Translation problems between romance and germanic languages
This page is aimed for listing common problems dealing with translating between romance and germanice languages. The same problem may for example occur for Spanish-English, Spanish-Dutch, Spanish-German, Frenc-English, French-Dutch, French-German. So finding a strategy can help in our example for at least 6 pairs. The problems may not occur for all Romance languages but for most or several of them. The same rule apply for Germanic languages.
Contents
Feminine and masculine possessive
In Germanic languages : the possessive has a different form for a masculine or feminine antecedent (possessor). But in Romance it is the same form.
Germanic
- Dutch: haar vs zijn
- English: her vs his
- German: ihr vs sein
- Afrikaans hy vs sy
Romance
- French: son, sa, ses
- Spanish: su, sus
To be vs to have
For several cases, to be in Germanic corresponds to to have in Romance.
Age
Germanic
- Dutch : ik ben 20
- English : I am 20
- German: Ich bin 20
Romance
- French: j'ai vingt ans
- Spanish: tengo 20 años
Note also that years old is often not used.
Hunger, thirst
Germanic
Dutch and German are more like Romance languages
- Dutch: ik heb honger, ik heb dorst
- German: ich habe Hunger, ich habe Durst
- English: I am hungry, I am thirsty
Romance
- French: j'ai faim, j'ai soif
- Spanish: tengo hambre, tengo sed
Verbs with separating prefixes
In some Germanic languages (Afrikaans, Dutch, German but not English ), there are verbs with separating prefixes. But not in Romance languages.
See Separable verbs and Multiwords
Verb at the end of the embedded clause
In some Germanic languages (Dutch, German but not English) the verb is at the end of the embedded clause (SOV) but not in Romance languages (SVO).
Sentences starting with an adverb
In some Germanic languages (Dutch, German), the verb is always at the second place in the main clause even if there is an adverb at the begining of the sentence (adverb verb subject object) and in Romance languages the verb goes after the verb (adverb subject verb object).
