英语中非谓语动词包括分词、不定式和动名词。动名词与名词具有类似的功能,在翻译时可以参考名词性从句或抽象名词的译法, 下面, 我们主要通过一些实例说明动词不定式和分词的翻译方法。
例1.Americans do not like to be called materialistic because they feel that this unfairly accuses them of loving only material things and of having no religious values.
美国人不喜欢被称为物质主义者, 因为他们认为指控他们只重物质利益, 没有宗教价值观是不公正的。(不定式作宾语）
例2.The writer's purpose may be simply to inform, or to make readers aware of similarities or differences that interesting and significant in themselves.
作者的目的或许只是想告诉读者或者让读者意识到(存在于比较对象之间的)很有趣、值得注意的相似和不同之处。(不定式作表语）
例3.The aim of science is to describe the world in orderly language, in such a way that we can, if possible, foresee the results of those alternative courses of action between which we are always choosing.
科学的目的在于用规律的语言来描述世界。这样, 如果可能的话, 我们就能预见到可供选择的两个行动方案的结果。我们经常遇到这种选择。(不定式作表语）
例4.It is the business of the scientist to accumulate knowledge about the universe and all that is in it, and to find, if he is able, common factors which underlie and account for the facts that he knows.
科学家要做的事就是积累有关宇宙和宇宙中的一切事物的知识, 而且要是可能的话, 找出那些既能构成科学家所知事实的基础, 又能解释这些事实的共同因素。(不定式作主语）
例5.It is a difficult task to compare two systems of education which stem from different roots and often produce contrasting effects.
两种教育制度体系源于不同的根基, 并常常产生对照鲜明的不同效果, 因而,要将它们作一比较, 确非易事。(不定式作主语）
例6.This tendency to escalate a situation into its worst possible conclusion is what I called awfulizing, and it can be a key factor in tipping the balance toward, illness or health.
把一种情况逐渐地想象为最坏的结果, 我称之为“杞人犹天”, 这或许能打破你体内平衡, 或使你患病, 或使你健康。（不定式作定语）
例7.As never before, the nations of the world demonstrated a willingness to put aside ideological and individual differences to confront a common threat.
世界各国决心要把意识形态分歧和各自的不同意见放在一边而来正视这个共同的威协, 这在以前从来没有过。（不定式作定语）
例8.To communicate precisely what you want to say, you will frequently need to define key words.
要准确表达想要表达的内容, 就经常需要对关键词进行释义。(不定式作状语）
例9.To make calculations manageable even by computers, most of the models suppose either that the oceans are a shallow, motionless swamp or that they don't exist at all.
为了使这些计算甚至可以用普通的计算机来处理, 大多数模型要么假设海洋是既浅又静止的沼泽, 要么假设它们根本不存在。（不定式作状语）
例10.We can have greater confidence in the reality of a healing system that is beautifully designed to meet most of its problems.
我们对下述事实应抱有充分而信心: 人体的健康机制十分精妙, 足以应付大部分疾病。(不定式作状语）
例11.Having disproved and disputed the theory for more than two decades, some biologists are now embarking an undertaking to interpret it in a new approach.
20多年来, 某些生物学家一直对该理论持否定与争议的态度, 现在他们正在开始一项研究, 以新的方法解释这一理论。(现在分词做状语）
例12.The first cause of the liberation of women was the development of effective birth-control methods, freeing women from the endless cycle of childbearing and rearing.
妇女的解放首先起因于有效的节育措施的出现, 从而将女人从生养孩子的无尽循环中解放出来。（现在分词做状语）
例13.At every crossways on the road that leads to the future, each progressive spirit is opposed by thousands of men appointed to guard the past.
在通往未来道路的每一个十字路口上, 每一个具有进步思想的人都会遭到受命维护过去的千千万万名卫道士的反对。（过去分词做定语）
例14.The very first flight of Spacelab, manned by an international team of scientist-astronauts, demonstrated that a Nobel-prize-winning theory on the function of the inner ear was incorrect.
正是这第一座由跨国科学家和宇航员操作的太空试验站, 证明了一项曾获诺贝尔奖的关于人体内耳作用的理论是不正确的。（过去分词做定语）
例15.But the details of this movement -- what causes it, how it relates to other processes occurring in the ocean at the same time, and how it interacts with the earth's atmosphere -- remain sketchy.
但这种洋流的详细情况 -- 诸如什么导致了这种洋流, 它与伴随它的其他海洋特征有什么联系以及它与地球的大气是怎样相互作用的 -- 都还不太清楚。（现在分词做定语）
from Netbig.com