3．1．5　Double Negation双重否定的翻译

3．1．5　Double Negation双重否定的翻译

Double negation refers to the form in which there are two negative words，one negative word plus“without” ，one negative word with such negative prefixes or suffixes as un-，dis-，non-，-less and the like，or one negative word with a connotative negation in one sentence．Let us discuss these constructions with some examples．

He did it not without reason．

　他这样做不无理由。

Japan cannot be economically independent without trading with foreign countries．

　日本不与外国通商，经济上不可能独立。

You can＇t buy things without money．

　没钱就买不到东西。

He expected，not unnaturally，that his father would help him．

　他指望父亲能来帮助他，这不是不合情理的。

Nothing is changeless．

　一成不变的东西是没有的。

Comments When we translate such sentences，we can directly render them by using two negative characters in Chinese versions．

But double negative formation cannot always be retained in Chinese versions because there will be repetition and roundabout phenomena in this case．Affirmative formations may be directly employed if necessary．

There can be no sunshine without shadow．

　有阳光就有阴影。

No one has nothing to offer to society．

　人人都可以为社会奉献点什么。

He cannot speak English without making mistakes．

　他一说英语就出错。

They never meet without quarrelling．

　他们每次见面肯定吵架。

Nowadays it is not seldom that a man lives to be seventy years old．

　如今人活到70岁是常见的。

Comments We need not translate sentences with double negation into ones with two negative words in Chinese all the time．We have another way to translate them into affirmative like the above-mentioned sentences．But note that we have to distinguish between the double negation and the repeated negation．The latter is different from the former．The repeated negation is made up of more than two negative words，which still have negative meaning．The purpose is to emphasize something in a sentence．

Additionally，it is easily concluded that double negative English sentences can be translated in both ways，positive or negative in Chinese，if we want to．Both ways imply emphatic meaning．Which way we choose surely depends on the context of the target text．In the skill of conversion between the positive and the negative，sometimes because the translation is not smooth if it is not converted into negative expressions and sometimes we should translate double negative English sentences in a positive way because positive statements will make the translated text more natural．