Commercial translation Grammar of Headlines Commercial translation

Introduction You will hardly ever find a complete sentence in newspaper headlines. Headlines tend to be short and to the point. The following are some of the rules of headlines grammar.

Noun Phrases Many headlines consist of a string of noun phrases with no verb. More water cuts in city Oil prices hike after explosions Recession warning for Russia China real estate firm at risk of bankruptcy

Noun Strings Some headlines consist of a string of three, four or more nouns together. It's helpful to try to connect the ideas by reading backward. Widow Pension Pay Committee Landscaping Company Disturbance Regulations Mustang Referral Customer Complaint There is a complaint made by a customer about a referral program for Mustang cars.

Various Verb Changes Headlines don’t follow the rules of English verb tenses. The past tense is rarely used. The perfect and progressive are simplified into the simple tense. Auxiliaries are omitted. Verb (to be) is omitted

Simple present tense It is often used instead of continuous or perfect tenses. Present tenses are used for both present and past events. Connecticut boosts minimum wage to $10.10 by 2017 Winter hits housing recovery Ares Management files for IPO (instead of) Ares Management has filed for IPO in the New York Stock Exchange.

Use infinitives for future events Infinitives are often used to refer to the future in headlines. PM to visit Russia in May South Carolina plant to become BMW's largest Weibo to list on Nasdaq Ukraine to get $18 billion from IMF

Passive voice Only past participles are used with the passive voice. So forms like held, killed, assaulted, detained, murdered etc., are usually past participles with passive meanings, but not in the simple past tense. Compare: UK woman assaulted and killed. ( A UK woman has been assaulted and killed.) UK woman assaults kidnapper. ( A UK woman has assaulted her kidnapper.)

Progressive tense The present progressive is used to describe changes. Trade figures improving Graduate student loans ballooning Borrowers making mortgage payments a priority over credit cards

Leave out auxiliary verbs Auxiliary verbs are dropped in the passive form. Man Killed in Accident A Man has been killed in an accident. Over 100 killed in blast Over 100 people were killed in a blast. New policy decided by Parliament (New policy has been decided by Parliament) Four stranded in sudden flood (four people have been stranded / were stranded)

Leave out “to be” Omit “be” in its various forms, except when emphasized Trade figures improving Graduate student loans ballooning Borrowers making mortgage payments a priority over credit cards

Leave out “to say” Reported speech is usually represented by a colon, or a hyphen. No reporting verbs such as comment, tell, argue, announce, shout are used – unless the act of speaking needs emphasizing. Bush on Iraqi invasion: ‘This aggression will not stand’ Use colon for said or says Use single quotation marks

Drop Articles Both definite and indefinite articles are also dropped in newspaper headlines. President Declares Celebration Indian-American woman assaulted Lawyer wants recalled GM cars off the road Nissan recalls 1 million vehicles due to airbag flaw Lawsuit alleges GM botched recall

Punctuation not conjunctions As with reporting speech, commas, colons, semi-colons, hyphens and so on can replace all conjunctions, or some joining verbs, to join clauses. Commas may also be used to join nouns. Man kills 5, self Police arrest serial killer – close case on abductions Fire in bakery: hundreds dead Never end a headline with a period.

Use figures for numbers Never spell out numbers. Use figures. 9 dead in glue catastrophe 7 days to Christmas – shoppers go mad New GM recall affects 1.3 million cars China's factories hit 8-month low

العناوين الإخبارية باللغة العربية

العناوين الإخبارية باللغة العربية تصاغ بطريقتين: جملة فعلية يقدم فاعلها على الفعل. برنت يتماسك فوق 107 دولارات للبرميل مؤسس فيسبوك يجنى أكثر من 3 مليارات من بيع الأسهم اسماء أو مصادر تعرف بالاضافة تغريم بنك سانتاندر بريطانيا 12.4 مليون جنيه استرليني انخفاض مستوى التضخم في منطقة اليورو إلى 0.5 في المئة في مارس

العناوين الإخبارية باللغة العربية جملة فعلية يقدم فاعلها على الفعل، يكون الفعل مضارعا وإن كان الحدث في الماضي. نيكاي يغلق مرتفعاً عند أعلى مستوى في 3 أسابيع سوق الأسهم السعودية تعزز مكاسبها وسط أجواء التفاؤل ألمانيا تتوقع رفع الفائدة الأوروبية المركزي الروسي يتعهد بالاستقرار ويثبت أسعار الفائدة

العناوين الإخبارية باللغة العربية تكتب الأعداد باستخدام الأرقام لا الكلمات. جنرال موتورز تستدعي 1.3 مليون سيارة لخلل فني نقص الإمدادات يرفع خام برنت فوق 107 دولارات انخفاض حجم الانتاج الصناعي في اليابان بنسبة 2,3 بالمئة 6 % نمو واردات الصين من النفط الإيراني في فبراير أكثر من 4.4 مليار درهم مبيعات العقار في دبي بأسبوع

العناوين الإخبارية باللغة العربية عند الاقتباس أو النقل يكتب اسم الشخص أو الجهة في البداية ويتبع بنقطتين رأسيتين. ألمانيا: شركة طيران تلغي 3800 رحلة بسبب إضراب طيارين المركزي اليوناني: أكبر 4 بنوك تحتاج 6.4 مليار يورو تقرير: ارتفاع أسعار العقارات في دبي بالربع الأول محللون: هبوط حاد للأسهم اليابانية في التعاملات المبكرة