浅谈英语无灵主语句

外国语学院英语专业

2010

级课程实践“学年 论文

1

”

浅谈英语无灵主语句

On the English Inanimate-Subjects Sentences

班级

:

姓名

:

学号

:

得分

:

摘

要：< /p>

英语无灵主语句是英语书面语中常见的一种典型句型和独特的语言现

象。

由于中西文化，

思维方式以及英汉语言之间的差异，

给中国学生在理解和运

用这类句子带来困难。

本文首先探究英语无灵主语的主要类型，

它们分别是表示

思想 情感的名词做主语；

表示行动和身体部位的名词做主语；

表示情 景和自然现

象的名词作主语，

表示时间和地点的名词做主语。< /p>

然后文章通过运用具体实例重

点分析无灵主语句的翻译方法以提高 中国学生的翻译水平。

关键词：

无灵主语；类型；翻译

Abstract:

English

sentences

with

inanimate

subjects

are

a

kind

of

common

and

typical

sentence

pattern

and

a

unique

language.

Due

to

cultural

and

linguistic

differences between English and Chinese and differences in ways of thinking between

East and West,

it

is

not easy

for Chinese students to

understand and

use. This paper

firstly

explores

the

categories

of

inanimate

subjects,

which

are

nouns

of

feeling

and

thought; nouns of action and part of body; nouns of situation and natural phenomenon;

nouns

of

time

and

place

respectively.

Secondly

,

it

analyzes

the

techniques

of

sentences with

inanimate subjects’ translation through concrete examples to

improve

Chinese students’ abilities of translation.

Key words:

inanimate subject

；

categories

；

translation

1 Introduction

Inanimate

subject

is a kind of

english syntactic

structure.

The subject

in english

can

be

expressed

in

two

types:

personal

and

impersonal.

When

expressed

in

impersonal

way

,

this

sentence

does

emphasize

the

thing

happening

on

the

person,

while

in

Chinese

it

can

be

translated

int o

什么人怎么样了

Furthermo re,

the

impersonal subject also can be divided

into two types:

inanimate subject and animate

1

外国语学院英语专业

级课程实践“学年论文

1

”

subject . This article mainly talks about the inanimate subject.

2 Animate verb

The

impersonal

subject

sentence

with

inanimate

subject

usually

indicate

the

abstract

concept

,

psychological

feeling

,

concrete

subject

or

time

and

place

and

so

on,however, the predicate in this sentence usually is

person's

or

group's

action

and

behaviour,

like

see,

desert,

find,

bring,

witness,

give,

escape,

surround,

kill,

deprive,

serve,

send,

know,

tell,

permit,

invite,

take,

drive,

prevent

from

and

so

on,

and

this

kind

of

sentence

is

often

rhetorical

and

carry

personification.

E.g.

1

Past

experience

has

taught

us

that

we

should

not

depend

on

others

for

everything.

?

E.g. 2 His name slips my mind.

??

E.g. 3 A good idea suddenly strikes me.

??

E.g. 4 A strange peace came over her when she was alone.

3 The categories of inanimate subjects

3.1 Nouns of feeling and thought

seen the

man

，

a chill of

horror suddenly swept over

her. /

看到那个

人，她突然有种 不寒而栗的感觉。

Despair

seized

him

at

the

thought

of

her

setting

out

alone

tore

new

the

weary

quest

for

work.

/

想起她一个人出去重新登上找工作的艰辛路途，他觉得万念俱

灰。

The

3.2

Nouns of action and part of body

Eg. Many

years of

hard

work changed

his

father

greatly. /

多年的辛劳使他父亲

大大变样了。

My heart failed me at the sight. /

一见那情景我就失去了勇气。

Her eyes were the same color as the sea

，

cheerful and excited. /< /p>

她那碧波般的双

眸流露着兴奋和激动的神色

The subject

many

years of

hard

work

is an action, and

my

heart

her

eyes

.

3.3

Nouns of situation and natural phenomenon

2

外国语学院英语专业

2010

级课程实践“学年论文

1

”

Eg.A hush fell upon the assembly

. /

会场一片寂静。

A heavy rain visited the city

. /

这个城市刚下过一场大雨。

The

subject

a

hush

is

the

situation

of

assembly

,

and

a

heavy

rain

is

a

natural phenomenon.

3.4 Nouns of time and place

Eg.

Dusk

found

the

little

girl

crying

in

the

street.

/

黄昏时分人们发现小女孩

在街上哭。

The postwar years in Germany saw honors heaped upon the great scientist. /

在德

国战后的岁月里，这位伟大的科学家得到了种种荣誉。

The town boasts a beautiful lake. /

镇上有个美丽的湖，人人以此自豪。

The

city

had

witnessed

many

great

historic

events.

/

在这个城市曾经发 生过许

多重大历史事件。

The subject

and

years

nouns of

time,and

town

and

4 T

he techniques of sentences with inanimate subjects’ translation

4.1

Translation into animate-subject sentence

Eg. The job exhausted me.

我已经干得筋疲力尽了。

His name escaped me from the moment.

我一时记不起他的名字。

Obviously

,we

can

find

out

the

logical

subjects

from

the

examples

above.

The

logical

subjects

are

behind

the

verbs,

so

we

can

regard

it

as

the

direct

subject

when we translate the sentence into Chinese.

4.2

Translation into adverbial clause of reason

The

inanimate-subject

sentence

can

also

be

translated

into

adverbial

clause

of

reason, but we should clear the logical relations between the subject and object.

For example

Business took him to the town.

他因事进城了。

Rich experience keeps him smooth

in

this

work.

由于他富有经验 ，工作一贯得

心应手。

Shortness of money has required the omission of these book.

我因缺少钱而没能

< br>买这些书。

From

the

logical

sequence

above,

we

can

get

that

the

inanimate

subjects

like

3