【文章內容簡介】 ce translationLong sentences make up a large portion in English, and there are several reasons for its frequent appearance. Reasons for frequent appearance of long English sentences Frequent use of modifiersCompared with Chinese, modifiers are much more frequently used in English, such as attributive clauses, adverbial clauses and appositives. But in Chinese, the specific nouns are not modified, but are explained by employing another independent sentence. (13)These students, who rarely do any housework at home, will serve as waiters in the restaurant near the school, which draws a large number of customers everyday.The main structure of this sentence is “the students will be waiters in the restaurant”, but the sentence is made long by the use of two attributive clauses, one of which is to modify the word “students”, and the other of which “the restaurant”. But in Chinese, this sentence will be put as followed. 這些學生在家?guī)缀醪蛔黾覄眨麄儗⒁綄W校附近的一家餐館去當侍者， 而這家餐館每天食客云集。We can see that the single English sentence is separated into three clauses, each expressing a specific meaning without employing any subordinate clauses. Complex structures“Compared with Chinese, in which verbs are arranged in time sequence, English sentences are much more plex with the use of various clauses, parenthesis, appositives and prepositions. Chinese students usually find it hard to identify the main structure of long English sentences, so it is necessary and quite helpful to learn the segments that make the simple sentences long.”[11]P61(14)He, instead of standing back, walked forward to face the accuser, with others looking at him in astonishment as well as puzzlement.This is a typical long English sentence with plex structures. A student without a thorough knowledge of English grammar is bound to fail to understand its meaning. To understand long sentences, a study of English grammar is required, and a large amount of reading of all types of articles in English is also very helpful. Types of long sentences writing In order to know better how to translate long sentences, it is necessary to know the types of writings where long sentences are most frequently used. Generally, long sentences frequently appear in official documents, scientific reports, and newspapers.(i). Law documentsThe reason why long sentences are frequently used in law documents is that long sentences are more formal pared with shorter ones, and official documents must be written in a formal tone and style. For example, (15) “Any clause, covenant or agreement in a contract of carriage relieving the carrier or the ship from liability for less or damage to, or in connection with, goods arising from negligence, fault, or failure in duties and obligations provided in this article or lessening such liability otherwise than provided in these rules shall be null and void and of no effect.” [12]P256(ii). Scientific documentsLong sentences also make up a large portion in scientific document, such as technology specifications. We can look the typical example.(16) “But it is realized that supplies of some of them are limited, and it is even possible to give a reasonable estimate of their “expectation of life”, the time it will take to exhaust all known sources and reserves of these material.” [13]P6(iii). NewspapersNewspapers usually are quite abundant in long sentences, but not all kinds of articles in newspapers are longsentenceoriented. Only formal types of articles, such as articles about politics, economy, sports, economy and culture use a lot of long sentences normally. For example,(17) “The China Banding Regulatory Commission (CBRC) also said on Friday more reform measures are in the pipeline this year, including pressing ahead with jointstock reforms of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), broadening reforms of rural credit cooperation and initiating key reform measures to the postal savings system.”[14] P4The reason for frequent appearance of long sentences in English has been analyzed. Then what are the mon ways of translating long sentences in English?Regardless of which kinds of articles contain long sentences, there are mon steps and methods in translating long English sentences. Generally, the steps taken should be, first, understanding the structure and meaning of the sentence correctly, and, second, expressing out the same meaning in Chinese in a natural way of expression. Steps in translating long English sentences The steps that should be taken in translation are understanding and expressing. A strict adherence to this principle would be sure to make the translation process much easier. “Understanding is the first and also the most important step in translation of long sentences. As long sentences are usually quite hard to understand because of their being plex, correct understanding of the original sentence is directly linked to correct translation without changing the meaning of the original sentence. To understand a long English sentence thus requires an analysis of the main structure, the exact meaning of specific words that tend to be misunderstood, distinguishing the main clauses from the subordinate clauses, identifying the logic of different segments in each clause, and, finally and most importantly, finding out the correct meaning of the sentence.”[15]P13 (i). Find out the “trunk” of the sentenceBy “trunk”, we mean the main structure of the whole sentence. Zhang Yan hold the view that “Finding out the main structure of the sentence is quite important because this often helps the reader identify which clauses are used to modify which, and the function and relation of each clause. In a word, the main structure of sentence includes subject, verb and object (if there is any object in the sentence). A subject is always a noun, indicating the doer of the action of the verb。 a verb always indicates an action。 an object is used to indicate the bearer of the action. A typical English sen