许多人都说学外语一定要有“语感”,可是到底什么是语感?外语跟母语之间到底隔着什么?我觉得这个问题没法从理论上回答,只能举例说明。
我曾经说,看一个人的英语是不是学得到位,只要让他翻译一个小句子,“现在是冬天。”张嘴就来“Now is winter.”的,英语基本不会;脱口而出“It is winter now.”的,靠谱。这就是一种感觉。
再比如说,“油藏的孔隙度为30%。”这句话,翻译成“The porosity of the reservoir is 30%.”的,语感还没到位,全是根据语法写的句子;写成“The reservoir has a porosity of 30%.”的,才算是对英语有语感,因为native speaker一般都用后者的写法。
再进一步说,像这种长句子,“油藏平均净厚度为26.7英尺,平均孔隙度为16%,平均渗透率为55mD,初始含水饱和度为34.7%。”都用相同句式处理当然可以表达意思,但是看着就像小学生作文了。很多人看到“XXX为XXX”自然而然就要用is,那这一句话说完好多个is,在英语里就属于很乱的句子。而且根据前一个例子,用is的语感也不对。
其实可以这样处理,“The reservoir has an average net thickness of 26.7 ft, with an average porosity of 16%, an average permeability of 55mD and an initial water saturation of 34.7%.” 略有变化,但还是很整齐。
句子太长还可以分成几句话来说,比如“The reservoir has an average net thickness of 26.7 ft. Its average porosity is 16% and has an average permeability of 55mD with an initial water saturation of 34.7%.” 分成两个句子,用一个物主代词,还是很清晰。
还可以分成三句,“The reservoir has an average net thickness of 26.7 ft. It has an average porosity of 16% and an average permeability of 55mD. The initial water saturation for the reservoir is 34.7%.”
以上。
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