一、翻譯成漢語的主動句

將英語中的被動結構翻譯成漢語的主動結構時，往往可以分成以下幾種不同的情況。

① 保留英語原句中的主語。

例如：

1）All the tickets had been sold out when they arrived.

當他們到達時，所有的票都售完了。

2）Theatre will be reinvented and become much freer and more imaginative.

戲劇將脫胎換骨，變得更為自由，更富想象力。

3）Nuclear power's danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.

核能對健康、安全、甚至對生命本身所構成的危險可以用一個詞來概括：輻射。

② 將主語翻譯為賓語。

在動作發出者不言自明或難以言明時，英語常用被動句。而漢語在這種情況下，往往需要添加“有人”、“大家”、“別人”、“人們”之類的泛稱主語。例如：

1）I was told not to trust what I read in the newspaper.

有人告訴我不要相信報紙上的消息。

2）It could be argued that the radio performs this service as well, but on television everything is much more living, much more real.

可能有人會指出，無線電廣播同樣也能做到這一點，但還是電視屏幕上的節目要生動、真實得多。

3）It is generally accepted that the experiences of the child in his first years largely determine his character and later personality.

人們普遍認為，孩子們的早年經歷在很大程度上決定了他們的性格及其未來的人品。

另外，下列的一些結構也可以通過這種方式進行翻譯：

It is asserted that…有人主張……

It is believed that…有人認為……

It is generally considered that…大家（一般人）認為……

It is well known that…大家知道（眾所周知）……

It will be said…有人會說……

It was told that…有人曾經說……

③ 將介詞短語的賓語譯成主語。

如果英語的被動句中包含by, in, for等引導的作狀語的介詞短語，一般可以將介詞的賓語翻譯成譯文的主語，英語原句中的主語則一般需要翻譯成賓語。例如：

1）A right kind of fuel is needed for an atomic reactor.

原子反應堆需要一種合適的燃料。

2）By the end of the war, 800 people had been saved by the organization, but at a cost of 200 Belgian and French lives.

大戰結束時，這個組織拯救了八百人，但那是以二百多比利時人和法國人的生命為代價的。

3）Only a small portion of solar energy is now being used by human beings.

現在，人類僅能利用一小部分的太陽能。

④ 譯成漢語的無主句。

例如：

1）Great efforts should be made to inform young people the dreadful consequences of taking up the habit of smoking.

應該盡最大努力告誡年輕人吸煙上癮后的可怕后果。

2）By this procedure, different honeys have been found to vary widely in the sensitivity of their inhibit to heat.

通過這種方法分析發現，不同種類的蜂蜜對熱的敏感程度也極為不同。

3）Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft.

在我們這個世紀內研制了許多新奇的交通工具，其中最奇特的也許就是氣墊船了。

另外，下列的一些結構也可以通過這種方式進行翻譯：

It is hoped that…希望……

It is reported that…據報道……

It is said that…據說……

It is supposed that…據推測……

It must be admitted that…必須承認……

It must be pointed out that…必須指出……

It will be seen from this that…由此可見……

⑤ 譯成帶表語的主動句。

例如：

1）The decision to attack was not taken lightly.

進攻的決定不是輕易做出的。

2）The credit system in America was first adopted by Harvard University in 1872.

美國的學分制是1872年首先在哈佛大學實施的。

3）The manuscript was sent to the printer in London a few weeks before the Revolution.

手稿是在革命前幾周寄往倫敦付印的。

二、譯成漢語的被動語態

英語中的許多被動句也可以翻譯成漢語的被動句，句中經常使用漢語中表示被動意義的一些標志詞，如“被”、“給”、“遭”、“挨”、“為……所”、“使”、“由……”、“受到”等。例如：

1）These signals are produced by colliding stars or nuclear reactions in outer space.

這些訊號是由外層空間的星球碰撞或者核反應所造成的。

2）Over the years, tools and technology themselves as a source of fundamental innovation have largely been ignored by historians and philosophers of science.

多年來，工具和技術本身作為根本性創新的源泉在很大程度上被科學史學家和科學思想家們忽視了。

3）For a long period to come, most of China's elderly will continue to be provided for by their families.

在未來很長的一段時間里，中國的老年人仍舊要由他們的家庭來贍養。