Which technique involves a change in grammar from the source language to the target language?

• A. Borrowing
• B. Calque
• C. Transposition
• D. Editing

Answer: (C)

Transposition is about changing the grammar or the position of elements when moving from the source language to the target language, while keeping the meaning intact. This happens when the target language requires a different grammatical structure than the source language, so the translator shifts categories or word order to sound natural. A common example is the placement of adjectives: English often puts adjectives before nouns (as in “red car”), but many languages place the adjective after the noun or use a different construction. Translating that idea requires a grammatical rearrangement rather than a literal word-for-word swap, which is exactly what transposition does. Another typical case is turning a verb-based expression into a noun-based one (or vice versa) to fit how the target language conveys the idea, again maintaining meaning through a grammar shift. Borrowing would keep the same word form from the source, calque would mirror the source’s structure too literally, and editing focuses on style rather than a grammatical transformation.