Translation from English into Gujarati

What the official syllabus says

Paper 1: Gujarati (Main Examination), Commission's list (in Gujarati):

• 9. ભાષાંતર: અંગ્રેજીમાંથી ગુજરાતીમાં અનુવાદ-1 (૨૦ ગુણ)
• 10. ભાષાંતર: અંગ્રેજીમાંથી ગુજરાતીમાં અનુવાદ-2 (૨૦ ગુણ)

In English: translation from English into Gujarati, two passages of 20 marks each, 40 marks in all. The syllabus does not give the length of the passages.

Topics in detail

Reading the English passage

• Reading the whole passage first for its sense, tone and purpose before translating any sentence.
• Marking difficult words, idioms, phrasal verbs and long sentences that will need to be broken up.
• Kinds of passages to practise: official notices and circulars, news reports, passages on public policy, environment, health and education, and short literary or reflective passages.

Turning it into Gujarati

• Word order: English is subject, verb, object; Gujarati usually places the verb at the end of the sentence.
• Tense, aspect and voice: carrying the English tense into the right Gujarati form, and turning passive constructions into natural Gujarati where possible.
• Gender and number agreement of verbs and adjectives in Gujarati, which English does not mark.
• Idioms and phrasal verbs: translating the meaning, not the words (for example "break the ice", "call off").
• Long sentences: splitting them into two or three Gujarati sentences without losing any idea.
• Proper nouns, numbers, dates, units and abbreviations: kept accurate; well-known names written as used in Gujarati.
• Technical and administrative terms: using the standard Gujarati terms used in government work (for words such as notification, circular, resolution, department, collector, budget, scheme) and keeping each term consistent.
• Register: formal passages in formal Gujarati; avoiding both word-for-word stiffness and free rewriting.

Checking

• Comparing sentence by sentence that nothing has been added or left out.
• Reading the Gujarati alone: it should read as natural Gujarati.
• Spelling, punctuation and agreement checked last.

Overlaps

The English Language paper has the reverse task: a passage of about 150 words translated from Gujarati into English (20 marks). Practising both directions together builds a ready list of matching terms.