THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH TENSES AND ASPECTS IN NARRATIVE MODE INTO VIETNAMESE

Abstract

Confusion due to ambiguity in tenses and aspects while translating from English into Vietnamese is still a common problem to translators. There are several causes to this problem, but the main cause is the difference in viewing tense and aspect notions in the two languages by researchers or scholars. The existence of tense and aspect identities in English clauses or sentences is a matter of fact whereas in Vietnamese they are the topic of controversy among linguists and educators. This article investigates some of the linguistic means that were employed to translate English tenses and aspects in narrative mode into Vietnamese by three well-known translators, namely Mặc Đỗ, Hoàng Cường and Trịnh Lữ. The results of the study prove the fact that though tenses and aspects are not always recognized in the Vietnamese language, they can be translated from the English language via the use of temporal adverbials, aspectual markers or situation types of Vietnamese verbs.