Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Bulgarian term or phrase:
чувствам се уплашен(а)
English translation:
scared, frightened
Bulgarian term
United States
Quality translations at reasonable rates
Native in: English 
Works in: Russian to English, Bulgarian to English
чувствам се уплашен(а)
- се чувствам уплашен(а)
and
- се чувствам изплашен(а)
Could someone please explain the difference in meaning — if any — between уплашен and изплашен? In my draft I"ve tramslated them as "scared" and "frightened," which are basically synonyms.
| 5 | scared, frightened |
Denka Momkova
|
| 2 +1 | [there may still be some difference] |
invguy
|
Nov 23, 2022 08:30: Kalinka Hristova changed "Term asked" from "се чувствам уплашен(а)" to "чувствам се уплашен(а)"
Non-PRO (1): Inna Ivanova
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Proposed translations
Bulgaria
Mutual trust is essential
Native in: Bulgarian 
Works in: English to Bulgarian, Bulgarian to English
scared, frightened
[there may still be some difference]
As far as my feeling of Bulgarian goes, уплашен is rather a momentary state of feeling fear, while изплашен is a more lasting one.
And, as far as my feeling of English goes, it's much like the difference between the derivative adjectives in English:
• scary is sth which causes a strong reaction/wave of fear – which would then fade away, and one would get back to normal; while
• frightful is sth which has the capacity of instilling fear every time one faces it, and this capacity remains constant over time.
(This might not be equally true for both UK and US usage, but I am not competent enough to delve into that aspect.)
Unfortunately, there are no equivalent adjectives in Bulgarian, so a direct comparison is not possible. But I think that the slight difference is along those lines: уплашен/scared is rather akin to startled, while изплашен/frightened is closer to terrified.
Just an opinion.
That said, I think you have nailed the right equivalents :)
P.S.: It is a completely another matter what difference the authors of the questionnaire had in mind, why they didn't try to choose a more discernable pair of words, and – before all – whether they believe the average respondent would be able to make such a fine distinction (if they would care to make it at all).
It may also be that the questionnaire was originally drafted in EN, and you are doing a back translation. If so, then maybe the translator into BG did not interpret correctly the original EN wording.
| Thank you for your very thoughtful answer. And yes, it is a back translation. |
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