一．英汉语言对比

1．英语句子结构复杂，多长句；汉语多短句。例：

My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is inevitable. (1996.1)

我的观点是一代人经常抱怨下一代人是不可避免的。

Rocket research has confirmed a strange fact which had already been suspected there is a "high temperature belt" in the atmosphere, with its center roughly thirty miles above the ground. (30 words)

比较：

A:用火箭进行研究已证实了人们早就有过怀疑的大气层的一个中心在距地面30英里高空的"高温带"的这种奇怪的事实。

B:人们早就怀疑，大气层中有一个"高温带"，其中心在距地面30英里的高空。利用火箭进行研究后，这一奇异的事实已得到证实。

2．英语多用被动，汉语多用主动。英语使用被动的情况有：

1）不知道行为者是谁或不必说明行为者是谁。

The book has already been translated into many languages.

2）对行为对象比对行为者更感兴趣。

The work must be finished before Christmas.

3）为了某种缘故不愿说明行为者是谁。

It is generally considered not advisable to act that way.

4）为了连贯上下文及安排上的需要。

They are going to build an apartment house here next year. It is going to be built beside the office building.

如：We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potentialoutcome. (1996. 6)

3．汉语代词（人称代词和物主代词）的使用远比英语为少。英语使用代词的地方很多。每个句子、分句都需要一个主语，而这个主语常常是代词。另外，所属关系也要明确指出来，因而物主代词用得很多。如：

As we discuss our differences, neither of us will compromise our principles. But while we cannot close the gulf between us, we can try to bridge it so that we may be able to talk across it.

直译：在我们讨论我们的分歧的时候，我们哪一方都不会在我们的原则上妥协。但是，虽然我们不能弥合我们之间的鸿沟，我们却能够设法搭一座桥，以便我们能越过它进行会谈。

改译：在讨论我们的分歧时，哪一方都不会在原则上妥协。但是，虽然不能弥合我们之间的鸿沟，我们却能够设法搭一座桥，以便能越过它进行会谈。

4．英语多变化，汉语多重复。英语写作时要尽量避免重复，而汉语则不怕重复，如果使用得当，重复可以起反复强调的作用。

I first heard this tale in India, where it is told as if true-though any naturalist would know it couldn't be. Later someone told me that the story appeared in a magazine shortly before the First World War.

我头一回听到这个故事是在印度，那儿的人今天讲起来仍好象是确有其事似的-尽管任何一位博物学家都知道这不可能是真的。后来有人告诉我，在第一次世界大战之前不久，有一本杂志曾刊登过这篇故事。

5．英语较抽象，汉语较具体。译文中不能有似是而非的东西，不能"以其昏昏，使人昭昭"。

Odd though it sounds, cosmic inflation is a scientifically plausible consequence of some respected ideas in elementary-particle physics, and many astrophysicists have been convinced for the better part of a decade that it is true. (36 words)

宇宙膨胀虽然听似奇特，但它是基本粒子物理学中一些公认理论在科学上看似可信的推论，七八年来许多天体物理学家一直认为这一学说是正确的