英汉两种语言在建构句子时遵循不同的法则，汉语是取法自然，而英语通常是突显的信息优先，两者在语序上有着较明显的差別，所以翻译中调整语序是ー种重要的技巧。现分析两个例子。
1. I am heartened by the assurance which your Government has repeatedly given that the arrangements for Hong Kong contained in the Agreement are not measures of expediency.
贵国政府一再表示，协议中有关香港的安排不是权宜之计，这种保证使我感到鼓舞。
2. Could any spectacle, for instance, be more grimly whimsical than that of gunners using science to shatter men's bodies while, close at hand, surgeons use it to restore them?
炮手用科学毁坏了人体，而就在附近，外科医生用科学使其恢复健康，还有什么情景比这更加荒谬绝伦的吗？
汉语译文中，叙述在先，表态在后，句子的重心后移。这种语序上的调整符合汉语的表达习惯，使其自然流畅，下面两句也用了相同的方法来处理。
3. 如蒙早日寄来样品或产品册，将不胜感激。
It would be appreciated if samples and brochure could be soon forwarded.
4. 如果我早点从家出发，就不会误了飞机。
I wouldn't have missed the plane if I had left home earlier.
英语与汉语的顺序不同，需要进行调整，英语是先果后因，先推论，后假设，下面是调整时序的例子。
5. Air China become the country's flagship airline for international routes when the Civil Aviation Administration of China split up its domestic and foreign services into nominally independent airlines in the late 1980s.
上一篇：翻译的单位
下一篇：英语先前景，后背景的特征
微信公众号搜索“译员”关注我们，每天为您推送翻译理论和技巧，外语学习及翻译招聘信息。