On The Translation Of Long English Sentences From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence Theory

Long sentence is a common language phenomenon in English. As the exchange of languages and cultures deepened, long English sentences appear in higher frequency when translated into Chinese, the translation of long English sentences becomes one of the most difficult parts in English-Chinese translation. While in Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory, he emphasizes that translating consists in reproducing in the recepter language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style (Nida,1969:1). Functional Equivalence is defined in terms of the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it substantially in the same manner as the receptors in the source language. Therefore, it could be well used as a principle in the translation of long English sentences. With the guidance of Nida’s Functional Equivalence, this paper, through the analysis of the differences between English and Chinese and the features of long English sentences, tries to discuss some translation strategies in long English sentences, thus making the translation clear, smooth, natural and conforming to Chinese expressions.