汉语主动句

三、汉语主动句

正如本章之首所述，汉语具有“意合”的特点，经常采用主动语态来表达被动句，但“含义”是被动的，但读者大都能够明白。这是汉语中使用被动语态频度比较低的原因之一。但是，英语的被动语态具有明确的形式，于是，汉译英时经常需要跳出原文的“语义场”，转而采用高度格式化的“be done by”字面形式，围绕原文信息内容的实质重新选择句型，不可以照搬汉语的主动态结构，性质上仍然是“意译”。例如：

例17　中国第一辆合资生产的桑塔纳轿车于1984年驶下装配线。

D1. China’s first Santana car made by joint venture was launched in 1984.

D2. The first Santana produced by joint venture was put out of the assembly line in 1984.

D3. In 1984, the first Chinese Santana car produced by joint venture | drove down from the assembly line.

D4. The first Chinese joint production of Santana passenger car drove down the assembly line in 1984.

D5. The first Santana car of the Sino-foreign joint venture | drove down …

C. The first joint production of Santana car drove down the Chinese assembly line in 1984.

原文的下划线部分在D3至D5中都是drove down，系照词直译而未查词典的结果。英语里确有drive down这个词组，但含义是“（价格的）压低”。

A1. The first Santana car of a joint production in China rolled off the assembly line in 1984.

A2. The first Santana car of a joint Chinese production rolled down the assembly line in 1984.

A3. A Santana passenger car, the first of a Sino-foreign joint venture, was driven off the assembly line in 1984.

例18　我们近期启用了新的设计方案，目的是要这种设备运转得效率更高。

B. We recently adopted a new design for making the performance of this kind of device more efficient.

A1. We recently adopted a new design in order to help this equipment operate more efficiently.

译文A2和A3均采用了被动语态。希望以此例句继续印证本小节开头所讲，同时示意英语被动语态的应用频率的确高得多，且应用十分多样化。

A2. Recently a new design proposal has been adopted to improve the efficiency of the machine.

A3. The new design we adopted recently /have recently adopted was aimed at improving the efficiency of the equipment operation.

汉语原文采用“人们”、“有人”、“大家”之类的词作为句子的主语，而英语译文可以根据上下文，改用英语习惯的第三人称代词it作为主语，把明确的人称代词改为隐含的it句型。这么做的结果也是汉语的主动句译成了英语的被动句。这方面也有一些固定的套话，以第三人称单数it为主语的方法经常会带动整个句子的视角改变。例如：

谁都知道，…… It is understood that …

人们有时会问，…… It is sometimes asked that …

有人 /人们主张，…… It is asserted that …

有人 /人们指出，…… It has been viewed that …

有人 /人们认为，…… It is considered /thought /regarded /reputed that …

我们 /人们希望，…… It is expected /hoped that …

大家知道 /众所周知，…… It is well known (to all) that …

下面请看几个例句：

例19　我们希望，通过这次整合，能够提高公司的竞争力，并提升服务品质。

D1. We hope, through this integration can company raise to the competition services of it.

D2. It can be expected that to improve the competitiveness and the quality of service of our company.

C. We hope to enhance the overall competitive power and quality of service of our company.

A1. We hope that the company’s competitiveness and service quality can be improved after this integration of resources.

A2. It is hoped that the competitiveness and service quality of the company can be …