Electrical Engineering

As a full-time technical translator, I have seen many engineering documents translated into Spanish. Recently, I came across the instruction manual of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electrical measuring equipment, so poorly translated that I decided to keep it as an example of bad translation. For discretion, I will omit the manufacturer’s name, although an interested reader could identify it from the following information.

The equipment in question is an energy meter intended for domestic users and valued at around €800. I do not know who translated the manual, but it would be worth his while to change jobs. The manual is not particularly complex, but it does contain specialized electrotechnical terms.

Here is a small sample of the mistakes, which go well beyond complex terminology:

• Submeter → Submedidor. Correct translation: contador
  Believe it or not, even the product name is mistranslated. In English, meter simply refers to a device for measuring electricity, gas, water, etc. The prefix sub- indicates that it is a smaller or secondary device (i.e., not intended to measure, for example, the consumption of a whole factory). While meter is sometimes translated as medidor in some contexts and for specific devices, this is not the case here. The correct translation is simply contador, like the one installed in every household to measure consumption for billing.
  
  

• Current transformer → transformador corriente. Correct translation: transformador de corriente
  Whoever translated this likely did not know what a transformer is and decided to translate literally. This is not a typo, since the error is repeated numerous times throughout the manual.
  
  

• Front cover support → ayuda de la portada. Correct translation: soporte de la cubierta delantera
  The translation of the parts of the meter is ridiculous. After many years as a translator, I know that sometimes clients do not send the translator the diagrams alongside the source text. Without context, translation can be very difficult. But in such cases, the translator has a clear responsibility to ask the client for diagrams—otherwise, atrocities like this happen, where cover is wrongly translated as portada (book cover) instead of cubierta (equipment cover).
  
  

• Four-wire delta system → sistema Delta de cuatro alambres. Correct translation: sistema en estrella de cuatro conductores
  Knowing the difference between a delta connection (where a phase begins at one end and ends at another) and a star connection is essential for any translator working in electrical engineering, besides knowing that in Spanish we say conductor instead of alambre in this context.
  
  

Conclusion: A large company with many resources produced an installation and operation manual rendered unusable for a product that has been highly successful in the English-speaking market. How much money will this company lose due to mistranslations? Are they aware that they may face lawsuits from accidents caused by incorrect translations?

© 2025 Alejandro Moreno Ramos, www.ingenierotraductor.com