在专利文献中,作者为了显示客观公正而大量地使用被动句,如果在专利翻译时也都在动词前面加上“被”字,中文读起来就非常拗口。在绝大多数情况下,“被”字都属多余,因为地道的汉语很少用它。那么,怎样才能准确灵活的翻译被动句呢?
一、译为主动句
在专利文献中,有些被动语态结构的句子可以直接以为主动语态。
例如,英文句子中的主语仍作译文句子中的主语,或是将它译为汉语的“是”字结构句等。
二、译为被动句
如果要强调被动的动作,英语的被动句也可直接译为汉语的被动句,表达的形式可以有
多种,如增加“被”、“受”、“把”、“让”、“给”、“由”、“经”、“用”、“以”、“靠”、“通过”、“所……”、“予以……”、“得到……”等,将句子译出。
三、it作形式主语的被动句
在专利文献中还有一种常用的被动语态是以it作形式主语的,这类句子在汉语中有约
定俗成的表达方式。如表4—2:
表4—2 it作形式主语句型
英语句型 | 汉译 |
It is alleged that… | 据称…… |
It is announced that… | 据宣布…… |
It is asserted that… | 有人声称…… |
It is assumed that… | 假设……,假定…… |
It is believed that… | 大家相信……,人们相信…… |
It is calculated that… | 据计算…… |
It is claimed that… | 有人主张……;有人声称…… |
It is considered that… | 认为…… |
It is declared that… | 据宣布……;有人宣称…… |
It is demonstrated that… | 证明…… |
It is estimated that… | 估计…… |
It is expected that… | 看来……;……是可能发生的 |
It is found that… | 发现…… |
It is generally agreed that… | 人们通常认为…… |
It is generally recognized that… | 一般认为……;普遍认为…… |
It is hoped that… | 希望…… |
It is hypothesized that… | 假设……;假定…… |
It is learned that… | 据说……;据闻…… |
It is mentioned that… | 据说…… |
It is noticed that… | 有人指出…… |
It is predicted that… | 预计…… |
英语句型 | 汉译 |
It is preferred that… | 最好…… |
It is proposed that… | 有人提议…… |
It is recommended that… | 建议…… |
It is reported that… | 据报道…… |
It is said that… | 据说……,有人说…… |
It is supposed that… | 据推测……;假定…… |
It is thought that… | 有人认为…… |
It is understood that… | 不用说……;……是很明白的 |
It is universally accepted that… | 普遍认为…… |
It is weighted that… | 考虑到……;权衡了…… |
It is well known that… | 众所周知…… |
It has been arranged that… | 准备……;已经商定…… |
It has been decided that… | 已经决定…… |
It has been illustrated that… | 据图示……;据说明…… |
It has been proved that… | 已经证明…… |
It has been shown that… | 有人指出…… |
It will be seen from this that… | 由此可知…… |
It cannot be denied that… | 不可否认……;……是无可否认的 |
It can be seen that… | 可见…… |
It must be admitted that… | 必须承认…… |
It must be stressed that… | 必须强调…… |
It should be pointed that… | 应该指出…… |
还有一些习惯用语,虽然不是被动语态,但也已it作形式主语,以形容词或名词作表语,后接有连词that引导的主语从句。这种结构的句子在用法上和汉译上与被动结构相似,如表4—3
表4—3 it作形式主语后接that引导的主语从句的情形
英语句型 | 汉译 |
It is advisable that… | 最好…… |
It is apparent that… | 显然…… |
It is appropriated that… | ……是适当的 |
It is the case that… | 情况是这样的…… |
It is certain that… | 无疑……;……是肯定的 |
It is clear that… | 显然…… |
It is conceivable that… | 可以想象…… |
It is desirable that… | 需要……;……是需要的 |
It is doubtful that… | 值得怀疑…… |
It is essential that… | 必须……;……是必不可少的 |
It is evident that… | 显然…… |
It is important that… | 重要的是……;……是重要的 |
It is impossible that… | ……是不可能的 |
It is merry that… | 幸而…… |
It is natural that… | ……是很自然的 |
It is necessary that… | 必须……;有必要…… |
It is nice that… | ……是太好了 |
It is no good that… | ……是无用的 |
It is notable that… | 值得注意的是…… |
It is noteworthy that… | 值得注意的是…… |
It is no use that… | ……是无用的 |
It is obvious that… | 显然…… |
It is a pity that… | 可惜…… |
It is possible that… | 有可能……;是可能的…… |
It is probable that… | 也许…… |
It is reasonable that… | ……是合理的 |
It is satisfactory that… | ……是令人满意的 |
It is true that… | 的确……;……是确实的 |
It is very likely that… | ……是很可能的 |
It is worth nothing that… | 值得注意的是……;值得考虑的是…… |
另外,有些习惯用语是it后接系动词或不及物动词,再接that引导的从句,如表4—4
表4—4 it后接系动词或不及物动词的情形
英语句型 | 汉译 |
It happened that | 恰巧……;碰巧…… |
It seems that | 看起来……;似乎…… |
It turn out that | 结果…… |
我们看到,在翻译专利文献时,即使汉语要用被动句,表达的形式也是多种多样的,不一定非用个“被”字。吕叔湘先生说:“也许有人说,在被动意义的动词前面加个‘被’字让形式和内容一致,免得混淆,岂不更好?这是不懂得语言的经济的话。‘碗打破了’这种说法,几千年来都没有人误会,何以到了我们手上就非加个‘被’字不可呢?”