Localization – Problem with Translating Phrasal Verbs – English-French Examples

Introduction

There are many problems faced by translators when they try to translate from English to French. Language is not the only thing that affects the quality of translation; cultural context also plays a role in how texts work in one language and not in another.

This is because languages do not work in isolation and their sentences and structures are influenced by what surrounds them.

Problem: Phrasal Verbs

Multi-word phrasal verbs in English is a crucial ingredient of creative writing. It’s hard to write beautiful English, especially when writing dialogs in fiction, without using such phrasal verbs like “figure out” or “call on” etc.

However, in technical writing, phrasal verbs is an open invitation for mistranslations and worse. Here are a few examples of the difficulties one might encounter if an English text with multi-word verbs were translated into French:

CALL ON

How should we translate this? Here are the options:
1.    demander
2.    réclamer
3.    rendre visite à
4.    aller voir
5.    passer voir

To me “rendre visite à” sounds good but what if the translator chooses “réclamer”?

STAY AWAY

Can easily be translated as “rester à l’écart” but it should probably be “s’abstenir de”.

IN

Can easily be translated as “donner” or “rendre” but it should really be “capituler”.

GIVE AWAY

Can be easily translated as “trahir” which means “to betray.” Correct translation should be something like “distribuer des prix”.

FILL OUT

“Remplir” (to fill) or “étoffer” (to expand)? Both seems off to me. Any help from native French speakers?

STAND UP

The first obvious choice “se lever” of course means “to rise” and is not the correct translation. “Résister” is more like it.

Conclusion

Stay away from phrasal verbs if you’d like your work to be translated from English into French.