He was sentenced to death.

他被判处极刑。

讲解

Sentence 在英语中表示“一个句子”的意思，但是还有“宣判，判刑”的含义。判处死刑，判处极刑，就是 be sentenced to death, 如果是“终身监禁”，就是 be sentenced to life imprisonment, 如果是“被判三年监禁”，就是 be sentenced to three years in prison. 这几个例子里 sentence 都是动词。
此外，它也可以做一个名词，比如”判处死刑“也可以说：be given the death sentence, or to receive the death sentence.

发音

Sentence 这个单词注意发音，不要读成 森-疼-丝，第一个音节元音发音是 /ɛ/，和 get 里面元音一样，sen，第二个元音弱化，tens，连起来就是，/'sɛntəns/，be sentenced to death.

重点拓展

我们再来学习几个和”犯罪“”判刑“有关的英语表达吧：

give oneself up 投案，自首

• I think he might give himself up tomorrow. 我想他明天就会去自首的。
• The terrorist did not want to give himself up to the police. 恐怖主义分子不愿向警方自首。
  

Catch sb red- handed当场逮捕

• The murderer was caught red-handed. 凶手当场被抓获了。
• The criminal was caught red-handed, all he could do was to confess. 罪犯被当场捉住，他只能认罪。
  

suspended sentence 缓刑

• John was given a four-month suspended sentence. 约翰被判缓刑4个月。
• The judge gave him a nine-month suspended sentence.法官判处他有期徒刑九个月，缓期执行。