Translation and Vocabulary (Tarjuma wa Alfaz)
What the translation task rewards
Tarjuma wa Alfaz tests meaning in context, not dictionary equivalence. You are asked to translate a short passage or sentence and to supply synonyms, antonyms, or explanations of words. The safest method is: read the whole sentence, identify the verb and its negation, then build the clause around the verb.
Vocabulary control
- Learn words in families: رنج، رنجیدن، رنجآور.
- Note Arabic broken plurals that appear in prose: کتاب/کتب، عمل/اعمال.
- Record collocations, not isolated words: دست از کار کشیدن، به کار بردن.
- Mark register: literary prose uses verbs and idioms that would be odd in a letter.
Worked example
Translate: «او دست از تلاش برنداشت.» Reasoning: a word-for-word version - “he did not put hand from effort” - is not English. The compound idiom دست از ... برداشتن means “to give up”. برنداشت is the negative past of برداشتن. The natural translation is “He did not give up trying.” The negation sits on the light verb, and the idiom carries the meaning.
Traps
Translating idioms literally; missing double negation; confusing را with “to”; translating proper names; and choosing a synonym that fits the dictionary but not the sentence. In vocabulary questions, give the sense used in the passage, not every possible sense.