新闻英语语法特点及翻译

1、1、被动语态使用频率较高 新闻报道最主要的作用是向大众报道最新的,有重大意义的事件和信息。因此,报道中强调的重点就是新闻的精髓所在。也就是我们常说的五个W和一个H (WHAT, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW)。为了能突出重点,新闻报道中常用被动语态强调行动或事件的结果, 这特别适用于对天灾人祸的报道(如地震, 特大洪灾, 严重交通事故等)以及有关犯罪谋杀的新闻。比如: Nine people were killed and seven injured in an oil tank explosion on Tuesday night in Jiangsu Provinc

2、e ( China Daily) (周二夜间江苏省境内发生油车爆炸事件,造成9人死亡, 7人受伤。) Russian officials have said 10 federal troops have been killed so far and a further 27 injured. ( China Daily) (俄官员声称到目前为止,共有10名联邦军人被杀,另有27人受伤。) 使用被动态可使读者对受害者的伤亡情况一目了然。 About 300 people have been killed with 8,000 injured and more others buried unde

3、r the toppled houses after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest Chinas Qinghai Province early on Wednesday, officials said. 简明是新闻报道的最基本要求。在新闻标题中，被动语态的动词be还常常被省略, 且只需讲述受动者的行为。因此, 同一句话用被动语态表达要比用主动语态来得精炼、简单、客观、生动。比如: Passport procedures simplified. ( China Daily) (护照办理程序简化。) More Training for Forei

4、gn Students By JULIA PRESTON Immigration officials said they were extending the duration of on-the-job training for immigrant students who are recent graduates with advanced degrees in science, technology and engineering. The training period will be extended to 29 months from 12 months for immigrant

5、s on student visas employed in jobs related to their field of study. Training will also be automatically extended for students who are waiting to shift to temporary work visas known as H-1B. The measure, which officials said would benefit about 25,000 students, is designed to close visa gaps that ha

6、d forced some highly skilled graduates to leave the country. New York Times2、双重属性词汇大量作为动词使用。 既可作为名词又可作为动词使用的双重属性词汇大量作为动词使用 (如“voice”, “target”, “brief”等词) ，从而使新闻英语生动简明，这是新闻英语的基本特征。 The Bush administration had no objection to a trip to China by former president Bill Clinton who was briefed by senior

7、officials. (据高级官员透露,前总统比尔克林顿将出访中国,布什政府对此未予以反对。)出现在新闻报道标题中,使之简明、清晰、生动。 例如:Center targets kids illness. ( China Daily) (中心致力于儿童疾病的研究。) 对比: Co-operatives profit farmers more. (合作经营更有益于农民。) Co-operatives bring more profits to farmers 3. 单句多于复合句，多采用扩展的单句多于复合句，多采用扩展的简单句，句子结构比较松散。简单句，句子结构比较松散。 新闻英语中通常使用广泛的

8、是结构简单的句子。为求简明, 常常一个句子就是一个段落,而要把众多的信息包含在里面,在确保句式不复杂的情况下,作者只有大量使用或增加修饰限定词的数量, 其方法就是使用定语,状语,同位语等补加成分。 Rescuers are searching for two others who are believed still trapped underground at Wangjialing Coal Mine, which straddles Xiangning County, of Linfen City, and Hejin City, of Yuncheng City, according

9、to the rescue headquarters. Altogether 261 miners were working in the shaft of the coal mine, which is under construction, when the flooding happened at about 1:40 p.m. March 28, and only 108 were lifted unharmed to the surface. WARSAW A plane carrying the Polish president and dozens of the countrys

10、 top political and military leaders to the site of a Soviet massacre of Polish officers in World War II crashed in western Russia on Saturday, killing everyone on board. The strong odor, described by many people as similar to natural gas, resulted in the evacuation of some buildings and affected som

11、e subway and train lines. (Washington Post) (这被许多人形容很像瓦斯味的腔壁气味,不仅造成了一些大楼人员的疏散,也影响了部分地铁和火车的营运。) More examples see page 30-31 简单句的使用有助于清楚地表述事情的发展,方便读者阅读和理解,也易于作者写作。作者常须赶在截稿时间前仓促定稿,往往想到什么事实或背景材料来不及改动就随即增添或补插进去。所以句子结构显得松散,使看似简单的句子变得复杂,也给翻译造成了困难。为了适应汉语读者的阅读习惯,充分发挥汉语精炼的优势,翻译时,可以将冗长的扩展简单句拆开来,分成几句话表述。4.在新闻英

12、语中常用直接引语和间接引语 直接引语放在前面,提供消息内容的消息来源放在后面, 这是新闻英语的一个习惯表达方式。在新闻英语中,这种安排是很常见的,也表现出了新闻的特点,就是让读者最早读到最重要的新闻内容。 1) “We take each and every death very seriously and are committed and sworn to investigating each case with the utmost professionalism and thoroughness,” said Chris Grey, spokesman for the Criminal

13、 Investigation Command. 2)The Chinese government and its people will not sit by if Chen Shuibian forges ahead with his pro- independence timetable to change the status of Taiwan as part of China,“ Li weiyi (spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council) said. In a statement, Lawrence.

14、H. Summers, Harvards current president, indicated that he would act on the report in January. He called it a “very constructive document that outlines a promising direction.” (The New York Times) (现任哈佛大学校长劳伦斯H.萨默斯在一份声明中指出, 他将于周一对报告做出决定。他称这份报告为非常有建设性的文件,它指明了一个充满希望的方向。”)有时也用间接引语,例如:He also said the ma

15、inland has the greatest sincerity and will exert utmost effort to achieve peaceful reunification 宾语从句中引导词的省略新闻常常都要说明消息来源,也就是要说明信息或消息的出处。从语法上讲,在新闻英语中,主句常常是信息或消息的来源或出处,而它后面的宾语从句则是信息或消息的内容。但是,在英语新闻的报道中,引导宾语从句的that常常省略,这是一个常见的现象。 1)Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jiantao said(.)the visit is “an unfavorab

16、le incident“ for China-Japan ties. He said(.)a sound Sino-Japanese relationship also hinges on Japans proper handling of issues of vital interest of China. 2)Organizers said(.)it might take at least 80 million Taiwan dollars to mobilize people in Taipei to protest against the Anti-Secession Law adop

17、ted by the National Peoples Congress.5. 根据内容灵活运用时态根据内容灵活运用时态 新闻报道的绝大多数是刚刚发生或正在发生的事情,因此记者常使用一般现在时态和现在完成时态,以示“新”和“快”;为了把消息绘声绘色地传达给听众,进行时态使用的也比较普遍。 如新闻标题： Polish President Dies in Jet Crash in Russia 有时并不严格遵守时态的一致。 在一般文体中, 按照语法规则,宾语从句中谓语动词的时态,要受制于主句中的时态,我们把这称之为时态的一致或呼应(sequence of tenses)。 新闻英语一般也遵循这种时

18、态的变化规则。然而,我们在阅读报纸时,会发现新闻英语中的时态有时并不拘泥于这种语法规则,而是按照实际情况,按新闻事实发生的时间变化与顺序,酌情灵活地运用时态。 Their only worry in Group C was Turkey, who they have played just once in their history in 1956. ( China Daily) 这段新闻是说在C组中他们唯一担心的是土耳其足球队, 用过去时态“was”, 而说过去他们只交锋过一次,用的是“have played”, 而没有用符合传统语法规则的“had played”,更加突出了与现时的关联,时

19、态的运用在此显得非常的灵活。 新闻报道的正文中,我们常可发现said, told, added, reported等动词,但后面所接的that从句中的时态可以与这些动词的时态不一致。 例如: In Washington the State Department said that arms requested by Yeman are still being sent to the country. (在华盛顿，美国国务院说, 也门所需要的武器仍在运往该国。) Non-discriminatory treatment in world trade will create more motiva

20、tion for Chinese entrepreneurs to actively participate in international co-operation in the competitive European arena, which, he said, will encourage all Chinas trade partners, including the EU.6.定语前置 新闻英语中为使句式简练,常采用带连字符的复合短语做前置定语来代替定语从句,从而使句子化长为短,既节省了篇幅,又能帮助读者加快阅读速度。 multi-drug-resistant virus (抗多种药性病毒) war-weary citizens (厌倦战争的公民) on-site-service (现场服务) the up-to-the-minute information (