Translating English Inanimate Subjects

To Rescue the Republic is a biography of Ulysses Simpson Grant,the 18 th president of the United States(1869-1877),who previously led the Union Army(the north)to victory in the American Civil War.The report is based on the translation practice of Chapter one and Chapter four,which describe Grant’s family,schooling and his military experience after the outbreak of the civil war.The source texts are featured by the frequent use of various types of English inanimate subjects.This translation report summarizes the translator’s experience and understanding in learning and translating English inanimate subjects.In order to improve the ability to translate English inanimate subjects,the translator classified English inanimate subjects into ten categories based on the previous studies,whereby all the English inanimate subjects in To Rescue the Republic(excerpt)were summarized statistically.Eight translation techniques were mainly used when dealing with different types of English inanimate subjects,such as linear translation,division and conversion,which involves the conversion of word class,sentence component,sentence pattern,and voice.Through this translation practice,the translator found that in order to retain the objectivity,brevity and rhetoric of the source text,conversion should be carried out to the extent that the inanimate subject should be retained or translated into a pivotal structure.However,in most cases,to ensure that the translation is fluent,logical,and accurate,it is necessary to convert the English sentences with inanimate subjects into sentences with animate subjects or sentences without subjects;therefore,the above-mentioned translation techniques should be applied in the process of translation.Finally,through the comparison of the sentence components that English inanimate subjects serve in the target text,the translator concluded that there may be no fixed rule for the translation of English inanimate subjects so that they should be dealt with flexibly according to the context.