Danish Translation

Unpredictable gender and the article stuck on the end

Nouns in this language fall into two grammatical genders, and which gender a word belongs to cannot be worked out from its meaning; it has to be learnt. Since gender governs the article, the inflection of adjectives and the pronouns all at once, one wrong choice spreads through the whole sentence. Turkish has no such category, which makes this distinction the single most corrected point in translation.

The definite article is in most cases attached to the end of the word; when an adjective comes between, it turns into a separate word instead. This double behaviour demands constant attention from a translator used to the uniform Turkish structure. Compound nouns, too, are written as one word, and separating them with a space changes the meaning.

A country where the approval chain works differently

In this country the official authorisation the state used to grant translators has been discontinued. The practical consequence is this: a document’s validity comes not from the translator’s title but from the declaration attached to the translation and from the chain of approval behind that declaration. Which authority requires which approval must therefore be asked at the outset.

For documents going out from Türkiye the chain runs the other way, and the approvals issued by the Turkish authorities are what count. When the two sides’ expectations collide, the file ends up being prepared twice for no reason; that is why the type of procedure is clarified at the start.

Group of documents	Point to watch
Family reunification file	Gaps between the dates on the documents are explained
Diploma and transcript of marks	The definition of the grading scale is carried across in full
Employment contract	Pay, duration and job description are preserved exactly
Medical reports	Medicines are given by the name of the active substance

Which files come in

Family reunification applications are the most sensitive item; because the conditions are detailed, income, housing and education documents are submitted together and the whole file is expected to hang together. The second item is skilled work permits: vocational documents, diplomas and reference letters.

The third item is shipping and wind power. Seafarer certificates, shipyard and installation contracts, maintenance procedures and occupational safety instructions come through for translation regularly. The fourth is educational recognition, where higher education documents call for course content and placement records. In the pharmaceutical and food sectors, licence dossiers and label texts make up the volume.

The fifth item is the product documentation of the design and furniture sector: assembly instructions, material declarations and warranty terms. These texts expect short sentences built in the imperative; when the long, explanatory register of Turkish manuals is carried across as it stands, the product document reads as heavier than it needs to be.

Do not be misled by the language business uses

In this country most commercial correspondence runs through an international lingua franca, and companies use that language for much of their day-to-day work. This gives the impression that official procedures will run in the same language; public bodies, courts and registry offices, however, want documents drawn up in their own official language.

In practice a two-layer requirement emerges: one language for commercial negotiation and technical correspondence, another for the official application. When the same document has to be prepared in two languages and the set of terms is not managed from a single source, the two versions drift apart, and that gap is read against you if a dispute arises.

Which document is to be submitted in which language should therefore be confirmed with the institution before translation begins. An unnecessary second version costs both money and time.

Names, numbers and dates

This language’s alphabet closes with three additional letters, and those letters sit right at the end of the sort order. Because record systems search on that order, replacing the special characters in Turkish names with those letters is a serious error; the passport spelling is kept.

The personal registration number carries the date of birth within it; an error of one digit in the translation puts the number and the date of birth in contradiction and the document is held up at the checking stage. Dates are written day, month, year, separated by full stops. The decimal separator is the comma.

Tell us the authority the document is going to and the level of approval required, and the process is completed in one pass. For the delivery date and the amount, generate a quotation now; if you would rather compare first, the pricing page is here.

This page is for information; differences in writing system and typesetting can affect the delivery time. We recommend obtaining confirmation from an official source before you proceed.