英汉表达差异及错例

1)我常见许多青年的朋友,2)聪明用功,3)成绩优异,4)而语文 程度不足以达意,5)甚至写一封信亦难得通顺,6)问其故则曰 其兴趣不在语文方面. 倘若完全按原文的句法特征将其译成英文,可能是: 1)I have come across a great many young friends, 2)Bright and diligent, 3)Do exceedingly well in studies, 4)but they are rather weak in Chinese, 5)even can‟t write a smooth Chinese letter. 6)When asked why, they‟ll say they are not interested in Chinese. I have come across a great many bright and diligent young friends who have done exceedingly well in their studies, but are rather weak in Chinese. They cannot even write a letter in correct Chinese. When I asked them why, they said they were not interested in the Chinese language.
"recreate"根据构词法和一般词典上解释都是“重新创 造”，而考研英语大纲词汇表中只有名词"recreation"， 所给词义为"娱乐、消遣"，在这种情况下，考生很容易把 recreate译成“重新创造”或者“娱乐”。仔细观察 recreate不难发现它带有宾语the significant events of the part，从逻辑上来讲，"过去的重大历史事件"是不能" 重新创造"的，作者显然对recreate一词的词义进行了引s in Expressing Between Chinese and English
英汉表达差异
一、首先,让我们关注一下英美人与中国人思维方式不同。 英美人思维方式是直线式,他们在遣词造句谋篇上遵循着从 一般(general)到具体(specific), 从概括(summarize)到举例 (exemplify), 从整体(whole)到个体(respective)原则。请看 短文: Soccer is a difficult sport.(1)A player must be able to run steadily without rest.(2)Sometimes a player must hit the ball with his or her head.(3)Players must be willing to bang into and be banged into by others.(4)They must put up with aching feet and sore muscles. 上面这则短文中, 主题句(main idea sentence)也就是文 章中心是第一句, (1)(2)(3)(4)句是用来说明主题句。
而在汉语中,我们习惯于先分后总,先说原因后说结果, 即所谓“前因后果”,如果要表达相同意思,我们通常这样 说: 足球运动员必须能不停地奔跑,有时得用头顶球,撞别 人或被别人撞,必须忍受双脚和肌肉疼痛,所以说,足球运 动是一项难度大运动。 再比如写下面一则便条,因你母亲突然生病,周末你不能 和汤姆去跳舞了,你找了舞跳得很好时黛来代替你,并表示抱 歉。 此英语便条为:
四、接下来,让我们看一下英汉句子结构特点。英语属印欧 语系Indo-European Family,汉语属汉藏语系Sino-Tibetan Family,两种语言相距甚远,英语结构紧凑,汉语结构松散。语 言学家以“竹节句法”来比喻英语句子,即英语句子是由断 不可缺各种连接词衔接而成,宛如节节相连竹子;而汉语句子 则被比喻为“流水句法”,所谓流水指少用乃至不用连接词 仍行文流畅。所以说, 英语重形和hypotaxis, 汉语重意和 parataxis 。就句子结构而言,西洋语是‘法治’,中国语言 是‘人治. 英语句子中如果少了连接词如or, but, if, so, because, when, although , in order that, so that, 所要表 达意思就支离破碎了, 而汉语如没连接词, 只从句子本身意 思就可以把概念或关系表达清楚。如:
转折：江山易改，禀性难移。 it is easy to change rivers and mountains but hard to change a person‟s nature. 对比：道路是曲折的，前途是光明的。 The future is bright while the road ahead is tortuous.
二、 英语多代词或替代，汉语多名词或重复。在句子中， 英语多用名词和介词，汉语多用动词。 英语不仅有we、you、he、they等人称代词，而且还有that、 which之类的关系代词，在长而复杂的句子，为了使句子结 构正确、语义清楚，同时避免表达上的重复，英语往往使用 很多代词。汉语虽然也有代词，但由于结构相对松散、句子 相对较短，汉语里不能使用太多的代词，使用名词往往使语 义更加清楚。请看下面的例句：
例如：我叫你再进来。 Don‟t come in until I call you. 条件：明天不下雨，我们就去公园。 if it doesn‟t rain tomorrow, we will go to the park. 时间：离开北京五年了，从未回去过。 He has never been back to Beijing since he left it five years ago. 结果：他读的太快，我们听不清楚。 he read so fast that we could not hear it clearly. 原因：昨晚你在教室，肯定是你干的。 It must have been done by you since only you stayed in the classroom last night.
we crossed the Yangze and arrived at the station, where I bought a ticket while he saw to my luggage.
五、英语多引申，汉语多推理 英语有两句俗话：一是You know a word by the company it keeps.(要知义如何，关键看词伙)，二是 Words do not have meaning, but people have meaning for them.(词本无义，义随人生)。这说明词典对 词的定义和解释是死的，而实际运用中的语言是活的。 例如：While there are almost as many definitions of history as there are historians, modern practice most closely conforms to one that sees history as the attempt to recreate and explain the significant events of the past. 译文：尽管关于历史的定义几乎和历史学家一样多， 现代实践最符合这样一种定义，即把历史看作是对过去重 大历史事件的再现和解释。
熟悉英语的人都知道，英语表达相同的意思时往往变换表达 方式。第一次说"我认为"可以用"I think"，第二次再用"I think"显然就很乏味，应该换成"I believe"或"I imagine"之 类的表达。相比之下，汉语对变换表达方式的要求没有英语 那么高，很多英语中的变化表达译成重复表达就行了。请看 下面的例子： The monkey‟s most extraordinary accomplishment was learning to operate a tractor. By the age of nine, the animal had learned to solo on the vehicle. 译文：这只猴子最了不起的成就是学会驾驶拖拉机。 到九岁的时候，这只猴子已经学会了单独表演驾驶拖拉机了。 tractor和vehicle在句中显然都表示"拖拉机"，英语表达上 有变化，而译成汉语时使用了重复表达法。
英语先结论，后叙事。或先表态，后叙事。
经过多年的努力，我们解决了这个问题。 We have solved / worked out the problem after many years‟ hard work / effort.
导致人们犯罪的原因，我们仍不清楚。 We are still not sure / clear what causes people to commit a crime. 死记硬背有缺陷，我们应承认这一点。 We should admit / acknowledge that rote learning has limitations.
我们过了江，进了车站，我买票，他忙着照看行李。
we entered the railway station after crossing the River. While I was at the booking office buying a ticket, father saw to my luggage.
July 6, 2002 Dear Tom, I am sorry to inform you that I won't be able to go to dance with you this weekend. My mother is suddenly taken ill. In order not to disappoint you, I have asked Shi Dai to take my place. She is a better dancer, I think. My regrets. Joe 从便条中可以看出,英语表达先“果”— I won't be able to go to dance with you this weekend后“因”— my mother is suddenly taken ill,即所谓“先果后因”，或英 语前重心，汉语后重心。
他讨厌失败，他一生曾战胜失败， 超越失败，并且蔑视别 人的失败。 He hates the failure. He has conquered it, transcended it and looked down upon that of others.
三、英语的习惯是尽量在同一个句子中用不同的单词或是词 组来表达同一个意思。而汉语就不同，汉语喜欢用同一个词 汇来增强自己说话的语气或是强调。 如：regard … as, view … as, equate … with … 等可以 同时用于某一段中，而汉语则需重复。
一般来说,在单个句子中,英语句子也是先中心,也就是将 主要思想、结果放在句首,放在主句里表达;而汉语正相反, 一般为后中心,主要观点、信息往往放在句末。如: 因为他病了, 昨天他不得不呆在家里。 He had to stay at home yesterday because he was ill. 生活中既然有悲剧,文学作品就可以写悲剧。 Tragedies can be written in literature since there is tragedy in life.