Translation Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Translation facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What is the primary challenge of translating poetry? → Preserving meaning while maintaining rhythm, meter, and sound
2. What is a conflict of interest in translation? → Accepting a project where personal interests may compromise professional judgment
3. What does 'domestication' mean in literary translation theory? → Adapting the text to feel natural and familiar to target-culture readers
4. What is impartiality in interpreting and translation ethics? → Conveying messages faithfully without bias or personal opinion
5. Why is cultural knowledge important for a translator? → To convey meaning appropriately for the target audience
6. What does 'back translation' help verify? → Whether the translated meaning matches the original
7. What does 'transliteration' involve? → Converting text from one script to another
8. A translator discovers the source text contains a factual error. What is the best ethical practice? → Translate the error faithfully and notify the client in a translator's note
9. What is a glossary primarily used for in translation projects? → Ensuring consistent terminology
10. In the LISA QA Model, what are the two main categories used to classify translation errors? → Critical errors and non-critical errors
11. What is 'quality estimation' (QE) in machine translation? → An automated prediction of MT output quality without reference to a human translation
12. Which approach prioritizes conveying meaning over literal wording? → Sense-for-sense translation
13. In the source-target sentence 'He swims well' becoming 'He is a good swimmer', which technique was used? → Transposition
14. Which regulatory body oversees the translation of medical device labeling in the United States? → FDA
15. What does 'register' refer to in translation? → The level of formality in language
16. Which US government agency requires certified translations of foreign documents for immigration purposes? → USCIS
17. What is the primary purpose of 'revision' in professional translation workflow? → To perform a bilingual check of a translation for accuracy and quality against the source
18. How much do you enjoy learning new languages? → I simply enjoy learning other languages.
19. When the English idiom 'it's raining cats and dogs' is rendered with the target language's own heavy-rain idiom, the technique is: → Equivalence
20. Which scenario best illustrates impartiality in legal translation? → Rendering the document accurately regardless of which party it may benefit
21. What does TER (Translation Edit Rate) measure as an automated quality metric? → The number of edits required to correct MT output into an acceptable translation
22. Why might a translator keep a style guide on hand? → To enforce consistent tone, formatting, and conventions
23. What is a 'notarized translation'? → A certified translation whose translator's signature has been notarized by a notary public
24. In translation quality assessment, what does 'adequacy' measure? → How much of the source text's meaning is preserved in the translation
25. How good is your writing? → Good enough to be printed in a magazine
26. How solid has your education been so far? → Solid as a rock. Since kindergarten, I've been studying for at least 20 years.
27. What is the 'target audience' in a translation project? → The intended readers of the translated text
28. What is the term for a translation that conveys the overall meaning without being word-for-word faithful? → Free translation
29. Who translated Miguel de Cervantes' 'Don Quixote' into an acclaimed modern English version in 2003? → Edith Grossman
30. It creates the intended text content without the form or style. → Free translation