按照動作的執行者是有生命的還是無生命的這一标準，英語和漢語的動詞均可分為有靈動詞和無靈動詞。前者用在表示有生命的名詞後，後者用在表示無生命的名詞後。含有靈動詞的句子稱作有生命主語句，含無靈動詞的句子稱作無生命主語句。英語和漢語在有靈動詞和無靈動詞上的差别是：有靈動詞與無靈動詞在英語中無有明确的差別，即一個動詞常常是既可用作有靈動詞、又可用作無靈動詞；而在漢語中這兩類動詞之間卻有明确的差別，即一個用作有靈動詞的動詞不能同時用作無靈動詞。
例如：
（1） One reliable source said that major tax changes were being considered by the Treasury. 據可靠消息，财政部正在考慮對稅收辦法作重大改革。
（2） John said that he would come this evening.約翰說他今晚來。
上述兩例中的said 分别與表示無生命的事物的 one reliable source 和表示有生命的John搭配。前句是無生命主語句，後者是有生命主語句。動詞 say在前一例中用作無靈動詞，在後一例中用作有靈動詞。而漢語中與say相對應的動詞是"說"，它隻能作有靈動詞。如改作無靈動詞，則很不符合漢語的表達習慣。英譯漢時一是要弄清英語無生命主語句特點，二是對原句的結構和搭配必須作出相應的調整。
有些動詞既可以是有靈動詞，又可以是無靈動詞，翻譯時要靈活把握。如kill，請看：
不能統一翻譯為：殺死，要根據其有靈動詞和無靈動詞的轉換靈活翻譯。
He tried to kill himself with sleeping pills.
他試圖服安眠藥自殺。
More than 1,000 people have been killed by the armed forces...
1,000多人被武裝部隊殺死。
Tell Richard I'm going to kill him when I get hold of him.
告訴理查德，一旦抓住他，我要殺了他。
The president was killed on his way to the office.
總統在上班路上被殺了。
My feet are killing me.
我的腳疼死了。
Cancer kills thousands of people every year.
每年數以千計的人死于癌症。
Six people were killed in the riot, including a policeman.
暴亂中有六人死亡，包括一名警察。
The family was killed in an air raid.
這家人在一次空襲中遇難。
Three of them were killed in the subsequent encounter with the police.
他們中有三個人在後來與警察的沖突中被殺死。
Hundreds of people are killed or maimed in car accidents every week.
每周都有數百人因車禍而喪命或緻殘。
His wife was killed in a car accident.
他的妻子在一次車禍中喪生。
I'll make this marriage work if it kills me.
再難我也要努力使這樁婚姻幸福美滿。
According to official statistics the disease killed over 500 people.
根據官方的統計數字，500多人死于這種疾病。
Two children were run over and killed.
兩名兒童被軋死了。
It's a sad fact that many of those killed were children.
讓人難以接受的是遇難者中很多是孩子。
He produced a handwritten list of nine men he was supposed to kill
他拿出了一份手寫的名單，上面列有9個他應該要殺死的人。
Three people were killed and five injured in the crash.
撞車事故中有三人死亡，五人受傷。
At least ten people were killed in the crash.
至少有十人在撞車事故中喪生。
She was killed in a fall from a horse.
她從馬背上掉下來摔死了。
The town raised a memorial to those killed in the war.
這座小鎮為戰争中犧牲的人樹立了一座紀念碑。
These are the cells that directly attack and kill micro-organisms.
這些細胞可以直接攻擊和殺死微生物。
You shouldn't always have to kill yourself to do well.
你不該總是為了做到盡善盡美而累壞自己。
My mother will kill me when she finds out.
我媽要是發現了會宰了我的。
Cancer kills thousands of people every year.
每年數以千計的人死于癌症。
Some drugs kill off useful bacteria in the user's body.
某些藥物會殺死服用者體内的有益細菌。
Three people were killed in the crash.
三人在此次撞車事故中喪生。
Tiredness while driving can kill.
疲勞駕駛會出人命的。
Do you agree that television kills conversation?
電視扼殺人與人之間的交談，你同意這種說法嗎？
He has effectively killed off any political opposition.
他實際上已消滅了一切對立的政見。
An increase in crime could kill the golden goose of tourism.
犯罪率的上升可能會扼殺旅遊業這隻産金蛋的鵝。
His objective was to kill the space station project altogether...
他的目的是使空間站項目全面停止。
He was forced to take opium to kill the pain.
他被迫服用鴉片來止痛。
The defeat last night killed the team's chances of qualifying.
昨晚的失敗使這個隊失去了獲得資格的機會。
I bought a spray to kill the weeds.
我買了一種噴劑可以除草。
We killed time playing cards.
我們打紙牌消磨時間。
I'm just killing time until I can talk to the other witnesses.
在和其他目擊者交談前我隻是在打發時間。
He was killing himself laughing.
他笑得前仰後合。
Assuming that his family had been killed during an air-mid, Hans settled down in a village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.（新概念3，p90）
漢斯猜想他的家人在一次空襲中全被炸死了（遇難了），于是他就在五十英裡外的一個村莊定居下來，從那以後一直在那裡。
A German taxi-driver, Franz Bussman , recently found a brother who was thought to have been killed twenty years before.（同上）
一個名叫Franz Bussman的德國計程車司機，最近找到了人們認為在二十年前就已死了（戰死了）的兄弟。
