WenLei-William Posted September 18, 2016 at 03:39 PM Report Posted September 18, 2016 at 03:39 PM Hello Everybody, I was working on a translation project today and I came across this sentence: 于行走间探寻海派文化魅力的“微游上海”以及用浪漫之绳将集体婚礼与城市文化相牵的“玫瑰婚典”等多项活动早已成为经典品牌 I can understand what the sentence is saying in Chinese, but when I try to translate it into English, it seem over descriptive. Especially the clauses describing “微游上海” and “玫瑰婚典”. So, I just left out the clauses and listed the two nouns mentioned in the previous sentence. I was wondering, whenever you all translate Chinese into English, especially when there is a part with over descriptive clauses like the sentence above, what approach do you take to translate it? Quote
Guest123 Posted September 18, 2016 at 04:46 PM Report Posted September 18, 2016 at 04:46 PM Quote “微游上海” and “玫瑰婚典”. These are not over descriptive clauses, but names of traveling programs. Besides, that's why there are quotation marks ;) 1 Quote
WenLei-William Posted September 18, 2016 at 05:02 PM Author Report Posted September 18, 2016 at 05:02 PM Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear in my question. I'm aware that 微游上海 and 玫瑰婚典 are the names of traveling programs. I meant the descriptive clauses before them (Everything before 的) that describes them. Quote
Guest123 Posted September 18, 2016 at 06:03 PM Report Posted September 18, 2016 at 06:03 PM Usually when traslating we put everything - out of respect for the original text and its style. But of course, we change the structure or find a way to express the same meaning in a different way, more sutable in our language. Quote
Demonic_Duck Posted September 18, 2016 at 11:34 PM Report Posted September 18, 2016 at 11:34 PM Can break up the massive sentence something like this: Many events have already become well-known [or classic] brands. Such events include "Shanghai Microtravel", which... Another such event is "Rose Wedding", which... 3 Quote
Demonic_Duck Posted September 18, 2016 at 11:36 PM Report Posted September 18, 2016 at 11:36 PM On 9/18/2016 at 4:46 PM, Edita said: These are not over descriptive clauses, but names of traveling programs. Besides, that's why there are quotation marks ;)As if quotation marks aren't massively overused and misused in Chinese writing. Quote
roddy Posted September 19, 2016 at 08:54 AM Report Posted September 19, 2016 at 08:54 AM Or keep it all in one sentence. 多项活动, such as 微游上海, which...,. and 玫瑰婚, a show about..., 早已成为经典品牌 1 Quote
陳德聰 Posted September 19, 2016 at 04:32 PM Report Posted September 19, 2016 at 04:32 PM What Roddy said. The 等 instantly brings out a "such as" in my soul and the power of lists compels me. Quote
Demonic_Duck Posted September 20, 2016 at 06:42 AM Report Posted September 20, 2016 at 06:42 AM Problem there is that you then have a massive sentence with a huge gap between subject and predicate. Less readable. Quote
Mouseneb Posted September 21, 2016 at 03:55 AM Report Posted September 21, 2016 at 03:55 AM I often break overlong Chinese sentences onto several shorter English sentences. Sometimes this takes some rearranging. Quote
roddy Posted September 21, 2016 at 09:15 AM Report Posted September 21, 2016 at 09:15 AM It is a bit less readable, but I think it's within the realms of acceptability and no worse than the original. Or just rejig it again. Some events have become well-known brands, such as.... and..... I think I'd want to see the rest of the paragraph before deciding. Quote
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