单词 | 这种情况 |
释义 | 〔plead〕Your youth and simplicity plead for you in this instance.在这种情况下你的年轻和单纯成为有力的辩护〔able〕 It should be avoided when such an ascription is unwarranted, as with passive constructions involving forms of the verbbe; thus it is inconsistent to sayThe problem was able to be solved through the method she had learned about in business school, since this sentence ascribes no capacity or ability to the problem itself.In such cases,can or could can usually be substituted: The problem could be solved . . . By contrast, passives withget ascribe a more active role to their subjects, and here theable to construction can be used: 当这种起因并非必要时,则被动态中用到动词be应避免使用这词组, 因此这问题可用她在商业学校中学到的方法来解决 的说法是矛盾的, 其原因是这个句子并未将某种能力归因于问题本身。在这种情况下,通常可使用can 或 could 来替代: 这问题可以被解决… 。相反,带get 的被动态表示一个更为能动的主语, 这样able to 结构就可以用为: 〔chagrin〕The ultimate etymology of the wordchagrin, which comes directly to us from French, is considered uncertain by many etymologists. At one timechagrin was thought to be the same word as shagreen, "a leather or skin with a rough surface,” derived from French chagrin. The reasoning wasthat in French the word for this rough material, which was used to smooth and polish things,was extended to the notion of troubles that fret and annoy a person.It was later decided, however,that the sense "rough leather" and the sense "sorrow" each belonged to a different French wordchagrin. Other etymologists have offered an alternative explanation,suggesting that the French wordchagrin, "sorrow,” is a loan translation of the German word Katzenjammer, "a morning-after-the-night-before feeling.” A loan translation is a type of borrowing from another languagein which the elements of a foreign word,as inKatzen, "cats,” and Jammer, "distress, seediness,” are assumed to be translated literally by corresponding elements in another language,in this case,chat, "cat,” and grigner, "to grimace.” The actual etymology is less colorful,with the word probably going back to a Germanic word,.gramī, meaning "sorrow, trouble.”Chagrin is first recorded in English in 1656 in the now obsolete sense "anxiety, melancholy.”我们从法语直接借用的词chagrin 的最终词源被许多词源学家认为是不能确定的。 Charin 曾经被认为和由法语词 chagrin 派生出来的 shagreen “有粗糙表面的皮革或皮肤”是同一个词。 理由是,这种粗糙材料是用来打磨和抛光物品用的,法语里的这个词被引申到有了使人懊恼和烦恼的意思。但后来才确定,“粗糙的皮革”的含义和“沮丧”的含义分属于一个不同的法语词chagrin 。 别的词源学家提出了另外一种解释,说法语词chagrin “沮丧”是借译于日耳曼语词 Katzenjammer “醉后的难受感”。 借译是借用另一种语言,即外语词的成分,如Katzen “猫”,和 Jammer “沮丧,不舒服”, 并照那种语言的对应成分直译过来,在这种情况下为chat “猫”和 grigner “做怪相”。 实际的语源没有这么富于趣味,这个词极可能要追溯到日耳曼语词grami , 意思为“愁苦,麻烦”。Chagrin 第一次出现在英语里有记载的时间是在1656年, 当时的含义“焦虑,忧郁”现已过时不用〔hard〕Under the circumstances, he was hard put to explain himself.在这种情况下,他很难为自己辩解〔annoy〕"Threats only served to aggravate people in such cases" (Thackeray). “这种情况下威胁不过是为了激怒人们” (萨克雷)。〔plus〕 (compareTwo cows plus two cows makes four cows ). This situation suggests thatplus in these uses should be regarded as a particular kind of conjunction, which joins two elements that are taken together as a single entity,the way the conjunctionand does in a sentence such as Peas and carrots is Sophie's favorite combination. · The usage ofplus in he construction industry has been hurt by the rise in rates. Plus which, bad weather has affected housing starts is not well established in formal writing, nor is the use ofplus introducing an independent clause, as inShe has a great deal of talent, plus she is willing to work hard. (试比较Two cows plus two cows makes four cows )。 这种情况暗示我们plus 在这些用法中应作为特殊的连词来看待, 这种连词联结被视为一整体的两个成分,就象连词and 在 Peas and carrots is Sophie's favorite combination 这样的句子中一样。 Plus 在 建筑业受到了利率提高的损害。 此外,糟糕的天气也影响了房屋的兴建一句中的用法在正式的书面写作中是未被广泛接受的, plus 引导一个独立句的用法亦是如此, 如在她极有天赋,加上她又愿意努力工作。 〔whose〕It has sometimes been claimed thatwhose should be used only as the possessive form of who and should thus be restricted to animate antecedents, as ina man whose power has greatly eroded. But there is extensive literary precedent for the use ofwhose as the possessive of which, as inThe play, whose style is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. In an earlier survey this example was acceptable to a large majority of the Usage Panel.The alternate formof which also can be used to this purpose, as in The play, the style of which is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. But as this example demonstrates, substitutingof which for whose may result in stiltedness. See Usage Note at else ,which ,who 人们有时认为whose 只应作为 who 的所有格形式并限于表示有生命的先行词, 如在句子a man whose power has greatly erode. (能力已大大衰退的人)中。 但把whose 用作 which 的所有形式也是有许多先例的, 如 the play, whose style is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. (这个剧本的文体僵化正式,是当时的典型)。 在早期,这种用法对于用法专题小组的多数人来说都是可以接受的。其变化形式of which 在这种情况下也可用,如 The play, the style of which is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. 。但象 这个例子所显示的一样,用of which 代替 whose 会显得不自然 参见 else,which,who〔grievance〕A complaint or protestation based on such a circumstance.See Synonyms at injustice 不平,气恼,牢骚:因这种情况引起的抱怨或抗议 参见 injustice〔telephone〕When one telephones someone else,one never gives a second thought to the linguistic and etymological processes illustrated by the wordtelephone. To begin with,the nountelephone is one of a class of technological and scientific words that are made up of combining forms, in this casetele- and -phone. These forms are derived from classical languages:tele- is from the Greek combining form tēle- or tēl-, a form of tēle, meaning "afar, far off,” while-phone is from Greek phōnē, "sound, voice.” Such words derived from classical languages can be put together in French or German,for example, as well as in English.Which language actually gave birth to them cannot always be determined.In this case Frenchtelephone (about 1830) seems to have priority. The word was used for an acoustic apparatus, as it originally was in English (1844).Alexander Graham Bell appropriated the word for his invention in 1876,and in 1877 we have the first instance of the verbtelephone meaning "to speak to by telephone.” The verb is an example of a linguistic process called functional shift.This occurs when we use a noun as a verb,an adjective as a noun, or a noun as an adjective.Thus, we are changing the syntactic function of the word,just as we do when wetelephone a friend. 当某人打电话给别人时,他决不会再想一想单词Telephone 所说明的语言学的和词源学的发展历程。 开始时,名词telephone 是由复合形式构成的一类技术和科学术语中的一个, 在这个例子中是tele- 和 -phone 。 这些形式来自于古典语言:tele- 来自于希腊语的复合形式 tele- 或 tel- ( tele 的形式,意为“在远处,遥远地”), 而-phone 则来自希腊语 phone (“声音,嗓音”)。 这些来自古典语言的词可以在法语或德语中放在一起,例如,同英语一样。这些词到底诞生于哪一种语言通常无法确认。在这个例子中,法语telephone (大约于1830年)看起来出现较早。 这个单词正如它最初出现在英语中(1844年)的意思一样,在法语中它用于指声音设备。亚历山大·格雷厄姆·贝尔在1876年用这个词指代他的发明物,1877年我们有了第一个意为“用电话与…交谈”的动词telephone 的实例。 这个动词是称为功能转移的语言学进程的一个例子。这种情况在我们将名词作为动词,将形容词作为名词或将名词作为形容词使用时就发生。这样,我们正在改变单词的句法功能,正如在我们打电话给 一位朋友时所做的一样 〔pollster〕An understanding of the history of the-ster in pollster may perhaps raise more questions than it answers. In the first place apollster does not have to be a woman, despite the fact that the suffix-ster, originally-estre in Old English, was used to form feminine agent nouns.Hoppestere, for example, meant "female dancer.” But in Old English-estre was occasionally applied to men, although perhaps largely or completely in the case of translations of Latin masculine nouns denoting occupations that were held by women in Anglo-Saxon society.An example isbæcester, "baker,” glossing Latinpistor; it survives as the Modern English nameBaxter. In Middle Englishthe suffix was still largely feminine in the south of Englandbut masculine and feminine in the north,a tendency that became general in English starting with the 16th century.As an example of this tendencyseamster was remade into the feminineseamstress. In Modern English the suffix is usually derogatory.This use probably arose from the occurrence of the suffix with ambiguous verbs,such asgame, "to play at sports, to play at sex,” or with pejorative verbs,such asrime or rhyme. In some modern formations on neutral words-ster is not derogatory, as inyoungster (1589), but in most cases,as withpollster (1939), -ster has pejorative force. 对于pollster 中的 -ster 的历史的理解也许会引发比它能回答的问题更多的问题。 首先pollster 不一定非得是妇女, 尽管-ster 这一后缀, 源于古英语中的-estre , 被用来构成阴性名词。比如hoppestere 一词意为“女舞蹈者。” 但在古英语中-estre 也偶尔可以用在男性身上, 虽然也许这种情况大多或者完全出现在表示盎格鲁-撒克逊社会中由妇女从事的职业的一些阳性拉丁文名词的翻译中。其中一个例子是boecester 意为“面包师”, 来自拉丁语的pistor; 这个词在现代英语名字Baxter 中保存了下来。 在中世纪英语中,该后缀在英格兰南部仍然主要地被用作阴性,但在英格兰北部却被同时用作阳性和阴性,而后一种趋势自16世纪以来逐渐在英语中变得普遍。反映这种趋势的一个例子是seamster , 该词被改造成了阴性的seamstress。 在现代英语中这一后缀通常是含贬义的。这种用法可能是因为此后缀与一些有歧义的动词合用而产生的,比如game 可表示“进行体育活动,进行性游戏,” 或者是因为与轻蔑动词合用而产生的,比如rime 或 rhyme。 在某些现代英语中性名词中,-ster 不是贬损的, 如在youngster (1589年)中, 但在大多数情况下,如pollster (1939年)这个词中 -ster 仍是有贬义的 〔that〕The standard rule isthatthat should be used only to introduce a restrictive (or "defining") relative clause, which serves to identify the entity being talked about;in this useit should never be preceded by a comma.Thus, we sayThe house that Jack built has been torn down, where the clausethat Jack built tells which house was torn down, orI am looking for a book that is easy to read, wherethat is easy to read tells what kind of book is desired. Onlywhich is to be used with nonrestrictive (or "nondefining") clauses, which give additional information about an entity that has already been identified in the context;in this use,which is always preceded by a comma. Thus, we sayThe students in Chemistry 10 have been complaining about the textbook, which (not that ) is hard to follow. The clausewhich is hard to follow does not indicate which text is being complained about; even if it were omitted,we would know that the phrasethe textbook refers to the text in Chemistry 10. The use ofthat in nonrestrictive clauses like this, though once common in writing and still frequent in speech,is best avoided in formal style. ·Some grammarians have argued that symmetry requires thatwhich should be used only in nonrestrictive clauses, asthat is to be used only in restrictive clauses. Thus, they suggest that we should avoid sentences such asI need a book which will tell me all about city gardening, where the clausewhich will tell me all about city gardening indicates which sort of book is needed. Such use ofwhich is useful where two or more relative clauses are joined by and or or, as inIt is a philosophy in which the common man may find solace and which many have found reason to praise. Which is also preferred to introduce a restrictive relative clausewhen the preceding phrase itself contains athat, as inI can only give you that which I don't need (not that that I don't need ) or We want to assign only that book which will be most helpful (preferred tothat book that will be most helpful ). · That may be omitted in a relative clause when the subject of the clause is different from the referent of the phrase preceding the clause. Thus, we may say eitherthe book that I was reading or the book I was reading, where the subject of the clause (I ) is not the referent of the phrase the book. Omission ofthat in these cases has sometimes been described as incorrect, but the practice is extremely common and has ample precedent in reputable writing. ·There have also been occasional objections to the omission ofthat in its use to introduce a subordinate clause, as inI think we should try again. But this usage is entirely idiomatic and is in fact favored with some of the verb phrases that can introduce such clauses:thus, one would more normally write 标准规则中,that 应只被用于引导限定性(或“确定的”)关系从句, 这些从句用于明确正被谈论的实体;在这种情况下,前面决不能有逗号。因此,我们说杰克建的房子已经拆毁了 , 在这里,从句杰克所建的 指明哪幢房子被拆毁了, 或者我正在找一本易读的书 , 在这里,易读的 指明哪类书是需要的。 只有which 用于非限定性(或“不确定的”)从句中, 为已经在上下文中定义的实体提供附加信息;在此用法中,which 之前总有逗号。 因此,我们说化学10班的学生一直在抱怨这课本,实在 (不是 that ) 是太难懂了 。 从句which is hard to follow 并不指明哪一课本被抱怨; 即使它被省略,我们也知道the textbook 指化学10班的课本。 That 象这样用于非限定性从句中, 虽然在写作中曾很普遍而且在口语中依然频繁出现,但在正式文体中最好避免使用。一些语法学家认为对称性要求which 应只用于非限定性从句中, 就象that 只用于限定性从句中。 因此,他们建议我们应该避免诸如我需要一本关于城市园艺的书 这样的句子, 这里从句which will tell me all about city gardening 指明需要何种书。 当两个或多个关系从句被and 或 or 连接时, which 的这种用法很有用, 如是哲学使普通人找到慰藉并使许多人有理由去称颂。 Which 也用作引导限定性关系从句,在当前置短语中含有that 时, 如我只能给你我不需要的东西 (不是 that that I don't need )或 我们只想分发那本最用的书 (好于that book that will be most helpful )。 当从句主语与从句前短语所指不一致时,that 在关系从句中可以省略。 因此,我们可以说the book that I was reading 或者 the book I was reading 。 在这里,从句主语(I )和短语 the book 的主语不同。 在这些情况下,that 的省略有时被认为是错误的, 但是这在实际中极普遍而且在规范写作中有充分的先例。对于that 用于引导从句时被省略偶然持有异议, 如在我认为我们应该再试一次 中。 但这种用法完全符合语法而且实际上有一些引导这样从句的短语支持;因此,可以正常应用 〔marginal〕Relating to commodities thus manufactured and sold.与在这种情况下生产和出售出的商品有关的〔gutter〕Certain household words have proved important as markers for major U.S. dialect boundaries.The channels along the edge of a roof for carrying away rainwater (normally referred to in the plural) are variously known aseaves spouts or eaves troughs in New England and the Great Lakes states, spouting or rainspouts in New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and the Delmarva Peninsula, andgutters from Virginia southward. The transition points mark unusually clear boundaries for the three major dialect areas—Northern, Midland, and Southern—traditionally acknowledged by scholars of American dialects.Atypically, Southerngutters seems to have become the standard U.S. term. 某些常用词作为区分美国各主要方言的标志是非常重要的。在新英格兰和五大湖区,这种装在屋顶边缘用来排走雨水的沟槽(一般都是用作复数)被叫做eaves spouts 或 eaves troughs , 而在新泽西,宾夕法尼亚州东部和德马华群岛被叫做spouting 或 rainspouts , 弗吉尼亚以南人们把它称为gutters 。 这些转变表明了美国方言三大区域通常中比较清楚的边界,这三个地区是北部,中部和南部地区,这通常已为美国的方言学者所确认。而南方人使用的gutters 似乎已经成为美国英语中正规的名称,这种情况是不太常见的 〔plantation〕It has probably seemed ironic to more than one reader that the same wordplantation appears in the name Plimoth Plantation, a settlement of people seeking freedom of religion,albeit their particular form of religion,and also as the term for the estates of the pre-Civil War Southwith their beautiful mansions for the white elite and their hovels for the oppressed Black slaves.These two uses of the wordplantation illustrate two sense developments of the word, which is first recorded in Middle English asplantacioun in a work probably written during the first quarter of the 15th century. Latinplantātiō, the source of our English word, originally meant "propagation of a plant, as from cuttings,”but in Medieval Latin developed other related senses,such as "planting,” "foundation, establishment,” and "nursery, or collection of growing plants that have been planted.”The two senses that were used in New England and in the South can thus be explained.The Plimoth sense is derived from the notion of a settlement or colony that has been established or planted in a new country.The Southern sense goes back to the notion of simply planting crops,in this casecrops such as tobacco or cottonthat are grown on estates or farms in subtropical or tropical climatesand were at one time worked by slave labor.同样的单词plantation 出现在名称 Plimoth Plantation (普利茅斯种植园)中,这对不止一名读者来说,可能看起来是具讽刺意味的, 该名称指寻求宗教自由的人的小型社区,虽然他们的宗教形式很特别,也是作为内战前南方庄园的术语,指供高贵白种人居住的漂亮公馆和受压迫的黑人奴隶居住的破旧茅屋。单词plantation 的这两种用法说明了这个单词两种意思的发展, 其以可能于15世纪最初二十五年创作的一部作品中的plantacioun 形式首次记录进中世纪英语。 拉丁文plantatio 是我们这个英语单词的词源, 最初意为“植物的繁殖,如通过供插栽小枝,”但是在中世纪拉丁文中又发展了其它的相关的意思,例如“种植、”“建立、设立”和“苗圃或已被种植的活的植物的集合。”这样,用在新英格兰和南方的这两种意思就能够解释了。普利茅斯种植园的意思是从在新的国家中建立或移民的新拓居地或殖民地的概念中引申出来的。南方庄园的意思则可追溯到简易耕种作物的概念上来,在这种情况下,例如烟草或棉花等农作物,生长在亚热带或热带气候的庄园或农场,且一段时间以来由奴隶种植〔now〕Now we won't be able to stay.这种情况下我们不能留下了〔if〕In such contexts, however,the use ofif can sometimes create ambiguities. Depending on the intended meaning, the sentenceLet her know if she is invited might be better paraphrased asLet her know whether she is invited or If she is invited, let her know. · In conditional sentences the clause introduced byif may contain either a past subjunctive verb (if I were going ) or an indicative verb ( if I am going; if I was going ), depending on the intended meaning.According to the traditional rule,the subjunctive should be used to describe an occurrence that is presupposed to be contrary to fact,as inif I were ten years younger or if Napoleon had won at Waterloo. The main verb of such a sentence must then contain the modal verbwould or (less frequently) should: 不过在这种情况下,用if 就可能会造成歧义。 Let her know if she is invited 这句话最好根据所要表达的意思, 分开说成告诉她她是否被邀请了 或 如果她被邀请了,就让她知道 两句话。 用if 引起的条件状语从句中, 可以含有一个过去式的虚拟动词(倘若我去 )或一个一般陈述动词( 如果我就去;如果我去了 ), 这得依据所要表达的意思而定。根据正统的原则,虚拟语气用来表达一个与事实相反的假设,例如如果我再年轻十岁 或者 如果拿破仑在滑铁卢战役中获胜。 于是在这样的句子里,主要动词必须包含情态动词会 或(在较少情况下) 应该: 〔tweed〕Calling the wordtweed an alteration of the form tweel obscures the fact that in this case, as in many others,human error has helped create a word.Tweed is indeed possibly the result of a misreading of tweel, an originally Scots form of twill. Tweed also could be a misreading of an abbreviated form oftweeled, a form of twilled. Association withTweed, the name of the river that is part of the border between England and Scotland, helped support the misreading,which was originally a trade name.The word is said to have first been used around 1831,but it is not recorded until 1847.Thus had it not been for the misreading,the tweedy look might have been the tweely look or the tweeledy look.把tweed 这个词当作 tweel 的一种变体形式掩盖了一个事实, 即和其它很多情况一样,这种情况使人类的错误创造了一个新词。Tweed 实际上很可能是 tweel 这一最早是 twill的苏格兰形式的误读造成的结果。 Tweed 也可能是派生词tweeled ,即 twilled 的另一种形式的误读。 与Tweed (特威德,英格兰和苏格兰边界上一条河的名字)相关联, 也促成了这种误读的形成。它最初是一个行业的名字。据说这个词最早应用于1831年,但直到1847年才有书面记录。因此,如果没有这种误读,衣着随便的样子就可能成了矫情的样子或斜纹毛呢装扮〔valentine〕Geoffrey Chaucer should perhaps receive honor as the real Saint Valentine.Although reference books abound with mention of Roman festivals from which Valentine's Day—the day for lovers—may be derived,Jack B. Oruch has shown that no evidence exists to support these connections and that Chaucer is most likely the first to link the saint's day with the custom of choosing sweethearts.No link between the day and lovers exists before the time of Chaucer and several literary contemporaries who also mention it,but after them the link becomes widespread,a circumstance that makes it seem likely that Chaucer, the most imaginative of the group, invented the tradition.The fullest and perhaps earliest description of the tradition occurs in Chaucer'sParlement of Foules, composed around 1380, which takes place "on Seynt Valentynes day,/Whan every foul cometh there to chese [choose] his make [mate].”杰弗里·乔叟可能应该接受作为真正的圣马伦丁的荣誉。尽管参考书中充满圣瓦伦丁节日──情人的节日──可能来源于罗马节日的提法,杰克·B.奥鲁奇已经表示没有证据存在去支持这些联系,并且认为乔叟是最有可能第一个把圣瓦伦丁节和选择情人的习俗联系在一起的。乔叟和他同时代的一些创作者曾有过这个提法,但在这之前,并没有人把某日和情人的联系存在,但是在他们之后这种联系开始广泛流传起来,这种情况使得这群人中最有想象力的乔叟创造了这个节日。关于这种传统的最完整可能也是最早的描述出现在乔叟的 Parlement of Foules(火鸡议会) 中, 作于1380年左右,发生在“圣瓦伦丁节/当每个火鸡都来到这里选择它的配偶”〔bulimarexia〕An eating disorder in which one alternates between abnormal craving for and aversion to food. It is characterized by episodes of excessive food intake followed by periods of fasting and self-induced vomiting or diarrhea. Also called binge-purge syndrome ,binge-vomit syndrome ,bulimia nervosa 饮食失常:一种饮食无序,在这种情况下,一个人常常处于不正常的贪食和厌食的交替状态,特点是偶尔的暴饮暴食继而又很快的引起呕吐或腹泻 也作 binge-purge syndrome,binge-vomit syndrome,bulimia nervosa〔all〕The constructionall that is used informally in questions and negative sentences to mean "to the degree expected,” as inI know it won an Oscar, but the film is not all that exciting. In an earlier survey, the Usage Panel rejected the use of this construction in formal writing. · Sentences of the formAll X's are not Y may be ambiguous. All of the departments did not file a report may mean that some departments did not file, or that none did. If the first meaning is intended,it can be unambiguously expressed by the sentenceNot all of the departments filed a report. If the second meaning is intended, a paraphrase such asNone of the departments filed a report or All of the departments failed to file a report can be used. Note that the same problem can arise with other universal terms likeevery in negated sentences, as in the ambiguousEvery department did not file a report. See Usage Note at every all that 这种句法作为非正式用语用于问句和否定句中,意思为“达到所期望的程度地”, 如我知道这部影片获了奥斯卡奖,但它并不那么激动人心 一句中。 在早先的一次调查中,用法使用小组不同意在正式书面语中用这一短语。All X's are not Y 类型的句子可能会造成歧义。 All of the departrnents did not file a report 可以指一些部门没有提出,也可以指没有一个部门提出。 如果指的是第一个意思,它可以通过以下这句话明确地表达出来,Not all of the departments file a report。 如果指的是第二个意思,如None of the departments file a report 或者 All of the departments failed to file a report 都可以把意思表达清楚。 注意这种情况在其他整体词如every 用在否定句时也会碰到, 如下面这个有歧义的句子Every department did not file a report 参见 every〔nor〕Oris also more common than nor when such a noun phrase, adjective phrase, or adverb phrase is introduced bynot : Or在下面这种情况下比 nor 常用, 如一个名词短语、形容词短语或副词短语被not 引导时: 〔who〕The traditional rules that determine the use ofwho and whom are relatively simple: who is used for a grammatical subject, where a nominative pronoun such as I or he would be appropriate, andwhom is used elsewhere. Thus, we writeThe actor who played Hamlet was there, sincewho stands for the subject of played Hamlet; andWho do you think is the best candidate? where who stands for the subject of is the best candidate. But we writeTo whom did you give the letter? sincewhom is the object of the preposition to; andThe man whom the papers criticized did not show up, sincewhom is the object of the verb criticized. ? Considerable effort and attention are required to apply the rules correctly in complicated sentences.To produce correctly a sentence such asI met the man whom the government had tried to get France to extradite, we must anticipate when we writewhom that it will function as the object of the verb extradite, several clauses distant from it.It is thus not surprising that writers from Shakespeare onward should often have interchangedwho and whom. And though the distinction shows no signs of disappearing in formal style,strict adherence to the rules in informal discourse might be taken as evidence that the speaker or writer is paying undue attention to the form of what is said, possibly at the expense of its substance.In speech and informal writingwho tends to predominate over whom; a sentence such asWho did John say he was going to support? will be regarded as quite natural, if strictly incorrect. By contrast, the use ofwhom where who would be required, as inWhom shall I say is calling? may be thought to betray a certain linguistic insecurity. ? When the relative pronoun stands for the object of a preposition that ends a sentence,whom is technically the correct form: the strict grammarian will insist onWhom (not who ) did you give it to? But grammarians since Noah Webster have argued that the excessive formality ofwhom in these cases is at odds with the relative informality associated with the practice of placing the preposition in final position and that the use of who in these cases should be regarded as entirely acceptable. ? The relative pronounwho may be used in restrictive relative clauses, in which case it is not preceded by a comma, or in nonrestrictive clauses, in which case a comma is required.Thus, we may say eitherThe scientist who discovers a cure for cancer will be immortalized, where the clausewho discovers a cure for cancer indicates which scientist will be immortalized, orThe mathematician over there, who solved the four-color theorem, is widely known, where the clausewho solved the four-color theorem adds information about a person already identified by the phrase the mathematician over there. ? Some grammarians have argued that onlywho and not that should be used to introduce a restrictive relative clause that identifies a person. This restriction has no basis either in logic or in the usage of the best writers;it is entirely acceptable to write eitherthe man that wanted to talk to you or the man who wanted to talk to you. ? The grammatical rules governing the use ofwho and whom apply equally to whoever and whomever. See Usage Note at else ,that ,whose 确定用法的传统规则who 和 whom 相对简单: who 语法上用作主语,同 I 或 he 等主格代词的位置相同, 而whom 用于别处。 这样,我们写The actor who played Hamlet was there (演哈姆雷特的演员在那边), 因此who 代表的是 played Hamlet 的主语。 在句子Who do you think is the best candidate? (你认为谁是最好的候选人?)中 who 代表 is the best candidate 的主语。 但是我们说To whom did you give the letter? (你把信给谁了?), 因为whom 是介词 to 的宾语; 在句子The man whom the papers criticized did not show up, (报纸上批评的那个人没有来), 因为whom 是动词 criticized 的宾语 。在复杂的句子里,正确应用这些规则需要相当的努力和注意。正确地造出如I met the man whom the government had tried to get France to extradite (我遇到了政府曾努力让法国引渡的那个人)这样的句子, 在写whom 之前我们必须预知它将作动词 extradite 的宾语, 尽管两个词离得很远。这也就难怪自莎士比亚以来的作家经常把who 和 whom 交换使用了。 尽管在正式文体中两者区别仍然存在,但如果在非正式的交谈中严格地遵守这些规则会被认为说话者或作者可能不顾内容而过分注视说话的形式。在口语和非正式书面语中,who 趋向于代替 whom; 人们会认为象Who did John say he was going to support? (约翰说他将支持谁?)这样句子很自然,尽管严格来说它是不正确的。 相反,在应该用who 的地方用 whom 则显出一种语言上的不稳定, 如Whom shall I say is calling? (我说是谁在打电话?)。 当关系代词替代句尾的介词宾语时,whom 在理论上是正确的形势: 严格的语法坚持Whom (而不是 who ) did you give it to?(你把它给谁了?) 但从诺·韦伯斯特以来的语法学家认为whom 在这种情况下过分正式,而把介词放在句尾相对来说又不正式,这就有了矛盾,所以在这种情况下用 who 完全可以接受。 关系代词who 可以用在限定关系从句中,前面不要加逗号, 也可用在非限定关系从句中,则需要加逗号。所以我们既可以说The scientist who discovers a cure for cancer will be immortalized (发现治愈癌症的方法的科学家将会因此而不朽), 在此处从句who discovers a cure for cancer 指这样的科学家将会不朽, 也可以说The mathematician over there, who solved the four-color theorem, is widely known (在那边的数学家非常出名,他解决了四色定理), 从句who solved the four-color theorem 给已经由短语 the mathematician over there 确定了的人增加了一些有关他的信息。 有些语法学家认为只有who 而不是 that 可以连接表示人的限定性关系从句。 这种限制在逻辑上没有根据,在最优秀作家的用法中也未有根据;无论说the man that wanted to talk to you (想要跟你说话的那个人)或 the man who wanted to talk to you 都是完全可以接受的。 有关who 和 whom 的语法规则同样适用于 whoever 和 whomever 参见 else,that,whose〔verbal〕Verbal has been used to refer to spoken, as opposed to written, communication by reputable writers since the 16th century, and the usage cannot be considered incorrect.But critics are right to observe that this use ofverbal may sometimes invite confusion with the use meaning "by linguistic means.” Thus the phrasemodern technologies for verbal communication may refer only to devices such as radio, the telephone, and the loudspeaker, or also may refer to devices such as the telegraph, the teletype, and the fax machine.In such contexts the wordoral is always available to convey the narrower sense of communication by spoken means. Verbal 自16世纪以来一直为优秀作家所使用,用来指与书面交流相对的口头交流, 而且不能认为这一用法是不正确的。但是批评家们却正确地评论说verbal 的这一用法有些时候可能会与意指“通过语言的方式”的用法相混淆。 由此modern technologies for verbal communication(用于语言交流的现代技术) 这一短语可能只用于指诸如无线电广播、电话以及扬声器之类的装置, 或者也有可能又指诸如电报机、电传打字机以及传真机之类的装置。在这种情况中,oral 一词总是用来表示用口头方式的狭义上的交流 〔either〕But reputable writers have often violated this rule,and in any case it applies only to the use ofeither as a pronoun or an adjective. Wheneither is used as a conjunction no paraphrase withany is available, and soeither is unexceptionable even when it applies to more than two clauses: 但是许多著名作家经常违反这个规则,这种情况只见于either 用作代名词或形容词时。 当either 用作连接词时, any 没有相应的替代词, 所以即使用来连接多于两个从句时,也要用either : 〔cannot〕The idiomatic phrasecannot but has sometimes been criticized as a double negative, perhaps because it has been confused withcan but. Thebut of cannot but, however, means "except,” as it does in phrases such asno one but, while thebut of can but has the sense only, as it does in the sentenceWe had but a single bullet left. Bothcannot but and can but are established as standard expressions. · The constructioncannot help is used with a present participle to roughly the same effect as cannot but in a sentence such as We cannot help admiring his courage. But this construction is generally restricted to contextsin which a person is unable to affect an outcome that would normally be under his or her control.It would be more precise to sayWith all the public interest in the affair, the book cannot but attract the attention of reviewers (or . . . can but gain . . . )than to say the book cannot help attracting the attention of reviewers, which suggests that the book might have had a say in the matter. · The constructioncannot help but probably arose as a blend of cannot help and cannot but; it has the meaning of the first and the syntax of the second: 习语cannot but 有时候被判定为一种双重否定, 这也许是因为它已混淆于can but 。 然而cannot but 中的 but 表示“除了”, 就如用在象no one but 这样的短语中一样, 而can but 中的 but 意思却是 only(只有) , 就如用在我们只剩下了一颗子弹 中那样。 cannot but 和 can but 都已被确定为标准的表达法。 cannot help 结构与现在分词同用的作用和 我们禁不住钦佩他的勇气 一句中的 cannot but 大致相同。 但这一结构通常只限于这种情况,即一个人在该情况下不能实现正常情况下处于他或她控制之下的结果。由于公众对该事件的浓厚兴趣,这本书理所当然地引起了评论家的注意 (或 …can but gain… )的说法比暗示这本书在此事中想必有决定权的 这本书情不自禁地吸引了评论家的注意 说法要更为精确。 cannot help but 也许是来自 cannot help 和 cannet but 的混合; 它具有前者的意思和后者的句法结构: |
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