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Ответы на вопросы

Вопрос 1

The words “another” and “other”

The word “another” is correct if it means anybody, but if it refers to a party that has already been mentioned, it should be “the other”.

Вопрос 2

Street names For street names I think there are two options:

Either transliterate the whole phrase: ul. Klochkova

Or translate the whole phrase (in which case the name must be in the nominative): Klochkov St.

Note: St., Ave., etc. must begin with a capital letter here a they are part of a proper name.

Вопрос 3

Figures Please note that in English we never write the word

“thousand” in full when it’s part of a larger figure:750 тыс. = 750,000 - NOT 750 thousand (NOT 750 thou.)1,2 тыс. = 1,200 – 1.2 thousand is virtually incomprehensibleFigures in millions and billions are written like this in newspapers: 5m, 5bn.

Вопрос 4

Times in the 12-hour clock

Many native English speakers find this strange too!

12.00 12.00 noon

12.30 12.30 p.m.

24.00 12.00 midnight

24.30 12.30 a.m.

Вопрос 5

Перевод слова “гость”

“Guest” – only if he or she is staying at your home or in a hotel. In a restaurant he’s a customer, and in most other situations (e.g. “гости столицы”) he’s a visitor (to the capital).

Вопрос 6

Effect/Affect

Most English people get this wrong. I am a pedantic linguist and I can tell you that “effect” is the correct spelling if it’s a noun and “affect” if a verb (“влиять”).

There is also a verb spelled “effect” (“осуществить”).

Вопрос 7

“Best regards” or “Yours sincerely”

If you know the person well, then it is “Best regards”; if not, I’d end “Yours sincerely” – or “Sincerely yours” if he’s American.

Вопрос 8

Артикли

Neither the definite nor the indefinite article is used if the noun is qualified by a number: thus, “the Instruction No. 41” is impossible – it must be “Instruction No. 41”.

Вопрос 9

Проценты, кредитование и клиенты

Interest (“проценты”) is always singular in English “Кредитная деятельность” и “кредитование” =

lending, not crediting “Клиенты”: Law firms and translators have clients;

banks and shops have customers.

Вопрос 10

Руководство

“Руководство компании”, “администрация компании или гостиницы” и т.д. – management, not administration.

“Администрация” (“органы власти”) - administration

Вопрос 11

Нарушитель

With respect to a contract, “нарушитель” should be translated “defaulting party”

With respect to breaches of the law, it must be translated “offender”.

Вопрос 12

Стажировка

“Internship” is more likely to be used by Americans, although we also use it now. An internship is “стажировка”, short-term, e.g. six weeks in the holidays.

“Trainee” is more likely to be a junior employee who will continue work at the firm after the training period is over. Note that a trainee is a person and an internship a thing (the person doing an internship is an intern).

A term more commonly used in the UK for internship is work placement.

Вопрос 13

Пункт

In a contract, it is a clause (Clause 4.3); in other documents, I would say point 4.3. I keep item for lists, and paragraph for “абзац”, but this last is just my opinion, not a rule.

Вопрос 14

Contract or Agreement

Often these words are interchangeable, but agreement is wider than contract. In English law a contract is not necessarily a written document, however.

With a small-scale transaction the document is more likely to be called a contract.

Вопрос 14 (продолжение)

Small-scale transactionsДоговор купли-продажи – sales contractТрудовой договор – employment contractДоговор о поставке – contract of deliveryДоговор страхования – insurance contractBig transactionsДоговор купли-продажи (акций) – sale and purchase agreementДоговор о займе – loan agreementДоговор о залоге – pledge agreementСоглашение о разделе продукции – production sharing agreement

Вопрос 15

Экспертиза

Expertise means ONLY skills, knowledge, experience, etc.!

“Экспертиза” can be translated as expert examination, expert analysis, or (if it means people) expert commission.

Вопрос 16

Big and Large

В принципе, разницы нет – они синонимы, но big также употребляется в переносном смысле: big money, a big problem, a big cheese (большая шишка) и т.д.

Вопрос 17

Peacemakers and Peacekeepers

Peacemakers (the UN, the Pope or a good friend) try to bring peace, to reconcile two warring nations or people. Christ said “Blessed be the peacemakers”.

Peacekeeping forces are soldiers (usually UN) who enforce the peace made by someone else. I have not often heard the word “peacekeeper”, if at all.

Вопрос 18

Have to, to be to and must

“Must” is generally safest. If I were you I’d avoid “to be to” altogether as it’s quite rarely used and if used incorrectly can be very unclear. “Have to” in the present tense is colloquial, so is fine for journalism, but not for legal and formal texts.

Вопрос 19

Материальная ответственность

So far as I am aware there is no exact equivalent in English law. I usually translate it “(financial) liability”.

“Нести материальную ответственность” – to be (financially) liable (for)

Вопрос 20

Eastern or Oriental

We can only use Eastern, not Oriental, for “восточный”, because “Oriental” refers to the Far East (China, Japan, etc.)

Вопрос 21

Памятник

“Памятник” has a much wider meaning that “monument”, which means (and I quote Oxford Dictionary) “a statue, building, or other structure erected to commemorate a famous or notable person or event”. So if it refers to a small thing, we have to think of something else, like “treasure” or “find”.

Вопрос 22

Altay or Altai

I believe that “i” (not “y”) should be used, because the average English-speaking reader seeing “Altay”, “Abay”, etc. would pronounce these words “Алтей” and “Абей”, whereas “Altai”, “Abai” are clearly “Алтай” and “Абай”.

Вопрос 23

“The purpose/objective is…” is followed by the infinitive verb in English.

“Создать организацию, компанию” – to found, establish, set up (NOT “create”)

“Активно участвовать” – to take an active part (in) (better than “actively participate”)

“Как это называется?” – What (NOT “how”) is it called?

Вопрос 24

Оценка

“Appraisal” is a formal assessment, such as an appraisal of an employee’s performance over the past year, so the meaning is narrow.

In most contexts, I would use “evaluation” for “оценка”, or perhaps “assessment”; and valuation for “оценка (стоимости) имущества” etc.

Вопрос 25

Неоконченное здание Unfinished (or uncompleted, or half-finished)

building

Отпускать товар со склада To release goods from a warehouse

Вопрос 26

Cognac and champagne

Under EU law, only cognac and champagne produced in particular regions of France may be given these names. Therefore, strictly speaking there is no such thing as “Armenian cognac”. “Коньяк” and “шампанское” should be translated “brandy” and “sparkling wine” to avoid offending our French friends. There have actually been court cases about this sort of thing!

Вопрос 27

Nursultan NazarbayevPresident of the Republic of Kazakhstan

(There should be no comma after his name unless his title is on the same line as his name.)

Вопрос 28

“РАО ЕЭС” is usually called “United Energy System” in our newspapers.“Электроэнергия” is more likely to be called “electricity” than “electric power” by non-scientists.

Вопрос 29

Commas In English there are not as many fixed rules

governing commas as in Russian. In Russian a comma has a grammatical function, whereas in English a comma may simply indicate a pause (for added emphasis, or to take a breath!). For example: In 1999 banks lent 730m tenge to companies. In 1999 [pause for emphasis], banks lent 730m

tenge to companies.It is a matter of personal choice.

Вопрос 29 (продолжение)

Obviously, English does have punctuation rules: it is wrong to use commas in many places where Russian demands (e.g. “He said, that” and “Please, shut the door”).

Вопрос 30

Обращение

In our newspapers, the first time an official such as a government minister is mentioned, he or she is described in full (“Defence Minister Yesen Topoyev” OR “Yesen Topoyev, Minister of Defence”), but after that he/she is referred to by surname only: “Topoyev”, not “Mr Topoyev”. The courtesy of “Mr” or “Ms” is extended only to “ordinary” people.

Вопрос 31

Initials

You will not see people’s initials in newspapers, e.g. “N.A. Nazarbayev”, nut always “Nursultan Nazarbayev” (except in the case of a few people who prefer to be known by their initials always).