A word-for-word substitution is the most literal form of translation. It is not the best choice for doing good translations. A word-for-word translation simply substitutes an equivalent word in the target language for each word in the source language.
Word-for-word substitution results in translations that are awkward to read. They are often confusing and give the wrong meaning or even no meaning at all. You should avoid doing this type of translation. Here are some examples:
Here is an example from Luke 3:16 in the ULT:
John answered, saying to them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but more powerful than I is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
That translation is clear and easy to understand. But suppose the translators had used the word-for-word method. What would the translation be like?
Here, translated in English, are the words in the same order as the original Greek.
answered saying to all the John I indeed with water baptize you he comes but who mightier than I of whom not I am worthy untie the strap of the sandals of him he you will baptize with spirit holy and fire
This translation is awkward and does not make sense in English.
Look again at the ULT version above. The English ULT translators did not keep the original Greek word order. They moved words around in the sentence to fit the rules of English grammar. They also changed some of the phrasing. For example, the English ULT says, “John answered by saying to them all,” rather than “John answered to all saying.” They used different words in a different order to make the text sound natural so that it could successfully communicate the original meaning.
The translation must communicate the same meaning as the Greek text. In this example, the ULT is a much better English translation than the awkward word-for-word version.