4 ms·

A friend once asked me to translate a letter he had written to a US company about some equipment of his that needed maintenance. I quickly realized the main dif

A friend once asked me to translate a letter he had written to a US company about some equipment of his that needed maintenance. I quickly realized the main difference between Portuguese and English: in Portuguese, you write in a very roundabout way and in English you are straight to the point. So, if I had translated that letter word by word, it would go something like this: Dear Sir, I bring to you, by way of this letter, knowledge of the defects that have befallen the equipment I purchased in... Sounds a bit medieval.

StavrosK 9y ago
That's a big problem in translation: The writer imbues the script with cultural influence from their native language, and the translator has to compensate for that and adapt it to the target language. For example, the literal Greek, "I told him to bring me some water" would be translated in English as "I asked him to bring me some water", as the Greek "told" is much less strong than what it sounds in English, and is more like "ask" in meaning.
Bakary 9y ago
In French the written language can be quite stilted, with a lot of set phrases and expressions you are supposed to know especially if you are penning administrative requests. I wonder if it's the same in Portuguese and other romance languages.
thaumasiotes 9y ago
It doesn't seem particularly more roundabout than the conventional English "I write this letter to inform you of the defects etc. etc."
- wikibob 9y ago
  That sounds oddly stilted and formal. In my social class and area of the USA a native speaker would open directly with the problem. "I purchased a widget from you on November 3rd with the expectation that it would..."
  - Markoff 9y ago
    as a speaker of few European languages, it's considered rude to be straight to the point, it's like you are ordering someone to do something, while you should be politely asking them to do it, even if it's their job and business communication should be kept formal, we are not friends after all personally i have no problem with straight people, but some people care more about form than content
- Markoff 9y ago
  in my native language it would start: Dear XY, I would like to inform you about problem with... "I would like" give them feeling of choice, like they can decide not to deal with your problem, although they have to, but you at least pretend they have some choice.

StavrosK 9y ago

That's a big problem in translation: The writer imbues the script with cultural influence from their native language, and the translator has to compensate for that and adapt it to the target language. For example, the literal Greek, "I told him to bring me some water" would be translated in English as "I asked him to bring me some water", as the Greek "told" is much less strong than what it sounds in English, and is more like "ask" in meaning.

Bakary 9y ago

In French the written language can be quite stilted, with a lot of set phrases and expressions you are supposed to know especially if you are penning administrative requests. I wonder if it's the same in Portuguese and other romance languages.

thaumasiotes 9y ago

It doesn't seem particularly more roundabout than the conventional English "I write this letter to inform you of the defects etc. etc."

wikibob 9y ago
That sounds oddly stilted and formal. In my social class and area of the USA a native speaker would open directly with the problem. "I purchased a widget from you on November 3rd with the expectation that it would..."
- Markoff 9y ago
  as a speaker of few European languages, it's considered rude to be straight to the point, it's like you are ordering someone to do something, while you should be politely asking them to do it, even if it's their job and business communication should be kept formal, we are not friends after all personally i have no problem with straight people, but some people care more about form than content
Markoff 9y ago
in my native language it would start: Dear XY, I would like to inform you about problem with... "I would like" give them feeling of choice, like they can decide not to deal with your problem, although they have to, but you at least pretend they have some choice.