Hello there! I'm new in this forum and I'm having problems with the overuse of passive voice in the translation of manuals from English to Spanish, my question is; when is it appropriate to use it in translation?
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Hello there! I'm new in this forum and I'm having problems with the overuse of passive voice in the translation of manuals from English to Spanish, my question is; when is it appropriate to use it in translation?
Your question is very broad, hence general, hence vague :) Some specific context would be nice.
As you know passive voice (PV) focuses on the action and not the agent of the action. So it makes sense that all the information in a manual would be in PV since there isn't anyone actually doing anything but it is rather in the procedures, steps or actions that the attention need to be centered in.
As I said, if you provide an example, it can be explained in a more precise way.
I agree with Cotty.
In technical translation, it is more common to use more PV, as well as less connectors. However, if you don't want to use the PV, you can use structures with "se" (se indica, se realiza la acción), which are usually preferred over passive voice. Other possibilities are structures with "usted" and "uno". It depends on the context, of course.
Hope it helps!
Ro
Estoy de acuerdo con Cotty, en manuales siempre se usarà passive voice aunque se crea que es "overused"
CUANDO SE TRATA DE : (SE INDICA, SE REALIZA) ETC, ESTO TAMBIÉN ES VOZ PASIVA.
SALUDOS
DIEGO
Diego, tenés razón, es voz pasiva de segundo grado. Lo que pasa es que también hay construcciones impersonales con el "se" y son igual de válidas.
Suerte!
Ro