我们在练习英语的口语、翻译和写作时常常会遇到一些不确定的语法结构,这些误区会误导我们的英语学习,为大家普及一下英语语法中的五大误区。
1. You can’t end a sentence with apreposition
不能以介词结尾
一般情况因该避免以介词结尾。但以下四种情况用介词结尾却更自然。
被动结构:passive structures
she enjoys being fussed over.
她喜欢被簇拥的感觉
条件从句:relative clauses
They must be convinced of the commitment that they are taking on.
你必须相信他们的承诺
不定式结构infinitivestructures
Tom had no-one to play with.
没有人可以和汤姆一起玩
Who、where、what打头的问句:questions beginning with who, where, what, etc.
What music are you interested in?
你喜欢什么样的音乐?
2. You can’t start a sentence with a conjunction
不能以连词开头
Conjunctions are words such as and, but, so, and if, which are used to connect clauses, sentences, or words. This grammaticalsuperstitionarises from the thought that because these words are used to connect separate clauses.The argument against using and or but to introduce a sentence is that such a sentence expresses an incomplete thought (or ‘fragment’) and is therefore incorrect. However, this is a stylistic preference rather than a grammatical rule.
连词包括and、but、so、if等词语,用于连接从句、句子或单词。有一种说法认为这些词是用来连接单独的从句,他们建议使用时的片段出现在一个句子的开始。他们认为使用and或者but来引出句子这个句子的含义是不完整的,因此是不正确的。然而,这是一个风格的偏好,而不是语法规则。
3. Double negatives are always ungrammatical
双重否定不符合语法规则
When two negatives are used to communicate a negative, then the usage is ungrammatical. The reason for this is that two negatives actually cancel each other out and create anaffirmativestatement. For example, the sentence ‘I don’t have nothing for you’is ungrammatical because the presence of two negatives technically switches the meaning to anaffirmativeone, so that it means ‘I have something for you.’
当两个否定词汇一同使用时,在语法上是不能表达否定的。原因是两个否定实际上互相抵消,表达肯定的含义。
例如,这句话“I don’t have nothing for you”不符合语法,因为两个否定词汇表达肯定的含义,这意味着“我有东西给你。”
Even though the use of double negatives in formal speech and writing is nonstandard, the use of double negatives is common in areas such as informal speech and popular music.
即使在正式演讲和写作中使用双重否定是不标准的,在非正式的演讲和流行音乐等领域双重否定的使用是很常见的。
However, there is one use of double negatives that is entirely grammatical. In this use, the double negative is used to express and reinforce anaffirmative.
然而,有一个双重否定的使用是完全符合语法的。在使用双重否定表达肯定时。
I couldn’t not help him. [meaning: I strongly felt I should help him]
我会帮助他。
4. Splittinginfinitivesis a mistake
不定式不能分隔使用
For the uninitiated, splittinginfinitivesis the practice of placing an adverb between ‘to’and the corresponding verb, as in ‘to lightly tap.’Splittinginfinitivesis a common peeve of grammar enthusiasts, but like many such peeves it has been employed by well-regarded English prose stylists for centuries. However, take care before splitting thoseinfinitives; many style guides and professors would still consider this a stylistic error.
在一般人眼中,分裂不定式是在不定式和动词之间放置一个副词,如“to lightly tap轻拍”。分裂不定式是常见的令语法爱好者苦恼的问题。但是有很多著名的英文散文家喜欢使用分裂不定式的写作方式。然而,应当小心使用分裂不定式,仍然有很多专家认为这是文体错误。
例如:
She used to secretly admire him.
她曾经偷偷欣赏他。
You have to really watch him.
你必须真的看着他。
Those who believe that splitinfinitivesare grammatically incorrect would rewrite these sentences as:
认为分裂不定式不符合语法规范的人会主张这样改写上面的句子:
She used secretly to admire him.
她曾经偷偷欣赏他。
You really have to watch him.
你必须真的看着他。
5. You can’t start a sentence with hopefully hopefully
不能作为句子开头
This use of hopefully to mean ‘it is hoped’rather than the adverbial ‘in a hopeful manner’has been disputed in the past several years, though it has found its way into general acceptance.
hopefully这个词的意思是“有希望地”,而不是状语“以一种充满希望的方式”。在过去的几年里,这种用法虽然已经被普遍接受但一直有争议的。
Hopefully and thankfully can’t be reworded along the lines of other sentence adverbs, using the constructions ‘it is hopeful that’or ‘it is thankful that’:
Hopefully 和thankfully和其他句子副词不同,可以使用‘it is hopeful that’ 或者‘it is thankful that’的结构
Hopefully, planning delays will beminimal.
希望比赛尽可能不被推迟。
It is hopeful that planning delays will beminimal.
希望比赛尽可能不被推迟。
也可以这样改写:
It is to be hoped that planning delays will beminimal.
希望比赛尽可能不被推迟。