一．英漢語言對比

1．英語句子結構復雜，多長句；漢語多短句。例：

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

我的觀點是一代人經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)

比較：

A: 用火箭進行研究已證實了人們早就有過懷疑的大氣層的一個中心在距地面30英里高空的“高溫帶”的這種奇怪的事實。

B: 人們早就懷疑，大氣層中有一個“高溫帶”，其中心在距地面30英里的高空。利用火箭進行研究后，這一奇異的事實已得到證實。

2．英語多用被動，漢語多用主動。英語使用被動的情況有：

1）不知道行為者是誰或不必說明行為者是誰。

The book has already been translated into many languages.

2）對行為對象比對行為者更感興趣。

The work must be finished before Christmas.

3）為了某種緣故不愿說明行為者是誰。

It is generally considered not advisable to act that way.

4）為了連貫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 potential outcome. (1996. 6)

3．漢語代詞（人稱代詞和物主代詞）的使用遠比英語為少。英語使用代詞的地方很多。每個句子、分句都需要一個主語，而這個主語常常是代詞。另外，所屬關系也要明確指出來，因而物主代詞用得很多。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.

直譯：在我們討論我們的分歧的時候，我們哪一方都不會在我們的原則上妥協。但是，雖然我們不能彌合我們之間的鴻溝，我們卻能夠設法搭一座橋，以便我們能越過它進行會談。

改譯：在討論我們的分歧時，哪一方都不會在原則上妥協。但是，雖然不能彌合我們之間的鴻溝，我們卻能夠設法搭一座橋，以便能越過它進行會談。

4．英語多變化，漢語多重復。英語寫作時要盡量避免重復，而漢語則不怕重復，如果使用得當，重復可以起反復強調的作用。

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.

 我頭一回聽到這個故事是在印度，那兒的人今天講起來仍好象是確有其事似的—盡管任何一位博物學家都知道這不可能是真的。后來有人告訴我，在第一次世界大戰之前不久，有一本雜志曾刊登過這篇故事。

5．英語較抽象，漢語較具體。譯文中不能有似是而非的東西，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)

宇宙膨脹雖然聽似奇特，但它是基本粒子物理學中一些公認理論在科學上看似可信的推論，七八年來許多天體物理學家一直認為這一學說是正確的