English into Danish translation
Given that Denmark is a relatively small country with a population of just 5.7 million, it might seem surprising that English into Danish translation is in such high demand – especially when you consider that most Danes have a higher-than-average level of proficiency in English. But there are good reasons for this state of affairs.
Foreign interest in the Danish market has been expanding rapidly, and many companies have been quick to realise that Danes respond much better to flawless content written in their own native language. In order for companies to build trust and win over new customers, they need to use qualified and professional translators to produce quality content and get their message across in a language that is familiar to the target market.
Many Danes might be tempted to save on costs by undertaking English into Danish translation jobs themselves. But it is important to think carefully before deciding not to use a professional translator – the differences between English and Danish are vast, and even the most eloquent of English-speaking Danes tend to miss certain subtleties and misunderstand common turns of phrase.
There is no shortage of stumbling blocks when performing English into Danish translation. For example, dealing with passive language constructions in English can be difficult for untrained foreigners, and many small distinctions tend to go unnoticed:
Take the sentence “When the door is closed,” for example. Depending on the context, this might refer either to the time after the door has been closed or to the actual closing of the door – two concepts which are each expressed differently in Danish (når døren er lukket/når døren lukkes). This means that a careful eye and an excellent understanding of the subtleties in both languages are needed in order to translate these sorts of passive sentences correctly.
English business jargon is another tricky area. This kind of language is packed with culturally specific expressions and terms which only highly skilled translators will be able to recognise and successfully convey.
Having someone “pin the rose” to you might sound intuitively pleasant to a Dane, but the expression actually means you are being singled out to perform a thankless task. Many will similarly fail to realise that “populate” does not refer to drumming up business or finding new recruits, but to filling out information in a document, typically in paper form.
False friends are another common set of pitfalls. These are words that mean something else than what most non-native speakers would naturally assume. For example, ‘to spot’ in English means to notice something (‘at få øje på’) and is not at all similar to the Danish term ‘at spotte’, which means to mock. Another example is ‘fir tree’ which sounds very similar to the Danish word ‘fyrtræ’. The word actually means pine tree, however, and fir tree should instead be translated as the somewhat less similar-sounding ‘ædelgrantræ’.
In order to meet the growing requirement for language excellence, we work exclusively with qualified, mother tongue translators, and we hold all of our linguists to the very highest of industry standards. We ensure that all of our English into Danish translations are functional and precise, making sure that nothing gets lost in translation and that your target text is intuitive and easy to read. This means you are free to focus on what you do best while resting assured that your target market will get the message.
