中国建设银行 → China Construction Bank
中国工农红军 → the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army
我喜欢轻音乐。→ I like light music.
你推我拉。→ You push and I pull.
他有很多朋友。→ He has a lot of friends.
他的儿子常常感冒。→ His son often catches cold.
他们每人有一间卧室。→ They each had a bedroom.
你必须履行你的诺言。→ You must carry out your promise.
我听说你需要一位女秘书。→ I hear you want a woman secretary.
但是,有时英汉两种语言的词序是不同的,甚至完全相反。如:
rich and poor 贫富
food and drink 饮食
land and water 水陆
north and south 南北
food and clothing 衣食
flesh and blood 血肉
backwards and forwards 来回地
有趣的是,有时汉语只有一种词序,而英语有两种词序。如:
day and night / night and day 日夜(但汉语不说“夜日”)
old and young / young and old 老少(但汉语不说“少老”)
father and mother / mother and father 父母(但汉语不说“母父”)
mind and body / body and mind 身心(但汉语不说“心身”)
又如,汉语说“兄妹”,英语通常说成 brother and sister,但有时也说 sister and brother,如 2001年春季上海高考英语的阅读理解题的A篇文章就有 his sister and brother 的用例;再如,汉语说“男女”,英语通常说成 man and woman,但有时也说 woman and man,如2001年全国高考英语的阅读理解的E篇文章就有 200 women and men 的用例;等等。
另外,有时可能正反两种词序都不错,但表达的意思不同,甚至相反。如:
Tom alone is coming. 只有汤姆要来。
Tom is coming alone. 汤姆将一个人来。
Only I kissed her last night. 昨晚只有我吻了她(即别人没吻她)。
I only kissed her last night. 昨晚我只是吻了她(即没干别的事)。
I kissed only her last night. 昨晚我吻的只有她(即没吻过别人)。
I kissed her only last night / last night only. 我只是在昨晚才吻了她(即其它时候未吻过)。
Clearly he didn’t say so. 显然他没有这样说。
He didn’t say so clearly. 他说得没有那么清楚。
I still have some money in hand. 我手头还有些钱。
Hand in your examination papers now, please. 现在请把考卷交上来。
Before long he got married. 不久他就结婚了。
That had happened long before. 那事老早就发生了。
[Ok3w_NextPage]We won’t stay for long. 我们不会久住。
He longs for friendship. 他渴望友谊。