除了没有顿号和书名号外，英语标点符号（punctuation）和汉语标点符号差别不大，但使用场合有所不同，表达的意义也有所不同，尤其是破折号、冒号、分号和逗号。英译汉时这些标点符号要予以足够重视。

汉语破折号（dash）表示意义的转折，或表示后面是解释性内容，常用于习语的表达，如“马尾串豆腐——提不起来”，“外甥打灯笼——照舅（旧）”，“猪八戒照镜子——里外不是人”等；或表示声音的拖长，如“立正——！”而英语破折号使用频率更高，既可以表示解释、说明，也可以表示结论，还可以表示对比、原因，或提出问题，所以翻译时宜根据语境灵活处理。如：

1. This is the source of our confidence—the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

这是我们信心的源泉——是对主感召我们塑造不确定命运的认知。（译为解释性内容）

2. He had told all his worries now—all except the worst.

他已经把自己所有的烦恼都抖出来了——除了那件最糟的。（译为补充性内容）

3. She doesn’t care a button for me—with her confounded little dry manner.

瞧她那副冷若冰霜的小样——根本不把我当回事。（译为说明性内容）

4. But the boy has justification for the kick—she hit him first.

这男孩儿踢了人还挺有理——他说是她先动的手。（译为解释性内容）

5. Go into the library—I mean, if you please.

进图书馆——我的意思是，假如你愿意的话。（译为解释性内容）

有时，英语原文中出现的破折号可以被其他标点符号取代，如：

6. But you can argue that learning another language well is more taxing than, say, learning to play chess well—it involves sensitivity to a set of complicated rules, and also to context.

可以说，学好外语比学下棋更费力，因为学语言要求对一整套复杂的规则以及语境非常敏感。（破折号被逗号取代）

7. A south China woman said to be the oldest in the country—and possibly the world—has died of natural causes at age 119, a state-run newspaper reported.

据中国一家国营报纸报道，一名据说是中国最长寿（也可能是世界上最长寿）的南方妇女于本周二自然死亡，享年119岁。（破折号被括号取代）

8. The magazine’s editors also spent time peering into the fashion choices of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin—her rimless glasses, step-toe pumps and up do hairstyle.

杂志编辑们也对共和党副总统候选人莎拉·佩林的时尚选择做了番评论。佩林戴着一副无框眼镜，爱穿露趾凉拖，而且总是梳着高高的发髻。（破折号被句号取代）

有时，虽然英语原句没出现破折号，但依据汉语需要，英译汉时可适当增加破折号或用破折号取代原来的标点符号。例如：

9. It is so easy now to see the irony of smoking: Children do it to be like adults, who smoke but wish they didn’t.

如今，吸烟的讽刺意味是显而易见的——孩子们吸烟是为了模仿大人，而吸烟的大人们却后悔自己学会了吸烟。

10. Clark in “Handle with Care”: A bittersweet case of double identities.

《小心翼翼》中的克拉克——一个具有双重人格、令人又喜又忧的角色。

冒号（colon）在汉语中用来提示下文，常见于人物讲话的内容前。在英语中，冒号除了这一功能外，还可用于解释前文或引出具体的事例，翻译时可视情况保留冒号或删除冒号，也可取代原文的冒号，或增加原文没有的冒号。如：

1. They were now clustered round their mama in the drawing room: She lay reclined on a sofa by the fire-side, and with her darlings about her looked perfectly happy.

他们此时都在客厅里，正簇拥在母亲周围，而母亲斜靠在炉边的沙发上，身边是心爱的儿女，看上去十分幸福。（用逗号取代冒号）

2. Remember that the man who can shoulder the most risk will gain the deepest love and the supreme accomplishment.

记住：那些敢于承担最大风险的人才能得到最深的爱和最大的成就。（增加冒号）

3. The shorter men included: a doctor, a best-selling author, a champion skier, a venture capitalist who’d made millions by the age of 25.

这帮矮个子男人中间有一个医生、一位畅销书作家、一名滑雪冠军、一位25岁时身家就达到数百万美元的风险投资家。（删除冒号）

4. I was excited about the idea of having a clone of myself in the beginning: I might start life all over again and redress the mistakes made in the past, and then I could live longer to see a better future.

起初，想到“克隆”自己，我就十分兴奋。我想，要是真能那样的话，我的生活就能重新开始，就能避免犯同样的错误，就能够长寿，能够享受到更美好的未来。（用句号取代冒号）

5. Nuclear power’s danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.

核能对健康、安全，甚至对生命本身构成的危险可以用一个词来概括——辐射。（用破折号取代冒号）

6. “A razzle dazzling performance from the mighty Michelle,” was the London Evening Standard’s verdict on her arrival.

伦敦《标准晚报》这样评价米歇尔：“魅力米歇尔的一场光彩夺目的演出。”（用冒号取代逗号）

7. Remember the three “respects”. Respect yourself, respect others, stand on dignity and pay attention to your behavior.

记住三个“尊重”：尊重自己；尊重别人；保持尊严， 对自己的行为负责。（用冒号取代句号）

8. A spokesman said: “Although they discuss very different things during their gossiping sessions, men and women agree on one thing—talking with mates, work colleagues or partners makes them feel like they belong.”

发言人说：“尽管男人和女人闲聊时的话题大不相同，但他们在一点上是一致的，那就是与朋友、同事或伴侣聊天会让他们有归属感。”（保留冒号）

分号（semicolon）在汉语中多用于一个长句中的两个并列成分之间，而在英语中，分号仅表示比逗号长一点、比句号短一点的停顿，翻译时宜灵活处理。如：

1. Her grandmother’s World War Two generation had embraced motherhood and rejected careers; her mother’s postwar generation rejected motherhood and embraced careers.

她祖母是二战时代的人，取为母之道而弃事业；她母亲属战后的一代人，弃为母之道而取事业。（保留分号）

2. I don’t want ifs and buts; swallow your medicine at once.

别泡蘑菇了，马上吞下你的药。（用逗号取代分号）

3. Don’t speak evasively; give me a definite answer.

别遮遮掩掩的了，请给我个明确答复。（用逗号取代分号）

4. Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man and writing an exact man.

读书使人充实，讨论使人机智，写作使人精确。（用逗号取代分号）

5. And there were people of all sorts in this crowd: injured soldiers, barely able to walk; workers, some helpful while others mean and thoughtless; old women with crying young children; kind and cruel people alike, all thrown together in this endless stream of bodies.

这帮人真是形形色色：有几乎无法行走的伤兵；有打工者，他们有的乐于助人，有的卑鄙自私；有带着顽童的老妇；有善人，有恶人，所有人都一股脑汇入这毫无尽头的人流之中。（保留分号）

6. Risk makes you feel good; you relish the focus, the intensity of the moment.

冒险使你感觉良好，使你品味全神贯注的感觉，品味那一刻的高度紧张。（用逗号取代分号）

7. Science is provisional; it progresses from one hypothesis to another, always testing, rejecting the ideas that do not work, that are contradicted by new evidence.

科学不是永恒的，它总是从一个假设发展到另一个假设，总是在验证，总是在抛弃那些不可行的思想，抛弃那些与新数据相矛盾的观点。（用逗号取代分号）

逗号（comma）在英语中除表示句间的停顿外，有时还用于列举一连串的事物，相当于汉语中的顿号，翻译时宜根据汉语的构句方式采取恰如其分的方法保留逗号，删除逗号，增加逗号，或用其他标点符号取代逗号。如：

1. From Florence the river Arno runs down to Pisa, and then it reaches the sea.

阿诺河从佛罗伦萨流经比萨入海。（删除逗号）

2. Is there a difference between stupidity, foolishness, dumbness and, say, plain one-headedness?

愚钝、愚蠢、愚笨和“一根筋”之间有没有区别？（用顿号取代逗号）

3. It happens in Hilton.

盛世聚首，尽在希尔顿。（增添逗号）

4. All sovereign states, large or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community.

世界上所有主权国家，不分大小、强弱、贫富，都是国际社会的平等一员。（用顿号取代逗号）

5. I can say to you, without any flattery, that your way of delivery is more inventive and fruitful than others.

我可以对你说——我这样说毫无奉承之意——您讲课的方式比别的教授的讲课方式更有特色，更有效果。（用破折号取代逗号）

6. The people most in demand, and most likely to job hop, are in finance and accounting, sales and marketing, and include those filling general manager posts.

市场最紧俏、跳槽最频繁的是财会、销售和营销等行业的人，还包括职业经理人。（用顿号取代逗号）