英语多被动,汉语多主动。英语比较喜欢用被动语态,科技英语尤其如此。汉语虽然也有“被”、“由”之类的词表示动作是被动的,但这种表达远没有英语的被动语态那么常见,因此,英语句子中的被动在汉语中往往成了主动。一些常用被动句型的汉译:
It is said that…据说…
It is believed that…据认为…
It is reported that…据报道…
It is estimated that…据估计…
It must be pointed out that…必须指出…
It must be admitted that…必须承认…
It has been found that…实践证明…
It is suggested that…有人建议…
It is agreed that…人们同意…
It is imagined that…人们认为…
It can not be denied that…不可否认…
It will be seen from this that…由此可知…
It should be realized that…必须认识到…
It is(always)stressed that…人们(总是)强调…
It is(generally)considered that…大家(普遍)认为…
It may be said without fear of exaggeration that…可以毫不夸张地说…
这些常用被动句型属于习惯表达法,在科技英语中出现频率很高,考生不仅要熟悉这些句型的固定翻译,同时要认识到许多英语中的被动从习惯上来讲要译成汉语的主动。
经典例题11、 And it is imagined by many that the operations of the common mind can by no means be compared with these processes,and that they have to be required by a sort of special training.(1993年第74题)
[参考译文] 许多人认为,普通人的思维活动根本无法与科学家的思维活动相比,认为这些思维活动必须经过某种专门训练才能掌握。
原文中有三个被动语态is imagined,be compared和be required,译成汉语都变成了主动表达:认为、相比和掌握。
有时候英语被动句译成被动和主动都可以,如: 经典例题12
It must have been taken away by him.
那一定是(被)他拿走了。
You will be drowned if you are not careful.