《中式英语之鉴》读书笔记01：翻译中冗余的名词
? 好的写作、有活力的写作是简洁明了的，一个句子不应有不必要的词，一个段落没有没必要的句子，就像一幅画没有不必要的线条，一台机器没有不必要的零件。
? 所以要用最少的语言表达出我们想表达的意思。(注：以下的翻译修改目的都是使句子看起来更简明。)
中式英语中大多数多余的名词不是单独出现的，而是与冠词和介词结合的短语。所以删去这类名词，会连同删去其名词前的冠词与介词。
常见几种情况：
1、名词的含义已经包括或暗含在该句子的其他词汇中。
(A为原文字，B是修改后的文字)
A: to accelerate the pace of ?economic reform
B: to accelerate ?economic reform
[accelerate本身就是加快步伐(increase the pace of)的意思，不必重复]
A: there have been good harvests in agriculture
B: there have been good harvests
[harvest(收成) 已经暗示了agriculture(农业)，因为harvest就是农业有关的词汇]
A： living standards for the people ?in both urban and rural areas continued to rise
B: living standards ?in both urban and rural areas continued to rise
[living standards(生活水平) 的概念只适用于人]
A：these hardships are temporary? in nature .
B: these hardships are temporary.
[形容词都是描述事物的性质和特点的。所以加个in nature没有必要，好比我们不会说中国国旗在颜色上红色的(red in color)，熊猫在数量上很少的(few in number)]
A: the development of our country in the future ?will, to a large extent, depend on...
B: the development of our country will, to a large extent, depend on...
[ will depend这个动词将来时本身就已经表示了将来 ]
A: we should adopt ?a series of ?measures to ensure that...
B: we should adopt measures to ensure that...
? [措施的复数形式已经包含了一系列的意思。]
2、在句子中无关紧要的名词
?这类名词删除之后，句子的意义并没有缺失，而且能使句子更清楚。
A: following the realization of ?mechanization and electrification of agriculture
B: following the mechanization and electrification of agriculture
?[农业机械化和电力化的实现，更像是对中文的直接翻译，英文中realization对句子意义影响不大]
A: it is essential to strengthen the building of ?national defense
B: it is essential to strengthen national defense
?[加强国防建设是比较贴近中文的表达，但是加强国防(strengthen national defense)已经足够表达出我们想表达的意思]
A: these constitute ?important condition in striving ?for the fulfillment of ?the general task in the transitional ?period
B: these are ?important condition for fulfilling ?the general task in the? transition ?period
[constitute换成了be动词，显得更简练；in striving for为了，可以缩减为一个for；the fulfillment of变成了对应的动词fulfilling；词汇用的少了，但是表达的意思没变；transitional变成了名词，用名词修饰名词，表示被修饰名词的属性]
A: at that time the situation ?in northeast China was still one where ?the enemy was stronger than the people’s forces
B: at that time the enemy was stronger than the people’s forces in northeast China
[把原句从一个复合句变成了简单句，总体看起来更简明扼要，更容易理解。Situation是一个特别危险的名词，它不仅没必要，而且会在其后增加其他无用的名词(如one where)]
A:? the key to ?the situation lies in ?the curtailment of expenditure
B: the situation is to curtail (或者 cut back on) expenditure
?[“key”有时是有用的，但是通常情况下它也可以省掉。以及像“situation”，这个词经常带来其他不必要的词(比如此处的lies in)]
A:?inner-Party democracy is a subject that ?has been discussed in detail
B: inner-Party democracy has been discussed in detail
?[如果能表达同样的意思，简单句比复合更简明。]
3、范畴名词
范畴名词是中式英语中最常见的不必要名词，它是对具体名词的所属范畴的名称。
A:?a serious mistake in the ? work of planning
B: a serious mistake in planning
?[在这个例子中，名词work表明了名词planning的范畴，告诉了读者planning这个名词分类属于work的范畴，那这是我们已知的信息，所以work应该删除。]
A:?promoting the cause of ?peaceful reunification
B: promoting peaceful reunification
?[这里cause是事业的意思，促进和平统一的事业，事业指人们所从事的，具有一定目标、规模和系统的对社会发展有影响的经常活动；所以这里和平统一当然分属于事业中的一种，所以cause是范畴名词，可删除]
A:?reforms in the sphere of the economy
B: reforms in the economy(或者economic reforms)
[这里sphere是范围、领域的意思，经济economy本身就代表了经济领域，没必要再加个范围或领域；括号中是把经济改革翻译成一个名词短语，有时候转化词性可以让短语更简洁]
A:?to ensure a relationship of ?close cooperation between...
B: to ensure close cooperation between...
[cooperation合作这个词本身就是人与人之间的一种行为关系，所以relationship是cooperation的范畴名词，可以省略]
A:?we must oppose ?the practice of ?extravagance
B: we must oppose extravagance
?[practice行为，extravagance铺张浪费，我们知道铺张浪费是一种行为，不必再加个行为]
A:?these principles apply to all ? cases of ?relations between China and other countries
B: these principles apply to relations between China and all ?other countries
?[case实际情况的意思，可想而知中国与其他国家的关系，是情况中的一种，所以范畴名词case可以省略]
A:?this, coupled with the factor of ?price instability, caused...
B: this, coupled with price instability, caused...
[factor是因素，原意：与价格不稳定这个因素相结合，导致...，那我们把影响事物的原因或条件叫做因素，所以价格不稳定本身是导致某一结果的原因，所以不要再使用factor表明其性质。]
总之，不论范畴名词在中文的作用是什么，在英语中通常情况下是没有用处的。它只能让句子变得冗长且没有实质意义。