Turkish language is usually long winded and redundant. Translators should learn how to avoid them in Eglish. There are many words which are not always translatable. We call them “junk words”. This document includes a couple of examples and guidelines.

There are many junk words, mainly because Turkish language is long-winded and redundant and also because modern Turkish writers use a very simplistic and generalistic language. In most cases, translators struggle to be descrpitive enough in English, because the original Turkish text is very much misleading. This sheet offers several examples on how to avoid junk words and be more specific & descriptive.

Thousands of common translation errors are now published at DRAGOMANOS, our Online Turkish English Dictionary.

Check the synonyms of the following Turkish words in English and try to familiarize yourself with their usage: Faaliyet, sektör, alan,  çerçeve, gerçekleştirmek, toplantı, yıl, gün, ay, saat, etki, sona ermek, organizasyon, sistem, vb.

a- You can simply delete certain connecting phrases and construct a shorter and clearer sentence.

Alanında – in the field of / in the area of

Turkish: Tekstil alanında yatırımlarımız var.

English: We have invesments in the field of textile.

Edited: We have investments in textiles. / We invest in textiles.

Note: Also check why “tekstil” becomes “textiles”. This is a typical singular to plural convertion from Turkish into English.

Çerçevesinde – within the framework of

Turkish: Bu program çerçevesinde seminerler düzenliyoruz.

English: We are organising seminars within the framework of this programme.

Edited: We are organising seminars in / during this programme. / This programme includes a series of seminars.

b- You can replace junk words with an accurate verb. We call this “find the verb”. Try to find a more decriptive alternative in English.

Gerçekleştirmek – to realise

Turkish: Başarılı bir toplantı gerçekleştirdik.

English: We realised a successfull meeting.

Edited: We had a successffull meeting. / We conducted a successfull meeting. or  Our meeting was successful.

Başlamak – to start

Turkish: Şirketimiz hizmet vermeye 1980 yılında başladı.

English: Our company started giving services in the year 1980.

Edited: Our company launched its services in 1980.

c- Never backtranslate buzz words or phrasal verbs.

Turkish: Rakiplerinden üstün performans göstermek

English: Demonstrate a performance above the competitors

Edited: Outperform the competitors

Turkish: Krizde en kötü günler geride kaldı.

English: The worst days of the crisis are over.

Edited: The worst is over. / The crisis has bottomed out.

d-Try to use a prefix in English

Turkish: Operasyonlara devam etmeme kararı aldık.

English: We decided not to continue the operations.

Edited: We decided to discontinue the operations.

Turkish: Başarılı değildi.

English: He was not successfull.

Edited: He was unsuccsessfull.

Turkish: Krizde desteğinizi çekmediğiniz için teşekkürler.

English: Thank you for not pulling away your support from us during the crisis.

Edited: Thank you for your unfailing support during the crisis.

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