汉译英常见错误 | 他浏览一下报纸就离开了

[译] 他浏览一下报纸就离开了。
[误] He caught a glimpse of the newspaper before he left.

[正] He took a glance at the newspaper before he left.
[注] glance 与 glimpse 意思不同。glance 表示“望一眼”、“一瞥”,指“看”的动作;glimpse 是“望见一眼”、“瞥见一眼”,指 glance 后的结果。这两个词关系好比 look (at) 与 see 的关系。

glance 是短暂的 look;glimpse 是短暂的 see。“浏览一下(报纸)”应该说 take a glance at 或 glance at,不能说 catch a glimpse of。又如:

  • I didn’t have time to read the newspaper this morning. I just glanced cursorily at the headlines.
    今天早晨我没有时间读报纸,我只粗略地看了一下标题。

glimpse 现在多用作名词,get/catch a glimpse of 往往表示无意识的“一瞥”。例如:

  • I happened to get a glimpse of him as he got into the car.
    当他上小汽车时,我恰巧看见了他。