This study investigates the syntactic and semantic relationship between the Chinese ba-construction and its English equivalents, using the framework of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), particularly the transitivity system. The “ba”-construction is a distinctive structure in Mandarin Chinese that emphasizes the affectedness of an object and the result of an action. Translating such structures into English involves more than direct syntactic transformation; it requires careful consideration of how experiential meaning is expressed through different process types and participant roles. Drawing on a bilingual corpus of literary and journalistic texts, this research categorizes English translations of “ba”-constructions according to their process types in SFG: material, mental, relational, and verbal. The analysis reveals that while most “ba”-constructions are translated into material processes in English—preserving the action-result pattern—there are frequent and systematic shifts into other process types due to lexical, grammatical, and stylistic constraints. These shifts often result in the reconfiguration of participant roles, such as Goals becoming Phenomena or Actors taking on the role of Sensers or Carriers. The study argues that these transitivity shifts are not mere formal alterations but play a crucial role in maintaining semantic coherence and communicative intent across languages. It highlights the translator’s role as an active agent in negotiating meaning and form, and it affirms the value of SFG as a practical tool for translation analysis. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of cross-linguistic transitivity and provide insights for translator training and contrastive linguistics.