英文重視形合，句子只要遵守文法規(guī)則，描述因果與時序時可以前后調(diào)動次序而不妨礙語意。然而，中文重視意合，并不講究嚴格的語法，所以要注重時序和講究因果關(guān)係，免得語意錯亂或模糊不清。整體而言，中文會依照邏輯或事件發(fā)生的先后順序來排列，先說明情況或背景信息，最后來個簡短的表態(tài)或評論；英文恰好相反，先要表態(tài)或評論，然后才說明事情的來龍去脈。

以下舉兩個版主最近翻譯的文章，讀者可參考版主如何翻譯英文。翻譯的原則是：只要符合中文的行文習慣，一切問題都可迎刃而解。

It is said that bananas and chocolate were the foods most missed by the English during World War II rationing.
──Penguins, Pineapples And Pangolins, by Claire Cock-Starkey, P. 116.

（譯文）第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，英國實施食物配給制度，據(jù)說當時民眾最懷念香蕉與巧克力。

Nutmeg is native to the Banda Islands of Indonesia and the Dutch held a tight hold on its trade after gaining control of the tiny Indonesian island of Run, one of the few places where nutmeg was grown at that time.
（譯文）肉荳蔻原產(chǎn)于印尼班達群島（Banda Islands）。當時“蘭島”（Run）是少數(shù)生產(chǎn)肉荳蔻的地區(qū)，荷蘭人控制這座印尼小島之后，便嚴格控管肉荳蔻的貿(mào)易。