Russian translation: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What russian translation is

A Russian translator converts material between English and Russian, handling the Cyrillic alphabet, formal register and specialized vocabulary for your documents. Russian is spoken across Russia and many other countries, and the translator needs to know who the readers are before choosing the wording.

Signs you need it

  • Your readers speak Russian and need a document in their language for a business, legal or personal purpose.
  • You have a contract, certificate or notice that must be read in Russian with exact terms.
  • You are publishing a website, product guide or course in Russian and want it to read naturally.
  • You have a Russian document that must be read in English for a business, legal or family purpose.
  • A machine translation has produced grammar errors in the case endings that native readers would notice.
  • You need a formal document, such as an application or an official letter, that must follow the usual register.

What the pro does

  • Confirms the readers, the purpose and the level of formality the document needs.
  • Builds a glossary of names, product terms and titles, with the Russian form of each.
  • Translates the text and gets the grammatical cases and verb aspects right, so the Russian reads naturally.
  • Checks names, transliterations, dates and figures against the source, and keeps the spelling of names consistent.
  • Reviews the translation for natural phrasing, then returns the file with notes on any term you should approve.

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • Word count or page count, and the number of documents.
  • Subject complexity, such as legal, medical, technical or literary text.
  • Formal or informal register, and the amount of specialist vocabulary.
  • Formatting, such as tables, forms or design files.
  • Whether a second reviewer checks the Russian text.
  • Deadline for delivery.

What a written quote should spell out

  • The word count or page count, and the language direction.
  • The register the translation uses, formal or informal.
  • The glossary step, and who approves the terms and transliterations.
  • Whether a second review is included.
  • The file format returned, and whether the layout is recreated.

Questions to ask before you hire

  • Who will read the Russian text, and what register do they expect?
  • How do you transliterate names, and will you keep one spelling throughout?
  • Will you adapt the wording for the country the readers live in?
  • Will a second person review the Russian text?
  • Can you keep the layout of my forms or tables?
  • Can you show a sample passage on a subject like mine?

Red flags

  • Does not ask who the readers are or what register they expect.
  • Spells the same name differently across the document.
  • Changes names, dates or figures in the translation.
  • Sends a machine translation with no human review and presents it as professional work.
  • Cannot explain the terms or transliterations used.

What you can do yourself

You can list the readers, the names and terms that must stay the same, and the register you want, then have a Russian speaker read a draft. Hire a translator when the document is official, will be published or sent to customers, or contains legal, medical or technical terms where a wrong word changes the meaning.

Licenses and permits

Russian translation is not commonly licensed, so a license is usually not required for this work. Check with the office or organization that will receive the document, since some set their own rules for accepted translations, and ask the translator for Russian samples in your subject as proof of skill.

Russian translation questions

Why does the Russian translation need so much checking of endings?

Russian uses grammatical cases, so the endings of nouns, adjectives and names change with their role in a sentence. A translation that gets them wrong reads poorly to native speakers, so a careful review of the endings is part of the work.

How are names spelled?

Names are usually transliterated from the English form, and the same spelling should be used throughout. Agree the spelling for each name in the glossary before translating.

Which form of address should I use?

Formal address is common in documents and official letters, while informal address suits personal messages. Decide before translating, since changing it later means editing the whole text.

Pro reviewers

Pros who offer russian translation remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.

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