1. 何謂長句
所謂長句，主要指語法結構複雜、修飾成分較多、內容層次在兩個或兩個以上的複合句，亦可指含義較多的簡單句。
2、漢英長句比較
英、漢兩種語言在句法上存在差異,英語多爲形合句,漢語多爲意合句。漢語句子多屬於緊縮型,英語的句子多屬於擴展型.英語修辭語位置相對靈活,前置後置,比較自如,尤其傾向於後置,十分有利於句子的擴展。英語句子較長,且較多使用關聯詞和從句。多種從句(主語、狀語、定語、表語從句)並存的長句比比皆是。因爲英語結構複雜,層次變化多樣,容易產生誤解,所以英語長句翻譯成爲難點。
3、英語長句的分析
在分析長句時可以採用下面的方法:
(1) 找出全句的主語、謂語和賓語（主幹/句）, 從整體上把握句子的結構。
(2) 找出句中所有的謂語結構、非謂語動詞、介詞短語和從句的引導詞。
(3) 分析從句和短語的功能, 例如, 是否爲主語從句, 賓語從句, 表語從句等,若是狀語, 它是表示時間、原因、結果、還是表示條件等等)。
(4) 分析詞、短語和從句之間的相互關係, 例如, 定語從句所修飾的先行詞是哪一個等。
(5) 注意插入語等其他成分。
例：Behaviorists suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will experience greater intellectual development.
Behaviorists suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will experience greater intellectual development.
分析: (1) 該句的主語爲behaviorists, 謂語爲suggest, 賓語爲一個從句, 因此整個句子爲Behaviorist suggest that-clause 結構。
(2) 該句共有五個謂語結構, 它們的謂語動詞分別爲suggest, is raised, are, develop, experience等。
譯文：行爲主義者認爲, 如果兒童的成長環境裏有許多刺激因素, 這些因素又有利於其適當反應能力的發展, 那麼, 兒童的智力就會發展到較高的.水平
4. 翻譯方法
4 . 1 順譯法 Synchronizing
有些英語長句敘述的一連串動作按發生的時間先後安排，或按邏輯關係安排，與漢語的表達方式比較一致，可按原文順序譯出。
例（1）In international buying and selling of goods, there are a number of risks, which, if they occur, will involve traders in financial losses.
(在)國際貿易貨物的買賣(中)存在着各種各樣的風險，這些風險的發生將會給(有關的)商人們帶來經濟損失。
例（2）
(1)In Africa I met a boy,(2) who was crying as if his heart would break and said,(3)when I spoke
to him,(4)that he was hungry ,(5) because he had had no food for two days.
(1)在非洲，我遇到一個小孩，(2)他哭得很傷心。(3)我問他爲什麼哭，(4)他說肚子餓，(5)兩天沒有吃東西了。
例（3）The world is undergoing profound changes: the integration of economy with science and technology is increasing, the restructuring of the world economy is speeding up, and economic prosperity depends not only on the total volume of resources and capital, but also directly on the accumulation and application of technological knowledge and information.
譯文：世界正在發生深刻的變化：經濟與科學技術的結合與日俱增；世界經濟的重組加快步伐；經濟繁榮不僅僅取決於資源和資本的總量，而且直接有賴於技術知識和信息的積累及其應用。
4.2 逆譯法 Reversing
“逆譯法”又稱“倒置譯法”，主要指句子的前後倒置問題。有些英語長句的表達次序與漢語習慣不同，甚至語序完全相反。因爲：
表現在因果關係上，英語常常從果到因，強調果對主體的影響，而漢語則從因到果順理推移，從解釋到結論，從條件到結果。
在敘和議的關係上，英語一般先表態後敘事，而漢語一般先交代事情，後發表議論。 翻譯時，我們必須從原文的後面譯起，逆着原文的順序翻譯。
例（1）His delegation welcomed the fact that UNDP was prepared to respond to emergency needs as they rose, despite the basically long-term operations that characterized those programs.
儘管聯合國開發計劃署的特點是開展長期業務活動，但是該機構也作了應急準備，對此，他的代表團表示歡迎。
例(2)
This will remain true whether we are dealing with the application of psychology to advertising and political propaganda, or of engineering to the mass media of communication, or of medical science to the problem of overpopulation or old age.
無論我們說的是把心理學應用於廣告宣傳和政治宣傳，還是把工程學應用於大衆傳播媒體，或是把醫學運用於人口過剩問題和老年問題，這種情況總是如此。
例（3）
It should be the pressing task in international postal cooperation to actively help developing countries overcome difficulties in their development of postal services and to energetically narrow the gap between the developing and the developed countries in this field.
積極幫助發展中國家克服郵政建設中面臨的困難，努力縮小發展中國家與發達國家在郵政領域的差距，應成爲國際郵政合作的當務之急。
例(4)
It is probably easier for teachers than for students to appreciate the reasons why learning English seems to become increasingly difficult once the basic structures and patterns of the language have been understood.
一旦瞭解英語的基本結構和句型, 再往下學似乎就越來越難了, 這其中的原因, 也許教師比學生更容易理解。
例(5)
Insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world; they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals.
假如沒有那些以昆蟲爲食的動物保護我們, 昆蟲將吞噬我們所有的莊稼, 害死我們的牛羊家畜, 使我們不能生存於世。
例(6)
Such is a human nature in the West that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white collar workers.
許多人寧願犧牲比較高的工資以換取成爲白領工人的社會地位, 這在西方倒是人之常情。
4.3 拆離法 Splitting
The so-called splitting means taking certain elements ( clause , phrase , or word ) out of a sentence and treating them separately. This technique is usually adopted when both cutting and embedding fail to work in dealing with long and complex sentences.
有時英語長句中主語或主句與修飾詞的關係並不十分密切, 翻譯時可以按照漢語多用短句的習慣, 把長句的從句或短語化成句子, 分開來敘述,爲了使語意連貫, 有時需要適當增加詞語。
Example（1）
The number of the young people in the United States who can't read is incredible about one in four.
原譯：沒有閱讀能力的美國青年人的數目令人難以相信約爲1/4。
改譯：大約有1/4的美國青年人沒有閱讀能力, 這簡直令人難以置信。
例（2） This year the estimated auto production is 40 million, and we can safely assume that even this tremendous number is likely to increase.
例（2） This year the estimated auto production is 40 million, and we can safely assume that even this tremendous number is likely to increase.
今年的汽車產量估計是四千萬輛。這個數字雖然很大了，但可能還要增加。我們這麼估計是有把握的。
例（3）Those Chinese scientists in Silicon Valley are understandably proud of their achievements. 例（3）Those Chinese scientists in Silicon Valley are understandably proud of their achievements.
可以理解的是那些在硅谷工作的中國科學家們對他們取得的成就感到很自豪。
The foreign visitors watched in a fascinated manner the tournament held in Beijing , which exhibited a superb performance in smash service, twist service, steady service, high drop and killing and ended in a draw.
外賓觀看了在北京舉行的這場錦標賽。這場比賽在發兇狠球、旋轉球、低慢球、高拋球及扣殺方面技術都十分精湛, 最後打成平局。他們看得簡直着迷了。 ( Splitting phrases )
4.4 切分法 Cutting
Sometimes, however, English modifiers are too long to be placed before the word being modified in the Chinese version. In this case, we have to resort to some other means---- most conveniently, cutting. By means of cutting, we may sever a long English sentence and rearrange the parts in sense groups, and then translate them separately into Chinese.
1). Human beings have distinguished themselves from other animals, and in doing so ensured their survival, by the ability to observe and understand their environment and then either to adapt to that environment or to control and adapt it to their own needs.
人類把自己和其他動物區別開來。與此同時, 人類還具有觀察和了解周圍環境的能力。他們要麼適應環境, 要麼控制環境, 或根據自身的需要改造環境。人類就這樣一代代地生存下來。
例（2）The medical waste that has fouled beaches in the New York region at the peak of the
summer season has taken its toll on business all along the shore, driving vacationers away both from beaches that have been closed and from those that have remained open.( cutting )
醫療用品生產商的廢棄物污染了紐約地區的海濱。時值盛夏，一些海濱浴場關閉了, 趕走了大批度假者, 而仍然開放的一些海濱浴場也門可羅雀。這使海濱區的商業蒙受嚴重損失。 例（3）World Bank Managing Director Richard Frank said in a statement that the $52 billion international rescue package assembled by the Clinton administration-which includes $17 billion from the International Monetary Fund—would meet Mexico’s short-term financial crisis, which blew up after the government devalued the peso in December.
譯文：世界銀行行長理查德·弗蘭克在一項聲明中說，由美國克林頓政府組織籌集的520億美元的國際援助貸款，其中包括國際貨幣基金組織提供的170 億美元貸款，將用於解決墨西哥目前面臨的短期金融危機；這次危機是由於墨西哥政府在12月將墨西哥比索貶值後而引發的。
4.4 綜合法 Recasting
在翻譯一個英語長句時, 並不只是單純地使用一種翻譯方法, 而是要求我們把各種方法綜合使用, 這在我們上面所舉的例子中也有所體現。尤其是在一些情況下, 一些英語長句單純採用上述任何一種方法都不方便, 這就需要我們的仔細分析, 或按照時間的先後, 或按照邏輯順序, 順逆結合, 主次分明地對全句進行綜合處理,以便把英語原文翻譯成通順忠實的漢語句子。
例（1）Computer language may range from detailed low level close to that immediately understood by particular computer, to the sophisticated high level which can be rendered automatically acceptable to wide range of computers.
譯文：計算機語言有低級也有高級的。前者比較繁瑣，很接近於特定計算機直接能懂的語言；後者比較複雜，適應範圍廣，能自動爲多種計算機所接受。
例（2）Up to the present time, throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this new tendency placed the home in the immediate suburbs, but concentrated manufacturing activity, business relations, government, and pleasure in the centers of the cities.
到目前爲止, 經歷了18和19兩個世紀, 這種新的傾向是把住宅安排在城市的近郊, 而把生產活動、商業往來、政府部門以及娛樂場所都集中在城市的中心地區。
例（3）Modern scientific and technical books, especially textbooks, requires revision at short intervals if their authors wish to keep pace with new ideas, observations and discoveries.
對於現代書籍, 特別是教科書來說, 要是作者希望自己書中的內容能與新概念、新觀察到的事實和新發現同步發展的話, 那麼就應該每隔較短的時間, 將書中的內容重新修改。
例（4） Complaints of poverty of poets are as old as their art, but I never heard that they wrote the worse verses for it. It is enough, probably , to call forth their most vigorous efforts , that poetry is admired and honored by their countrymen.
例（5）Complaints of poverty of poets are as old as their art, but I never heard that they wrote the worse verses for it. It is enough, probably , to call forth their most vigorous efforts , that poetry is admired and honored by their countrymen.
自古以來，詩人即以貧困而怨訴不絕。但因貧而不功於藝者，於我則聞所未聞。蓋天下愛詩而敬之，則詩人雖盡其才力仍因以自己安慰自己。這大概就是原因所在吧。
