例句：In Africa I met a boy，who was crying as if his heart would break and said，when I spoke to him，that he was hungry because he had had no food for two days.
例句分析：
第一，拆分句子。
这个长句可以拆分为四段：①“In Africa I met a boy”②“who was crying as if his heart would break”、③“when I spoke to him，that he was hungry because”、④“he had had no food for two days”.
第二，句子的结构分析。
(1)主干结构是主语+过去式+宾语——“I met a boy”；
(2)“crying”后面是壮语从句“as if his heart would break”；
(3)“when I spoke to him”是介于“said”和“that he was hungry because”之间的插入语。
有些英语长句的主句与从句或主句与修饰语间的关系并不十分密切，为使意思连贯，可把长句中的从句或短语化为句子分开来叙述，有时还可适当增加词语。例如：“He became deaf at five after an attack of typhoid fever.”该句有两个介词短语，代表两层意思。因此，按照分译法，打破原句的结构翻译成：他五岁的时候，生了一场伤寒病，变成了聋子。
逆序法即倒置法。有些英语长句的表达次序与汉语习惯不同，甚至语序完全相反，这就必须从原文的后面译起，逆着原文的顺序翻译。例如：“There was little hope of continuing my inquiries after dark to any useful purpose in a neighborhood that was strange to me.”该句可分为三部分①“There was little hope”；②“continuing my inquiries after dark to any useful purpose”；③“in a neighborhood that was strange to me.”前两层表结果，第三层表原因。这句英语长句的叙述层次与汉语逻辑相反，因此要打破原句的结构，按照汉语造句的规律重新加以安排。译为，这一带我不熟悉，天黑以后继续进行调查，取得结果的希望不大。
4、综合法
另有一些英语长句用前三种翻译方法翻译时都有困难，需要用综合法。即或按时间先后，或按逻辑先后，或按逻辑顺序，有顺有逆地进行综合处理。例如：“The phenomenon describes the way in which light physically scatters when it passes through particles in the earth’s atmosphere that are1/10 in diameter of the color of the light.”该句可以分解为四个部分①“The phenomenon describes the way”；②“in which light physically scatters”；③“when it passes through particles in the earth‘s atmosphere”；④“that are1/10in diameter of the color of the light.”其中，第一、二和三、四部分之间是修饰与被修饰的关系。用综合法来处理这个句子，即合译前三部分，第四部分用分译法，这样译出来的句子就非常符合汉语的表达习惯。译为，这种现象说明了光线通过地球大气微粒时的物理散射方式。大气微粒的直径为有色光直径的十分之一。