以上談了代詞的用法。其實(shí),避免重復(fù)的辦法很多,也不限于使用代詞。
英國(guó)語(yǔ)言學(xué)家Randolph Quirk等四位學(xué)者合編的《A Grammar of Contemporary English》在關(guān)于“Substitution”一節(jié)中指出:不僅名詞短語(yǔ)可以有代稱,狀語(yǔ)、謂語(yǔ)乃至賓語(yǔ)從句,都可以有代稱。該書把用作代稱的替代詞統(tǒng)稱為pro-forms。書中舉了許多例子,如:
We saw John at eight on Monday evening. We told him then that we would be coming to the party.
Look in the top drawer. You’ll probably find it there.
A: John drives a car. B: I think Bob does too.
A: John drives a car. B: So does Bob.
Oxford is likely to win the next boat race. All my friends say so. (= that Oxford is likely to win the next boat race)
以上例子中的then,there,does,so does,so都可以說(shuō)是pro-forms。
例13.Egypt, wrote the Greek historian Hecataeus, is the gift of the Nile. No other country is so dependent on a single lifeline. Egypt’s very soil was born in the Nile’s annual flood; with the flood came the life-giving mud that made Egypt the granary of the ancient world. And as rain fell in the Ethiopian highlands and the snows melted in the Mountains of the Moon, the river was everlastingly renewed. (National Geographic)
在第一句和第三句里,the Nile出現(xiàn)兩次。在第四句里再次出現(xiàn)時(shí),使用了代稱the river。要想避免重復(fù),譯者就不能把視線局限在一個(gè)句子之內(nèi),而要照顧到上下文。
例14.要選人民公認(rèn)是堅(jiān)持改革開放路線并有政績(jī)的人,大膽地放進(jìn)新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)機(jī)構(gòu)里,使人民感到我們真心誠(chéng)意搞改革開放。
We should boldly choose for the new leadership persons who were generally recognized as adhering to the line of reform and opening up and who had some achievements in that respect to their credit. This would convince the people that we were wholeheartedly committed to that line.
以上二例都是以名詞替代名詞,也不見(jiàn)得比實(shí)稱簡(jiǎn)短多少,只是換一種說(shuō)法而已。
動(dòng)詞和形容詞如何避免重復(fù)呢?如果可能,可以合并。
例15.所以,要把我們的軍隊(duì)教育好,把我們的專政機(jī)構(gòu)教育好,把共產(chǎn)黨員教育好,把人民和青年教育好。
So we must educate the army, persons working in the organs of dictatorship, the Communist Party members and the people, including the youth.
例16.會(huì)議多,文章太長(zhǎng),講話也太長(zhǎng)。
We hold countless meetings, and our articles and speeches are too long.
如不可能合并,則可利用so,as,to do that等詞語(yǔ)來(lái)避免重復(fù)。
例17.He disliked her and had never been shy of saying so.
例18.The government could change the law if they were so minded.
例19.老科學(xué)家、中年科學(xué)家很重要,青年科學(xué)家也很重要。
Veteran and middle-aged scientists are important, and so are young ones.
例20.革命是解放生產(chǎn)力,改革也是解放生產(chǎn)力。
Revolution means the emancipation of the productive forces, and so does reform.
以上二例,前半句和后半句之間用了and一詞,請(qǐng)注意,不要丟掉。
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