Grammar equivalence and translators false friends

Infinite
Infinitive constructions, in contrast to English, are no frequently used in Romanian
To render English infinitive constructions, Conjunctivul in the impersonal form is used in Romanian
Ex : It is difficult to understand him. instead of Este greu de a-l intelege. Rather use E greu sa-l intelegi.
Gerunziul
I heard him close the door L-am auzit inchizind usa.
He watched her walk away. El a privit-o plecand .

However, sometimes in Romanian the infinitive can be used in the function of an equivalent to the English
infinitive.

Ex.: To talk to you means to waste time A vorbi cu tinea inseamna a pierde timpul.

Another possibility to render the English infinitive into Romanian is supinul.

Ex.: What else do we have to do? Ce ne mai ramane de facut ?

It can be used for different tenses in Romanian, such as: timpul present, trecut si viitor.

English perfect infinitive can be translated into Romanian with the help of the construction: verb la perfectul
compus.

Ex: Jason was said to have finished the course.- Despre Jason s-a spus ca a terminat cursul.

Perfect Forms
English perfect forms can be rendered into Romanian with the help of : formle perfectului compus ( am
facut). Romanian perfectul compus is not an absolute equivalent of the English Present Perfect ( I have
done) or Past Perfect ( I had done)

Ex: I have not seen him = Nu-l vazusem pina astazi (mai mult ca perfectul) , Nu l-am vazut pina astazi (perfectul
compus)

Word Order
In English the word order is very strict
While in Romanian it is much more flexible.

In English it is impossible to begin a sentence with an object, verb-predicate which is quite acceptable in
Romanian

Ex: La ora sase a venit Jack. - Jack came at six oclock.

English attributive constructions have well defined position in a sentence- before the noun it defines.

In Romanian it is usually used after noun.

Ex: Ea este o studenta eminenta. - She is a very good student.

Sequnce of Tenses
In English Sequence of tenses follows strict rules.

Ex: I knew I had seen him before Stiam eu ca l-am mai vazut

In Romanian this sentence can be translated with the help of the verb in the form of : perfectul compus or mai mutl
ca perfectul
 Modal Constructio
Modal verbs and modal const. in English form a separate grammatical category( you had better, you would
rather, etc.)
In RO modal meanings are rendered mostly through lexical means.
Ex: He may come any time - Ar putea sa vina dintr-o clipa in alta
Ex: May I help you? Va pot ajuta?
Ex: Should he come, what will you do? Daca totusi vine, ce ai de gand sa faci?
Gerundial Constructions
The English Gerund shares the function of bot a verb and a noun:
Ex: I like playing in the yard.- Imi place(ce?) sa ma joc in curte.
The En Gerund can be translated into Ro with the help of a verbal or nominal construction.
Ex: Jack goes in for sports.- Jack practica sportul.
Ex: Mary likes reading.- Mariei ii place sa citeasca
Ex: She is too old to take up swimming. Ea este prea in virsta pentru a se apuca de inot. Substantive
Ex: Mary likes reading. Mariei ii place sa citeasca. Conjunctiv
Participial Constructions
There are two Participial constructions in English: Participle1 and Participle 2.
Participle1 is similar to Ro Gerund and is used in the function of a continuous action, characterizing a noun.
The English Particimple1 can be translated into Ro with the help of Romanian Gerund, a verb or an adjective,
attributive clause.
Ex: There was a good-looking lady.- Acolo era o doamna care arata frumos, Acola era o doamna frumoasa.
Ex: He was crossing the street smiling at me . El traversa strada zambindu-mi.
English Participle II can be translated into Ro with the help of a participle or a subordinate clause:
Ex: He looked at the clerk bent over the papers. Privi la functionarul aplecat peste hirtii.
The preparations for the birthday party completed, went out to buy a birthday cake. Dupa ce am termiinat
pregatirele pentru aniversare, am iesit sa cumpar tort.
Passive Constructions usually have equivalent functions in English and Romanian
Ex: The book was written in 1939. Cartea a fost scrisa in 1939.
Sometimes passive voice forms can be translated with the help of active voice constructions.
Ex: This port can be entered by small ships only. Doar vase mici pot intra in acest port. Acest port este
deschis doar pentru vase mici.
Emphatic Constructions
Emphasis in a sentence can be reached with the help of following.
A) Emphatic words or constructions;
B) Changed word order;
C) Double negation.
Emphatic words or constructions
Ex: The unemployment rate reached as much as 15 percent at that time.- Atunci rata somajului s-a ridicat
tocmai la 15 procente.
Ex: He did show up at the reception. El totusi a venit la receptive.
Ex: It is these characteristics that are important to us.- Anume aceste caracteeristici sunt importante pentru
noi .

A change in the word order is used with certain adverbs or conjunctions.

Ex: Hardlywhen..-abia de; no sooner than- abia de; not onlybut- nu doar,ci si; only-doar ce; never-nici o data;
nowhere- nicaieri; neither nor- nici, nici; so- si, de asemenea.

Double negations is used to emphasize the social status of the speaker or in order to emphasize the action itself. It
usually carries a stylistic marker.

Ex: I dont want no trouble. Nu caut deloc probleme. She says she aint seen nobody- Ea spune ca n-a vazut pe
nimeni.
Phraseological translators false friend

Phraseological units mean a word group with a fixed lexical composition and grammatical structure;
Its meaning . which is familiar to native speakers of the given language, is generally figurative and can not be
derived from the meanings of the phraseological units component parts.
Ex: To kick the bucket= to die
Phraseological units fall ito two groups:
Idioms( the expressions, which can be understood only figuratively) and
Phrasemes( non-idiomatic expressions)
Phraseological units, especially idioms, cause interest because an image that an idiom evokes is believed to
help understand culture, traditions and mentality of native speakers in different countries.
English today tends toward idiomatic usage of words.
Handling idioms and phrasemes properly helps to understand foreign language and to communicate with
native speakers efficiently
Phraseological false friends differ in nature from lexical false friends
Lexical false friends share sound or graphic form, which causes misunderstanding, whereas phraseological
false friends may not sound alike but evoke identical images and differ in actual meaning.
Definition: Phraseological false friends are phraseological units in two languages that do not necessarily
coincide in their form but evoke similar or identical images and thereby cause false identification.
False friends phrasemes and idioms have their own meaning which cannot be derived from meaning may
totally differ from the meaning of the TT unit or coincide with it only partially.
The classification of false friends phrasemes and idioms:
Intralingua and interlingua units.
These classes are subdivided into : homonyms and paronyms : full and partial paronyms
1. Full intralingual paronyms are phraseological units that have the same image and meaning but
possess some structural and morphological differences which cardinally change their meanings:
skin a cat to spend little money, to save;
skin the cat to make physical exercise.
2. Partial intralingual paronyms are phraseological units that have the same structure and image but
possess two and more meanings one of which causes the appearance of a false friend:
In veci vecilor - 1. forever; 2. never;
Pe veci - 1. forever.
3. Intralingual homonyns are phraseological units that coincide in form but differ totally in their
meaning:
bite the dust to be killed in the fight, to die;
bite the dust to feel small, to suffer a defeat.
4. Full intralingual paronyms are false friends with identical or common structure in two languages
and the same image but different meaning:
to grab sth. that doesnt belong you;
to beg;
give someone a hand to help smb.
5. Partial intralingual paronyms are phraseological units with identical structure in two languages that
have several meanings and can be confused only in one of them:
to take sth. to heart 1) to treat sth. seriously, 2) to worry about sth.. English phraseme in the first
meaning can become a false friend of the Russian phraseme to take sth. to heart (
, ).
 1. Intralingual homonyms are phraseological units with the same image and form in two languages or
phrasems with some inessential formal differences which differ in their meaning.
to make everything possible, to defend the interests of smb.;
beat ones head against a brick wall to invite trouble
The principle criterion for his classification is the similarity or contrasts in the form or wording or imagery of
two or more units in one and the same language whose meanings or usages do not show corresponding
similarity or contrast. The author proposes the following basic types of oppositions:
1. Formally identical expressions that are used differently by British and American speakers which may
present special problems to foreign learners: pavement artist (UK)/pavement artist (US).
2. Units with identical components, relating as pseudo-quantitative variants, when one of the phrases is not
really just a shortened form of an extended phrase: keep ones head/keep ones head up.
3. The expressions whose primary components are identical: bring ones mind to sth./bring sth. to
mind.
4. Solidly spelled compound words forming semantic oppositions to separately written analogous phrases
with which they can be potentially confused: black eye/blackeye.
5. Phrasal verbs (combinations of verbs with prepositions or adverbs) with identical verbal component
whose meanings may mistakenly appear similar: fight for sth./fight over sth.
6. Phrasal verbs forming structural and semantic oppositions to compound verbs with formally identical
component parts represented in reverse order: do sth. over/overdo sth.
7. The expressions some of whose components are identical while others relate as synonyms: hold an
appointment/keep an appointment.
8. The expressions some of whose components are identical while others designate contiguous notions:
turn someones brain/turn someones head.
9. The expressions some of whose components are identical while others associate with the same class of
things: lose ones head/lose ones mind.
10. The expressions whose components do not match but whose general phraseological idea and imagery
may appear similar: hang all ones bells on one horse/put all ones eggs in one basket.
11. The expressions some of whose components relate as antonyms, and whose general phraseological
idea may be construed as antonymous: in deep water/in low water