If you’re writing an academic thesis in English as a second language, you may have found yourself crafting sentences by mentally translating from your mother tongue. It’s a natural strategy—after all, you’re working hard to express complex thoughts using a different linguistic system. But here’s the issue: word-for-word translation often leads to awkward, incorrect, or confusing English—especially in formal writing.
Literal translations can result in:
- Unnatural sentence structure
- Misused idioms and metaphors
- Grammar inconsistencies
- Collocations that don’t exist in English
In academic writing, clarity, fluency, and precision are essential. If your sentence structure mimics your native language rather than English conventions, your message may be misunderstood—or worse, dismissed as poor-quality work.
This article will help you recognise common literal translation issues and show you how to avoid them. Whether you speak Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, or another language, these tips will help you produce writing that sounds natural and academic in English.
What Is Literal Translation?
Literal translation is when a sentence or phrase is converted word-for-word from one language to another without adjusting grammar, idioms, or sentence flow to fit the target language. It can produce sentences that are technically understandable but feel strange or unclear to native English speakers.
For example:
Chinese:
- ❌ “People mountain, people sea” (literal translation of 人山人海)
- ✅ “It was extremely crowded.”
Spanish:
- ❌ “He has 22 years.”
- ✅ “He is 22 years old.”
Russian:
- ❌ “I don’t know nothing.”
- ✅ “I don’t know anything.”
Even if the individual words are correct, the structure and phrasing are unnatural in English.
Common Examples of Literal Translation in Academic Writing
Here are a few common examples and their clearer alternatives:
| Literal Translation | Better Academic English |
|---|---|
| “Make an experience” | “Gain experience” or “Have experience” |
| “The reason is because…” | “This can be attributed to…” |
| “More better” | “Much better” or just “Better” |
| “According to me…” | “In my view” or “I believe that…” |
| “He explained me the concept” | “He explained the concept to me” |
| “Do a decision” | “Make a decision” |
These may seem small, but in an academic thesis, they quickly add up and affect how your writing is perceived.
Why ESL Students Rely on Literal Translation
Many ESL writers lean on literal translation for understandable reasons:
- Limited vocabulary in English
- Time pressure during writing
- Thinking in their native language
- Over-reliance on translation tools or bilingual dictionaries
- Unfamiliarity with English idiomatic expressions and academic style
It’s a helpful starting point—but it’s not where great academic writing ends.
Common Literal Translation Issues
Misused Grammar Structures
Languages like Russian and Chinese often allow more flexible sentence order, which can cause confusion in English. For instance:
- ❌ “This experiment interesting was.”
- ✅ “This experiment was interesting.”
Japanese and Spanish learners may overuse the passive voice:
- ❌ “The report was written by me and the interview was conducted by the professor.”
- ✅ “I wrote the report, and the professor conducted the interview.”
Chinese speakers may drop articles entirely:
- ❌ “Research shows strong correlation.”
- ✅ “The research shows a strong correlation.”
False Friends and Incorrect Word Forms
Some words look or sound similar across languages but mean very different things. These “false friends” are a common source of literal translation errors:
Spanish:
- ❌ “Actually, the results were very sensible.”
- ✅ “Currently, the results were very sensitive.”
Russian:
- ❌ “He made a serious error of calculation” (too direct from ошибка в расчётах)
- ✅ “He miscalculated significantly.”
Chinese:
- ❌ “He very happily answered.”
- ✅ “He answered happily.” or “He responded cheerfully.”
Direct Idiom Translation
Idioms rarely translate cleanly. When translated literally, they can confuse readers who are unfamiliar with the original meaning:
Japanese:
- ❌ “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down” (often used to describe conformity)
- ✅ “Non-conformity is often discouraged in society.”
Chinese:
- ❌ “Kill two birds with one stone” is used too casually in formal contexts
- ✅ “This approach addresses two issues simultaneously.”
Spanish:
- ❌ “To throw the house out the window” (tirar la casa por la ventana)
- ✅ “To spare no expense” or “To go all out.”
Awkward Collocations
Literal translations often result in incorrect word pairings, known as “collocation errors.”
- ❌ “Do a decision” (common among Romance language speakers)
- ✅ “Make a decision”
- ❌ “Open the camera” (translated from Chinese 打开摄像头)
- ✅ “Turn on the camera”
- ❌ “He gave me an advice”
- ✅ “He gave me some advice” or “He gave me a piece of advice”
How to Break Free from Literal Translation
1. Write Directly in English
Even if it feels more difficult, try drafting your sentences directly in English. Your grammar may be simpler, but your meaning will be clearer.
2. Read High-Quality Academic Texts
Pay attention to how native speakers structure their arguments. Keep a notebook of useful phrases, sentence starters, and common transitions.
3. Use Better Tools and Phrasebanks
- Oxford Collocations Dictionary
- Academic Phrasebank – University of Manchester
- Reverso Context and Linguee for real usage examples
4. Get Feedback from Native or Trained Readers
Ask a fluent speaker or academic editor to highlight unnatural phrasing. Services like Vappingo’s Thesis Proofreading for ESL Students can help refine your writing without changing your ideas.
Related: How Vappingo Helps ESL Students with Thesis Proofreading
Final Thoughts: Translate Meaning, Not Words
Avoiding literal translation is not about abandoning your language or voice. It’s about learning how English works so you can share your ideas clearly and confidently.
Your goal isn’t to sound like someone else—it’s to express your thinking in a way that makes sense to your academic reader. By focusing on meaning instead of words, and applying the strategies in this article, you can produce fluent, natural English that reflects the quality of your research.
And if you need a little help polishing your final draft, professional editors are here to support you.
You’ve done the research. Let us help you present it with clarity.