PHRASES

A phrase is a group or words that express a concept and is used as a unit within a sentence. Eight
common types of phrases are: noun, verb, gerund, infinitive, appositive, participial, prepositional, and
absolute.

Noun Phrases

A noun phrase consists of a noun and all its modifiers.

Here are examples:

The lost and bewildered tourist

The senile old man

A wet and stinky dog

Many cases of infectious disease

Some cookies shaped like stars

A story as old as time

Long and winding road

A cool wet afternoon

Verb Phrases

A verb phrase consists of a verb and all its modifiers.

Here are examples:

He was waiting for the rain to stop.

Watching the pot, he was upset when it didn't boil.

You have been sleeping for a long time.

You might enjoy a massage.

He was eager to eat dinner.

Gerund Phrases

A gerund phrase is simply a noun phrase that starts with a gerund.

Examples include:

Taking my dog for a walk

Walking in the rain

Strolling along a beach at sunset

Getting a promotion

Signing autographs

Going for ice cream

Singing for his supper

Getting a sore back

Pulling an all-nighter

Sailing into the sunset

Infinitive Phrases

An infinitive phrase is a noun phrase that begins with an infinitive.

Here are some examples:

Everybody loves to watch movies.

To make lemonade, you have to start with lemons.

I tried to see the stage, but I was too short.

She organized a boycott to make a statement.

To see Niagara Falls is mind-boggling.

He really needs to get his priorities in order.

The company decided to reduce hours for everyone.

To donate time or money is an honorable thing.

I went to Spain to study the language and culture.

Appositive Phrases

An appositive phrase restates a noun and consists of one or more words.

Examples are:

My favorite pastime, needlepoint, surprises some people.

Her horse, an Arabian, was her pride and joy.

My wife, the love of my life, is also my best friend.

A cheetah, the fastest land animal, can run 70 miles an hour.

His goal, to retire at 40, is unrealistic.

My idea, to recycle the paper, was accepted by the boss.

The Florida panther, the state animal of Florida, is an endangered animal.

Participial Phrases

A participial phrase begins with a past or present participle.

Examples are:

Washed with my clothes, my cell phone no longer worked.

Knowing what I know now, I wish I had never come here.

I am really excited, considering all the people that will be there.

We are looking forward to the movie, having seen the trailer last week.

Grinning from ear to ear, she accepted her award.

The happy dog ran the entire length of the park, pausing only to sniff the dandelions.

Painted a brilliant white, the small room appeared bigger.

The lake, frozen over all winter, was finally thawing.

Prepositional Phrases

A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and can act as a noun, an adjective or an adverb.

Examples are:

On the table

By the brook
Over the rainbow

In the dark of night

Between a rock and a hard place

For a while

Of strawberries and cream

Against all odds

Absolute Phrases

An absolute phrase has a subject, but not an acting verb, so it cannot stand alone as a complete
sentence. It modifies the whole sentence, not just a noun.

Examples are:

His tail between his legs, the dog walked out the door.

Picnic basket in hand, she set off for her date.

The guys attacked the pile of nachos, their fingers getting the last bit of cheese off the plate.

Their heads hanging down, the whole group apologized.

The entire team, their uniforms muddy and stained, shouted for joy.

These are examples of all of the eight different kinds of phrases.

CLAUSES

clause is a statement or a question that generally consists of a subject and a verb phrase and
constitutes a complete thought. Sentences can consist of a single clause, but they often include
two: a main, or independent, clause and a subordinate, or dependent, clause.

A main clause can form a complete sentence. (The preceding statement is both a clause and a
sentence.) A subordinate clause, by contrast, depends on a main clause to provide the primary
proposition of the sentence, which is why its also called a dependent clause.

Which is why its also called a dependent clause is itself a dependent clause. One could write
or speak that sequence of words on its own, and listeners and readers would understand that it
pertains to the previous sentence. However, in formal writing, its best to link such constructions
to a main clause with a punctuation mark usually a comma though a dash can also link a
main clause to a dependent clause, as it does in this sentence.
A sentence may contain two main clauses; in this sentence, a semicolon separates the two main
clauses, although a dash may also be employed. Note that the semicolon could be replaced with
a period the segments of the sentence that precede and follow the semicolon could be
formatted as a separate sentence. The preceding sentence could also be divided into two: One
sentence could be formed from the clause preceding the dash, and another could consist of the
clause following the dash.

The sentence preceding this statement shows another punctuation mark that can distinguish
one main clause from another: the colon. Note, however, that in the sentence before this one,
what follows the colon is a sentence fragment the colon includes a subject but no verb
phrase so it contains a main clause and a dependent clause.

Its a good thing for written communication that English allows even encourages
dependent clauses. Otherwise, writing would consist solely of main clauses. A succession of
main clauses causes reader fatigue. Engagement in a piece of text is enhanced by a variety of
sentence structure. (Ill stop annoying you with this string of main clauses now.

TYPE OF SENTENCES

Four Sentence Types

Declarative Sentences

Imperative Sentences

Exclamatory Sentences

Interrogative Sentences

Not sure what they mean? Heres a brief rundown on the purpose of each.

Declarative Sentences

Declarative sentences make a statement to relay information or ideas. They are punctuated with
a simple period. Formal essays or reports are composed almost entirely of declarative
sentences.
Examples of Declarative Sentences:

The concert begins in two hours.

July 4th is Independence Day.

Declarative sentences make a statement.

Youre a good man, Charlie Brown.

Green is my favorite color.

Hawaii is a tropical climate.

(more information about declarative sentences)

Imperative Sentences

Imperative sentences issue commands or requests or they can express a desire or wish. They
are punctuated with a simple period or they can be exclamations requiring an exclamation
mark. It all depends on the strength of emotion you want to express. Exclamatory sentences can
consist of a single verb or they can be more lengthy and complex.

Examples of Imperative Sentences:

Halt!

Yield.

Watch for oncoming traffic.

Respond immediately.

Please lower your voice.

Meet me at the town square.

Drop what youre doing and come celebrate with us!

Exclamatory Sentences

Exclamatory sentences express strong emotion. It doesnt really matter what the emotion is, an
exclamatory sentence is the type of sentence needed to express it. Exclamatory sentences
always end in an exclamation mark, so its pretty easy to spot them. Use exclamatory sentences
to portray emotion but take care to use them sparingly. Otherwise, your writing will lack
sincerity.

Examples of Exclamatory Sentences

The river is rising!

I cant wait for the party!

I dont know what Ill do if I dont pass this test!

Oh, my goodness, I won!

Suddenly, a bear appeared in my path!

This is the best day of my life!

Please dont go!

Interrogative Sentences

Interrogative sentences are also easy to spot. Thats because they always ask a question and end
in a question mark.

Examples of Interrogative Sentences:

Is it snowing?

Have you had breakfast?

Do you want Coke or Pepsi?

Who are you taking to the prom?

You like Mexican food, dont you?

Notice that the interrogatives may require a simple yes/no response or are more open ended,
each end in a question mark.
TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES

Direct Translation Techniques

Direct Translation Techniques are used when structural and conceptual elements of the source
language can be transposed into the target language. Direct translation techniques include:

Borrowing

Calque

Literal Translation

Borrowing

Borrowing is the taking of words directly from one language into another without translation.
Many English words are "borrowed" into other languages; for example software in the field of
technology and funk in culture. English also borrows numerous words from other languages;
abbatoire, caf, pass and rsum from French; hamburger and kindergarten from German;
bandana, musk and sugar from Sanskrit.

Borrowed words are often printed in italics when they are considered to be "foreign".

Calque

A calque or loan translation (itself a calque of German Lehnbersetzung) is a phrase borrowed

from another language and translated literally word-for-word. You often see them in specialized
or internationalized fields such as quality assurance (aseguramiento de calidad, assurance
qualit taken from English). Examples that have been absorbed into English include standpoint
and beer garden from German Standpunkt and Biergarten; breakfast from French djeuner
(which now means lunch in Europe, but maintains the same meaning of breakfast in Qubec).
Some calques can become widely accepted in the target language (such as standpoint, beer
garden and breakfast and Spanish peso mosca and Casa Blanca from English flyweight and
White House). The meaning other calques can be rather obscure for most people, especially
when they relate to specific vocations or subjects such as science and law. Solucin de
compromiso is a Spanish legal term taken from the English compromise solution and although
Spanish attorneys understand it, the meaning is not readily understood by the layman. An
unsuccessful calque can be extremely unnatural, and can cause unwanted humor, often
interpreted as indicating the lack of expertise of the translator in the target language.

Literal Translation

A word-for-word translation can be used in some languages and not others dependent on the
sentence structure: El equipo est trabajando para terminar el informe would translate into
English as The team is working to finish the report. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does
not. For example, the Spanish sentence above could not be translated into French or German
using this technique because the French and German sentence structures are different. And
because one sentence can be translated literally across languages does not mean that all
sentences can be translated literally. El equipo experimentado est trabajando para terminar el
informe translates into English as The experienced team is working to finish the report
("experienced" and "team" are reversed).

Oblique Translation Techniques

Oblique Translation Techniques are used when the structural or conceptual elements of the
source language cannot be directly translated without altering meaning or upsetting the
grammatical and stylistics elements of the target language.

Oblique translation techniques include:

Transposition

Modulation

Reformulation or Equivalence

Adaptation

Compensation

Transposition

This is the process where parts of speech change their sequence when they are translated (blue
ball becomes boule bleue in French). It is in a sense a shift of word class. Grammatical structures
are often different in different languages. He likes swimming translates as Er schwimmt gern in
German. Transposition is often used between English and Spanish because of the preferred
position of the verb in the sentence: English often has the verb near the beginning of a
sentence; Spanish can have it closer to the end. This requires that the translator knows that it is
possible to replace a word category in the target language without altering the meaning of the
source text, for example: English Hand knitted (noun + participle) becomes Spanish Tejido a
mano (participle + adverbial phrase).

Modulation

Modulation consists of using a phrase that is different in the source and target languages to
convey the same idea: Te lo dejo means literally I leave it to you but translates better as You can
have it. It changes the semantics and shifts the point of view of the source language. Through
modulation, the translator generates a change in the point of view of the message without
altering meaning and without generating a sense of awkwardness in the reader of the target
text. It is often used within the same language. The expressions es fcil de entender (it is easy to
understand) and no es complicado de entender (it is not complicated to understand) are
examples of modulation. Although both convey the same meaning, it is easy to understand
simply conveys "easiness" whereas it is not complicated to understand implies a previous
assumption of difficulty that we are denying by asserting it is not complicated to understand.
This type of change of point of view in a message is what makes a reader say: "Yes, this is
exactly how we say it in our language".

Reformulation or Equivalence

Here you have to express something in a completely different way, for example when translating
idioms or advertising slogans. The process is creative, but not always easy. Would you have
translated the movie The Sound of Music into Spanish as La novicia rebelde (The Rebellious
Novice in Latin America) or Sonrisas y lgrimas (Smiles and Tears in Spain)?

Adaptation

Adaptation occurs when something specific to one language culture is expressed in a totally
different way that is familiar or appropriate to another language culture. It is a shift in cultural
environment. Should pincho (a Spanish restaurant menu dish) be translated as kebab in English?
It involves changing the cultural reference when a situation in the source culture does not exist
in the target culture (for example France has Belgian jokes and England has Irish jokes).

Compensation
In general terms compensation can be used when something cannot be translated, and the
meaning that is lost is expressed somewhere else in the translated text.

TRANSLATION DIFFICULTIES

English is known to be a difficult language. To native speakers, English seems relatively easy;
however, to non-English speakers, English is notoriously tricky. There are unusual aspects of the
language, which cause significant difficulties for translators and non-native English speakers.
English translation is known to be one of the most difficult translations when needing
consistency.

Why does English Cause Translation Difficulties?

Many characteristics of the English language make translation difficult. One of these aspects
includes the verb-adverb combination (unique to English). This is shown by combinations such
as turn on, turn off, mark up, or mark down. Other languages use single specific verbs
instead of the English verb-adverb combinations.

Another reason English translation is so difficult is because of the use of articles. Although
almost all Western European languages use articles, many other languages do not. The Slavic
languages do not use articles at all, which causes great difficulties when translating English to a
Slavic language. All of these issues create challenges for translators.

Real World Example

Farzaneh Khodabadeh taught English for 10 years at intermediate schools and 4 years at the
college level before deciding to do a study involving English translation. She has a Masters in
Teaching English from Isfahan University in Iran and her areas of research include Discourse
Analysis. Khodabadeh wanted to conduct this study to reveal the problems students (and
people in general) face when translating documents.

To make this research possible, 58 male and female graduate students of English were asked to
take part in the study. The students were given a test, which included thirty Persian and thirty
English headlines. They were then asked to translate them. The English translations the students
produced were then analyzed so as to explore possible cross-linguistic problems.

Data Findings of the Translation Study

The first analysis revealed that the students had grammatical and lexical (the words or
vocabulary of a language) errors in the translations they produced. From the second analysis, it
was concluded that the participants had insufficient knowledge of English rules. When the
findings were released, the study came to be extremely significant and helpful to teachers,
syllabus designers, and those producing English translation.

The conclusions were incredibly similar to Newmarks (1988) study in that learners have trouble
using words or word associations. This is either because they do not understand them or
because they are unable to find word equivalents. This shows that translation into English is
truly a difficult task.

Translation Solutions

A professional translation company is well versed in solving the difficulties that come with
English translation. At 7Brands, we are accustomed to the different verb and article problems
that arise within English translation. The production of any translation is a difficult task in itself,
especially if one is attempting to produce a translation with pinpoint accuracy. There are times
when a word-for-word match literal version of the original is virtually impossible. Professional
translators know how to render culturally relevant

IDIOMATIC EXPRESSION

Definition: An idiomatic expression are common phrases or sayings whose meanings cannot be
understood by the individual words or elements. Examples of these idioms are "Baker's Dozen",
"Funny Farm" and "Cold War".

Idiomatic expressions are also non-standard speech, slang or dialect that are natural to native
speakers of a language. Examples of these idioms are "Apples and Pears" for stairs and "Ruby
Murray' for curry

The following is a list of Idiomatic Expressions used in the English and American language:

" Between a rock and a hard place " Meaning - In a very difficult situation when any resolution
will be unpleasant

" Blow your top " Meaning - To lose your temper

" Break a leg " Meaning - Used to wish good luck to stage performers before an opening

" By the skin of your teeth " Meaning - Complete a task at the very last minute

" Drop someone a line " Meaning - To write to someone

" Excuse my French " Meaning - An apology for swearing

" Fire someone " Meaning - To end someone's your employment

" Get your wires crossed " Meaning - A misunderstanding

" Have an axe to grind " Meaning - To have an ulterior motive or a long term grudge against
someone
" Hit the sack " Meaning - To go to bed

" Keep an eye out for " Meaning - To look after another