翻译技巧:汉译英最易翻错的100句(20)
96. 对不起,我把课本忘在家里了。
[误] Sorry, I forgot my textbook at home.
[正] Sorry, I left my textbook at home.
注:原文中的“忘”是指“落在家里”的意思,不能翻译成英文的 forget,而应用表示“把...留在某地,丢下,落下”等的意思的 leave。
97. 中国足球队击败了日本队,从而取得了参加半决赛的资格。
[误] The Chinese football team beat the Japanese team, and is qualified to play in the half-finals.
[正] The Chinese football team beat the Japanese team, and is qualified to play in the semifinals.
注:semi- 是英语里的一个前缀,表示“半”,例如:automatic 是“自动的”,那么 semiautomatic 就表示“半自动的”;diameter 指“直径”,那么 semi-diameter 就指“半径”;monthly 指“月刊”,那么 semi-monthly 就表示“半月刊”。以上这些都跟 semifinal(半决赛)一样,是约定俗成的。
98. 在自然灾害期间,绝大多数人都过着半饥半饱的生活。
[误] During the natural calamity, most people were half hungry, half full.
[正] During the natural calamity, most people were underfed.
注:under- 是一个英语前缀,表示“......不足的”,如:underdeveloped(经济发展不充分的),underage(未到法定年龄的)等。所以,underfeed 表示“未喂饱的,食物不足的”。汉语中“半......半......”的结构可以翻译成 half...half...,例如:As for this matter, I am half-believing, half-doubting(对于这件事我是半信半疑的);This composition is half literary, half vernacular(这篇文章写得半文不白的)。
99. 汉语是我们的母语。
[误] Chinese is our mother language.
[正] Chinese is our mother tongue.
注:tongue 除了指“舌头”,还可以用来指“语言,方言”,如 the Spanish tongue 并非指“西班牙舌头”,而是指“西班牙语”。我们常说的有“语言天赋”,英语里相应的表达是 the gift of tongues。“母语”在英语中用 mother tongue 表达,还可以说 parent language 或 linguistic parent,但 mother language 的说法却是不地道的。
100. 我爷爷是奔75的人了。
[误] My grandpa is running for seventy-five.
[正] My grandpa is getting on for seventy-five.
注:run for 有“竞赛,竞选”之意,如:run for Congress(竞选国会议员),run for the presidency(竞选总统)等。而 get on for 才表示“接近”,它通常用进行时态,后面一般跟年龄或者时间,如:It’s getting on for midnight(快到半夜了)等。要意译。
0条评论