tranlating relative clauses

Translation of relative clauses from English into Vietnamese

Nguyễn Thanh Hương.7A-02.HUFS

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper could not have been completed without the help, encouragement and

support from a number of people who all deserve my sincerest gratitude and

appreciation.

First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Nguyễn Viết Thắng, my supervisor. I’m

indebted to his inspiration, scholarly supervision and intellectual support throughout the

course of writing this graduation paper. His continual encouragement, careful reading,

critical comments and patient guidance made my work more enjoyable and easier.

Special words of thank also go to all my informants for their willling participation

in the study. I greatly appreciate their generosity with their time and efforts in filling in

the questionnaire. Without them this paper could not have been possible.

Finally, my deepest gratitude and appreciation go to my family, my friends and

my classmates. Their love, support and constant encouragement gave me a great deal of

strength and determination that help me during the stressful time of writing this paper.

Nguyễn Thanh Hương



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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………1

Chapter I: Introduction

I.1. Definition of translation and its role in human communication………..4

I.2.Relative pronouns and relative clauses in English and in Vietnamese….6

Chapter II: The findings of the survey

II.1.Introduction..............................................................................................9

II.2. Students’ knowledge of relative clauses in English…………………...12

II.3. Their translations of relative clauses from English into Vietnamese.....13

Chapter III: Theoretical Background

III.1.Definition………………………………………………………………15

III.2.Classification…………………………………………………………..15

III.3. Some notes on relative clauses and other cases…………………........18

Chapter IV: Common problems in translating relative clauses and some popular

methods for the translation

IV.1.Common problems……………………………………………………21

IV.2.Som popular methods…………………………………………………22

Chapter V: Analysis and suggestions for the translating relative clauses from

English into Vietnamese

V.1.Introduction……………………………………………………………28



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V.2. Analysis and suggestions……………………………………………..29

Chapter VI: The treatment of relative clauses as a writing device and conclusion

VI.1.Introduction………………………………………………….............36

VI.2. Examples and discussion……………………………………………37

VI.3. Conclusion…………………………………………………………..42

References………………………………………………………………………..44

Appendix…………………………………………………………………............46



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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

I.1. DEFINITION OF TRANSLATION AND ITS ROLE IN HUMAN

COMMUNICATION

First, let’s share the following funny story :

“ When the Evita Production Company came to Budapest, Madonna ( an American

pop singer) had an interview with the Budapest newspaper Blikk. The questions were

posed in Hungarian, then translated into English for Madonna, whose replies were then

translated back into Hungarian for the paper’s exclusive.

Soon after, at the request of USA Today, Madonna’s comments were then retranslated

from Hungarian back into English for the benefit of that paper’s readers. The end result

is far from the original but much funnier. “I am a woman and not a test- mouse!” The

translations have Madonna exclaim.”

(http://www.innocentenglish.com/Funny-Translations-Madonna-Interview.html)

Do you find it curious and unbelievable? By the way, it’s a real story, if you are

interested. It’s a mistake made by accident by a careless translator and its consequence

may be serious. Had Madonna been furious with the newspaper and decided to bring the

case to court, a lot of people would have been in trouble.

In daily life, there have been numerous similarities in which bad versions can cause

problems, for instance: failures in business contracts, job fire, or political matters at

international level, etc. As a result, accurate and successful translation plays a crucial

role in effective communication through words between people – an activity only exists

in human being. Along with the interpretation, translation bridges the gaps between



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people who live in different nations. In other words, translation helps remove the

language barrier and make people closer to each other.

In the discussion about mechanical translation, Voltaire (1694-1778), French

writer and historian, said:

“Woe to the makers of literal translations, who by rendering every word

weaken the meaning! It is indeed by doing so we can say the letter kills and

the spirit gives life”.

(http://www.nonstopenglish.com/reading/quotations/k_Translation.asp)

(Thật là tai họa khi những dịch giả lại dịch một cách máy móc. Làm như vậy là đã làm

giảm đi ý nghĩa của câu chữ. Làm như vậy chính là huỷ diệt đi cuộc sống mà chỉ có ý

nghĩa thực sự mới đem lại được).

Paul Goodman (1911- 1972), the American author, poet and critic runs another

way.

“The problem of translation is to retreat to a simpler tenor of one’s own style and

creatively adjust this to one’s author”.

(http://en.thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=translation&q=author%3A

%22Paul+Goodman%22)

(Vấn đề của dịch thuật là phải tạo ra một bản dịch dễ hiểu hơn bằng một phong cách

của chính mình và thay đổi một cách sáng tạo để phù hợp với tác giả của bản gốc).

According to Cervantes, “Translation is the other side of a tapestry”.

(http://www.nonstopenglish.com/reading/quotations/k_Translation.asp)

(Bản dịch là mặt bên kia của tấm thảm hoa.)

Unlike such vivid sayings of famous figures, in Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary, 7th edition, A S Hornby defines translation as the following:



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“Translation (is) the process of changing something that is written or spoken into another

language.”

(Dịch là một quá trình chuyển một văn bản ở dạng viết hoặc nói từ ngôn ngữ này sang

ngôn ngữ khác).

Bùi Tiến Bảo and Đặng Xuân Thu in their “Interpresting and Translation Course

Book”, (1997) pointed out another interesting way for the definition.

“ Translation is rendering a written text into another language in the way that the author

intended in the text”

(Dịch là việc chuyển một văn bản viết từ ngôn ngữ này sang ngôn ngữ khác theo đúng ý

của tác giả bản gốc).

In short, translation field is immense and requires a lot of studies and discussion.

This paper only looks at one respect of it: translating relative clauses from English into

Vietnamese and tackling problems relating to this process.

I.2. RELATIVE PRONOUNS AND RELATIVE CLAUSES IN ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE

In Vietnamese we don’t have the concept of “ relative pronouns”. Only the

definition of pronoun exists. According to Đinh Văn Đức in his “Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt”

( p.199), “ Đại từ là từ loại của các từ có chức năng thay thế”( pronoun is a kind of

words having the function of replacement.)

Bùi Ý (Basic English sentence patterns, 1980) presents that in Vietnamese

grammar, relative pronouns are rarely seen. Sometimes we use “mà” which is called “

connector” or “conjunction”. (Đinh Văn Đức, Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Việt (Từ Loại), p.207.)

E.g: The boy whom you see at the door is his brother.

(Đứa bé mà anh trông thấy ở cửa là em anh ta đấy.)



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( Bùi Ý, Basic English sentence patterns, 1980, p.111)

Due to the complexity of words and parts of speech in Vietnamese, in this section

we only take “who” as an example for the transformation of English relative pronouns

into Vietnamse ones in terms of the name.

Consider the following example and compare “who” and its equivalent in Vietnamese.

E.g: They are talking about the pupil who often skips school.

(Họ đang nói về một cậu học sinh thường xuyên trốn học).

= (Họ đang nói về một cậu học sinh. Cái cậu học sinh ấy thường xuyên trốn học.)

So, “who”( relative pronoun) in English actually means “Cái cậu học sinh ấy” ( noun

phrase) in Vietnamese.

Nguyễn Tài Cẩn ( Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt, 1999, p.229) refers to “Cái cậu học sinh

ấy” as “danh ngữ”or “ đoản ngữ có danh từ làm trung tâm”.

Similarly, “ mệnh đề quan hệ” is not popular in Vietnamese language. In fact, we only

have the concept of clause ( mệnh đề). Also in Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt ( p.148), Nguyễn

Tài Cẩn defines “ mệnh đề” as “ một tổ hợp gồm hai trung tâm nối liền với nhau bằng

quan hệ tường thuật”( a group consisting of two parts connected by the description

relation.)

E.g: Cuốn sách tôi vừa mua hôm qua

mệnh đề( clause)

It depends on the context that “mệnh đề” and “ mệnh đề quan hệ” are the same in

Vietnamese, like in above example.

To sum up, in spite of different names in two systems, English relative pronouns

and relative clauses have the equivalent ones in Vietnamese. For that reason, people



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often find easy to translate English sentences with relative clauses into Vietnamese.

However, in Vietnamse, relative clauses are not popular and typical, which is different

from in English. As a result, Vietnamese students’ translations of relative clauses from

English into Vietnamese often sound awkward. Moreover, their renderings may be

correct and understandable but monotonous and gloomy and of course, these versions

weaken the meaning, even ruin the stylistic purpose of English original text. This is also

one of my big concerns since I took my first steps in learning English to date.

With the aim to improve the quality of translating relative clauses into Vietnamese

as well as to help learners deal with matters concerned, I hope my paper is useful

especially for:

- Students learning English at Hanoi University of Foreign Studies

- English learners in other academic subjects in other schools, colleges or

universities

- People interested in translating

My paper is based on two procedures:

- The survey on students learning English at HUFS

- The findings of mistakes in some English grammar materials

So, the study will deal with common problems both in real learning process of our

students and in the books readers might use. And you will see that knowing relative

clauses in English is a matter, understanding and accurately translating them into

Vietnamese is another one which is not as easy as some people might think.



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CHAPTER II: FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY

II.1.INTRODUCTION

Following is the findings of the questionnaire survey which is carried out with 100

students in all levels from junior to senior. The survey has 2 purposes: First, to test

students’ knowledge of relative clauses in English (the first five questions). Second, to

see how they translate relative clauses from English into Vietnamese (the next five

questions). Let’s see the results.

1. Do you encounter relative clauses during your study in English?

� Often (60%)

� Always (20%)

� Sometimes (20%)

� Rarely (0%)

2. What are the other names of relative clauses?

� Adverbial clause (40%)

� Adjective clause (30%)

� Appositive clause (20%)

� Attributive clause (30%)

3. Which ones are relative clauses in the following?

� Mr John, for whom I was working, was very generous about overtime

payments.(80%)

� I like the idea that students can become independent learners. (60%)



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� The manufacturers soon stopped marketing the drug, which was found to

have serious side effects. (60%)

� There wasn’t one boy in the class but knew exactly what the teacher was

referring to. (0%)

� They went to the same hotel as we always stay at. (10%)

� The news that the teacher is ill is not true. (30%)

4. Which ones are not relative clauses?

� He told his wife, who then passed on the information to a neighbour.

(20%)

� He told the story to his wife, who is a great lover of gossip. (10%)

� I used to listen to the radio when I was young. (80%)

� He spoke of the time when he was a boy. (50%)

5. Which sentences follow can we omit relative pronouns?

� A woman whom my sister knows has just bought the house next

door.(80%)

� Have you got anything that will clean this carpet? (10%)

� I’m sorry for people who haven’t got a sense of humour.(10%)

� The doctor who treated me didn’t know what he was doing.(0%)

6. Do you come up with problems in understanding and translating relative

clauses from English into Vietnamese?

� Never (0%)

� Always (30%)

� Often (50%)

� Rarely (20%)



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How do you translate the following sentences ?

7. Bill has a son, who is a doctor.

� Bill có một cậu con trai làm nghề bác sĩ.(60%)

� Bill có một cậu con trai và cậu ấy là bác sĩ.(10%)

� Trong số các cậu con trai của Bill có một cậu làm bác sĩ. (10%)

� Bill làm nghề bác sĩ và có một cậu con trai.(20%)

8. The man dived fully into the river to save the boy, for which he later received a

commendation for bravery.

� Vì luôn được khen ngợi là người dũng cảm người đàn ông đó đã chẳng

ngần ngại để cả quần áo nhảy xuống sông cứu cậu bé.(15%)

� Người đàn ông đó đã để nguyên quần áo nhảy xuống sông cứu cậu bé -

điều mà vì nó ngay sau đó anh ta đã được ca ngợi về sự dũng cảm của

mình.( 50%)

� Người đàn ông đó được mọi người ca ngợi về lòng dũng cảm vì đã để

nguyên quần áo nhảy xuống sông cứu cậu bé.(30%)

� Người đàn ông đó đã để nguyên quần áo nhảy xuống sông cứu cậu bé và

sau đó đã được mọi người khen ngợi vì sự dũng cảm của mình.(5%)

9. No one puts any faith in the Government’s promises, which they have

frequently gone back on in the past.

� Việc mọi người không ai tin vào những lời hứa của chính phủ là điều

thường chỉ xảy ra trong quá khứ.(30%)

� Chẳng ai còn tin vào những lời hứa hẹn của chính phủ, những người

thường xuyên thất hứa trong quá khứ.(25%)



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� Do chính phủ thường xuyên thất hứa trong quá khứ nên giờ đây chẳng còn

ai tin vào những lời hứa hẹn của họ nữa.(35%)

� Chính phủ không còn tin vào những lời hứa của những người thường

xuyên thất hứa trong quá khứ.(10%)

10. Mr Jones, for whom I was working, was very generous about overtime

payments.

� Ông Jones, người mà tôi đang làm việc, rất hào phóng về việc trả tiền

lương làm việc ngoài giờ.(10%)

� Ông Jones, người mà tôi đang làm việc cùng, rất hào phóng về việc trả

tiền lương làm việc ngoài giờ.(10%)

� Ông Jones, người mà tôi đang làm việc cho, rất hào phóng về việc trả tiền

lương làm việc ngoài giờ. (60%)

� Ông chủ Jones của tôi rất hào phóng về việc trả tiền lương làm việc ngoài

giờ.(20%).

II.2. STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE OF RELATIVE CLAUSES

As you can see from the questionnaire, most of them often encounter relative

clauses during their study, no one rarely does this but they there are 50% of the

students have the wrong answer for the second question. Two other names of relative

clauses are adjective and attributive clauses. Appositive clause looks a great deal like

relative clause and 20% of the students made the mistake. Accordingly, there are only

37.5% give the right answer to the third question. Especially, only 10% think that "as

we always stay that " is a relative clause and nobody believes " but knew exactly

what the teacher was referring to" is used as a relative clause. Similarly, only 62.5%

of respondents is good at realising relative clauses in the fourth question.( Readers



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will have a chance to understand more about relative clause and the difference

between relative clause and appositive clause in the chapter III). However, 80% are

right in the fifth one, which shows that most of them know when to omit relative

pronouns in relative clauses.

II.3. STUDENTS’ TRANSLATIONS OF RELATIVE CLAUSES

In terms of translation, only 10% choose the best answer and 60% seems to pay

little attention to the difference between defining and non-defining clause of relative

clauses in the seventh question, which can cause misunderstanding to Vietnamese

people. This is due to 50% of students often encounters difficulties in understanding

and translating relative clauses from English into Vietnamese. Similarly, 50%

translates mechanically the sentence in the eighth question. Even 15% of the

respondents give the completely wrong rendering of the sentence, changes its entire

meaning. (This is also the thing frequently happening in the process of translation of

students in general). The same case occurs in the next question : 35% gives the most

suitable answer, 25% gives the acceptable one and 40% absolutely does the wrong

translation. To the last question, only 20% seems to be good at translation: they

choose the fourth answer. This answer ensures both accuracy of the sentence and

flexibility of word using. The third answer is acceptable but a little bit mechanical (

60% of the students supports this way of translation) and according to the findings

20% gives the wrong answer, which shows that they both do the translation

mechanically and have difficulty in finding the equivalent grammar structure in

Vietnamese.

After conducting the survey, I find that translating relative clauses from English

into Vietnamese is not "a piece of cake". Moreover, accurately translating is difficult,



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producing a good one is even more difficult. As a result, I hope the next chapters will

help students and readers understand more about relative clauses and better their

skills of this translation.



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CHAPTER III: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

III. 1. DEFINITION

Relative clauses are subordinate clauses that attach to nouns. Because they add

information to a noun, some grammarians call them adjective clauses (or attributive

clauses). So among other kinds of clauses, how can you recognize a relative one?

First, it will contain a subject and verb. Next, it will begin with a relative pronoun (who,

whom, whose, that or which) or a relative adverb (when, where, or why). Finally, it will

function as an adjective, answering the questions: what kind? How many? Or which one?

The relative clause will follow one of these patterns:

- Relative pronoun (or relative adverb) + subject + verb = incomplete thought

- Relative pronoun (functioning as subject) + verb = incomplete thought.

E.g:

He is the sort of person who you can rely on.

III.2. CLASSIFICATION

There are two types of relative clause:

- Defining clause (with other names in different books that you can encounter:

restrictive clause (mệnh đề quan hệ hạn định), essential clause (mệnh đề quan hệ

thiết yếu).

E.g :

The boys who were interested in playing football were disappointed at the rain.

(a)



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So, not all the boys were disappointed at the rain. The relative clause “ who were

interested in playing football” shows us the kind of boys they are and describes the

characteristics of the boys and limit what kind of boys they are.

- Non- defining clause (mệnh đề quan hệ không hạn định hay mệnh đề quan hệ bổ

túc)

(Other materials can refer this kind of clause as non- restrictive clause or:

+ Parenthetical clause (mệnh đề quan hệ chêm)

+ Amplifying clause (mệnh đề quan hệ giải thích)

+ Non- essential clause (mệnh đề quan hệ không thiết yếu)

E.g :

The boys, who were interesting in playing football, were disappointed at the

rain. (b)

The relative clause “who were interesting in playing football” just adds extra

information to the sentence. Without using it, the sentence can stand as independent

structure and have its own meaning. As you can see, commas are used to separate

relative clause from the main clause. And, in principle, “that” are not used in this type

of clause.

E.g:

The house, which was built in 1980, came tumbling down two days ago.

Not : The house, that was built in 1980, came tumbling down two days ago.

Note:Commas can change the meaning of the whole sentence.

Let’s analyze example (a) and (b).

(a): means there are other boys who were not interested in playing football, and may

be they were not disappointed at the rain.



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(b): demonstrates that all the boys mentioned are interested in playing football and all

of them were disappointed at the rain.

However, B.D Graver in Advanced English Practice (1997) notes that:

“Students will find many examples in modern English where commas are omitted

before non- defining relative clause. The writer’s meaning may be perfectly

unambiguous without the use of commas, or there may be stylistic reasons for omitting

them. Nevertheless, students are advised to follow the “ rules” of punctuation illustrated

in the above examples, since observation of these patterns is less likely to lead to

confusion.”

III. 3. SOME NOTES ON RELATIVE CLAUSES AND OTHER CASES

III.3.1.Difference between relative clause and appositive clause

Many English learners often identify relative clause with appositive clause because

appositive clause looks a great deal like relative clause.

Let’s look at following examples and see what kind of word is the clause attached to?

And what is the original sentence that the clause was created from?

E.g1: I like the idea that students can become independent learners.

1. The clause is attached to noun: the idea.

2. The underlying sentence : students can become independent learners.

E.g2: Students who become independent learners can continue to learn after they leave

our classes.

1. The clause is attached to a noun: students.

2. The underlying sentence : students become independent learners.

So, based on that analysis, how are these two subordinate clause types different from

each other?



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A relative clause includes in its internal structure the same noun that it attaches

to. The relative pronoun means the same thing as the noun that the clause is attached to

and it has a grammatical role that combines being a connector with a role in the syntax of

its clause.

An appositive clause does not include the noun that it’s attached to. Appositive

clause is like a linking verb or an equal sign.

The idea = the students can become independent learners.

The connector “that” just connects the clause to a noun without playing any internal role

in the clause.

There are many similar cases of appositive clause.

E.g:

- I agree with the old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

- The news that the teacher is ill is not true.

- The idea that you can do this work without thinking is quite wrong.

Or: Some structures such as: I believe that…

I know that...

I feel that…

(http://www.2gsu.edu/vess/hpb/grammar/lecture_11/relative.html)

So remember in appositive clauses, “that” is a conjunction, not a relative pronoun.

However, according to B.D Graver (1997), not every clause introduced by a relative

pronoun is a subordinate clause. “Who” may introduce a co- ordinate clause.

E.g: He told his wife, who then passes on the information to a neighbour (= and she

passed on the information). (B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p.267)



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Graver also stresses that not every clause introduced by a relative pronoun is an

adjectival clause. Non- defining clauses sometimes have an explanatory function. They

may suggest an adverbial idea, implying the reason or cause of the fact presented in the

main clause.

Eg: The manufacturers soon stopped marketing the drug, which was found to have

serious side-effects. (i.e because it was found to have serious side effects).

(B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p.267)

-> Các nhà sản xuất đã sớm ngưng tiếp thị loại thuốc đó vì người ta đã chứng minh được

rằng nó có những tác dụng phụ nguy hiểm.

III.3.2 “As” and “but” used as relative pronouns

Sometimes “but” is used as a relative pronoun. Let’s look at some example:

E.g1: There wasn’t one boy in the class but knew (= that didn’t know) exactly what the

teacher was referring to. (B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p. 186).

( Trong lớp không có ai hiểu được chính xác thầy giáo đang nói đến điều gì.)

Graver (1997) states that “as” may introduce a defining relative clause, commonly after

“the same” or “such”.

E.g2: They went to the same hotel as we always stay at (= They went to the hotel that we

always stay at.) (B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p. 133)

E.g3: The student wasn’t working hard enough, and such work as he had done was very

poor.



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(= The student wasn’t working hard enough and the work that he had done was very

poor).(B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p. 133).

“As” may also introduce a non-defining (co-ordinate) clause. Such clauses

differ from all other relative clauses, however, in that way they can precede the main

clause, as well as interrupting or following it.

E.g: As he later admitted, it was a stupid thing to do.

It was, as he later admitted, a stupid thing to do.

It was a stupid thing to do, as he later admitted.

(B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p. 133)



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CHAPTER IV: COMMON PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATING

RELATIVE CLAUSES AND SOME POPULAR METHODS FOR

THE TRANSLATION

IV.1.SOME COMMON PROBLEMS

As mentioned in the Introduction, relative clauses are not typical in Vietnamese.

Accordingly, Vietnamese students often encounter difficulties in translating English

relative clauses into Vietnamese. You can get this idea through the findings of the

survey presented in the chapter II. Their renderings may be correct but not smooth. In

general, relative pronouns and adverbs are translated through formulaic expressions.

E.g: Who : người (mà) Whose : (cái) của (người, vật)

Which : cái (mà) Whom : người (mà)

That : người (đó), cái (đó) When : khi (mà)

Why : tại sao, là lí do của… Where : nơi (mà)

These words are repeatedly used and become clichés. As a consequence,

translation involving in these clichés would be monotonous and gloomy.

For example:

1. That lawn mover, which is broken, is in the garage.

-> Cái máy cắt cỏ, cái mà đã bị gẫy, đang ở trong ga ra ô tô.

2. John, whose father is a boss, is a real play boy.



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-> John, mà bố của anh ta là một ông chủ, là một tay chơi thứ thiệt.

3. Madona, whom I like the most, is a real talent.

-> Madonna, người mà tôi thích nhất, là một tài năng thực sự.

So what are the solutions ?

IV.2. POPULAR METHODS FOR THIS TRANSLATION

In fact, in written texts, there are some popular ways for this kind of translating:

IV.2.1. Splitting (tách câu)

E.g: Foreigners often take some time to get used to English breakfast, which is often

quite a substantial meal. ( B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p.125& 291)

-> Người nước ngoài thường phải mất một khoảng thời gian để quen với bữa

sáng của người Anh. Bữa ăn này thường khá quan trọng.

This method is often put into use in case the sentence comprises more than two

relative clauses.

E.g: Monika also helps in the bar, the “Happy Skier” which is run by Erwin, whose

uncle Enrich runs a hotel, in partnership with Klaus’s brother Paul, whose wife

Christiane was a national ice-dancing champion in her younger days. (Swan M.

and Walter C., How English Works, p.344).

This kind of relative clause seems to be very effective in transmitting information

while still capable of identifying the relation between different subjects in one sentence.



23

It also expresses the stylistic purpose of the author. However, a Vietnamese will not

understand or will feel confused if you translate the sentence this way:

“ Monika cũng giúp việc trong quán ba Happy Skier này, được Erwin điều hành

mà chú của cậu ta sở hữu một khách sạn cùng với Paul, anh trai của Klaus, mà vợ của

cậu ta là Christiane trước kia từng là một nhà vô địch quốc gia môn khiêu vũ trên

băng.”

This awkwardness can be removed through the sentence splitting:

“ Monika cũng giúp việc cho Erwin ở quán ba Happy Skier. Chú của Erwin sở

hữu một khách sạn cùng với Paul, anh trai của Klaus. Và Christine, vợ của Klaus thì

trước kia từng là quán quân cấp quốc gia môn khiêu vũ trên băng.”

IV.2.2. Changing into compound sentence

Sometimes, English sentences with relative clauses are treated as compound

sentences in the translation into Vietnamese. The translation into the target language

would be smoother and easier to understand. Let’s take an example in Advanced English

Practice (B.D Graver,1997 p. 271) for illustration.

E.g: He was taken to the police station, where he proceeded to make a full

confession. (1)

→ Hắn bị dẫn đến đồn cảnh sát và ở đó hắn đã khai tuốt luốt.

= He was taken to the police station and he proceed to make a full confession

there. (2)



24

Pay attention to the fact that the changing (1) into (2) would partly destroy the

relative clause’s stylistic purpose which is very typical of English language. However,

in Vietnamese there exists no so-called equivalent structure. As a result of it, that

transformation might be a solution.

In other cases, we have to depend on the meaning of the sentence to use the

connectors accurately.

For instance, “và”( as shown in above example), “nhưng”, “vì”, mặc dù”, “cho

nên”, “song”…

E.g. The London Team, which played so well last season, has done badly this season.

(Nguyễn Khuê, Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh, p.32)

→→→→ Đội bóng Luân Đôn mùa trước rất xuất sắc nhưng mùa này lại chơi rất dở.

The following cases are different.

E.g1: The man dived fully clothed into the river to save the boy, for which he later

received a commendation for bravery. ( B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice,

p.186 & 303).

→ Người đàn ông đó được mọi người ca ngợi về lòng dũng cảm vì đã để nguyên

quần áo nhảy xuống sông để cứu cậu bé.

E.g2: No one puts any faith in the Government’s promises, which they have frequently

gone back on in the past.( B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p.127. )

→ Do chính phủ thường xuyên thất hứa trong quá khứ, giờ đây chẳng còn ai tin

vào những lời hứa hẹn của họ nữa.

IV.2.3. Using parenthesis ( ) or hyphen “ – ” for explanation.

Let’s look at the following example.



25

E.g: The Victoria Line, which was opened in March 1969, was London’s first

complete new tube for the last 6o years.( B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice,

p.122 )

In Vietnamese we often say this way.

The Victoria Line ( it was opened in March 1969) was London’s first complete

new tube for the last 60 years.

→ Đường xe lửa Victoria ( được đưa vào hoạt động vào tháng 3 năm 1969) là tuyến xe

lửa mới hoàn thiện đầu tiên ở thủ đô Luân Đôn trong vòng 60 năm qua.

The relative clause “which was opened in March, 1969” are represented by an

independent clause in parenthesis. In this case it is clearly seen as incidental information,

mentioned “by the way” ( Graver, 1997). Such non-defining relative clauses have

another way to be demonstrated in translation.

E.g: It is now known that water, which is essential to life, does not exist on the moon.

(B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p.125& 291)

→ Giờ đây người ta biết rằng nước - một yếu tố thiết yếu của sự sống, không tồn

tại trên mặt trăng.

IV.2.4. Treating relative clauses as adjectives

The function of relative clause is to describe the characteristics of its antecedent

(so, another name of relative clause is adjective/ attributive subordinate clause.)

Accordingly, in translation they are reflected to as adjectives.



26

E.g: Spring flowers, which grow in a variety of wonderful colour, are a delight to the

eye. ( B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice, p.124 & 291).

→ Thật thích mắt khi ngắm nhìn những bông hoa mùa xuân đầy màu sắc rực rỡ.

E.g: Graduates who possess a strong academic background as well as good

communication skills are favoured by employers.

(http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eap/2004/u6/relativeclauses.htm#a1)

→ Những sinh viên tốt nghiệp ra trường có thành tích học tập tốt và giỏi các kĩ

năng giao tiếp sẽ được các nhà tuyển dụng ưu tiên.

IV.2.5. Other flexible ways for translating

It depends on each context and situation that we can decide what way to

translate.

E.g1: .The revolution, which brought about the downfall of aristocracy, was a turning

point in French history.

(http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/studyskills/wr/wr_se_pa_pro_rel.html)

→ Cuộc cách mạng lật đổ tầng lớp quý tộc là một bước ngoặt trong lịch sử Pháp.

E.g2: This is Peter Taylor, who works with my sister.

(Swan M. and Walter C., How English works, p.276).



27

→ Đây là Peter Taylor, đồng nghiệp của chị tôi.

E.g3: John, whose father is a boss, is a real playboy.

→ John, con của một ông chủ, là một tay chơi thực thụ.

E.g4: We bought a used car which belonged to an old couple who used the car once in a

blue moon.

→ Chúng tôi đã mua lại một cái xe hơi dùng rồi thuộc về một đôi vợ chồng già

chỉ họa hoằn lắm mới dùng đến cái ô tô đó.

(Xuân Bá, Cẩm nang sử dụng các thì tiếng Anh, p.117)

Note:

The kind of relative clause sentence whose purpose is explanation can be literally

translated. It does not require the structure change.

E.g: A university is a place where people pursue advanced knowledge in specific

academic disciplines.

(http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eap/2004/u6/relativeclauses.htm)

→ Trường đại học là nơi mọi người theo học những môn chuyên ngành nhất định

ở một trình độ cao.



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CHAPTER V: ANALYSIS AND SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR

TRANSLATING RELATIVE CLAUSES FROM ENGLISH INTO

VIETNAMESE

V.1. INTRODUCTION

On a translation blog with the title of discussion “comment on guest blogger at

the webpage: http://www.nakedtranslations.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-

comments.cgi?entry_id=409

Bathrobe- a linguistics, who is very interested in issues of translation offers a

persuasive comment on translating relative clauses from English into another language.

In translating into languages that do not use relative clause in quite the

same way as English, it is imperative that the translator should grasp this

stylistic fact and not mechanically transfer the hypotactic syntactic

structure into the foreign language when a paratactic structure might be

more suitable.

In other words, an effective translation requires one’s understanding of the source

language and then finding suitable structure in target language to do the job. If the

translator just mechanically transforms a relative clause from English into another, that

translation will be far from being successful. Not only students in the survey I have

carried out make mistakes in the translation of relative clauses from English into

Vietnamese but also English grammar learning books contain those errors too. Let’s see

the following examples to see the fact.



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V.2. ANALYSIS AND SUGGESTIONS

E.g1: The man from whom I bought it told me to oil it.

The translation: Người đàn ông mà tôi đã mua nó đã bảo tôi phải tra dầu nó đi.

( Hồ Văn Hiệp- Ninh Hùng, Văn phạm Anh ngữ thực hành, Nhà xuất bản thống kê, 2004, p.103) Analysis: A first look of anyone can see the grammatical mistake in the translation.

“Người đàn ông mà tôi đã mua nó” should be replaced by “Người đàn ông mà tôi đã mua

nó từ anh ta”. However, in Vietnamese we don’t use this way of saying. So, the

suggested version should be:

“Người đàn ông bán nó cho tôi bảo tôi phải tra dầu nó đi”.

E.g2: The film is about a spy whose wife betrays him.

Translation: Cuốn phim nói về một thám tử mà người vợ phản bội ông ta.

( Hồ Văn Hiệp- Ninh Hùng, Văn phạm Anh ngữ thực hành, Nhà xuất bản thống kê, 2004, p.103) Analysis: Similarly, “mà người vợ phản bội ông ta.” is a mechanically translated phrase

from “whose wife betrays him”. This clause’s voice should be changed into passive in

Vietnamese.

→ Cuốn phim nói về một thám tử bị vợ phản bội.

E.g3: Mr Jones, for whom I was working, was very generous about overtime

payments.



30

Translation: Ông Jones, người mà tôi đang làm việc, rất hào phóng về việc trả tiền

lương làm việc ngoài giờ. ( Hồ Văn Hiệp- Ninh Hùng, Văn phạm Anh ngữ thực hành,

Nhà xuất bản thống kê, 2004, p.108)

Analysis: This example is similar to the first one. The translator seems to pay little

attention to the Vietnamese grammar. “ Người mà tôi đang làm việc” means a person I

was targeting at or dealing with. In this context, this should be “ người mà tôi đang làm

việc cho”. Nevertheless, there is another way of expression that is more preferable and

understandable to Vietnamese.

→ Ông chủ Jones của tôi rất hào phóng về việc trả lương làm thêm ngoài giờ.

E.g4: Peter, with whom I played tennis on Sundays, was fitter than me.

Translation: Peter, người cùng tôi chơi tennis vào những ngày chủ nhật ,thì sung sức

hơn tôi. ( Hồ Văn Hiệp- Ninh Hùng, Văn phạm Anh ngữ thực hành, Nhà xuất bản thống

kê, 2004, p.108)

Analysis: The relative pronoun “whom” has a formulaic translation in Vietnamese

named “người” and so, “người” is repeatedly used in rendering this word from English

into Vietnamese. Although this translation is correct, it sounds monotonous. “Người

cùng tôi chơi tennis vào những ngày chủ nhật” should be changed into “ Bạn chơi tennis

của tôi vào những ngày chủ nhật”.

E.g5: The 8.15 train, which is usually very punctual, was late today.

Translation: Chuyến xe lửa 8 giờ 15, mà nó thường rất đúng giờ, đã trễ hôm nay.



31

( Hồ Văn Hiệp- Ninh Hùng, Văn phạm Anh ngữ thực hành, Nhà xuất bản thống kê, 2004, p.109) Analysis: The translator imitates the original structure, which results in an awkward

rendering. Compare it with the suggested version.

→ Chuyến xe lửa thường khởi hành vào lúc 8 giờ 15 phút hàng ngày hôm nay đã tới

trễ.

The structure in the suggested version is rearranged so that it runs smoothly.

E.g 6: I met a girl whose eyes were blue.

Translation: Tôi đã gặp một thiếu nữ mà đôi mắt của cô ta thì xanh.

( Nguyễn Khuê, Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh, Nhà xuất bản Đại học Sư phạm, 2003, p.345)

Analysis: The translation is like coming from a foreigner who knows a little of

Vietnamese because no Vietnamese would choose this way to express his idea in stead of

“ Tôi đã gặp một thiếu nữ có đôi mắt màu xanh” or “ Tôi đã gặp một thiếu nữ có đôi mắt

xanh biếc”, for instance.

E.g 7: Shakespeare, who wrote Romeo and Juliet, died in 1616.

Translation: Shakespeare, người viết vở Rômêo và Juliet, chết năm 1616.

( Nguyễn Khuê, Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh, Nhà xuất bản Đại học Sư phạm, 2003, p.346).

Analysis: Who wrote (writes) something = the author of something. So, “người viết”

should be replaced by “ tác giả của”. Moreover, “tác giả” sounds more solemn than

“người viết” which is also ridiculous because Shakespeare is a very famous writer and

so, “Shakespeare” can’t be translated as “người viết”. In this case, the translator appears



32

to be a little bit careless. He/ she just pays attention to the words and literally translates

the sentence. In short, the sentence should be transformed into Vietnamese as follows.

→ Shakespeare, tác giả Rômêo và Juliet, mất năm 1616.

E.g 8: That block, which cost ₤ 5 million to build, has been empty for years.

Translation: Khối nhà đó, tốn 5 triệu bảng Anh để xây, đã bỏ trống nhiều năm.

( Hồ Văn Hiệp- Ninh Hùng, Văn phạm Anh ngữ thực hành, Nhà xuất bản thống kê, 2004, p.109). Analysis: This translation traces the same road as previous examples, which is not

popular in the language using of Vietnamese. We should translate it this way:

→ Toà nhà với chi phí xây dựng là 5 triệu bảng Anh đã bị bỏ trống nhiều năm.

Eight examples mentioned above come from 2 English grammar books which

have many translation mistakes. The translators just concentrate on grammar points and

pay little attention to the translation. Compilers should note this fact so that English

learning books’ quality would be improved.

Particularly to people who specializing is translation, the ability to grasp the

message and then analyse the structure to find the most suitable solution for this doing

is very important and necessary. Without vivid and successful versions of translation,

classical works such as Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchel), The God Father (Marit

Puzio), Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte), The Thorn

Birds (Colleen McCullough), etc. can’t reach readers in countries all over the world and

can’t stand the test of time like that. As a result, an exact translation is good, but a vivid

one ensuring the accuracy is better, especially in art fields such as literature, motion

picture, film and so on. Reading or listening to a monotonous book or speech is so boring



33

and tiring. In contrast, the sense of human being, which is very sensitive itself, would be

strongly struck if an interesting one is enjoyed. Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), a German

critic and philosopher stated that:

Any translation which intends to performs a transmitting function cannot

transmit anything but information - hence, something inessential. This is the

hallmark of bad translations.

(http://www.nonstopenglish.com/reading/quotations/k_Translation.asp).

Let’s analyse another example to see the stylistic effect brought about by good

translation.

E.g: Albert Einstein, who put forward the theory of relativity, is considered by many

as the most intelligent person in human history.

(http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eap/2004/u6/relativeclauses.htm).

Analysis: “To put forward something” means “to propose or suggest something” (đề

xuất, đưa ra cái gì). So, an inexperienced person will mechanically translate the sentence

as:

“Anbớt Anhxtanh, người đã đưa ra thuyết tương đối, được nhiều người công nhận

là người thông minh nhất trong lịch sử loài người.”

This example is similar to another example previously mentioned.

“Shakespeare, who wrote Romeo and Juliet, died in 1616”.

It means that “ người đã đưa ra thuyết tương đối” is not suitable in this context. This way

of using words make people identify Albert Einstein as a normal person. In other words,

he is like an anonymous one, who isn’t different from a farmer who can also suggest an

idea in terms of farming. However, we can’t use “tác giả” (author) like the case of



34

“Shakespeare” example for the reason that “tác giả” often refers to a person who

specilises in literature writing. Accordingly, “tác giả” can’t do a good job here.

Compare the difference:

E.g: Albert Einstein, who put forward the theory of relativity, is considered by

many as the most intelligent person in human history.

Translation 1: Anbớt Anhxtanh, người đã đưa ra thuyết tương đối, được

nhiều người công nhận là người thông minh nhất trong lịch sử loài

người. (a)

Translation 2: Anbớt Anhxtanh- cha đẻ của thuyết tương đối, được nhiều người

công nhận là người thông minh nhất trong lịch sử loài người. (b)

Or: Nhiều người cho rằng Anbớt Anhxtanh, cha đẻ của thuyết tương đối,

là người thông minh nhất trong lịch sử loài người. (c)

(b) shows a good command of word choice. The number of words used is less but

the stylistic effect is obviouly stronger. “Cha đẻ “ fully expresses the meaning of the

hidden message and the solemn atmosphere of the sentence. In other words, (b) and (c)

are 2 examples of successful translation. It depends on whether you want to stress on the

subject “Albert Einstein” or not that you can choose (b) ( passive voice) or (c) ( active

voice).

In summary, it seems that there are no common rules for the translation of this

kind of clause. The ability to analyse the structure and the flexibility in word choice



35

would help this process a lot. The examples and analysis mentioned above are some

typical ones which are aimed to assist students in dealing with problems in translating

relative clauses from English into Vietnamese.

Students and people in general who are interested in the subject in question would

be attracted by the final chapter of this paper: relative clauses using in English literature-

Harry Potter. Harry Potter is one of the most favourite books for children, which

becomes an indispenable part of book shelves of millions of homes in the world. It is

also the book that makes its author, K. Rowling world-famous and widely loved by lots

of readers in many countries. Also readers would have a chance to enjoy part of the

successful version in Vietnamese (by Lý Lan), which is highly appreciated by many

experts in literature.



36

CHAPTER VI: THE TREATMENT OF RELATIVE CLAUSES

AS A WRITING DEVICE AND CONCLUSION

VI.1. INTRODUCTION

In previous chapters, we see how relative clauses are used in English through a

grammatical point. This chapter will deal with the case in which they are exploited from

another angle: stylistic function. Readers will have a chance to see how relative clauses

are actually used in English literature and what dramatic effects brought about by

such using, then the success of the Vietnamese translation (by Lý Lan) of one of the

most favourite books for children ever: Harry Potter. Till now, Harry Potter includes 6

books. Each book is a school year of Harry Potter and his friends with exciting

adventures due to the amazing and impressive way of telling story of K. Rowling. What

a mistake if we don’t mention the stylistic devices used by the author, which play a

major part in the book’s success. The following examples are extracted from Harry

Potter book 2 entitled: Harry Potter and the philosophy stone. The three examples are

all about Basilisk, a gigantic snake, which can harm any one. It only gives in to the

crowing of the rooster. It is extremely dangerous and deadly and the description of the

Basilisk is one of the most exciting pages. One outstanding feature of this writing is the

heavy use of relative clauses (clauses using “ which “ or “that”). Through in-depth

reading the passages involving such using by Rowling you will see that the grammatical

explanations are almost useless in analysing how relative clauses are used in writing.

Let’s enjoy the following examples.



37

VI.2. EXAMPLES AND DISCUSSION E.g1: (Restrictive relative clause)

Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none

more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk.

We shall not look at this example from the grammatical angles which are

mentioned a lot in grammar books. We would introspect deeper into the way how it is

really used and the effects created by this stylistic device. The “obligatory” relative

clause in this example is actually an occasion to add a dramatic flourish. Rather than

write “ Of the many beasts and monsters that are hanging around our place” or whatever

else comes to mind, Rowling writes “ Of the many beasts and monsters that roam our

land”. The relative is used to impart the alarming information that “ many beasts and

monsters are roaming our land”. A point of grammar thus becomes a point of style.

Moreover, “Of the many beasts and monsters that roam our land” is not simply a phrase

containing a restrictive relative clause. It provides a dramatic backdrop to the

description of the Basilisk. See the difference between what Rowling writes and a more

straightforward version.

Rowling:

Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more

curious or more deadly than the Basilisk.

A straightforward version:

None of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land is more

curious or deadly than the Basilisk.

Let’s see how Lý Lan, the Vietnamese writer and translator handles this sentence.



38

Trong số những ác thú và quái vật đi lang thang trên mảnh đất của chúng ta,

không có con nào lạ lùng hơn và nguy hiểm hơn Basilisk.

( Among the terrible wild beasts and monsters that wander through our land, there is

none that is stranger or more dangerous than the Basilisk.)

The Vietnamese version follows so close to the original text while still keeping

the stylistic purpose of the author. That is due to Lý Lan’s excellent ability to grasp how

the construction is exploited by writer like Rowling. As a consequence, the translation

version sounds so smooth and natural. A person who doesn’t know English at all can

easily enjoy the Vietnamese version without any obstacles in dealing with words and

structure used. That’s the art of translation.

E.g2: (Non-restrictive relative clause)

This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is

born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad.

Through the first glimpse of anyone, this case looks like a normal type of a non-

restrictive relative clause tacking on additional information. However, this could not be

further from the truth. In fact, the information that “ the Basilisk may reach gigantic size

and live many hundreds of years” is no less important than the information that it is

“born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad”. There is no reason why Rowling

could not have written:

This snake, which is born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad, may

reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years.



39

So, here the writer’s use of a non- restrictive relative clause has one purpose: to

add stylistic variety to the sentence. It is a much more interesting alternative to the

straightforward and monotonous way as follows:

This snake may reach a gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years. It is born

from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad.

As a result, in translating this sentence, it is important to recognize the stylistic

function, not merely the grammatical. See how Lý Lan deals with this sentence:

Con rắn này có thể sống đến nhiều trăm năm, và đạt tới kích thước lớn kinh hồn. Nó

được phôi thai trong một cái trứng gà, nhưng được một con cóc ấp nở ra.

( This snake can live for hundreds of years, and reach amazingly large dimensions. It is

conceived in a hen’s egg but is hatched by a toad.)

If in English, using relative clauses is very popular and gradually it becomes a

stylistic device in writing, the same case doesn’t exist in Vietnamese. The way Lý Lan

makes use of in translating is mentioned in chapter III of this paper. It is a method

combined the splitting ( tách câu) and changing into compound sentence

(chuyển thành câu ghép). Specifically, “ Which may reach gigantic size, and live many

hundreds of years” is transformed into one independent sentence. “This snake is born

from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad” is in fact a sentence omitted “which”. The

full sentence may be “ This snake is born from a chicken’s egg, which hatched beneath a

toad”. However, “which” is also used previously in the sentence. So, the second clause is

reduced to a V-ed form. In Vietnamese version, Lý Lan tactfully adds the conjunctions

“và” (and) , “nhưng” ( but) and commas. This demonstrates her in-depth knowledge in

both languages because in the source language, two pieces of information are equally



40

important, so the splitting the original sentence into 2 independent ones is very logical

and suitable.

E.g3: ( Non-restrictive relative clause)

This non-restrictive relative clause is perhaps the most interesting of the lot.

Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk

flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.

This is a good example of how writers use grammatical structures in ways that

trancend the purely grammatical. Although it takes the form of a relative clause, almost

casually attached to the end, the final clause “ which is fatal to it” performs a similar

function to the clause “for it is their mortal enemy” earlier in the sentence. The

information is an explanation for the behaviour of the Basilisk, not a casual observation.

The author could just as well have written:

The Basilisk flees from the crowing of the rooster, for this is fatal to it.

However, “for” in “ for it is their mortal enemy” is previously in the sentence, so “which

is fatal to it” is a reasonable replacement in terms of structure. At first sight readers are

striken by special arrangement of words. Compare the two structure:

The original:

Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees

only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.

A straightforward version:

Spiders flee before the Basilisk because it is their mortal enemy. And the Basilisk

flees only from the crowing of the rooster because the crowing of the rooster is fatal to it.



41

It is obvious that no one wants to read such wordy and gloomy sentences like in

the straightforward version. And there is no doubt that Harry Potter couldn’t so be

interesting if such stylistic devices are kept out of the text. Although in Vietnamese

version, this dramatic effect can’t be directly demonstrated, translator Lý Lan did a good

job:

Nhền nhện thường trốn chạy trước khi Tử Xà xuất hiện, bởi vì đó là kẻ tử thù của

chúng. Và Tử Xà thì chỉ bỏ chạy khi nghe tiếng gáy của gà trống, tiếng gà trống

gáy là tai hoạ chí tử đối với Tử Xà.

( Spiders often flee before the Death Snake appears because it is their deadly

enemy. And the Death Snake will only flee when it hears the crowing of the

rooster. The sound of the rooster crowing is a fatal calamity for the Death Snake.)

The translation used a roundabout way to express the idea. Accordingly, the

version is successful owing to two reasons. First, it displays full information of the

original text in the way that the author intended. Second, to Vietnamese it is easy to

understand. It also sounds smooth to the ears. It is a good one because any translation

should be considered to be successful if readers identify it as an original text, not a

translation.

∗∗∗∗ Summing up

These three examples of relative clauses found in the Harry Potter book 2

exemplify the crucial difference between “grammatical function” and “ stylistic

function”. The first relative clause adds to the impressive introduction to the Basilisk.

The second is a stylistic device used to tack variety onto what would otherwise be a

straightforward string of sentences. The third is used to give a reason or cause for the



42

preceding statement. It is important to note that in translation it is essential to grasp the

difference between the relative clause as a grammatical device and what it is being used

for. A purely literal transposition of the English device into the target language will not

necessarily achieve the same effect as the original. The success of the translation is due

to the reason that the Vietnamese translator, writer Lý Lan has grasped the function of

the relative clause in each context and reflected it in her translation in the right way. If

you are interested in this subject, you can visit the following webpage to have more

information about Harry Potter and the stylistic devices used in it by

Rowling.http://www.cjvlang.com/Hpotter/unicode/basilisrelcl.html

VI.3. CONCLUSION.

As far as I know, using relative clauses often causes considerable concern for

non-native speakers of English so much that they are often avoided completely. And

during my preparation for this paper, many students asked me: Why are relative clauses

used in English? And why do they encounter awkwardness in translating some clauses

which look like “ a piece of cake” on the surface?

Well, the answer is: relative clauses exist for an important reason. In English, you

cannot premodify nouns very much. It means that you cannot place complex

modifications before the noun. You have to put such modifications after the noun - and

that is what relative clauses are for. For this reason, avoiding the use of relative clauses

in writing will limit you to simple structures which are unlikely to be adequate to

express complex ideas and which will detract from the overall style of your writing.

Besides, it also makes you unfamiliar with relative clauses and inexperienced when

handling with the translation of this subordinate clause. Try using relative clauses (as

you can see like I do in this study ) naturally and you would discover many interesting



43

things. Certainly, you should care about your using and avoid the redundancies caused

by the abuse of relative pronouns and clauses.

According to Bathrobe, “Translation is not an academic exercise. It is a serious

matter of producing an acceptable text of a high standard”.

(http://www.nakedtranslations.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=409)

Hence, translating process is not as easy as the sipping champagne on a yatch at

all. It requires you a lot of efforts and practice everyday. In order to get good results in

translation in general and translation of relative clauses in particular, you have to

consider the following:

- Reading comprehension ability

- Good command of languages ( both mother tongue and foreign language)

- Flexibility in transforming the source language into target language

This paper is aimed at helping students approach relative clauses in a more

comprehensive way in which you see obviously two aspects of them: grammatical

function and stylistic function. Whether you do the translation for your learning or for

your career in literature fields, for instance, being good at English grammar first, then

much reading, observation and practice would be a big help for you because there are no

common rules for this job at all. Luckily, however, due to no formula for every case,

translating in general and the translating being discussed are challenging but very

exciting and worth your trying.

I do hope that my small study will be beneficial to students and readers who are

interested in translating, especially those encounter obstacles in dealing with relative

clauses. Let this paper come to an end with Mark Twain’s saying:

“ The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work”.



44

References

∗ A S Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of current English, Seventh

edition, Oxford University Press, 2005.

∗ B. D Graver, Advanced English Practice, Oxford University Press, 1997.

∗ Bùi Tiến Bảo-Đặng Xuân Thu, Interpreting and Translation Course Book, Nhà xuất

bản Giáo dục.

∗ Bùi Ý, Những mẫu câu cơ bản Tiếng Anh, Nhà xuất bản Giáo Dục, 1980.

∗ Đinh Văn Đức, Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt( Từ loại), Nhà xuất bản Đại học Quốc Gia Hà

Nội, 2001.

∗ Hồ Văn Hiệp-Ninh Hùng, Văn phạm Anh ngữ thực hành, Nhà xuất bản Thống kê,

2004.

∗ Michael Swan and Catherine Walter, How English works, Oxford University Press.

∗ Nguyễn Khuê, Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh, Nhà xuất bản Đại học Sư phạm, 2003.

∗ Nguyễn Tài Cẩn, Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt, Nhà xuất bản Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội, 1999.

∗ Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English, Longman

Group Limited, 1987.

∗ Xuân Bá, Cẩm nang sử dụng các thì Tiếng Anh, Nhà xuất bản Đại học Sư phạm, Hà

Nội, 2004.

http://www.cjvlang.com/Hpotter/unicode/basilisrelcl.html

http://www.nakedtranslations.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=409

http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eap/2004/u6/relativeclauses.htmhttp://en.thinkexist.com/searc

h/searchquotation.asp?search=translation&q=author%3A%22Paul+Goodman%22



45

http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/studyskills/wr/wr_se_pa_pro_rel.html

http://www.innocentenglish.com/Funny-Translations-Madonna-Interview.html

http://www.gsu.edu/~eslhpb/grammar/lecture_11/relative.html

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/relativeclause.htm

http://www.nonstopenglish.com/reading/quotations/k_Translation.asp



46

Appendix

Questionnaire

Hi, students ! I’m a senior student of English at HUFS. I am doing Graduation

Paper on “Translation of relative clauses from English into Vietnamese”. Could you

please do me a favour in five to ten minutes by giving a tick ( √ ) next to your best

choice! Thank you!

1. Do you encounter relative clauses during your study in English?

� Often

� Always

� Sometimes

� Rarely

2. What are the other names of relative clauses?

� Adverbial clause

� Adjective clause

� Appositive clause

� Attributive clause

3. Which ones are relative clauses in the following?

� Mr John, for whom I was working, was very generous about overtime

payments.

� I like the idea that students can become independent learners.



47

� The manufacturers soon stopped marketing the drug, which was found to

have serious side effects.

� There wasn’t one boy in the class but knew exactly what the teacher was

referring to.

� They went to the same hotel as we always stay at.

� The news that the teacher is ill is not true.

4. Which ones are not relative clauses?

� He told his wife, who then passed on the information to a neighbour.

� He told the story to his wife, who is a great lover of gossip.

� I used to listen to the radio when I was young.

� He spoke of the time when he was a boy.

5. Which sentences follow can we omit relative pronouns?

� A woman whom my sister knows has just bought the house next door.

� Have you got anything that will clean this carpet?

� I’m sorry for people who haven’t got a sense of humour.

� The doctor who treated me didn’t know what he was doing.

6. Do you come up with problems in understanding and translating relative clauses

from English into Vietnamese?

� Never

� Always

� Sometimes

� Rarely



48

How do you translate the following sentences ?

7. Bill has a son, who is a doctor.

� Bill có một cậu con trai làm nghề bác sĩ.

� Bill có một cậu con trai và cậu ấy là bác sĩ.

� Trong số các cậu con trai của Bill có một cậu làm bác sĩ.

� Bill làm nghề bác sĩ và có một cậu con trai.

8. The man dived fully into the river to save the boy, for which he later received a

commendation for bravery.

� Vì luôn được khen ngợi là người dũng cảm người đàn ông đó đã chẳng

ngần ngại để cả quần áo nhảy xuống sông cứu cậu bé.

� Người đàn ông đó đã để nguyên quần áo nhảy xuống sông cứu cậu bé- điều

mà vì nó ngay sau đó anh ta đã được ca ngợi về sự dũng cảm của mình.

� Người đàn ông đó được mọi người ca ngợi về lòng dũng cảm vì đã để

nguyên quần áo nhảy xuống sông cứu cậu bé.

� Người đàn ông đó đã để nguyên quần áo nhảy xuống sông cứu cậu bé và

sau đó đã được mọi người khen ngợi vì sự dũng cảm của mình.

9. No one puts any faith in the Government’s promises, which they have frequently

gone back on in the past.

� Việc mọi người không ai tin vào những lời hứa của chính phủ là điều

thường chỉ xảy ra trong quá khứ.

� Chẳng ai còn tin vào những lời hứa hẹn của chính phủ, những người

thường xuyên thất hứa trong quá khứ.



49

� Do chính phủ thường xuyên thất hứa trong quá khứ nên giờ đây chẳng còn

ai tin vào những lời hứa hẹn của họ nữa.

� Chính phủ không còn tin vào những lời hứa của những người thường

xuyên thất hứa trong quá khứ.

10.Mr Jones, for whom I was working, was very generous about overtime

payments.

� Ông Jones, người mà tôi đang làm việc, rất hào phóng về việc trả tiền

lương làm việc ngoài giờ.

� Ông Jones, người mà tôi đang làm việc cùng, rất hào phóng về việc trả tiền


� Ông Jones, người mà tôi đang làm việc cho, rất hào phóng về việc trả tiền


� Ông chủ Jones của tôi rất hào phóng về việc trả tiền lương làm việc ngoài

giờ.

tranlating relative clauses

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