Hindi to English Translation

This direction is used when a Hindi document has to be submitted to an English-speaking country. The typical applicant is someone who has to present a document drawn up in Hindi in India to an institution in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia. Because English is in wide administrative use in India, most documents are already in English; this direction is needed above all for the documents that certain state and local authorities issue in Hindi (Devanagari).

Concrete examples make the direction clear: a civil registry or residence certificate issued in Hindi by a state authority, a court judgment given in Hindi, a local school’s Hindi report card. These documents are translated for submission to an English-speaking university, employer or immigration authority; what they have in common is that their Devanagari source cannot be read directly by the receiving side.

This direction is often part of mixed files: the same application contains documents drawn up in English alongside documents drawn up in Hindi. In that case only the Hindi parts are translated, and consistency of terms and names with the original English wording is maintained.

Whether the document was in fact drawn up in Hindi or in English is established at the outset; this distinction affects both the scope of translation required and the delivery plan.

India’s multilingual and multi-script structure can mean that different systems appear side by side even among the documents of a single family; regional alphabets or English may be found alongside Devanagari. Before translation begins, therefore, the language and script of each document is established document by document.

Devanagari numerals are used on some older or local documents; these are carried into international numerals in the English translation, but the value is not changed and the order of the date is preserved. Measurements and quantities are likewise transferred without conversion.

Common variations in the spelling of names (for example spellings of the same name such as Kumar or Kumaar) are resolved by the form in the passport; where the applicant appears with different spellings across several documents, this is reported in advance and a single form is chosen.

In court and title deed documents the names of the parties and of the witnesses are transferred in full together with their titles; a missing name or title in these documents can leave the legal validity of the transaction open to dispute.

Technical matters specific to Hindi into English

The first problem in this pair is the change of alphabet: Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, and personal and place names are carried into Latin letters in transliteration. Since the same Devanagari name can have more than one English spelling, the spelling in the passport is taken as the basis and maintained throughout the file. The conjunct consonants of Devanagari and its distinction between long and short vowels call for careful matching in transliteration.

On Indian documents dates are given in day-month-year order, and writing the month out in words in the English translation prevents confusion. The father’s or spouse’s name is usually a separate field on Indian documents and is not removed in the English translation but carried across as a separate line.

The names of institutions and documents are rendered according to their function; registration numbers are not translated but given with a reference to the record concerned. The English rendering of Hindi administrative terms is built around the institutional function the target authority will understand.

The seal and registration details on the document are preserved in their position. Giving the name in a single Latin spelling across documents belonging to the same person is what makes the application consistent in terms of identity.

Which documents call for this direction

• Civil registry, birth and marriage records drawn up in Hindi
• Residence and income certificates issued at state level
• Certain school and course certificates
• Court and notarial documents
• Agricultural and property records

Civil registry and property records are frequently seen in this direction; in these documents the accurate transliteration of names, family relationships and place names is critical. The spelling of names in the passport is kept the same across all documents.

In court documents the date, the names of the parties and the terms of the judgment are transferred in full. In mixed files the translation is aligned with the original English parts.

The chain of certification

Because the target is an English-speaking country, the sworn translator system does not come into play: the United States and the United Kingdom ask for a signed statement of accuracy, Canada for a translator registered with a provincial association or an affidavit, and Australia for NAATI accreditation. Since the apostille process for a document coming from India operates at state level, the details of its issue should be checked in advance.

For these differing expectations, see the certification regime of the target country and the requirements for the document type. Tell us the spelling of the name in the passport and the target institution before you send the document.

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The information below is for guidance; in this language pair the level of certification is determined by the target institution. For the conditions that apply, consult the institution’s current list of documents.