中文常见成语的英文翻译与英汉差异

中文常见成语的英文翻译与英汉差异

爱屋及乌

Love me, love my dog.

百闻不如一见

One look is worth a thousand words.

比上不足，比下有余

To fall short of the best, but be better than the worst.

笨鸟先飞

A slow sparrow should make an early start.

不遗余力

Spare no effort; go all out; do one's best.

不打不成交

No discord, no concord.

拆东墙补西墙

Rob Peter to pay Paul.

辞旧迎新

Bid farewell to the old and usher in the new.

大事化小，小事化了

Try first to make their mistake sound less serious and then to reduce it to nothing at

all.

大开眼界

Broaden one's horizon; be an eye-opener.

国泰民安

The country flourishes and people live in peace.

过犹不及

Going beyond the limit is as bad as falling short;

excess is just as bad as deficiency;too much is as bad as too little.

好了伤疤忘了疼

Once on shore, one prays no more.

好事不出门，坏事传千里

Bad news travels fast.

和气生财

Harmony brings wealth;

friendliness is conducive to business success.

活到老学到老

Never too old to learn.

既往不咎

Let bygones be bygones.

金无足赤，人无完人

There are spots even on the sun.

金玉满堂

Treasures fill the home.

脚踏实地

Be down-to-earth.

脚踩两只船

Sit on the fence; be a fence-sitter; have a foot in either camp.

君子之交淡如水

A hedge between keeps friendship green.

已成定局

Cut and dried.

礼尚往来

Courtesy calls for reciprocity.

留得青山在，不怕没柴烧

Where there is life, there is hope.

马到成功

Achieve immediate victory; win instant success.

名利双收

Gain both fame and wealth.

茅塞顿开

Be suddenly enlightened.

没有规矩，不成方圆

Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.

每逢佳节倍思亲

On festive occasions more than ever one thinks of one's dear ones far away.

谋事在人，成事在天

Man proposes; God disposes.

弄巧成拙

Make a fool of oneself in trying to be smart.

赔了夫人又折兵

Suffer a double loss; lose the bait along with the fish.

抛砖引玉

A modest spur to induce others to come forward with valuable contributions; throw

a sprat to catch a mackerel.

破釜沉舟

Cut off all means of retreat；burn one's own way of retreat and be determined to fight

to the end.

抢得先机

Take the preemptive opportunities.

巧妇难为无米之炊

One can't make bricks without straw.

千里之行始于足下

A thousand-li journey begins with the first step--the highest eminence is to be

gained step by step.

前事不忘，后事之师

Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future.

前怕狼，后怕虎

Fear wolves ahead and tigers behind; hesitate in doing something.

强龙难压地头蛇

The mighty dragon is no match for the native serpent.

瑞雪兆丰年

A fall of seasonal snow gives promise of a fruitful year.

人逢喜事精神爽

People are in high spirits when involved in happy events.

世上无难事，只怕有心人

Where there is a will, there is a way.

世外桃源

A retreat away from the turmoil of the world.

人之初，性本善

Humans are born good.

上有天堂，下有苏杭

Just as there is paradise in heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth

塞翁失马，焉知非福

A blessing in disguise;

Every cloud has a silver lining.

三十而立

A man should be independent at the age of thirty. /At thirty, a man should be able to

think for himself.

水涨船高

A ship rises with the tide

时不我待

Time and tide wait for no man.

杀鸡用牛刀

Use a steam-hammer to crack nuts.

实事求是

Seek truth from facts; be practical and realistic; be true to facts.

说曹操，曹操到

Speak of the devil.

实话实说

Speak the plain truth; call a spade a spade; tell it as it is.

实践是检验真理的唯一标准

Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

韬光养晦

Hide one's capacities and bide one's time.

糖衣炮弹

Sugar-coated bullets.

天有不测风云

Anything unexpected may happen. a bolt from the blue.

团结就是力量

Unity is strength.

跳进黄河洗不清

Even if one jumped into the Yellow River, one can not wash oneself clean - there's

nothing one can do to clear one's name

歪风邪气

Unhealthy trends and vulgar practices.

物以类聚，人以群分

Birds of a feather flock together.

望子成龙

Hold high hopes for one's child.

唯利是图

Seek nothing but profits; be blind to all but one's own interests.

无中生有

A sheer fabrication out of nothing; fabricate rumors out of thin air.

无风不起浪

There are no waves without wind. Nothing comes of nothing.

徇私枉法

Twist the law to suit one's own purpose.

新官上任三把火

A new broom sweeps clean.

蓄势待发

Accumulate strength for a take-off.

心想事成

May all your wish come true.

心照不宣

Have a tacit understanding; thoroughly understand each other, without having

exchanged a word of explanation.

先入为主

First impressions are firmly entrenched.

先下手为强

He who strikes first gains the advantage.

The best defense is offense.

热锅上的蚂蚁

Ants on a hot pan

现身说法

Warn people by taking oneself as an example.

息事宁人

Pour oil on troubled waters; patch up a quarrel and reconcile the parties concerned.

循序渐进

Proceed in an orderly way and step by step; advance gradually in due order.

严以律己，宽以待人

Be strict with oneself and lenient with others.

有情人终成眷属

Jack shall have Jill, all shall be well.

有钱能使鬼推磨

Money makes the mare go./ Money talks.

有识之士

A man of insight.

有勇无谋

Bold but not crafty.

有缘千里来相会

Separated as we are thousands of miles apart, we come together as if by

predestination.

与时俱进

Keep pace with the times.

以人为本

People-oriented.

因材施教

Teach students according to their aptitude.

欲穷千里目，更上一层楼

To ascend another storey to see a thousand miles further; Ascend further, were you

to look farther.

欲速则不达

Haste makes waste.

More haste, less speed.

优胜劣汰

Survival of the fittest.

英雄所见略同

Great minds think alike.

冤家宜解不宜结

Better make friends than make enemies.

冤假错案

Cases in which people were unjustly, falsely or wrongly charged or sentenced; unjust,

false or wrong cases.

一言既出，驷马难追

A promise is a promise.

A real man never goes back on his words.

招财进宝

Bring in wealth and treasure.

债台高筑

Become debt-ridden.

众矢之的

Target of public criticism.

纸上谈兵

Be an armchair strategist.

纸包不住火

You can't wrap fire in paper.

What's done by night appears by day.

左右为难

Caught in a dilemma; between the devil and the deep blue sea.

英语学习应注意的英汉差异

英语重形合(hypotaxis)，汉语重意合(parataxis) 。

美国翻译理论家Eugene A. Nida功不可没，在其 Translating Meanings (1983 )一书中，他说明了英汉这一差异：

就汉语和英语而言，也许在语言学上最重要的一个区别就是形合和意合的对比。

所谓形合，即表示句内种种逻辑关系，须用连接词如if, although, because, when, in order that,

so及so that等词明确地表达出来。缺少了此类连接词，或者逻辑标记，如：It is late, I must leave.

- It is late之前，缺少了because，如此英语表达，native speakers一般不说。

所谓意合，顾名思义，无须所谓的逻辑标记，句子靠意思，就能“捏”在一起，为听者或读者所接受。如上句的对应汉语说法：迟了，我得走了。大家可以看看下面这两句话英汉间的差异：

① 跑得了和尚，跑不了庙。

The monks may run away, but the temple cannot run away with them.

② 一个英国人，不会说中国话，有一次在中国旅行。

An Englishman who could not speak Chinese was once traveling in China.

以上2句，讲究形合的英句中的but, who皆不可省略。汉句则干净利落，无须所谓的“逻辑标记”。

英语：前重心；汉语：后重心

结论、断言、结果以及事实，应该成为句子的“重心”，但就“重心”位置而言，“英前汉后”。比如：

① 生活中既有悲剧，文学作品就可以写悲剧。

这是一“因果”句，汉语表达讲究：先因后果。然而，相应的英语表达是：

Tragedies can be written in literature since there is tragedy in life.

这是一典型的“先果后因”句，十分自然，十分妥贴。尽管汉语也可以说：文学作品可以写悲剧，就因为生活中有悲剧。但总不如“先因后果”那么听上去顺耳，读上去顺眼。

② 小国人民敢于起来斗争，敢于拿起武器，掌握自己国家的命运，就一定能够战胜大国的侵略。

本句所用句式为：条件 → 断言，即“如果怎样，结果就怎样”。前者“条件”为轻；后者“断言”为重。其相应英语表达为：

The people of a small country can certainly defeat aggression by a big country, if only they dare to

rise in struggle, dare to take up arms and grasp in their own hands the destiny of their own country.

不难看出，译文的表达与汉语表达是逆向的，即英语先“断言”后“条件”，即“结果就怎样，如果怎样”。

英语：静态(static)语言；汉语：动态(dynamic)语言

英语少用谓语动词，汉语则动辄喜欢使用动词。在实际的语言运用中，汉语往往大量采用兼语式或连动式。

英语静态特征的表现是多维的，简言之，主要有句法方式或词汇方式两种。前者如使用非谓语或非限定动词(即动词的-ed形式、-ing形式和不定式)、省略动词(如be或谓语成分)以及将动词名词化等；

后者如使用动词的同源名词(如realize—realization; free—freedom; master—mastery)、同源形容词(如support—supportive; doubt—doubtful)、介词及副词等等。

相对而言，汉语的动词由于缺乏英语动词那样的形态变化，若要表达动作意义，往往别无他法，只能启用动词本身。 比如：

① I fell madly in love with her, and she with me.

我疯狂地爱上了她，她也疯狂地爱上了我。

注：英语可省略动词（如后半句），汉语却不可。

② Back and forth his head swiveled, desire waxing, resolution waning.

他来回晃着脑袋，欲望在膨胀，意志在萎缩。

注：英语用独立结构，汉语则用动词。

③ I am afraid of you misunderstanding me.

我担心你误解了我。

注：英语用动名词复合结构，汉语却用动词。

④ That would be the confirmation that it was in general use.

这将证实其使用是十分普遍的。

注：英语用同根名词(confirm -- confirmation)，汉语不得不用动词。

其实，除上述同源词外，英语还有众多的词可用来表示动作意义。名词如：glance, glimpse, look,

mention, close等；形容词如：able, afraid, angry, anxious, aware, capable, good等等。在特定的语言环境中，这些词都宜译作相应的动词。如：

① The very sight of it makes me nervous.

一看见这东西，我就感到紧张。

② I m sure of it.

对此我深信不疑。

英语重物称(impersonal)；汉语重人称(personal)

英语的物称倾向十分明显，最显见于其对主语的择定。英语常选择不能施行动作或无生命事物的词语作主语。相对而言，汉语一般则更习惯于人称化的表达，尤其是主语，能施行动作或有生命的物体为主语之首选。如：

① A wave of cigar smoke accompanied Ogilvie in.

奥格尔维进门时，带进一缕雪茄烟雾。

② “Hi! Hi!” said the cab driver, whose door popped opened at the very sight of a traveler.

“嗨！嗨！”出租车司机嚷道，他一瞅见旅客就“砰”地打开车门。

③ Bitterness fed on the man who had made the world laugh.

这位饱尝辛酸者却让全世界的人发出笑声。

英语多被动(passive)；汉语多主动(active)

英语多见被动句式与其物称倾向不无关联。充任主语的词既然有大量“无灵”(inanimate)物称，其被动句式则有了繁衍的前提，反之，汉语具有人称倾向，自然采用更多的主动句式。当然，英语也不会无缘无故地滥用被动句式。

其内在的修辞功能在于：不必强调动作的施行者，则将其置于句尾by之后；抑或不必、不愿或不便言明动作的施行者；则干脆将其省略。试比较：

① The importance of oceanography as a key to the understanding of our planet is seldom as well

appreciated.

海洋学是人们认识星球的关键，而其重要性却不是人人都知晓的。

② The challenge from the Third World has always been foreseen by our shipping companies.

本航海运输公司总能预见来自第三世界的挑战。

③ An illustration is furnished by an editorial in the Washington Post (January 17,2011).

《华盛顿邮报》(2011年1月17日)的一篇社论提供了一个例证。

英语多复合长句；汉语多简单短句

以上所列第一点(英语重形合，汉语重意合)以及第三点(英语：静态语言；汉语：动态语言)等，加之英语各种的替代词与关系词的广泛运用，导致英语较多出现“多枝共干”式长句、复合句。而汉语则相反，多用短句、简单句。试比较：

As we lived near the road, we often had the traveler or stranger visit us to taste our gooseberry wine,

for which we had great reputation, and I confess, with the veracity of an historian, that I never knew

one of them to find fault with it.

上句洋洋洒洒，达47个单词，其“主干”为：we often had the traveler or stranger visit us; 其余皆可视为“枝”，它们借助于as, to, for which, and, with, that等词与“主干”自然而又条理清晰地“攀援”在一起，构成了一长句。汉语作为重意合的“动态”语言，又将如何表述上句的意思呢？试读：

我们就住在路边。过路人或外乡人常到我们家，尝尝我们家酿的酸果酒。我们家做的这种酒很有名气。我敢说，尝过的人，从没有挑剔过。我这话像历史学家的话一样靠得住。

英语重后饰(back modifier)；汉语重前饰(preceding modifier)

英语与汉语就句子的逻辑重心而言，英语惯于前置，“先声”夺人；汉语多后移，“后发”制人。从“语序”看，虽然在各自的语法中具有同等的重要性，且通常都采用“主谓宾”(SVO)的线性排列顺序，然而，英汉在修饰语(定语和状语)的位置处理上存在着一个显而易见的差异。

英语的修饰语既可置于被修饰成分之前，又可置于其后，但此修饰语若为短语或分句，则往往置于被修饰成分之后。值得注意的是， 汉语的修饰语无论是词、短语或是句子，其位置一般处于被修饰成分之前。英语以“尾重”(end weight)为美，而这种“美”多半依靠“重后饰”的表达习惯造就。

试比较：

① The diagnosis seems in every case to correspond exactly with all the sensations that I have ever

felt.

每次看病的诊断似乎都和我的感觉不谋而合。

小析：英语(The diagnosis…in every case) ---- 汉语(每次看病的诊断)；英语(all the sensations

that I have ever felt) ---- 汉语(我所有的感觉)。

② It is a good plan to imagine an argument with a person having a different bias.

想象与持不同偏见的人进行辩论，是一个很好的办法。

小析：英语(an argument with a person having a different bias) ---- 汉语(与持不同偏见的人进行辩论)

以上2例可见：英汉处理其修饰成分的位置简直是“反其道而行之”。

英语重短语；汉语轻短语

英语的句法单位(unit)的主体是：短语或词组。与其说英句由单词组成，不如说以形形色色的短语或词组(如名词短语、形容词短语、介词短语、分词短语、不定式短语、动词短语、独立结构等)为基本构件。

其中，名词短语与动词短语又为句子最主要的构成单位。其句法功能不一而足，诸如主语、谓语、宾语、表语、定语或状语等。与之恰成对照的是，汉语更偏重以(单音节或多音节的)字或词为其基本的句法成分。试比较：

① But with the world steel industry deep in the doldrums, who needed iron carriers?（介词词组）

世界钢铁工业很不景气，谁还需要矿砂船呢？

② I have never met a person so difficult to understand as my husband.(形容词词组)

我还从未遇到过像我丈夫这么难以理解的人。

③ This is by far the most interesting book I have ever read.(副词词组)

这是迄今为止我所读到的最有趣的书。

④ The author s new book on phonetics recently published is more than worth reading.(名词词组)

作者最近初版的语音著述太值得一读了。

⑤ You must stand up for (= support) your friend.(动词词组)

你得支持你的朋友。

⑥ To be kind to the enemy is to be cruel to the people.(不定式短语)

对敌人仁慈就是对人民残忍。

⑦ Mary is considering changing her job.( 动名词短语)

玛丽正在考虑调换工作。

英语重时体；汉语轻时体

从语法范畴分析，英语动词的时体显得极为丰富，理论上说，英语有十六个时态，所谓“时态”，是汉语的弱项。英语可以通过固定的语法手段将动作的进行过程与状况作更准确、更精细的描绘。有时这种描绘还能融入作者或说话人的一种感情色彩。现以进行时为例：

① He is always thinking of how he could do more for the people.(表示赞扬)

他总是考虑如何为人民做更多的事。

② My wife is always changing her clothes.(表示厌烦)

我夫人穿衣服老喜欢换东换西。

③ I m now living in a very pleasant flat.(表示满意)

我现在住在一间非常舒适的公寓里。

④ You have always been making that mistake.(表示不满)

你老是犯那类错误。

除此之外，英语中许多微妙精细的语气、感觉、寓意等也是借助其丰富的时体自然传递的。诸如：

They were building a dam last winter.(指在建造中)

They built a dam last winter. (指建造好了)

I heard a knock at the door.

I am hearing (= attending) lectures at the college. (词义改变)

I forget his name.

I am forgetting (= beginning to forget) how to speak French. (表示“开始”、“这会儿”)

正因为英汉有别，有时候，英语略施“时体”灵巧小技，汉语则只得“动用”词汇手段。如：

It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow

sweetness to everything they do.

这是美国盲人作家Helen Keller的一句名言。句中的who live, or have lived用得轻松自然。此句相应的汉语表达是：

人们已经注意到大凡受到死亡威胁的人或是死里逃生的人对于他们所干的任何事总是兴趣盎然。

“I must confess that I did not expect a speech about oysters. I thought that Hiroshima still felt the

impact of the atomic cataclysm.”

I thought与I think均频频出现于日常会话中，但是前者的寓意是：我曾以为（现在并不是这样）……，而后者则多指说话时所持的观点或态度。英语未添一词，只是将think变为thought，汉语则需另增词汇。上句的相应汉语表达为：

不瞒您说，我并没有想到会在这里听到讲牡蛎。我曾以为广岛仍笼罩在那场原子灾难的阴影之中。

英语重形态；汉语轻形态

英语是一种更为形式化的语言，它注重形式，善变形式，我们从以下两方面简析：

1.构词

现代汉语与英语相似，可采用“合成法”(composition)来扩充词汇，汉语的字、词与字、词之间拼联的组合力极强。有人曾以“生”为例，它可构成“生存、生命、生铁、人生……”等150余个词，然而，与英语的词缀所含的强大孳生力相比，它又相形逊色。查《英汉技术词典》，由semi-构成的新词达230个，auto-构成的新词260个，micro-构成的新词则在300以上。有人戏言，英语可以通过词缀随时随地造出新词。此言并不为过。如：

More recently he introduced himself into the debate on welfare reform by insisting that unwed

motherhood, not joblessness, was the problem.

不识句中的unwed无妨，我们可以运用英语的构词知识作如此“逆思”：wedding (n.结婚)→ wed

(v.结婚) → wed (p.p.结婚的) → unwed (p.p.未婚的) → unwed mother (未婚的母亲) → unwed

motherhood (未婚母亲的身份)。

上句含义据此可推出： 就在最近，由于坚持认为未婚母亲而不是失业才是问题症结之所在，他使自己卷入了关于福利改革的争论中。

2.代词

代词作为一种形态标记在英语中淋漓尽致地发挥了作用，使行文趋于简洁并活力洋溢。相比之下，汉语则“墨守”名词，“慎用”代词。 如：

Newton invented a paper lantern illuminated by a candle which he carried with him to light his way

to school on dark winter mornings.

句中which的先行词是candle？还是lantern？我们得琢磨一番，且在汉语表达中不能用“它”字。如：

Health is above wealth, for this cannot give so much happiness as that.

句中的this和that用得何等轻巧明白。汉译时则不能作张冠李戴的“还原”，否则意思将不明了。

上句只能如此翻译：健康比财富更重要，因为财富不能像健康那样带来那么多的幸福。