Translation
What the translation task tests
Translation appears in both directions: Chinese into English or Marathi, and English or Marathi into Chinese. The examiner rewards accurate meaning, correct grammar and natural target-language phrasing. Marks are lost for word-for-word rendering, omitted subjects and broken measure words.
Procedure
- Read the whole sentence before writing; Chinese often places time and place before the verb.
- Identify the main verb and its aspect: 了, 过, 着, or none.
- Keep proper nouns and numbers exact.
- Render idioms by meaning, not by character: 马马虎虎 = careless, not “horse horse tiger tiger”.
- For Chinese output, check measure words, 的/得/地, and sentence-final particles (吗, 呢, 吧).
Worked example
Chinese: 我把作业做完了。 English: I have finished my homework. Reasoning: 把 marks the object 作业 as being handled; 做完 is a result complement (“finish doing”); 了 marks completion. A literal “I take homework done finished” is wrong. Natural English uses present perfect or simple past: “I finished my homework.”
Reverse example: “She is taller than her sister.” → 她比她姐姐高。 Do not add 很 after 高 in a 比 sentence.
Traps that cost marks
- Translating 了 always as “past tense”; it can mark a change of state.
- Dropping the subject in English because Chinese allows it.
- Rendering 请 as “please” in every context; it can mean “invite”.
- Forgetting that Marathi word order differs from both English and Chinese; write a natural Marathi sentence rather than a calque.