Journal of new advances in English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics

Journal of new advances in English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics

Considering the Differences in Translation of Past Tenses between Two Iranian Translators in the book “Animal Farm”

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Nafiseh Miyandari Hosseini 1
farnaz sahebkheir 2
morteza jafari 1
1 Department of English Language and Literature, Payame Noor University, I.R. of Iran
2 Assistant Professor of TEFL, Department of English Language Teaching, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
10.22034/Jeltal.2026.8.1.2
Abstract
This comparative study aimed to recognize the differences in translating past tenses between George Orwell's original book titled 'Animal Farm' and its translated versions by two Iranian translators. On a descriptive basis, differences in translating past tense verbs were searched and considered. All the past verbs in the first 60 pages of the book “Animal Farm” were counted and analyzed. In the initial tense, both translators aimed to preserve the simple past verbs in Persian without altering their tense. For the past continuous tense, both translators opted to modify the tense of these verbs, often translating them into various tenses such as simple past or past perfect. Consequently, the number of past continuous verbs retained in the same tense was lower compared to those translated into different tenses in the TL. While the translators followed a similar approach in the last two tenses, their strategies diverged when translating past perfect verbs. Amirshahi predominantly translated past perfect verbs into different past tenses rather than maintaining the original tense from the source language (SL). As a result, in his translation, fewer verbs remained in the same tense, with more being converted into other past tenses. In contrast, Kasaeipour largely preserved the tense of past perfect verbs in the target language (TL). Therefore, in his translation, the number of verbs translated into the same tense as the SL exceeded those translated into other past tenses.
Keywords
Comparative studies
Past tense verbs in English
Persian translation of past tense verbs
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Journal of new advances in English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 8, Issue 1
June 2026
Pages 28-50

  • Receive Date 22 June 2025
  • Revise Date 02 September 2025
  • Accept Date 20 September 2025