喘不上气(双语加油站●跟我学)

　　句子：今天空气憋闷，喘不上气。

　　误译：As the air is close today， we can’t breathe.

　　正译：

　　1)The air is so close today that we are very short of breath.

　　2)As it’s very close in here today， we have difficulty breathing.

　　3)As the air is close today， we have to breathe hard/heavily/deeply.

　　解释：“喘不上气”的意思是“呼吸困难而不得不用力喘气，但是还没有到丧失呼吸能力的地步”。can't breathe是说“不能呼吸”。

　　“喘”的第一个意思是“因憋闷而急促或用力吸气，或深呼吸”。英语用 to be short of breath， to be out of breath， to have difficulty breathing， to breathe hard/heavily/deeply， to gasp， to pant 等表示。例如：空气这样寒冷，这位老人几乎喘不动气。The air was so cold that the old man could hardly breathe.

　　我因追公共汽车而气喘吁吁。I was out of breath after running for the bus.

　　“喘”的第二个意思是“因呼吸困难的疾病，如咳喘、哮喘等而费力地吸气”。英语用 to breathe with difficulty， to pant 等表示。例如：这个老人到了夜里又咳又喘。This old man coughs a lot and breathes with difficulty in the night. 这位哮喘患者在这样的湿热天里费力地喘。 On such a hot and humid day， this asthmatic patient has to gasp heavily for breath.

　　“喘”的第三个意思是“在紧张活动中短暂休息”。英语用 to stop for breath， to take a breather 等表示。例如：我们不得不停下来喘口气，然后再爬上楼梯顶。We had to stop for breath before we got to the top of the stairs.

　　我们已经辛苦工作整个上午了，我们需要喘息一下。As we have worked hard the whole morning， we need a breather. ▲

　　（本栏目供稿：王逢鑫教授）