科技英语的翻译——08 否定的表示

否定的表示
否定句分为三种情况：全部否定、部分否定和双重否定。

１．全部否定，常用not, never, no, nobody, nothing, nowhere, neither, neither…nor…等词
[例句] None of these metals have conductivity higher than copper.
[译文] 这些金属的导电率都不及铜高。

[例句] No defects have been found in these circuits.
[译文] 这些电路中没有发现任何缺陷。

[例句] Nothing in the world travels faster than the electromagnetic waves.
[译文] 世界上不存在比电磁波传播得更快的东西。

[例句] The new medium also offered a number of possibilities for special effects not possible in conventional film production.
[译文]这种新方法也提供了传统的电影制作不可能实现的许多特殊效果。

[例句] Energy can be changed from one form to another, but can neither be created nor destroyed. [译文] 能量可以从一种形式转换成另一种形式，但它既不能被创造出来，也不能消失。

２．部分否定all, every, both 及某些副词always, often, entirely, altogether等与否定词连用时[例句] Both of the instruments are not precision ones.
[译文]这两台一起并非都精密。

[例句] The electrons within a conductor are not entirely free to move.
[译文]导体中的电子运动并不是完全自由的。

[例句] Not every communication system makes use of all indicated operations.
[译文]并非每个通信系统都使用图中所示的所有操作．
３．双重否定not, no, never, neither, nobody, nothing 与其他有否定意义的词搭配使用，双层否定形式上是否定，实质上是肯定。

[例句] Without a series of rely towers, it is impossible for microwaves to send messages over long distances to remote places.
[译文]要是没有一系列的转播塔，微波就不能越过漫长的距离，将消息传递到远方。

[例句] In the absence of radar, the pilot in an airplane could not fly for a long distance at night. [译文] 没有雷达，飞行员在夜间不能进行长途飞行。

4．内容否定英语中有些词本身不是否定词，但也有否定的意义，如few, little, seldom,
too…to, but for, instead of, rather than, hardly, scarcely, barely, fail to, free from, keep … from, prevent from, suffer from等
[例句] There is little doubt that human beings and computers are getting more friendly.
[译文] 计算机正日益便于人们使用，这是毫无疑问的。

[例句] There are many substances through which currents will scarcely flow at all.
[译文] 有很多物质几乎是完全不导电的。

[例句] As rubber prevents electricity from passing through it, it is used as insulating material.
[译文] 橡胶不导电，所以用作绝缘材料。

[例句] Small distant objects cannot easily be seen with the eye because the image on the retina is too small for details to be apparent.
[译文] 肉眼不易看到小而远的物体，因为在视网膜上所成的像太小，因而细部不那么清楚。

[例句] In 1990, the FCC announced that HDTV would be simultaneously broadcast rather than augmented.
[译文] 1990年，美国通信委员会宣布，将会同时播放高清晰度电视，而不是在原有的基础上扩增。

5．形式否定有的句子使用表面上是否定的，而在意义上却并不表示否定，可译为肯定句。

[例句] Source programs cannot be directly processed by the computer until it has been compiled, which means interpreted into machine code.
[译文]源程序只有在编译（即翻译为机器代码）后才能由计算机来直接处理。

[例句] Its importance cannot be stressed too much.
[译文] 它的重要性怎样强调也不过分。

6. 常见否定短语的翻译
at no time 从来没有
by no means/under no circumstances/in no account 决不
come to nothing 毫无结果
have nothing in common 与…毫无共同之处
make no difference 没有关系，没有印象
more often than not 多半，通常
not a bit一点也不
not a quarter 远不是，完全不是
not amount too much 没有什么了不起
not to speak of更不用说，当然
nothing but, nothing else but (than), nothing more/less than 只不过是，不外是
spare no pains 不遗余力
to say nothing of 更不用说…了
these is no (little) doubt 毫无疑问
in no way 决不，无论如何不…
no longer 不再，不能再
no amount of 怎么也不
no more …than (not …any more than)=not … just as …not 与…同样不是…，
cannot …too…决不会太…
[例句] Workers can violate the safety rules on no conditions.
[译文] 工人们在任何情况下都不能违反安全规则。

[例句] Physics is not mathematics any more than it is philosophy.
[译文] 正如物理学不是哲学一样，物理学也不是数学。

[例句] They are nothing but the elementary particles which constitute matter.
[译文] 他们不外乎是构成物质的基本粒子。

[例句] Shift invariance means that a shift in the input signal will result in nothing more than an identical shift in the output signal.
[译文] 移不变性是指输入信号发生时移只不过在输出信号中产生同样的时移。