英语和汉语分属两种不同的语系，其差别很大，翻译起来有诸多困难，英语定语从句的汉译便是困难之一。由于定语从句在英语中应用十分广泛，因此，我们必须想办法、找方法、寻规律，从而很好地解决它。

一、限制性定语从句

限制性定语从句对所修饰的先行项起限制作用，在意义上与先行项密切不可分。如被省去，主句的意思就含糊不清，甚至变得毫无意义。关系词和先行项之间一般不用逗号分隔。

（一）定语词组

①I have but one lamp by which my feed are guided.我只有一盏指路明灯。
②It was so with the vast railroad yards with the crowded array of vessels she saw in the river.火车站广大的场地，河里鳞次梯比的船只，她也同样不能理解。
③Before following her in her round of seeking,let us look at the sphare in which her future was to lie.我们暂且把她找寻工作的事搁下来不谈，先看一看她的前途所寄托的这个世界。
④…and the thread which bound her so lightly to girlhood and home were irretrievably broken ……而那些把她和少女时代以及故乡轻轻系住的柔丝，不得不就此断绝了。
翻译这类从句，常常是将关系词省去，在句未加“的”字，放在被修饰项之前。当然，也可视其情况不用“的”字，如①和②。这种译法用得普遍，尤其适用于译简短的定语从句。

（二）并列从句

1）省略英语的先行项

①The lungs are subjecd to several diseases which are treatable by surgery.肺易受几种疾病的侵袭，但均可经手术治疗。
②A little way on she saw a great door which,for some reason,attracted her attention.又走了一些路，她看见一个大门，不知怎的，引起了她的注意。
③As a result, a hum of gossip was set going which moved about the house in that secret manner common to gossip.结果就造成一阵闲话，暗中在公寓里流传，闲话一般都是如此的。
④A will had been made which divide the small tax –eaten property equally among the remaining four,so that it was really of no interest to any of them.遗嘱已立好，把这片快要给税吃光的薄产平分给四个孩子，但谁都对此不感兴趣。
上述定语从句例句比（一）里的定语从句例句长些，因此，就不宜译成定语词组成形式。否则，译句就会显得太长且不符合汉语的表达习惯。如④就不宜译成“把这片快要给税吃光的薄产平分给四个孩子的中遗嘱早已立好，谁都对此不感兴趣。”这类从句不是长、难复杂定语从句，一般就按原文的顺序位置译。上面译句的第二分句，有的承前省略了主语，如③④，有的借用第一分句的不定语作逻辑主语，如①②

2）重复英语的先行项

①At dimmer I found myself placed between Mrs. Bradly ,and a shy drab girl who seemed even younger than the other.席间，我发现自己坐在布拉得雷太太和一腼腆乏味的女孩子中间；她看上去比其余人都年轻。
②A writer——in fact every one of us in life——needs that loving-mother force from which all creation flows …一个作家——实际上生活中的每个人——都需要慈母的力量，它是创造一切的源泉。
③Man possesses an expressive faculty that goes far beyond gestures, that allows and even compels him to express his thoughts, feedings,dreams, and inituitions.人类具有远远超过于手势的表达官能，这种官能不仅使人能够，而且使他要把思想、感情、幻梦、直觉表达出来。
这些先行项的重复，有时用的是代词如①②，有时用的是限定词如③。汉译时，需重复先行项的地方，就要重复。否则会影响意思的连贯和清楚。

我们一般采用分述法将带定语从句的英语复合句译成并列分词。分述法就将主句和从句分开翻译的方法。此方法除了将定语从句译为并列分句外，还译为状语从句。