: Re: How to write to accommodate subsequent automatic translation The texts I am writing will be translated by people who are not experts in the topic and in some cases by a machine with next to

@Michele605

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The European Union has a detailed guide to Writing for Translation (pdf).

Some of the key points they cover:

Use explanatory headings and summaries, and limit each paragraph to one idea
Make sentence structure unambiguous
Avoid long sentences with a complicated structure
Use vertical lists
Avoid empty verbs and ‘nominalisation disease’
Use the active voice
Beware of noun strings
Always use the same term for the same concept

For technical writing, there is more to consider. Many open source projects are translated by non-experts, so have recommendations on how to write, such as: Gnome Developer - Writing Documentation for an International Audience.

Some further tips from a machine translation company:

Keep the structure of your sentence clear, simple, and direct
If possible, avoid colloquialisms, idiomatic expressions and slang
Spell correctly
Avoid ambiguity and vague references
Use standard, formal language
Use the definite article even when you don't want to

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