Translating documents from English to Spanish and vice versa can be a challenging task. There are certain difficulties that may arise which must be overcome in order to provide a flawless, idiomatic Spanish translation. These involve three common translation issues between these two languages which we will look at in greater detail below. At Latitude Prime, our professionals understand all of these issues related to Spanish translation and provide exceptional and accurate legal and certified document translation services between English and Spanish.
Now, let’s take a closer look at each of the aforementioned translation issues:
Vocabulary
As with other languages that fall into the “Romance” category, a large part of the Spanish language has Latin as its source. At the same time, English, an Anglo-Saxon language, in comparison, has very little Latin influence. As a result, a large number of the words commonly used in Spanish include formal cognates that are not commonly used in English. This can present challenges when making a certified or legal document translation.
Grammar
The English and Spanish languages use the same basic sentence structure of Subject/Verb/Object (SVO), but each language operates under different grammar rules that dictate the formation of sentences. In Spanish, there is more freedom than in English to use modified sentence structures. Also, while in English, the subject doing the action is often placed at the beginning of the sentence or phrase. In Spanish, however, the subject is often placed at the end of the sentence. For instance, if the sentence in English is “Mark completed the project,” the syntax in Spanish might be literally translated to something like “the project completed Mark.”
Punctuation Marks
In many cases, the rules for punctuation are completely different between English and Spanish. For example, in English, punctuation marks are placed inside of a parentheses or quote. However, in Spanish the punctuation is placed outside.
The various issues mentioned above demonstrate that certified document translation between English and Spanish is not a simple task. It requires document translators with a high level of proficiency to produce authentic and flawless translations that are idiomatically appropriate and sound natural in the target language.
At Latitude Prime, our expert document translators understand the various linguistic differences and subtleties and know how to arrange them logically and seamlessly to ensure they are expressed most effectively and accurately in the target language. We also look closely at the context, reading level, and the required degree of formality the documents require.
For information about the English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English certified and legal document translation services we offer at Latitude Prime, give us a call today at 888.341.9080 or send an email to contact@latitudeprime.com.
