This type of translation preserves the grammatical structures of the SL where they are
translated into their nearest TL equivalents. It takes place when the SL and TL share parallel
structures. Words are translated out of context paying no attention to their connotative
meanings. The following examples illustrate this point.
1) Let us shake hands.
انعد
حفاصتن
يديلأاب
.
2)
She decided to throw the baby with the bath water and close the shop forever
because she lost few pounds.
تر ّرق
نأ
يمرت
لفطلا
عم
ءام
مامحلا
قلغتو
ناكدلا
دبلأل
اهنلأ
ت َرسخ
ضعب
تاهينجلا
.
3)
I am afraid I lost all saved data. We are back to square one.
ىشخأ
ينأ
تدقف
لك
تانايبلا
ةنزخملا
.
اندع
عبرملل
لولأا
.
4)
Hold your horses; we still have plenty of time.
كسمأ
،كلويخ
انيدل
ريثكلا
نم
تقولا
.
This method of translation resembles the first one
(word-for-word translation)
in two main aspects:
(a) It considers the source language word order.
(b) It emphasizes on having the same kind and number of words.
However, it differentiates from it in two points:
(a) It does not neglect context.
(b) It finds metaphorical equivalents in the target language for metaphorical words in
the source language.
So, this method of literal translation is much more acceptable than the first method which
insists on having a word for word translation. As a result, example (1) above can be corrected
into "انعد حفاصتن " or simply " حفاصتنلف ", because the verb "حفاصتن"
Includes “hands” and this action cannot be done except through hands.