句子的翻译（11）

　　2. 考虑谓语表意的需要时，还必须关照其与主语的语义关联以及主谓词语的搭配。请看下列例句：

　　(4)世纪之交，中国外交空前活跃。

　　a. The turn of the century finds China most active on the diplomatic arena.

　　b. At the turn of the century, China is very active in its diplomatic activities.

　　该例句曾在“主语的确定”部分讲解过。两个译文的主、谓语各不相同，句式结构也迥异。译文a以The turn (of the century)为主语，选择了finds(原句中不存在)作谓语与之搭配，生成了一个表意准确而又合乎英语习惯的句子。这是因为，译者熟悉动词find的用法之一：a time or event finds sb. or sth. in a particular situation or doing a particular thing (Collins COBUILD English Dictionary)，安排在此，正好能传达汉语原文的意义。而译文b亦步亦趋地紧随汉语原文，以China为主语，再按照语法要求，选择了连系动词is(原文中亦无对应表达)加表语very active作谓语。译文b虽然也表意忠实且合乎英语语法，但不及译文a自然地道。

　　(5)(听说你明天开张，)也许用的着，特意给你送来了。

　　a. (I hear that you're opening tomorrow.) You may have some use for these things, so I took them along.

　　b. (I hear that you're opening tomorrow.) Thought these might come in handy, so I brought them along.

　　(6)现在，连我们也欠饷啊!

　　a. Nowadays even our monthly pay is often in arrears.

　　b. Nowadays even we aren't always paid on time.

　　例5和例6情况类似。两译文谓语不同，是由于主语选择有别，表意方面没有大的差异，也都合乎语法规则，但译文b似乎更地道简洁，更贴近原文口语体的色彩。