第二种情况是转译为主格人称代词:形容词性的物主代词与后面的名词或动名词有时可译为汉语的主谓结构的短语或句子,也就是说,此时的形容词性物主代词被译成了汉语的主格人称代词。如:
* In our opinion these techniques will be of greater value in cryogenic switching circuits.
我们认为这种工艺对低温开关电路有较大的价值。
* Black holes show us a world which operates in a totally different way from our own and they question our most basic experience of space and time.
黑洞向我们展示出一个运动规律与我们这个世界完全不同的世界,它使我们对关于空间和时间的最基本的经验产生怀疑。
* Because their lower melting point will lead to longer die lives than would be obtained with alloys of higher melting points.
因为它们熔点较低,所以比起高熔点合金来可以延长压铸模寿命。
三、省译
* Penicillin works by not allowing a bacterium to build its cell wall.
青霉素的作用是不让细菌制造细胞壁。(省译its}
* Stamp wires and cables at intervals of not more than 3 inches along their entire lengths.
沿电线及电缆的全线上,至少每隔三英寸打印一个记号。(省译了 their)
四、its和their的译法
科技英语中形容词性物主代词最常见的就是表示物的第三人称物主代词,因此, 第三人称物主代词的翻译也是我们讨论的重点。第三人称物主代词的翻译除了上述的译法外,还有下列几种译法。
1. 译为“其”
第三人称物主代词its和their,在很多情况下并不译成“它的”、“它们的”,而是常常被译为汉语的“其”。如:
* Every organism is structurally isolated from its environment by some kind of covering such as a shell, a skin or a membrane.