Arabic to English Translation

The complex grammar system of the Arabic language

The grammar of the Arabic language, especially the verb conjugation system, is very complex, to a point that changing just one letter in a sentence can change the whole meaning. This means that when you translate Arabic to English, you need to pay very close attention to what you are translating and choose the English equivalents carefully. In the business context, it is absolutely crucial as you translate documents where clear and accurate translation is an absolute must.

It is also important to remember that Arabic and English belong to two different language families (Afro-Asiatic and Indo-European), and there are significant differences in their structure, which need to be taken into account in Arabic to English translation. For instance, there are no modal verbs in Arabic. Different expressions are used to express modality that need to be translated with proper equivalents in English.

Cultural differences

Differences between the two cultures can influence Arabic to English translation just as much as the structural difference between the languages.

Here is a popular example. In English, Shakespeare compares the beauty of his friend to a ‘summer’s day’. An Arabic poet would use ‘a day in spring’ for such a comparison, as summers in Arabic-speaking countries are scorchingly hot.

This is just one example of the many differences, but the main idea behind it is that when you translate Arabic to English you should translate meaning, and not always the exact words.

Do not employ machine translation

An online dictionary will not be able to handle all the complexities of Arabic grammar, its intricate idioms, and the possible cultural differences, especially when you translate documents and not simple separate sentences.

The experienced team of our translation company in Singapore will be able to handle Arabic to English translation of any difficulty.

Arabic is around 2000 years old

It is generally believed that ‘Old Arabic’ (a number of dialects that later developed into what we today know as the Arabic language) first appeared around the 1st century CE. The dialects were spoken by various nomadic tribes on the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, ‘arabic’ means ‘nomadic’. The language has changed a lot, though, and Modern Arabic is very different from these Old Arabic dialects.

Arabic is one of the world’s top languages

Arabic is the official language of 26 countries. However, what we call ‘Arabic’ is, in fact, a set of dialects. Because of that, it is hard to determine the exact number of speakers. Different estimates place the number of native speakers of Arabic from 250 to almost 400 million people. This makes Arabic about the 5th most spoken language in the world.

With English being another world’s top language, Arabic to English translation in Singapore is in high demand.

Formal and colloquial

Standard or Classical Arabic – Fusha – is a form that used in formal situations, as well as in literature. It is very distinct from the colloquial forms that are used in every-day situations. Colloquial forms also vary greatly from town to town.

When you translate Arabic to English, it is important to know what variant you are dealing with to be able to translate it more accurately.