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In public signs translation, the Chinese culture can only be reference, and the key should be the information to pass on to the readers. For example, we talked above “手下留情，脚下留情”、“绿草茵茵，关爱是金” are both used to raise people’s awareness of protecting grass and warn people not to walk on them, so they can be translated into “please keep off /stay off the grass.（请勿踏入草坪）”
But free translation is not wishful translation, which adds or deletes the content of the original at will or adds personal emotion.
3.2.3 Translation methods of negative expression
Some of the public signs are limiting people’s conducts. Their tone is relatively strong. Most pubic signs begin with “no”, “stop” or “don’t”. When we translate them, we should take the audience feelings into consideration. Here are two methods when we translate them.
On the one hand, rather than directly using the clause “Don’t ”,“Do not”, “No”, such as “Don’t touch”, “Do not play in the train”, “No Splitting”, “No Littering”, “No food or drink in the train”, we can add a word “please” to them, which can help to soften the tone. For example, “Please don’t lie on the chair”, which sounds more polite.
On the other hand, some public signs include “No” or “Stop”, we can translate them in an opposite way. For example, “When the train opens the door, do not rush to grab” can be replaced by “Please take your time when the doors are opening and closing”. This translation does not use the limiting word “no”. Because “Do not rush” also means get on or off the bus in queue. So “Please take your time” is a better expression.
3.2.4 Omission translation
Omission translation is used to achieve the effect of succinctness especially in dealing with what may be deemed useless and superfluous. Proper omission often involves the omitting of some words (such as prepositions, articles and conjunctions) and expressions.
Some public signs are in Chinese style, which require us to grasp the main ideas and then translate them in another way. For example, “请给小孩、老人、孕妇、残疾人让座” are respectively translated into “Please offer your seat to the elderly or disabled people or those carrying children” and “Please offer your seat to those who need it”. Obviously, the later is better. “Those who need it” refers to all people the former one has mentioned, and it’s more concise and accurate. Besides, both “ Come in for a free sample（欢迎进来免费品尝）” and “ Sold out（售罄）” omit the subject in translations. In addition, a sign in the subway“请勿扶靠车门，谨防夹伤” in English is “Please do not lean on the door; Beware of the door”. Here “谨防夹伤” does not use “not getting injured”. But it changes the view, using “Beware of the door”.