中式英语之鉴

1、Part One: Unnecessary WordsAll authorities on the style of English prose agree that good writing is concise. Careful writers say what they mean in as few words as possible.Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same

2、reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.It follows that any words which perform no useful function in the sentence that is , which add nothing to the meaningshould be edited out.Almost every text that has been translated into English from Chinese( or

3、 that has been written directly in English by a native speaker of Chinese) contains unnecessary words. Draft translations are monly full of them, and even polished final versions are seldom free of them.Read anything that has been published in English for foreign readers a magazine article, a news s

4、tory, an advertisement, a government reportand you are likelyto find superfluous words. Read even the shortest of English textsthe label ona food product , a billboard on Chang' an , the pany name on the front of a building and , if you are on the alert to recognize them, chances are that you wi

5、ll find words that could and should have been omitted. Unnecessary words are the hallmark of Chinglish.Unnecessary words can be any part of speech - nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, articles, and so on. In the following chapters we shall consider the most important types, starting wi

6、th unnecessary nouns and verbs, which often go hand in hand.I .Unnecessary Nouns and VerbsNounsMost unnecessary nouns in Chinglish appear not alone but in short phrases, bined with articles and prepositions. Whenyou eliminate the nouns , you eliminate the articles and prepositions as well.Many of th

7、ese nouns are easy to recognize. They are plainly redundant because their sense is already included or implied in some other element of the sentence. Here are a few examples (A) with suggested revisions (B)and ments in brackets.加快经济改革步伐A: to accelerate the pace of economic reformB: to accelerate eco

8、nomic reform(To accelerate = to increase the pace of )农业获得大丰收A: There have been good harvests in agriculture.B: There have been good harvests.“Harvest " implies agriculture: there are no harvests in industry.城乡人民生活水平持续上升。A: Living standards for the people in both urban and rural areas continued

9、 to rise.B: Living standards in both urban and rural areas continued to rise.The notion of living standards applies only to people.这些困难从本质上说是暂时的。A: These hardships are temporary in nature.B: These hardships are temporary.Any adjectives describes the “ nature " or acharacter " of the noun i

10、t modifies To say that hardships are a temporary in nature " is like saying that the Chinese flag is red in color " or that pandas are few in number. "我国未来的经济发展在很大程度上有赖于A： The development of our economy in the future will, to a large extent, depend onB: The development of our economy

11、will, to a large extent, depend onThe future tense of the verb(will depend) is sufficient to express futurity.我们应采取一系列措施来保证A: we should adopt a series of measures to ensure that .B: we should adopt measures to ensure that .“”-1series Nevertheless,Some examples:Here the plural form of“ measures"

12、 covers the sense of aOther unnecessary nouns(or gerunds) may be less easy to identify. a little thought will reveal that they add nothing to the meaning of the sentence. Whenthey are deleted, the sense is not diminished, only clarified.在实现农业机械化和电气化后A : following the realization of mechanization and

13、 electrification of agricultureC: following the of mechanization and electrification of agriculture必须加强国防建设。A: It is essential to strengthen the building of national defense.B: It is essential to strengthen national defense.这些构成了努力实现过渡时期的伟大任务的重要条件。A: These constitute important conditions in striving

14、 for the fulfillment of the general task in the transitional period.B: These are important conditions for fulfilling the general task in the transition period.当时，东北的形势仍然是敌强我弱。A: At that time the situation in northeast China was still one where the enemy was stronger than the people's forces .B:

15、At that time the enemy was still stronger than the people's forces in northeast China."Situation" is a particularly dangerous noun. Not only is it generally unnecessary, but it drags other unnecessary elements after it (in this instance, "one where").解决问题的关键在于削减开支。A: The key

16、to the solution lies in the curtailment of expenditure.B: The solution is to curtail ( or. cut back on) expenditure."Key" is sometimes useful, but usually it too can be dispensed with. And like "situation," it often leads to further unnecessary plications (here, "lies in&quo

17、t;).党内民主是已详细讨论过的问题。A: Inner-Party democracy is a subject that has been discussed in detail.B: Inner-Party democracy has been discussed in detail.Category nounsThere is one type of noun that deserves special mention, because it is the monest unnecessary word in Chinglish. This is the general noun tha

18、t serves only to introduce a specific noun( or gerund) to follow:" a serious mistake in the workof planning.计划工作中的错误。In such constructions, the first noun announces the category of the second; in this case, it tells readers that aplanning " falls into the category of "work". That

19、 is something they already know. Accordingly, the first nouns should be deleted a serious mistake in planning.Other examples :促进和平统一事业A : promoting the cause of peaceful reunificationC: promoting peaceful reunification经济领域的改革A: reforms in the sphere of the economyB: reforms in the economy (or econom

20、ic reforms)保证双方之间的亲密合作关系A to ensure a relationship of close cooperation between .B to ensure close cooperation between 我们必须反对铺张浪费的行为。A: We must oppose the practice of extravaganceB: We must oppose extravagance.这些原则适应于处理中外关系中的所有情况A: These principles apply to all cases of relations between China and o

21、ther countries.B: These principles apply to relations between China and all other countries.这种情况，加上价格不稳定的因素，引起 A: This, coupled with the factor of pce instability, caused.B: This, coupled with price instability, caused.Whatever function the category noun serves in Chinese, in English it is generally

22、 useless. All it adds to the sentence is weight without substance.VerbsLike unnecessary nouns, most unnecessary verbs in Chinglish occur in phrases.Usually they are bined with nouns(plus the inevitable articles and prepositions that nouns bring with them). These phrases are of two principal types:1.

23、 Unnecessary verbs plus noun2. Unnecessary verb plus unnecessary noun plus third word we shall look at first one and then the other.1. Unnec.verb+nounThe monest type is a phrase like“we must make an improvement in our work. ”Here the verb(make) is a weak, colorless, all-purpose word having no very s

24、pecific meaning of its own, while the real action is expressed in the noun (improvement).Since the verb is not contributing anything to the sense, it can be edited out. " We must improve our work. ”The basic pattern is unnec.verb+noun. Both translators andpolishers tend tooverlook constructions

25、 of this sort, because they are grammatically correct and because precisely everyone is so accustomed to them. Once you became alert to the pattern, however, it is easy enough to eliminate the unnecessary words by substituting plain verbs.我们想在一夜之间完成整个社会的变革是不可能的。A： It is impossible for us to acplish

26、the transformation of the whole society overnight.B: It is impossible for us to transform the whole society overnight.他们应t对.进行仔细的检查。A: They should conduct a careful examination ofB: They should carefully examine .试图诱使朝鲜军队对他们发动一场攻击。A: trying to entice the Korean army to launch an attack against themB

27、: trying to entice the Korean army to attack them改变这种局面A: to bring about a change in this state of affairsB: to change this state of affairs他们必须下决心对现存体制进行改革。A: They must make up their minds to implement the reform of the current system.B: They must make up their minds to reform the current system.直到

28、中国实现工业现代化。A: until China realizes industrial modernizationB: until China modernizes its industryThe construction may also appear in passive voice. That is, instead of" wemust make improvement in our work, " we find“ an improvement must be madein ourwork. " But this is only a variation

29、 of the same pattern, and the solution is the sametoo: substitutiona plain verb. The result is our work must be improved. (becauseto make an improvement in = to improve )More examples in passive voice:应当批准所有这些项目。A: Approval should be given to all these projects.B: All these projects should be approv

30、ed.because “to give approval to " = "to approve ”只有通过.才能找出解决这些问题的办法。A: Solutions to these problems can be found only throughB: These problems can be solved only throughbecause “to find solution to " = "to solve ”实行粮食配给A: Grain rationing was implementedB: Grain was rationed.Becaus

31、e “to implement rationing " = "to ration ”The verb most frequently found in these binations with nouns is to make:To make an investigation of = to investigateTo make a careful study of = to study carefullyTo make a decision to = to decide toTo make a proposal that = to propose thatTo make

32、efforts to = to try( attempt) toTo make an analysis of = to analyzeThe runner-up is doubtless to haveTo have a dislike for = to dislikeTo have an influence on = to influenceTo have adequate knowledge of = to know enough aboutTo have the need of = to needTo have request for = to respectBut many other

33、s can be seen on every pages as well:To give guidance to = to guideTo provide assistance to = to assistTo carry out the struggle against= to struggle againstTo conduct reform of= to reformTo engage in free discussion of = to discuss(it) freelyTo achieve success in = to succeed inTo acplish the moder

34、nization of = to modernizeTo realize the transformation of = to transformTo bring about an improvement in = to improveTo place stress on = to stressTo exercise control over= to controlTo register an increase= to increaseYou should be on watch for all of them.2. Unnec.verb +unnec.noun+ third wordAs w

35、e have seen in the first type of phrase a vague and general verb, incapable of expressing specific action, shifts the responsibility for that task onto a noun. In the second type, however, the noun cannot perform the task either.Consider “ our efforts to reach the goal of modernization” . Here the n

36、oun(goal) is no more precise than the verb (reach). (Indeed, “the goal of“ is another example of the superfluous category noun.) This means that the work of the verb has to be done by still another word, a second noun ( a modernization " ). Since now the first noun is not doing anything useful

37、in the sentence, it too can be eliminated, along with the all-purpose verb. The result is,“our efforts to modernize ”In the phrases of this type, the basic pattern unnec. verb+ noun has been expanded to unnec. Verb+unnec. Noun+ third word. As in the example above, the third word is usually another n

38、oun( or gerund).Since this new noun is performing the function of a verb, it should be given the form of a verb.我军缓慢前进A: Our troops used the method of slow advance.B: Our troops advanced slowly.需要三个师的驻军来执行守卫仓库的任务。A: Three garrison divisions were necessary to perform the task of guarding warehouses.B

39、: Three garrison divisions were necessary to guard warehouses.我们决定后撤。A: We adopted the policy of withdrawal.B: We withdrew.(or decided to withdraw.)This was a particular tactical retreat, not a general military policy. 在所有问题上我们都要采取“知之为知之，不知为不知”的态度。 A: In all matters we must assume the attitude of admitting what we do and do not know.8: We should always (be ready to