(建议阅读时间:10分钟)
(提示:所有例句均来自于剑桥出品的 English grammar profile 语料库,可以放心阅读)
如果你曾经的语法基础很扎实,倒装,虚拟语气信手拈来,且已经不满足于仅仅是句式准确,希望参加考试的时候能写出更加高级,更加地道的句子,那么走过路过,不要错过这篇文章。
如果有时候你有这样的困惑:阅读文章的时候单词量和语法都没有任何问题,但是一旦到写作的时候,明明想表达一个意思,却又找不到合适的表达,那么走过路过,不要错过这篇文章。
内容会分为5个部分,根据想要达成的不同目的,分为如何1. 强调 2. 添加细节 3. 表达感情色彩 4. 写得更加简洁 5. 更加简洁,并分成5篇来写作。
本文为该系列的第二篇,主要介绍第2、3部分
二、添加细节
中文里面,我们总是会使用各种言辞来表示程度,比如,“你很美”;“你帅得不要不要的!”英文也是一样的,这个时候,我们是用very much来修饰还是用别的更加高级的词组来修饰,就已经很大程度上能显示出我们的英语水平了。比如,其实我们可以使用(1) not that much 修饰形容词比较级,表示程度较小,例句:
Although she is not that much older than I am, one could think there were quite a few years between us.
也可以(2)用别的副词来修饰副词:
Many politicians and owners of big enterprises have been able for a long time to work almost exclusively for their own interests.
It was so completely in harmony with the sun, the sea, the sand, the summer, I decided instantly that was the kind of thing I would like to keep and collect.
为了让读者在阅读时产生画面感和看到细节,更加有身临其境的感觉,可以使用 (10)this
It's a story where there's this old man who makes a marionette that comes to life.
[talking about two characters in a story]There's this flame of passion between them.
有时候你作为作者,希望谈一下自己对这个事件的态度,但又不希望这个句子过于松散,怎么办呢?也很简单,可以(3)在句中添加一个简单的副词来表达态度,如:
He came out from school at the age of 16, and joined the "Universidad xxx" - the best one in Chile, supposedly- to study Economics.
He was quite nice to me, surprisingly and he told him that he would do his best but that the music was not too loud.
想要进一步补充说明这个形容词夸张到了什么程度,可以使用 as adj. as / so adj. that 结构的用法,但是更加高阶的玩法是下图这样的
(4) as adj. +n. / so adj. + n. that:
你可能会说 The number of students is not as large as that of guests. 但是你是否会说:
Because our debates do not draw as large a number of students as the guest appearances, but are still enjoyed by a relevant number of students, we propose a change of focus for the events.
It was such a riddle that I went and saw my psycho-analyst, who revealed to me that I once had so strong a shock that I was now walking and hiding my money in my sleep.
最后,当我们希望给某个结论添加理由的时候,往往用词就是 because,然而事实上,(5) in that 也可以作为一个从句的连接词,在其后给出深入的理由,通常用于正式文本中,如:
Nowadays it is widely argued that professional sports are damaging to people's health in that they involve gruelling training sessions as an integral part of the occupation.
It's often said that nowadays people must be proud of medical advances, in that life is getting considerably longer.
三、表达情感
在表达情感时,英语往往也有一些特殊的表达:
表示正面赞美的情绪时,可以使用 (6)this + n. + of + theirs/his/hers
What is more, not only is this rare talent of theirs used for public pleasure but also for international sports success, which makes us all proud.
This characteristic of his is shown in every situation of his life.
有时候,我们也想嘲讽一下前男友或者前女友,说“你就和那个小三去过一辈子吧!”英文中也有类似的表达 (7)that + n. + of + his/hers/theirs/yours... 表达幽默或者讽刺某事物
I kept silent when I was introduced to that new girlfriend of his.
You can park that precious jeep of yours.
同样表示反感的,还有(8)would hate to do 例句:
I am very much aware of my parents' mistakes and would hate to make the same ones.
We in the student committee would hate to see all that space go to waste.
如果表示否定的意味不高,可以在形容词比较级中使用 (9)no/not any + adj. 来表示“其实并不…”这层意味,例句:
That is why we are not any happier than you were.
I will probably find the water to be no higher than my thighs.
(10) that/those也可以用来传达情绪,为了表达否定
I also told her that if I had been in her shoes, I would not have put up with that sort of behaviour.
Nowadays, celebrities, like pop stars or football players, are often worshipped by hysterical crowds of fans who can't see through the mask that those so-called heroes make up to sell the product that they are.
当然,如果只是为了表达这其实是个人观点,可以使用 (11) as for myself,如:
As for myself, as you can clearly see from my account of this musical event, music still means an awful lot to me, and most probably always will.
As for myself I like taking responsibilities.
最后一种情况,如果想表达一种出乎意料的感觉,可以用 (12) and yet 增加一个新的句子来引入对比,有时会用于正式语境。
I felt very embarrassed and I was sure I would get the sack. And yet the manager forgave me and I continued to work there.