This paper purports to explore the process of translating specific words by focusing on how Russian modal particles are translated into Korean. This endeavor generally consents to the claim that the unit of translation should be a whole discourse or text, rather than a word. However, it will be pointed out that there are cases where a single word, including a modal particle, proves to be a serious obstacle in translating. This issue carries extra significance in case the translation is conducted between languages that have different grammatical categories, i.e., one with modal particles and one without. As a grammatical category that expresses various subjective emotional and psychological attitudes of the speaker to the content of utterance, modal particles present a substantial obstacle to translation into a language without modal particles. Various morphological changes are needed in order to cope with this difficulty, particularly when working with languages such as Russian and German, which have numerous modal particles. Against this backdrop, this paper sketches representative theoretical views of the problem involving translating words in different grammatical category structures, with a focus on illustrating the role and function of modal particles in the Russian language. Having identified three different strategies employed in translating these particles into Korean, this paper stresses that the meaning conveyed by Russian modal particles can be delivered in Korean in a different way. In conclusion, it will be emphasized that structural or grammatical differences in languages can and should be overcome in the process of translation by transpositioning the focus away from the word to the text.
