汉译英语时，我们常常要碰到一些形式上是肯定或否定的句子，译文除了准确以外，还应符合汉语规范，不应逐字直译。
先请看下面几例：
The exact date has escaped me.
我记不清确切日期了。
I was guite in the dark about the matter.
这事我一点也不知道。
The beauty of the place is more than I can describe.
那地方景色之美，非我笔墨所及。
Hands off！
请勿动手！
以上各句形式上是肯定的，但意义却是否定的。它们既无no，not，nothing，nobody，nowhere之类的否定词，也没有barely，hardly，little，scarely或任何带否定前缀如dis-，non-，un-，im-，或否定后缀如-less的词，这就是说在形式上看不出有否定意义的迹象，但实际上却表示否定的意义，在翻译时应按汉语习惯作否定处理。
这种寓否定意义于肯定形式之中的句子，一般常用下列单词、句型、词组、短语表达。
（一）动词：
fail，deny，exclude，overlook，lack，refuse，miss，ill，break，ignorant etc. 如：
His words and action ill consort together.
他的言行很不一致。
The muscles fail to contract immediately.
肌肉不能马上收缩。
He was in such a hurry that he missed his breakfast.
他急急忙忙连早饭也不吃了。
The patient was ignorant of the time when the first attack occurred.
病人不知道第一次发病究竟在何时。
The patient denied a family history of his disease.
病人说他的病没有家族史。
The value of loss in this equation is so small that we can overlook it.
在此方程中，损耗值太小，可忽略不计。
Your statement lacks detail.
你的叙述不够详细。
The sick baby kept crying and refused to take the medicine.
病婴不断地哭，不肯吃药。
（二）名词：
negelect，absence，ignorance，exclusion etc.
如：
In the absence of the director，Comrade Wang is in charge of the business.
主任不在时，王同志主持日常工作。
His neglect caused the loss。
他不小心造成了这个损失。
We are in complete ignorance of his intention.
他的意向我们一概不清楚。
（三）形容词：
Free from，short of，far from，last etc.
如：
We didn't buy anything because we were short of money.
我们因钱不够所以没买任何东西。
Removal of the spleen at a suitable will free the patient from such attack。
适时摘除脾脏能使病人免除这种发作。
Etiological factors responsible for cancer of the stomach are far from being clear.
胃癌的致病因素还远没了解清楚。
The man devoid of principle is the last of other to be trusted.
缺乏原则性的人是最不应当信任的人。
（四）副词：
In vain，too……to，seldom etc. 如：
Surgical measures to correct deformities are seldom necessary.
校正畸形的手术措施不太必要。
To cry over spilled milk is to cry in vain.
为溢出的牛奶哭，徒然无益。
Cancers are dangerous disease which are too familiar to require further description.
癌症是危险的疾病，尽人皆知，勿需进一步描述。
（五）连词：
until，but that，rather than，till etc. 如：
I shall be here until eight.
八点钟以前我不离开。
He would have fallen but that I caught him.
若不是我抓住了他，他就倒了。
In this case，we would rather take conservative measures than preform a radical resection.
对这种病例，我们宁愿采取保守措施，而不做根治切除术。
（六）介词：
beside，above，except，beyond，out of，instead of etc. 如：
You'd better stay out of that affair.
你最好不要管那件事。
What has made you so out of humour today？
什么事使你今天这么不高兴？
Surgical intervention is indicated in case the hemorrhage is beyond control.
万一出血无法控制就应作外科（手术）处理。
He is above doing such things.
他不是干这种事的人。
In prevention of recurrent rheumatic fever sulfadiazine or sulfisoxazole（Gantrisin SIZ）should be used instead of penicillin if the patient is sensitive to the latter.
在预防风湿热复发时，如病人对青霉素过敏，就应采用磺胺嘧啶或磺胺昇恶唑（菌得清）而不用青霉素。
What you have just said is beside the mark.
你刚说的话是不切题的。
以上事例仅为英语否定意义寓于肯定形式之中的句子的表达，是翻译的一种基本方法，然而我们还常常遇到一些英语是否定形式的句子而不宜译成否定语气，往往译为肯定句更为恰当，也就是反意正说，这里略举一二。
I could not feel better.
我觉得挺好。
Patients shall not fail to observe doctor's orders.
病人必须遵守医嘱。
Nerve，fail to restrict fluid intake in case of acute renal failure.
急性肾衰竭时，务必限制水分摄入。
Some patient with severe chronic obstructive lung disease do not have evidence of right ventricular failure until late in their disease.
有严重阻塞性肺疾患的病人，直到病程晚期才有右心室衰竭的表现。
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* 作者系贵州省遵义医学院教师。