SH7: When a translated button hides an important condition

SH7 rule reading: compare translated buttons with the original full sentence, especially only, until and except, before deciding what an action means.

“Continue” is a useful button label, but it is not a complete explanation of what continuing does. If you are reading SH7 information through a browser translation, a short translated label may sound broader than the sentence beside it. The right comparison is between the action and its full condition, not simply between two isolated words. A readable translation can still need a careful look at its scope.

Consider this invented original sentence: “Continue only if you submitted the interest form before 18 October; otherwise read the enquiry instructions.” Below it, a button says “Continue”. Imagine a translated view in which the prominent button is clear but the smaller condition is overlooked. The original does not invite every reader to continue. It separates two routes according to an earlier action and a date, with a different instruction for everyone else.

## Read the whole condition

First locate the whole sentence attached to the action. Include the text before and after the button where it explains eligibility, timing or exceptions. A cropped button screenshot cannot answer whether the action is available to this reader. Write the original sentence and the translated sentence on separate lines if both are available. This makes a missing condition visible without requiring you to judge every word of the page at once.

Break the original into four parts: the action is continue; the condition is having submitted the form; the boundary is before 18 October; the alternative is reading the enquiry instructions. Those parts provide a comparison checklist. A translation that preserves “form” and “18 October” but loses “before” has retained two nouns while changing the practical instruction. The small linking words carry much of the meaning in a conditional rule.

Try two readers against the sentence. Reader A submitted on 17 October and reader B submitted on 19 October. Under this invented instruction, A meets the stated date condition and B does not. Nothing here establishes any additional eligibility requirement or promised outcome. We use such paired cases because they reveal a translation problem more clearly than asking whether the translated paragraph merely sounds fluent or familiar to the reader.

## Negation and exceptions

For a second SH7 reading exercise, compare “Not available to readers who have already submitted” with “Available to readers who have already submitted”. One missing negation reverses the audience. Highlight the word that changes the decision, rather than rewriting the entire page from memory. If the original and translated views appear inconsistent, preserve both exact clauses and ask which wording governs the action before interpreting the button as permission.

Exceptions need the same attention. “Send the reference number, except when no reference was issued” is different from an unconditional demand for a reference. A translated label such as “Reference required” might describe a field without capturing the exception in the surrounding guidance. Read enough context to determine whether the exception applies to the current task. Do not invent a number to satisfy a shortened instruction that may be incomplete.

There is also a difference between translating a rule and translating a visible interface label. A button can remain in English while the explanation is in Hindi, or the reverse. Match the label to its actual role on the page before comparing wording. The question is whether the condition still governs the same action. Visual proximity helps locate related text, but the page's explicit explanation is better evidence than a guess based on position.

## Ask about the changed meaning

An effective clarification includes the original clause, the translated clause and one concrete case. For example: “The original says before 18 October. The translation I am reading appears to omit before. Does a 19 October submission follow the enquiry route?” This shows exactly where interpretation changed. Send the necessary passage without unrelated account details, and identify the page or notice so the person answering can inspect the same material.

With SH7 app or activity information, keep your final note in the form action, condition and unresolved point. “Continue applies to earlier form submissions; I still need the current enquiry route” is usable. “The translation says yes” is not enough to preserve the rule. A useful translation supports understanding, while the complete clause and an explicit clarification keep a shortened label from silently deciding a question it was never written to answer.