成语英语翻译

汉语成语的英文翻译

秀才不出门能知天下事 A scholor does not step outside his gate, yet he knows the

happenings under the sun.

事实胜于雄辩 Facts are most convincing.

来得容易去得快 Easy come, easy go.

金玉其外败絮其中 All that glitters is not gold.

兔子不吃窝边草 The fox preys farthest from his hole.

若要人不知除非己莫为 If you would not be known to do anything, never do it.

没有笑脸不出门 A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.

虎父无虎子 Like father, like son.

往者不可谏，来者犹可追 A mill cannot grind with the water that is past.

姻缘天注定 Marriages are made in heaven.

逆来顺受 to make the best of a bad bargain

流芳百世 a niche in the temple of fame

为虎作伥 to act as guide to a tiger

孤注一掷 to put all one's egg in one basket

勇者不惧 A brave man will not shrink from dangers.

洗心革面 to turn over a new leaf

美中不足 a fly in the ointment

背道而驰 to run counter

走汤蹈火 to go through fire and water

风烛残年 to have one foot in the grave

风声鹤唳，草木皆兵 to apprehend danger in every sound

活到老学到老 It's never too late to learn./ Live and learn.

前事不忘后事之师 Remember the past and it will guide your future.

星星之火可以燎原 A single spark can start a prairie fire.

待人宽容如待己 Live and let live.

按部就班 Learn to walk before you run.

病从口入祸从口出 Illness comes in by mouth and comes out by it.

笑?藏刀 a smile to hide one's hate

留得青山在，不怕没柴烧 Where there's life there's hope

海底捞月 to fish in the air

海底捞针 to look for a needle in a bundle of hay

差之毫厘失之千里 A miss is as good as a mile

既往不咎 Let the dead bury their dead.

杀身成仁 to sacrifice one's life to prerve one's virtue complete

杀鸡焉用牛刀 Take not a musket to kill a butterfly

饥不择食 A good appetite is a good sauce.

害群之马 black sheep

家丑不可外扬 Don't wash your dirty linen in public.

恩威并济 alternate weakness with verity

旁观者清 The outside es the best of the game.

时运不济 to have a bad time

殊途同归 All roads lead to Rome .

众志成城/团结就是力量 Union is strenth.

疾风知劲草 Adversity reveals genius.

旁观者清，当局者迷 Lookers-on e most of the game.

莫在太岁头上动土 Let sleeping dogs lie.

得意忘形 to leap out of one's skin

捷足先登 The early bird catches the worm.

欲速则不达 Haste makes waste

欲速则不达 More haste, less speed.

混水摸鱼 to fish in troubled waters

贪小失大 penny-wi and poundfoolish

习惯成自然 once a u forever a custom

挂羊头卖狗肉 cry up wine and ll vinegar

贫无立锥之地 as poor as a church mou

雪中送炭真君子/患难见真情 A friend in need is a friend indeed.

异想天开 to give loo to one's fancy

集思广义 Two heads are better than one.

得过且过 to live from hand to mouth

情人眼?出西施 Love is blind.

冤家宜解不宜结 Better remove enmity than contract it.

眼不见为净 Out of sight, out of mind.

胜不骄败不馁 to be not elated by success nor disturbed by failure

富贵在天 Riches and honors come from heaven.

智者不惑 A wi man is free from perplexities.

无风不起浪 There is no smoke without fire. (Where there is smoke, there is fire.)

画蛇添足 to paint the lily

趁火打劫 to fish in troubled waters

量入为出 to cut one's coat according to one's cloth/ make both ends meet

阳奉阴违 ostensible obedience

跑了和尚跑不了庙 The monk may run away, but the temple can't run with him.

万物之灵 the lords of creation

万事开头难 Everything is difficult at the start

万无一失 not a single miss in a thousand times.

落井下石 to hit a person when he's down

隔墙有耳 Pitchers have ears; walls have ears.

开夜车 Burn the midnight oil.

损人利己 to enrich onelf at others expen

置之死地而后生 Put the troops in death ground and they will live.

道高一尺魔高一丈 While the priest climbs a foot, the devil climbs ten.

预防胜于治疗 Prevention is better than cure.

新官上任三把火 New brooms sweep clean.

塞翁失马焉知非福 Misfortune might be a blessing in disgui.

路遥知马力日久见人心 A distant journey tests the strength of a hor and a long

task proves the character of a man.

沧海一栗 a drop in the bucket

盖棺论定 Judge none blesd before his death.

岁月不饶人 Time and tide wait for no man.

经验即良师 Experience is the teacher.

寿终正寝 to die a natural death (to die in one's bed)

寡不击众 There is no contending against odds.

对牛弹琴 to cast pearls before swine

祸不单行 Misfortunes never come single.

饱食终日无所事事 to eat the bread of idleness

慷他人之慨 to be free with other's money

远亲不如近邻 Distant kinsmen mean less than clo neighbors. / A near neighbor is

better than a distant cousin.

种瓜得瓜种豆得豆 You must reap what you have sown. / As you sow, so shall you

reap.

乐极生悲 After joy comes sadness.

说曹操到曹操就到 Talk of the devil and the devil comes.

团结就是力量 Union is strength.

需要为发明之母 Necessity is the mother of invention.

满招损，谦受益 Haughtiness invites ruin; humility receives benefits.

恶有恶报 He that does evil shall find evil.

恶事传千里 Bad news travels quickly.

熟能生巧 Practice makes perfect.

缓兵之计 a fabian policy

缘木求鱼 to get water from a flint

适者生存 the survival of the fittest

穷寇莫追 A cornered animal is a dangerous foe.

积少成多 Every little makes a mickle.

积少成多 Every little helps.

钱可通神 Money can move even the gods.

谋事在人成事在天 Man propos and God dispos.

学问无快捷方式 There is no royal road/shortcut to learning.

机不可失 Opportunity ldom knocks twice.

优胜劣败 The weakest goes to the wall.

声东击西 to look one way and row another

脍炙人口 in everyone's mouth

螳臂挡车 to kick against the pricks

鞠躬尽瘁 to give the last measure of devotion

聪明反被聪明误 to suffer for one's wisdom

旧调重谈 to harp on the same string

礼尚往来 Courtesy on one side cannot last long.

礼多必诈 full of courtesy, full of craft

覆水难收 What's done cannot be undone.

转石不生苔 A rolling stone gathers no moss.

转败为胜 to convert defeat into victory

鞭长莫及 beyond one's grasp

关公门前耍大刀 There's no need to teach a fish to swim.

严以责己宽以待人 to be vere with onelf and lenient with others

铁石心肠 a heart of steel

听天由命 to be guided by destiny

骄者必败 Pride goes before a fall

英语翻译七种方法

英译汉就是运用汉语把英语所表达的内容准确而完整地重新表达出来的过程或结果。在翻译

过程中，值得注意的是：一在翻译需要表达的是句子或文章的内容，而不是结构；二翻译过

程中，不是将两种语言的结构进行简单的转换。翻译的过程一般分为阅读理解、汉语表达和

审校润色三个阶段。常见的方法有：

一、词类转译法

由于英语和汉语是两中悬殊甚大的不同的语言体系，所以在语言结构与表达方式上都存

在很大的差异，这就要求我们对原文中的一些词语的词性进行转化（如：动词转化为名词，

形容词转化为名词等），才能使译文畅通。例如：

The modern world is experiencing rapid development of science and technolog

y.

当今世界的科学技术正在迅速地发展。

[分析]将句中的形容词rapid转译为汉语中的副词。

二、增补法

有些英语字句如果照字面的意思翻译，意念是不完整的，必须根据意义、修辞或句法的

需要增补一些汉语，才能更加忠实于原文，使原文的思想更完整地再现。例如：

We need clean air, but unfortunately, air pollution is generally prent, e

specially in cities.

我们需要清新的空气，但遗憾的是，空气污染普遍存在，在城市中尤其如此。

[分析]本句为了避免“尤其是在城市里”的表达不完整，增加了“如此”。

三、省译法

由于英语和汉语在用词和语法结构上的差异，原文中的某些词如果直译出来会使译文显

得累赘，不符合汉语的表达习惯。在这种情况下，就要省略一些冠词、代词、介词或连词等

省去不译，但是不能影响原文的意义表达。例如：

There was no snow, the leaves were gone from the trees, the grass was dead.

天未下雪，但叶落草枯。

[分析]在汉语中“叶落”的概念非常清楚，所以省译了from the trees.

四、顺译法

也就是说按照英语表达的层次顺序，依次翻译英语句子，从而使译文与英语原文的顺序

基本一致。例如：

He could e that she had been patient all her life, so that now, after yea

rs of it, her lips were t in a gentle and saintly smile.

他看得出，她一生含辛茹苦，如今苦尽甘来，嘴边总是带着温柔、圣洁的微笑。

[分析]英语句子的顺序，从意思上讲，与汉语句子的顺序是一致的。

五、逆译法

也就是对于句子结构复杂的英语句子，可以先翻译全句的后部，在依次向前逆序翻译前

面的句子。例如：

It is our task to build up a nuclear power station somewhere by the end of

this year.

我们的任务是于今年年底在某地建成一座原子能发电站。

[分析]翻译英语里面的一系列状语时，必须按照时间状语、地点状语和方式状语的顺序

汉语习惯表达习惯来组织语句。

六、分译法

也就是采取化整为零的方法将整个英语长句翻译为几个独立的句子，顺序基本不变，前

后保持连贯。例如：

At the meeting decision was made to transfer a part of the students to anot

her school.

会议上作出一项决定，把一部分学生转到另一所学校去。

[分析]本句的主语的后置定语比较长，而谓语很短，为了使句子结构匀称，避免头重脚

轻的现象，就把后面的不定式与主句分开翻译了。

七、综合法

也就是说翻译时经过仔细推敲，或按照时间先后，或按照逻辑顺序，有顺有逆、有主有

次地对全句进行综合处理，英语和汉语的字面意思不完全对应，但是内涵是相同的。例如：

One can perhaps get a clearer picture of Japan's acute population pressure by i

magining what Switzerland would be like if that small and mountainous country w

ere inhabited by 28 million people instead of the 5.7 million at prent.只要设

想一下，假若那小小的瑞士居住的人口不是现在的五百七十万，而是两千八百万，瑞士会是

什么情景，人民便会清楚地理解日本所面临的人口压力是多么大。

[分析]原文的重点在于One can„„population pressure，按照汉语习惯，应该先叙

事，后总结，所以翻译时从中间by imagining„„入手，最后回到句首，译出One can„„。

而且汉语句子的意思也有“意译”的成分。