摆脱中式英语 11|佛山英语培训

文本来源：佛山商务英语培训 首选爱德华国际英语

91. 由于街道的扩建,道路两旁矮小的房屋全部被拆除了.
[误] The short and small houses on both sides of the road have been demolished due to its widening.
[正] The low and small houses on both sides of the road have been demolished due to its widening.
注:英语中,形容人或树等的高矮要用形容词 tall 和 short;但是指山峦,房屋或其它建筑物的高矮,我们通常用 high 和 low.

92. 爸爸总爱发脾气.
[误] Dad always likes losing his temper.
[正] Dad is apt to lose his temper.
注:like doing something 表示"喜欢干某事",一般用来说明某人的兴趣爱好;而 be apt to do sth.则表示"常常发生某种行为"或"容易发生某种变化".根据原文的意思显然应该用后者.

93. 欧文按捺不住激动的心情,大声喊道:"我中奖了!"
[误] Owen couldn't hold back his exciting feeling, and he shouted, "I've got the winning number in the bond!"
[正] Owen couldn't hold back his excitement, and he shouted, "I've got the winning number in the bond!"
注:exciting feeling 这种搭配很不地道,虽然"振奋人心的消息"是 exciting news,"有趣的故事"是 interesting story, 但"激动的心情"却要用名词形式 excitement 来表达.

94. 丹尼斯自己不努力,还老是眼红别人的成就.
[误] Denis himself doesn't work hard, however, he is always red-eyed of other people's achievements.
[正] Denis himself doesn't work hard, however, he is always green-eyed of other people's achievements.
注:中国人说一个人嫉妒用"眼红",但英美人则用"眼绿"来形容.英语的 green 除了表示颜色之外还有"嫉妒"的意思,又如:I was absolutely green (with envy) when I saw his splendid new car(我看到他那辆漂亮的新车非常眼红).其实,英语中许多表示色彩的词汇都有特殊的含义,不能照字面去理解.再比如:He gave me a black look(他恶狠狠地蹬了我一眼);She visits us once in a blue moon(她难得来看我们一次)等.

95. 夏天要多喝白开水.
[误] You should drink more white boiled water in summer.
[正] You should drink more plain boiled water in summer.
注:"白开水"不是指"水的颜色是白色",而是指"水中没有添加其他的东西".而 plain 正是指"没掺杂其他东西的,单纯的",所以能确切表达原文的含义.

96. 对不起,我把课本忘在家里了.
[误] Sorry, I forgot my textbook at home.
[正] Sorry, I left my textbook at home.
注:原文中的"忘"是指"落在家里"的意思,不能翻译成英文的 forget,而应用表示"把...留在某地,丢下,落下"等的意思的 leave.

97. 中国足球队击败了日本队,从而取得了参加半决赛的资格.
[误] The Chinese football team beat the Japanese team, and is qualified to play in the half-finals.
[正] The Chinese football team beat the Japanese team, and is qualified to play in the semifinals.
注:semi- 是英语里的一个前缀,表示"半",例如:automatic 是"自动的",那么 semiautomatic 就表示"半自动的"; diameter 指"直径",那么 semi-diameter 就指"半径";monthly 指"月刊",那么 semi-monthly 就表示"半月刊".以上这些都跟 semifinal(半决赛)一样,是约定俗成的.

98. 在自然灾害期间,绝大多数人都过着半饥半饱的生活.
[误] During the natural calamity, most people were half hungry, half full.
[正] During the natural calamity, most people were underfed.
注:under- 是一个英语前缀,表示"......不足的",如:underdeveloped(经济发展不充分的),underage(未到法定年龄的)等.所以,underfeed 表示"未喂饱的,食物不足的".汉语中"半......半......"的结构可以翻译成 half...half...,例如: As for this matter, I am half-believing, half-doubting(对于这件事我是半信半疑的);This composition is half literary, half vernacular(这篇文章写得半文不白的).

99. 汉语是我们的母语.
[误] Chinese is our mother language.
[正] Chinese is our mother tongue.
注:tongue 除了指"舌头",还可以用来指"语言,方言",如 the Spanish tongue 并非指"西班牙舌头",而是指"西班牙语". 我们常说的有"语言天赋",英语里相应的表达是 the gift of tongues."母语"在英语中用 mother tongue 表达,还可以说 parent language 或 linguistic parent,但 mother language 的说法却是不地道的.

文本来源：佛山商务英语培训 首选爱德华国际英语