translate: check after first pass

skills/translation/SKILL.md

@@ -37,7 +37,26 @@ Four registers observed, useful as style targets:
 4. **Voice**: Direct address ("you"), concrete images, and oral rhythm make Dharma land in English. Abstract noun chains (common in Chinese→English translationese) kill it.
 5. **Sutra quotes**: Use standard English Buddhist idiom. Check terse-idiom conventions (e.g., Diamond Sutra "lives" not "bodies").
 
-For register decisions: consult the register table above (scanning MB articles is optional).
+## Pitfalls
+
+### 1:1 line mapping
+
+Each physical source line maps to exactly one physical target line. Never merge
+continuation lines (lines ending with `  ` soft breaks) into a single
+translation entry. The bilingual format preserves the original line structure —
+breaking this destroys alignment.
+
+### Blank lines in bilingual
+
+When creating an initial bilingual template from source only: blank source
+lines pass through as-is. Only non-blank lines get an empty target placeholder.
+Treating blank lines as content lines (adding target+separator) creates
+excessive blank clusters. See `references/bilingual-format.md`.
+
+### Soft break markers
+
+Trailing `  ` (two spaces) on source lines indicate soft line breaks (paragraph
+continuations). Preserve these markers on both source and target lines.
 
 ## Quick-Find in MB Corpus
 

skills/translation/references/bilingual-format.md

@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ target-line
 
 ## Creating initial bilingual from source only
 
-Every source line gets an empty target placeholder + blank separator:
+Only non-blank source lines get an empty target placeholder. Blank lines in the
+source pass through as-is and serve as natural pair separators.
 
 ```
 source-A
@@ -29,8 +30,12 @@ source-A
 source-B
 ```
 
-(2 blank lines between consecutive source lines: empty target + separator.)
+The blank line between source-A and source-B is an original blank from the
+source — do NOT add an extra target+separator for it.
+
+Pitfall: treating blank source lines as content lines creates 3+ consecutive
+blank lines (source-blank → target-blank → separator-blank). This is wrong.
 
 ## Verification
 
-Source line count × 3 − 1 = bilingual line count (before trailing newline strip).
+`non_blank_source_lines × 2 + total_source_lines = bilingual_line_count`