Translation: Idiom Versus Word-for-Word, and Misdiagnosing a Sentence
In the translation section, candidates render into English: «تجري الاستعداداتُ للمهرجان على قدمٍ وساق، لا سيّما بعد أن وافقت البلديةُ على تمويل نصف التكاليف». One candidate writes: 'The preparations for the festival are running on a foot and a leg, especially after the municipality agreed to finance half of the costs.' In the reverse direction he must render 'The library was closed for repairs during the examinations' and writes «أُغلقَ المكتبةُ للإصلاحاتِ أثناءَ الامتحاناتِ». Each item carries 4 marks, split as: overall meaning 2, set expression or structure 1, target-language grammar 1. The candidate argues that his English is a faithful word-for-word rendering and that the Arabic must be right 'because Arabic allows any word order it likes'.
1. Award the marks for the Arabic→English item and state what «على قدمٍ وساق» requires.
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3 out of 4.
- Meaning (2/2): the core propositions survive - preparations are under way, and the municipality has agreed to fund half the costs. «لا سيّما» = 'especially / in particular' is handled correctly.
- Set expression (0/1): 'on a foot and a leg' is not an English idiom; it reads as a description of a body part and will mislead the reader. The required equivalent is in full swing / at full speed / under way at a rapid pace. 'Faithful' describes fidelity to words; translation is judged on fidelity to meaning.
- Grammar (1/1): the English is well formed; 'are running' and 'finance half of the costs' are acceptable.
Better full version: 'Preparations for the festival are in full swing, especially after the municipality agreed to fund half the costs.' Note that the candidate loses the mark for the idiom alone - a single phrase, not the whole sentence.
2. Diagnose the Arabic sentence. Is word order the problem, as the candidate claims?
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No - word order is fine. Verb + نائب فاعل is a normal Arabic sentence, and «المكتبةُ» is correctly مرفوع. His defence is aimed at a charge nobody made.
The error is agreement: «المكتبة» is feminine, so the passive verb must be feminine - «أُغلقتِ» - not «أُغلقَ». His fatha on the verb is the default masculine form, showing he did not check the gender of the subject. This is exactly the kind of error that costs the grammar mark while the meaning mark is safely earned.
Corrected: «أُغلقتِ المكتبةُ للإصلاحاتِ أثناءَ الامتحاناتِ».
Two smaller points worth telling him: «بسبب الإصلاحات» is more idiomatic than «للإصلاحات» in this context, and «أثناءَ» is a ظرف منصوب - he got that right and should keep it.
3. What rule should the candidate apply to idioms in the exam? Give two further Arabic expressions with their English equivalents to show the method.
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Rule: translate the function of the expression, then check whether the target language has a matching expression. If it does, use it; if it does not, replace the image with a plain equivalent adverb or phrase. Never carry the image across word by word - that is how 'on a foot and a leg' happens.
Worked examples:
- «بذل قصارى جهدِه» → he did his utmost (not 'he spent the utmost of his effort').
- «في متناول اليد» → within reach / readily available (not 'in the reach of the hand').
- «على قدمٍ وساق» → in full swing.
In the reverse direction the same rule applies: English 'for repairs' is best rendered «بسبب الإصلاحات» or «لإصلاحها», and the test is whether an educated Arabic reader would say it that way - not whether each English word has a partner in the sentence.