英语和汉语词序差别很大。下面我们先看看这两种语言在词序排列上各自的特点，然后再针对这些特点讨论一下英汉互译中词序的处理方法。

　　英汉句子词序的差异

　　汉语是语义型语言，英语是形态型语言，这便决定了两者在词序安排上有着本质的区别。汉语组词造句时，词序主要由语义的搭配决定，即语义团块的先后次序是由人的思维逻辑来决定的。汉语是一种逻辑性很强的语言，其逻辑性主要表现在以下几个方面：

　　1. 在时间上，英语句子的词序主要是根据语境的需要安排，而汉语通常按事情发生或出现的先后顺序排列。例如：

 

　　1） He went to bed after he finished his homework..

　　他做完作业后便上床睡觉了。

　　2）They started as soon as he came .

　　他一到他们就开始干了起来。

　　3）Calmly Mother looked around before she turned back fearlessly, closing the door behind her and dashed to the window.

　　母亲镇定地环顾四周，然后毫不畏惧地转身回到屋子里，顺手关上门，一个箭步奔到门口。

　　4）A loud applause exploded from the audience when the actress went on the stage.

　　当女演员登上舞台时，观众中爆发出一阵掌声。

　　5）The invaders will not surrender until they come to the end of their tether.

　　侵略者不到走投无路的时候是不会投降的。

　　6）He was given a chair and asked to wait a little as darkness came on, then suddenly the whole bridge was outlined in lights.

　　天快黑了，人家给了他一把椅子，请他坐下来等一会儿。忽然电灯全亮了，照出了整个大桥的轮廓。

　　7）老栓正在专心走路，忽然吃了一惊，远远地看见一条丁字街，明明白白横着。他便退了几步，寻找一家关着门的铺子，蹩进檐下，靠门立住了。（鲁迅，《药》）

　　Absorbed in his walking, Old Shuan was startled when he saw the cross road lying distinctly ahead of him. He walked back a few steps to stand under the eaves of a shop in front of its closed door.（连淑能，p.72）

　　8）那只老狼从灌木丛里窜出来，惊魂未定地喘息，伸出舌头。它扭头望着那片灌木林，声响渐渐消失了，慌乱中毫无目的地转了一阵。它累极了，便卧在地上。然后它又坐起来，可是它突然像被咬了一下似地跳起来，那只猛禽的铁爪还留在它身上。（周涛，《猛禽》）

　　The old wolf runs out of the bush, still badly shaken, and panting with its tongue lolling. It turns its head to look back at the bush; the terrifying sound has all but died out. Still in panic, it limps aimlessly for a while, then, exhausted, it crouches down to rest, as it sits up, a biting pain hurts its back: the eagle’s iron-like claw is still attached to its body.

　　上面第1至第6例在时间上都采取“倒叙”的手法，其中after, as soon as, before, when， until和as 引导的从句所表达的事件或动作都在主句动词表达的动作之前发生。但是翻译成汉语时，句子完全是按照时间顺序排列的。第7例和第8例的汉语原文也是典型是“顺”序句。句中虽然动词很多，但排列时显得有条不紊。

　　2. 在事理上，英语的词序比较灵活，但通常开门见山，直奔主题，然后再作解释。

　　在表示因果关系时，一般先讲结果再说明原因；在表示假设时，往往先说结果再说条件；而汉语的词序则比较固定，通常按照先原因后结果、先假设后可能、先条件后结果的顺序来排列。这一点，当句中的关联词省略不用时尤其如此。例如：

　　9）I can’t trust her, because she is not honest.（连淑能，p.54）

　　比较：Because she is not honest, I can’t trust her.

　　她不老实，我不能信任她。

　　10）I think we should have been told if there was anything up.

　　比较：I think if there was anything up, we should have been told.

　　我想要是真发生了什么事，他们应该通知我们的。

　　11）(His assignment in the interim was to choose and develop his own replacement.) He chose Larry, who had an excellent record in sales and had held a management position prior to joining the company.

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