在翻译中，有时某个词或短语，译成中文后显得太笼统或因搭配不连而不清晰,此时，译者需要根据上下文，补充其基本内容或者把大概念改为小概念，这种变通就叫做“对关键词具体化”。

例1 

I'm always been a good citizen

【译文】我一直是个守规矩的公民。

【评析】good“好”的概念模糊，需要具体化。这句话出自ー篇名为“洗冤记”的文章。顾名思义，主人翁被冤枉犯了法，反过来说， 主人翁认为自己一贯“遵纪守法”，是不可能犯法的，所以这里的 “good”需要具体化。

例2 

My mind raced. Did they think I was guilty?

【译文】我的大脑在急速翻择，他们是不是认为我有罪?

【评析】race在字典只解释为“比速度，参加比赛”。如果直译， 必定导致译文不通，所以需要具体地说清大脑活动的内容或方式。

例3 

I didn't know we were starting tradition.

【译文】我那时还没有意识到我们之间开始养成了（一种书信往来的）习惯。

【评析】如果把tradition译成“传统”，读者一定感到诧异。此句的前一句为：When my daughter Julie was six years old, she wrote a letter to the tooth fairy and put it under her pillow with her tooth. I wrote back, telling her to be a good girl and to always brush her teeth carefully，所以“tradition”应该指的上面这句话的内容，所以有必要对tradition进行具体化的翻译，译成“习惯”。

例4 

Since his vision is not perfects, he wears glasses: they are small, round and frameless.