翻译技巧:汉译英最易翻错的句子(4)
(发布时间: 2008-9-9 13:28:23 来自:环球网校)

 

    16. 我的学习很忙。

  [误] My study is very busy.

  [正] I am very busy with my study.

  注:第一句译文完全套用汉语的结构和语序,却犯了英文的句法错误。因为在英语中,study(学习)是一个行为,并不懂得忙不忙,感到忙的应是进行这一行为的人。所以,be busy with sth. 或 be busy (in) doing sth. 才是地道的英语表达。

  17. 给他当二把手我看也值得。他太能干了。

  [误] I feel it worth being a second hand to him. He is so capable.

  [正] I feel it worth playing second fiddle to him. He is so capable.

  注:英语的 second hand 作名词指“中间人”、“旧货”或“助手工人”,而汉语的“二把手”是“副手”,即“第二负责人”的意思,所以二者不是一回事。play second fiddle 则源于管弦乐队中第一提琴手(first violin)不在的时候由第二提琴手负责,并被人们引申为“当主要领导人的副手”,也就是我们所说的“当第二把手”。由此,不难猜出“当一把手”译成英语应该是 paly first fiddle了。

  18. 电车上十分拥挤,几乎没有立足之地。

  [误] The tram was so crowded that there was hardly sufficient room for you.

  [正] The tram was so crowded that there was scarcely sufficient room for you.

  注:副词 hardly 和 scarcely 虽然都含有“几乎不”等否定含义,有些时候也可以互换,如:I could hardly/scarcely recognize her(我几乎认不出她来了),但仍有细微的差异。如在强调数量“不足”时只能用 scarcely,这时它常与 enough、sufficient等词连用。

  19. 他被戴上了绿帽子。

  [误] He is made to wear a green hat.

  [正] He is a cuckold.

  注:中文的“戴绿帽子”是指某人之妻与他人私通,但直译成英文西方人只会按字面意思理解为“某人头上被戴了顶绿色的帽子”,无论如何也不会理解汉语的喻义。而英语的 cuckold 是指“奸妇的丈夫”(a man whose wife deceives him by having a sexual relationship with another man),所以用 be a cuckold 才能正确表达原文的意思。

  20. 我在新闻片里看到你站在总裁的身旁。

  [误] I saw you stand by the president in the newsreel.

  [正] I saw you stand beside the president in the newsreel.

  注:stand by someone 的意思是“支持某人”(to support someone);to stand beside someone 才是“立于某人旁边”(to stand by the side of someone)。但是,如果 stand by 后面的宾语不是人,那倒是可以与 stand beside 互换,表示“在...之旁”,例如:Their house stands by a forest(他们的房子在森林旁边)。除此之外,stand by 还有“袖手旁观”之意,例如:How can you stand by and watch while your allies are attacked?(当你们的盟友受到攻击时,你们怎能袖手旁观呢?)

更多翻译资格考试相关信息请关注:

2008全国翻译资格等级考试网上辅导方案
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