Abstract

Translation serves as an effective bridge connecting multiple cultures and provides convenience for people from different countries to understand foreign cultures. This article aims to analyze the essence of literal translation and free translation from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics. It argues that translation activities need to start from the characteristics of the source language and the requirements of the target language, and select different translation methods based on different text styles. This approach can improve the efficiency of translation work, provide strong guidance for translation practice, promote the dissemination of various cultures, and make certain contributions to the development of foreign language specialties.

Key words: Free translation, literal translation, functional perspective.