The English Translation of Chinese Passive Sentences: A Case Study based on CET-4 Translation Questions

Abstract

This paper analyzes Chinese passive sentences from the CET-4 translation questions (2015–2025) from a comparative perspective between Chinese and English sentence structures. Through categorizing and examining passive sentences with explicit markers and those without passive markers-so-called notional passive constructions-this study outlines their typical equivalents in English translation. The research finds that passive sentences with markers generally correspond to explicit English passive constructions (“be + past participle”), though whether to retain the agent depends on the sentence semantics. For notional passives, it is essential to identify the passive focus in context and flexibly choose between passive or active forms in English to achieve functional equivalence. This paper also analyzes common translation errors from CET-4 responses and proposes specific strategies for improvement. The aim is to provide practical guidance for test takers and contribute empirical data to comparative studies of Chinese-English passive constructions.