Why are there problems when translating one language to another?
- I tried translating 'He has a heart of stone' to French and back to english
it gives me 'It has a heart of the stones'. Why does this happen? Any ideas/ answers to the question above?
2006-10-07 01:50:25 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Primary & Secondary Education
there isn't always an exact translation between languages. They mean basically the same thing, and that is what is important! Languages are very similar in some ways, but in others they are extremely different. You are still getting the same point across, so you're good.
2006-10-07 02:25:56 · answer #1 · answered by KTCK 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that Spanish, French, Italian, Portuges -- basically the Latin based or "romance" languages put the adjective (which describes the thing) after the noun (thing) in Spanish corazón de piedra - (literally) heart of stone
or
corazón piedra - (English) stone heart or stony heart
In English we commonly put an adjective before a noun
blue car - in Spanish carro azul
Translation programs do not consider context and cannot ask you exactly what you mean so assumptions are made and word order differences are enough to throw off the meaning when translating between languages with different grammar and word order issues.
As an experiment you can try going from SP=> FR then back.
The best translator is a native speaker of French who is also speaks/reads English well because you could communicate the context, mood, and impact you desire to include in your meaning.
2006-10-07 12:01:43 · answer #2 · answered by JA 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Words are not neccessarily in the same order. The last word in an English sentence could be in the middle of a sentence in Spanish.
2006-10-07 09:37:29 · answer #3 · answered by redwidow 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Each language has a unique culture and style of expressing ideas. Sometimes it may sound horse before the cart or vice versa!
2006-10-07 08:54:59 · answer #4 · answered by Sami V 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not going to be the same, Ex: in Spanish they say The house of white.
English will say, The white house.
2006-10-07 08:56:34 · answer #5 · answered by 520 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don not translate language to an other word by word it doesn't wok.
2006-10-07 09:04:37 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋