Soccer is a difficult sport.（1）A player must be able to run steadily without rest.（2）Sometimes a player must hit the ball with his or her head.（3）Players must be willing to bang into and be banged into by others.（4）They must put up with aching feet and sore muscles．
上面這則短文中，主題句（main idea sentence）也就是文章中心是第一句，（1）（2）（3）（4）句是用來說明主題句。而在漢語中，我們習(xí)慣于先分后總，先說原因后說結(jié)果，即所謂“前因后果”，如果要表達(dá)相同意思，我們通常這樣說：
July 6，2002 Dear Tom， I am sorry to inform you that I won't be able to go to dance with you this weekend. My mother is suddenly ill. In order not to disappoint you, I have asked Shi Dai to take my place. She is a better dancer, I think. My regrets. Joe
從便條中可以看出，英語表達(dá)先“果”—I won't be able to go to dance with you this weekend后“因”—my mother is suddenly ill，即所謂“先果后因”。
He had to stay at home yesterday because he was ill．因?yàn)樗×?，昨天他不得不呆在家里? Tragedies can be written in literature since there is tragedy in life．生活中既然有悲劇，文學(xué)作品就可以寫悲劇。
二、接下來，讓我們看一下英漢句子結(jié)構(gòu)特點(diǎn)。英語屬印歐語系，漢語屬漢藏語系，兩種語言相距甚遠(yuǎn)，英語結(jié)構(gòu)緊湊，漢語結(jié)構(gòu)松散。語言學(xué)家以“竹節(jié)句法”來比喻英語句子，即英語句子是由斷不可缺各種連接詞銜接而成，宛如節(jié)節(jié)相連竹子；而漢語句子則被比喻為“流水句法”，所謂流水指少用乃至不用連接詞仍行文流暢。所以說，英語重形和，漢語重意和。英語句子中如果少了連接詞如or，but，if，so，because，when，although ， in order that，so that，所要表達(dá)意思就支離破碎了，而漢語如果沒有連接詞，只需從句子本身意思就可以把概念或關(guān)系表達(dá)清楚。
如：Conquer the desires，or they will conquer you．你如不能戰(zhàn)勝欲念，欲念將要戰(zhàn)勝你。 An Englishman who could not speak Chinese was once traveling in China．一個(gè)英國人，不會(huì)說中國話，有一次在中國旅行。
It was on a Sunday evening，when he was lying in the orchard listening to a blackbird and composing a love poem，that he heard the gate swing to，and saw the girl coming running among the trees，with the red-cheeked，stolid Joe in swift pursuit．
這是個(gè)英語強(qiáng)調(diào)句，其重心是：he heard the gate swing to and saw the girl coming running am ong the trees．，而when he was lying in the orchard listening to a blackbird and composing a love poem是一個(gè)時(shí)間狀語從句，這兩個(gè)句子通過it was...that...這個(gè)強(qiáng)調(diào)句型巧妙地合為一個(gè)復(fù)合長句，整個(gè)句子簡單明了，結(jié)構(gòu)緊湊，若用漢語表達(dá)則須分成好幾個(gè)短句。
再如：
The president said at a conference dominated by questions on yesterday's election results that he could not explain why the Republicans had suffered such a widespread defeat，which in the end would deprive the Republican Party of long-held superiority in the House．
這個(gè)英語長句是由一個(gè)帶有分詞短語主句，兩個(gè)賓語從句和一個(gè)非限制性定語從句組成，整個(gè)句子主干簡單明了：The president said...that...，若用漢語來表達(dá)，須把此長句拆開分成三個(gè)單句來分別敘述。
如：You're always asking me such questions！你老是問我這樣問題?。ㄓ矛F(xiàn)在進(jìn)行時(shí)表示厭煩）。
I am now living in a very pleasant flat．我現(xiàn)在住在一間非常舒適公寓里。（用現(xiàn)在進(jìn)行時(shí)表示滿意）
所以，傳遞同樣意思，英語只要選用合適時(shí)態(tài)就可以了，漢語則必須使用詞匯手段。
又如：It has been noted that those who live，or have lived，in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do．人們已經(jīng)注意到大凡受到死亡威脅人或是死里逃生人對(duì)于他們所干任何事總是興趣盎然。
六、從詞匯方面講，英漢兩種語言也有很大差異。就詞組而言，英語中詞組或短語可謂林林總總，豐富多彩，有名詞短語、動(dòng)詞短語、形容詞短語、介詞短語、分詞短語、不定式短語與獨(dú)立結(jié)構(gòu)等，它們語法功能不一而足，可作主語、謂語、賓語、定語、狀語與表語等。如：Marriage may be compared to a cage：the birds outside despair to get in and those within despair to get out．婚姻好比鳥籠，外面鳥兒想進(jìn)進(jìn)不去，里面鳥兒想出出不來。（不定式短語to get in，to get out作狀語）
I am utterly in the dark about the matter．我對(duì)這件事完全不知道。（介詞詞組in the dark作表語）。Christmas is coming up．圣誕節(jié)就要到了。（動(dòng)詞短語come up作謂語）。相比之下，漢語更偏重以單音節(jié)或多音節(jié)單詞為其基本句法成分，而且其短語用法十分有限。
