English Gerunds in translation

[Brautigam Curtis]

Since I deal with translated documentation as part of my job, there are
several ways that translators from English to other languages handle
English gerunds. 

1. If it is like a noun to indicate a task topic, like "Printing
Reports," the gerund would usually be translated into the infinitive of
the verb in the other language.

2. If a gerund is used in an example like "Printing is fraught with the
opportunity for mechanical problems," how it is handled depends on the
language--it is either translated as the infinitive of the verb, or the
translator will use the noun equivalent for the gerund.

3. If a gerund is used as a present participle for a verb, the present
participle phrase would be translated as the present tense of the verb
in the other language. In many languages (except Romance languages like
Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese), the present participle phrase and the
present tense mean the same thing (for example, "I write" and "I am
writing." In Spanish, this would come out as "escribo" and estoy
escribiendo." In a language like Russian, both forms would be translated
as "Ya pishu.").

It is not impossible to translate English gerunds into other languages.
It all depends on the context in which the English gerund is used and
knowing how to render this context into the other language. This cannot
be done well using machine translation.

___________________________________________________
Curtis (Chaim) Brautigam
Volvo Construction Equipment
Technical Writer
Road Machinery
312 Volvo Way
Shippensburg, PA 17257 USA

Telephone: 717-532-9181 x5339
Telefax: 717-530-3454
E-mail: Curtis.Brautigam at volvo.com
www.VolvoCE.com

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