On The Translation Of English Sentences With Inanimate Subjects

This translation practice is based on the translation of three articles in the book Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies edited by Mona Baker: Audiovisual Translation,Dubbing and Subtitling.As a text of social sciences,its language is objective and has a lot of sentences with inanimate subjects which reflect a wide range of differences between English and Chinese.On the basis of the translation practice,this translation report summarizes the translation strategies and translation methods in the translation of English sentences with inanimate subjects,so as to improve the translation quality of social science texts and promote the reading experience of target readers.The report includes five chapters.Chapter One deals with the translation task in terms of its background and significance.Chapter Two focuses on the task process,including preparation before translation,problems and solutions in the translation process and revision after translation.Chapter Three illustrates the definition and classification of English sentences with inanimate subjects.In this report,three kinds of English sentences with inanimate subjects are mainly discussed,i.e.sentences with nominalization as subjects,sentences with objective things as subjects,sentences with “it” as the subject and “there be” structure.Chapter Four delves into the translation strategies of English sentences with inanimate subjects from two perspectives:shifts of subjects(remaining the original subjects,determining the hidden subject,logical subject,and the real subjects and shifts of objects into subjects)and turning the sentences into adverbial clauses(adverbial clauses of reason,adverbial clauses of condition,adverbial clauses of manner).Chaper Five summarizes the experience of the translation practice.