COMMON WRONGLY WRITTEN OR MISPRONOUNCED CHINESE TRADITIONAL CHARACTERS

There are many common wrongly written or mispronounced Chinese traditional characters during English to Traditional Chinese translations. Here are some examples:

1. a few minutes

幾分種 (wrong translation)

The correct translation should be︰幾分鐘。

1. here,“種”is absolutely wrong here. It can be 〞種子(which means seeds)〞,〞播種(sow seeds)〞,種莊稼(plant crops),which is far from the meaning of “minutes”.

2. This is an typical mistake when using Pinyin typewriting.

3. The correct character for “minutes” should be “鐘”.
Therefore, “a few minutes” should be translated as “幾分”. “種” and “鐘” are share a similar writing pattern, so we should pay more attention to these words that can be easily subject to writing mistakes.

His name is Zhong Hanliang.

他叫鐘漢良。 (wrong translation)

The correct translation should be︰他叫鍾漢良。

When 〞zhong〞means the family name of someone, it should be 〞鍾〞,while 〞鐘〞could be 〞鐘表(which means clock,or XX o′clock,for example︰It′s 7 o′clock(現在是七點鍾。))

〞鐘〞and 〞鍾〞are both the Traditional word of 〞钟”, but when we using traditional Chinese characters, we should pay much attention to the differences.

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1. He is a Party member.

他是一名共產當員。(wrong translation)

The correct translation should be︰他是一名共產黨員。

Here, “當” is a wrongly typed word here, which can be “當時(at that time),當地(local),當…的時候(when)”. In this sentence, it should be “黨(which means Party)”.

“當” and “黨” are share a similar writing pattern, so we should pay more attention to these words that can be easily subject to writing mistakes.

1. It’s a picture of Master Qi Baishi.

這是齊白石的一副畫。(wrong translation)

The correct translation should be︰這是齊白石的一幅畫。

1. Here, “副” is a wrongly typed word here, which can be “副總統(vice president),副業(subsidiary business)”. In this sentence, it should be “幅”.

2. “副” and “幅” are share a similar writing pattern, so we should pay more attention to these words that can be easily subject to writing mistakes.

5. Please make notes on the class.

Read Also: Localization and Translation Technology in the Chinese Context–3

請做好課堂筆紀。(wrong translation)

Here, “紀” is a wrongly typed word here, which can be “紀錄(which means records),紀念品(which means Souvenirs)”.

In this sentence, it should be “記,which can be 記下(to write down),記錄(to keep record of)”.

The correct translation should be︰請做好課堂筆記。

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