Translation of Long Sentences

When translating Russian articles, long sentences are often encountered, while Chinese predominantly uses shorter sentences. This requires careful analysis of the original text. First, it is essential to clarify the syntactic structure of the original sentence, analyze its grammatical relationships, and pay attention to its hidden logical order and tone requirements. The translated sentence must not contradict the central meaning or stylistic characteristics of the article. According to the expression habits of the Chinese language, one should flexibly arrange the various components of the sentence and translate them smoothly into Chinese. Let's take a look at a few examples.

"Прежде всего позвольте выразить признательность Его Превосходительству Председателю Китайской Народной Республики господину Си Цзиньпину за приглашение принять участие в церемонии открытия Третьей Китайской международной выставки импортных товаров."

This sentence is quite long because it includes prepositional phrases and an infinitive functioning as an attribute. A literal translation would be: "First, please allow me to express my gratitude to His Excellency the Chairman of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Xi Jinping, for inviting me to participate in the opening ceremony of the Third China International Import Expo." It is important to note that this text is part of a speech, and since this sentence appears at the beginning, it should not be overly long; otherwise, it may cause the audience to lose focus. Therefore, it should be translated as: "首先请允许我向中华人民共和国主席习近平阁下表示感谢，感谢他邀请我参加第三届中国国际进口博览会。" This version introduces pauses and enhances comprehension.

"Приветствую всех участников мероприятия, собравшихся с целью демонстрации достигнутых их странами экономических успехов, новейших разработок и продукции."

In this sentence, there are two participial adjectives; care should be taken not to translate them as a long attribute. The translation should read: "欢迎所有参展者齐聚一堂，展示各国的经济成就、最新研究成果和产品。" This alters the original phrasing, treating the purpose clause as a series of coordinated verbs.

When translating, one should first identify the main clause and then analyze the subordinate clauses to see what element of the main clause they primarily modify, such as the subject, predicate, attribute, or adverbial.

There are generally four translation methods:

1. Top-Down Translation: This method is suitable when the action sequence and logical relationships of the original text align closely with Chinese expression habits.

2. Bottom-Up Reverse Translation: Sometimes the order of expression in Russian long sentences contradicts that in Chinese, necessitating reverse translation.

3. Layered Translation from the Inside Out: Based on the narrative and logical emphasis of the original text, short phrases or clauses in the sentence can be translated first, adding conjunctions to clarify relationships among different parts and avoiding ambiguity.

4. Rearranging Structure: When the above three methods prove ineffective, the original sentence structure can be rearranged according to expressive needs, following the order of importance and chronology in translation, ensuring fluency in the translated text without altering the original meaning.

◀️：Haruki Murakami: The Translator

▶️：Quality Process