Portuguese Document Translation: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Translating from English to Brazilian Portuguese? Ignoring the gobbledygook is not the right solution. Translation is not about changing one language into another on a word to word basis. It about understanding the nuances of the language, translating by the rules, making it culturally relevant and catering it to the target audience. Here are a few mistakes that newbies in translation make and that should be avoided.

Length of sentences: English text when translated into Brazilian Portuguese can be 30% longer. The increase in sentence length can cause certain issues like increase in the number of pages in the translated document, resizing text boxes, adjusting UI for software and the like.

Importance of accented alphabets: In Brazilian Portuguese the role of accented characters is extremely important. When you make the use of accented characters in your website or software, it makes your products and services look trustworthy to your customers.

Capitalisation rules: Unlike English, in which the first letter of every word in a heading or title is capitalised, in Brazilian Portuguese only the first letter of the first word needs to be capitalised. Amateur translators follow the English capitalisation rule and end up with poorly drafted translations.

Certified Translation Services is one of the most renowned translation services in London offering translations in more than 100 languages. The company is proficient in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Arabic and Portuguese translation services among a plethora of others. The premier translation agency specialises in marketing translation services, SEO and PPC translations, desktop publishing, subtitling, multilingual voiceover and multilingual social media translation services.

Scroll to Top