text: 30 miles
✘ 48,28 χιλιόμετρα
✓ 30 μίλια
Source text: 1 acre
✘ 4,35 στρέμματα
✓ 1 ακρ
6.6. Currency
Currency values should be left as they are in the source text, only translating the currency: for example, 100 euros (EN) → 100 ευρώ.
Examples
Source text: $6m
✘ $6εκ.
✓ 6.000.000 $
✓6 εκ. δολ.
Source text: £50,000
✘ 50.000 £
✓ 50.000 λίρες
Source text: €130
✘ €130
✓ 130 €
Do not translate currency initials (USD, GBP, RUB, INR, DKK, NOK, etc.) as they are a convention accepted worldwide. In Greek, both currency initials and symbols are placed after the number. The initials are preceded by a white space whereas the symbol is not.
Example
Source text: USD 80
✘ USD 80
✓ 80 USD
7. Useful online resources
Bilingual dictionaries
English verb conjugator
English grammar guide
English dictionaries
Thesauruses
Greek dictionary
Greek grammar guide
Style guide
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