1. Translation Problems
A translation problem is any difficulty that makes us stop translating to think about it. There are four types of problems related to translation; grammatical, lexical, stylistic and phonological.

2. Grammatical problems Grammatical translation can be used by;
1) Complicated SL Grammar
Look at the sentence below. The main clause is delayed and this can lead to confusion
‘Lying in bed, I noticed a leak in the ceiling.’
مستلقيا عل السرير لاحظت تسربا في السقف.
2) Different TL Grammar
In the case of translating from English to Arabic and vise versa, one can notice much difference in the grammatical difference. For example, most of the tenses of English do not exist in Arabic. Also every English sentences (or clause) must contain a verb while in Arabic we have verbal and nominal sentences. Consider the following translation. What is wrong with it?
‘Ahmed is Saudi.’
‘احمد يكون سعودي’

3. 3) Different TL Word order Word order differs greatly in Arabic and in English. For example, English sentences always start with a subject while Arabic sentences can start with a verb or a subject. Also the position of the adjective in Arabic and in English is different. Consider the following translation. What is wrong with it? ‘Ali bought a new car.’ ‘علي اشترى جديدة سيارة ’

4. Lexical Problems
The word lexical comes from the noun lexicon which can be defined as the knowledge a native speaker has about a language. This knowledge includes the form of words and phrases, categorization of words and phrases, the appropriate usage of words and phrases, the relationship between words and phrases. Phonological and grammatical knowledge are NOT part of the lexicon.
Lexical problem exists when a word or an expression is not understood clearly, misunderstood, unknown, not found in standard dictionaries.
Some main lexical problems are;
Literal translation
The problem here is that it is sometimes difficult to tell when, how and why we should use literal translation. For example, a translator may use a literal translation where an idiomatic equivalent TL is more appropriate yet unknown to the translator.
Consider this example,
غسيل الأموال
‘Money cleaning.’

5. 2) Synonymy
Words which have similar meanings are called synonyms. Hard, difficult, tough, rough, complex are synonyms. Not knowing which one to use in TL can be a problem for the translator.
3) Polysemy and monosemy
A word which has more than one meaning is called polysemous. For example, the word ‘spring’ can mean; نابض/ نبع / ربيع/ يقفز
A word which has only one meaning is called monosemous. For example, telephone; هاتف
Collocation
Words that usually appear together in a language are called collocations. For example, in English to describe a success as being great the word ‘resounding’ used and the result is a ‘resounding success’. These to two words collocate with each other. If a translator does not know this he might make the mistake of translating the phrase literally. Also when English is the TL the phrase ‘big success’ or even ‘huge success’ cannot capture the power of ‘resounding success’.

6. Arabic collocations
أخذت موعداٌ
معالي الوزير
جريمة نكراء
English collocations
Cup of coffee
Bits and pieces
Moon light
Idioms
An idiom is a group of words with a meaning that is different from the individual words. Sometimes the meaning is easy to understand; sometimes it is difficult to understand from individual words.
Idioms can be very problematic to translator. Their meanings cannot be taken from their wording. This also applies to phrasal verbs.

7. Consider these examples;. ‘This isn’t confusing
Consider these examples; * ‘This isn’t confusing. It is as plain as plain as day.’ الأمر ليس محيراً. إنه واضح جداً.* *‘She thinks her husband is a penny pincher.’ إنها تعتقد أن زوجها بخيل* * ‘I am not going to put my head on the block for him.’ * لن أخاطر من أجل * ‘He tried to pick a fight with me but I decided to leave the place.’ حاول أن يبدأ الشجار معي إلا أنني غادرت المكان.*

8. Consider these examples;
6) Proverbs
Proverbs can pose problems as idioms do. Proverbs are part of the culture and they can be very problematic.
Consider these examples;
‘Birds of a feather flock together.’ الطيور على أشكالها تقع
‘Advice is ever in want.’ لا خاب من استشار
‘Charity begins at home’ الأقربون أولى بالمعروف
الغاية تبرر الوسيلة ‘The end justifies the means’
يزيد الطين بله ‘ Add fuel to the fire.’
7) Metaphor
In a metaphor what is said is not what is literally meant. There is always a coloration between the semantic and literal meaning of what is said.
‘He is weasel!’
‘Your insincere apology just added fuel to the fire.’
فلان أسد. وفي العامية ”ذيب”
ضقت ذرعا به

9. a- Transcription: فيلم – إنترنت- مايكرو يف microwave- internet- film
8) Technical Translation
Technical terms are words that are specific in meaning and sometimes in form to one field of study. For example, formatting in computer, laser in physics and bacteria in biology. Technical terms are usually handled in one of a few ways;
a- Transcription: فيلم – إنترنت- مايكرو يف
microwave- internet- film
b- Naturalization: تكنولوجيا- أكسدة- ميكانيكي
mechanical- oxidization- technology
c- Translation: Geology= علم الأرض blood pressure= ضغط الدم
d- Coinage: سيارة- هاتف- معمل- مقود
The words car, telephone, laboratory, and steering wheel did not find their way into Arabic because Arabic was able to provide equivalents through rival of old words as in سيارة and هاتف and derivation in معمل and مقود . The first two are known Arabic words which used to mean something other than the current meaning (respectively, caravan, caller or a person who summons). The other two words معمل and مقود are Arabic derivation from the verbs قاد and عمل .

10. Proper names titles, political establishments, geographical terms and UN acronyms
Ahmed, Tim, Jeddah, London
GATT- General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
NATO
The Translation of Culture.
Translation cultural terms is quite problematic yet;
Cultural terms are not great in number, and
There useful hints for culture translations in idioms, proverbs, metaphor, proper names, and political and geographical terms above.

11. Formality vs. informality
Stylistic Problems
The style of the SL text may pose problems for the translator. They are important and strongly relevant to meaning, and can sometimes affect it heavily. Among these problems are the following;
Formality vs. informality
The language of the text can be formal or informal or both.
Consider these examples;
There seems to be a contradiction between their statements.
Looks like they’re telling us different stories.
هل ترغب في مرافقتنا؟
ودكْ تْسيَرْ معنا

12. 2) Fronting
Fronting occurs when a word, phrase or clause is placed at the beginning of the sentence in an unusual way in order to create stylistic emphasis.
Consider these examples;
In my room he slept
الله أعبد مخلصا له ديني*
Parallelism
When two sentences or clauses have the same structure they are called parallel. Parallelism can be very difficult to translate but it is important for meaning and should handled carefully.
* My father is ill. My mother is sad. My sister is worried.
الحرب ولت. والخوف زال. والأمن حل. *
Ambiguity
Ambiguity occurs when a phrase or sentence can be understood in more than one way. It can cause misunderstanding, confusion or even loosing of the meaning.

13. * The shooting of the hunters is extraordinary.
Consider these examples;
* The shooting of the hunters is extraordinary.
صيد الصيادين خارق للعادة. *
Complex vs. simple style
These two different styles create different stylistic effects. They should be translated accordingly because they can affect the meaning and readership of TL.
Consider this example;
‘ Knowing how popular Robin Hood was among the common people and how he could always slip quietly away into Sherwood forest where his pursuers would be harmed by their ignorance of the terrain and their inability to adopt to the conditions of guerrilla warfare, the sheriff decided to take no immediate action’.
Style of Short and Long Sentences
These two styles each has its own stylistic effects and should be handled accordingly. For example, short sentences should not be joined into longer sentences and long sentences should be divided into shorter sentences.

14. Passive vs. Active style
Consider these examples;
Short Sentences: ‘ The police heard a little noise inside the bank. The robber noticed that. He wanted to escape. They chased him. Pedestrians noticed the scene. One of them shouted at the robber. Another blocked his way. Then, the police arrived and arrested him.’
Long sentences: ‘ In an attempt to help his ill mother, who needed an operation in a specialist hospital in London, which was quite expensive and demanded money to be paid in advance, the boy, who was still very young and inexperienced, worked in mechanical working day and night to earn as much money as he could and as quickly as possible.’
Passive vs. Active style
These two styles each has its own stylistic effects and should be handled accordingly.
Active: ‘The Jewish soldiers killed five Palestinian children yesterday.’
Passive: ‘ Five Palestinian children were killed yesterday.’

15. Repetition and Variation
In the SL, repetition has some kind of function and needs to be handled accordingly. It is not advisable to ignore repetition all together.
Consider this example;
‘ Football is the game my friends loves. Football is the sport the watches on television. Football is his favorite hobby. As a child, his hope was to play football. Here he is now a great football player’.
Style of Redundancy
Redundancy is the use of unnecessary, extra words to express something
“ As a matter of fact.. To say the truth I have to say it frankly, I am not interested in your offer”
When translating a sentence like this the text intentionality and situationality should be considered. If considering only the meaning of the text, a simple translation that avoid the redundancy is acceptable. Nonetheless, if the translator is interested in showing the speaker’s emotions such as politeness and hesitation.

16. The style of the show of muscles
The concerns the use of expressive, pompous words in unsuitable contexts for unsuitable reader.
Consider this example;
* ‘problems increased’
* ازدادت المشاكل
ادلهمت الخطوب *
Nominalization vs. Verbalization
A nominalized style is one in which nouns are used dominantly in the SL whereas a verbalized style is one in which verbs are used dominantly in the SL.
NOMINALIZATION: “ Registration at the university is the start of a long path into the unknown future. The feeling of security in life is the main aim of many students. Also the holding of a university degree and consideration of its holder among the highly educated is a valuable moral end for a great number of students.”

17. The Translation of Punctuation
VERBALIZATION: “To register at the university is the start of a long path into a future you do not know. To feel secure in life what many students mainly aim at. Also, to hold a university degree and to consider its holder among the people who have high education is what a great number of students take as a valuable, moral end”.
The Style of Irony
Irony is the amusing or strange aspect of a situation that is very different from what you expect; a situation like this:
“It is an irony that when he finally got the job, he discovered he didn’t like it.”
Translating ironies can be very difficult, yet it is lively, enjoyable, expressive and effective. Consider this example;
“Great! I have lost everything.”
The Translation of Punctuation
Punctuation marks are meaningful. They have stylistic function and can be important to the message. Consider these examples;
* ‘The earth, the air, and the water, teem with delighted existence’.
* تعج الأرض والهواء بوجود بهيج.
الأرض والهواء والماء يجمعها وجود بهيج.*

18. Phonological Problems
These problems are concerned with sounds and their relation to, and effect on meaning. Two points can be made about phonological problems;
They are complicated for students at any early stage.
They are limited to advertising, literally text and a few general texts.
Consider these examples;
‘ Let bygone be bygone’
ما مضى وانقضى / ما فات مات
‘ The hustle and bustle’
الهرج والمرج

19. Exercises Translate the following text into Arabic:
‘ You know well that I don’t like writing to any one but when I think writing you, I don’t select the words rather the words do choose you And flow truthfully as if they know that their reader has inside him an honest and lovely soul. It is a puff of breeze… a memory … the fates bestowed you to me as a chance of my life.’
Translate the following text into English:
عندما تشتاق تتمنى أن تنقلب وجوه الناس كلهم وجهاً واحداً لا يألفه غيرك لا يشعر به إلا وجدانك!.. أنه وجه ذلك الإنسان الذي سبب لك هذا الشعور اللا مألوف في نفسك.