内容正文:
高中英语核心语法点汇编 part 8 常见定冠词使用释疑
3 季节前为什么用the?
有一读者问: 语法书上讲表示季节的名词之前不用冠词,但高中英语课文中的Winter Sleep一课却都用了定冠词the。为什么? 是不是科技文章就应该这样?
先让我们将这篇课文中含有季节词的句子以及与其有关的句子全部抄录如下:
(1)Some birds will fly away to the south when the weather turns cold. Other birds and all animals stay with you, but you will not see all the animals all through the winter. In the cold weather some of them hibernate.
(2)Hibernating in that way, the animal can sleep all through the winter. You might wonder how it manages to live without eating for so many months. The answer lies in two facts. The first is it has stored supples of fat in its body during the summer and autumn.
(3)They sleep during the winter but their sleep is not such a deep one, and their body temperature does not drop. In the autumn the bear eats and eats and becomes very fat indeed... On warm winter days he may think that spring has arrived; he gets up and walks around.
(4)The squirrel is an animal which makes secret food stores for the winter.
从上述四例可以看到,春夏秋冬四季都包括在内。其中winter, summer和autumn之前的确都有定冠词,但spring前却用的是零冠词(即不用任何冠词)。另外,我们怀疑是否会有一本语法书讲表示季节的名词之前一律不用冠词。
现在让我们具体地探讨一下上述四例中的季节词的用法吧:
1. 例(1)与例(2)中的all through the winter用定冠词比较容易解释,显然是与all through有关。我们知道,all through或through或throughout后接时间词时,这个时间词前一般须用定冠词the,如all through the night, through the week, throughout the year等 。季节词当然也是一样。那么为什么all through与时间词之间须用定冠词the呢? 我们猜想可能是由于这种时间词不代表时间的一点而是有意表示一个具体的或特定的过程的缘故。
2. 例(2)中的during the summer and autumn与例(3)中的during the winter则与介词during有关。与all through一样,介词during也一般须后接“the+时间词”,如during the day, during the night, during the week等。其理由与all through the winter同。
3. 例(3)中spring之前为什么没有冠词呢? 据语法家们说,当说一个季节即将来临或刚刚来临时,一般不用冠词。spring has arrived即意味着刚刚开始,故不用冠词,再如:
(5)Summer approaches.
(6)Winter came early that year.
(7)We often have a spell of hot weather after the beginning of autumn. (注意这里如用美国英语fall[秋天],前面须用定冠词the)
4. 最后一个问题就是如何解释例(3)in the autumn与例(4)for the winter中的定冠词the了。我们知道,在季节词前是否用定冠词,往往随人随时而异,并无一成不变的规则可以遵循 。但不少语法家都指出下列情况下常用定冠词the:
1. 显然特指某一季节时,如:
(8)Her book will be published in the autumn. (= the autumn of this year)
(9)Where do you spend the summer — by the sea or in the mountains? (= the coming summer)
2. 不强调时间而表示季节的内涵时,如:
(10)In the spring he swam in the rivers. (表示大地回春,天已转暖,冰雪已化等)
(11)The winter was coming on. (暗示寒冷的冬天)
(12)They had done with summer before the summer came.(第一个summer纯指时期,故无冠词;第二个summer有夏热的内涵,故前有定冠词the)
根据上述分析,我们倾向于例(3)的the autumn与例(4)的the winter也都有各自的内涵: 前者暗示秋天是收获季节,熊可尽情地吃;后者则暗示严寒肃杀万木枯干的冬天。
4 这里的 her 是否应改为 the?
有人问:初中英语书第五册第52页倒数第3行“...had been blind in her left eye”中的 her 是否应为 the?
在这种表人或动物身体部分的句子结构中,用物主代词或定冠词 the 一般都是对的。但二者有区别:前者强调身体部分为主语所特有的性质,后者则强调身体部分的典型性或一般性。据此,可以看出这里还是用 her 较好,因为这里的 left eye 显然不很典型。但如在:
He sat on the desk, the left foot on the floor.
这一句子中,left foot 之前就应用表典型性的定冠词 the了。
5 by the hour是什么意思?
有人问: 有一道选择题:
(1)The workers in this factory are paid by _____.
A. hour B. the hour C. an hour D. hours
答案是B,请问是什么意思?
你如有《朗文英汉双解词典》,可查the的义项⑥(用于度量之前);你如有《新英汉词典》,可查the的义项⑧(与表示计算单位的名词连用,含“每”,“每一”的意思)。这是定冠词the的一种习惯用法。介词by是“按照”的意思。再如:
(2)paid by the day 按日付工资
(3)paid by the week 按周付工资
(4)paid by the piece 计件工资
6 为什么选用 the old ones?
有人问:有这样一道选择题:
(1)He bought some pencils and he threw away _____.
A. one B. ones C. old ones D. the old ones
我选了C,而老师的答案是D,请问哪个答案正确?为什么?
你的老师的答案是正确的,应选用 the old ones。这里之所以应选用 the old ones 是为了要与 some pencils 所暗含的 the new pencils 进行对比的缘故。我们知道,定冠词 the 常用来表示对比,再如:
(2)I like the country better than the town . (用 the 对比 country 与 town)
(3)Besides the poison , there is the antidote . (用 the 对比 poison 与 antidote)
(4)The end justifies the means . (用 the 对比 end 与 means)
(5)You are the masters , we are the chattels . (用 the 对比 masters 与 chattles)
有时 the 所表示的对比两方中有一方则是暗含着的,你所问的问题中暗含的 the new pencils 即是一例。再如:
(6)He was from the town . (the town 与所暗含的 the country 相对比)
(7)The day starts at 10 a.m. and ends soon after evening falls in Lhasa. (the day 与所暗含的 the night相对比)
我们在电话中常说:
(8)The wrong number . 你打错号码了。
它也是与所暗含的 the right number 相对比的。
7 如何解释to the touch中的the?
有人问: 在一本英国小说中遇到这样一个句子:
(1)She went and raked at the coke; the stove was cold to the touch.
cold to the touch.
为何用the?
to the touch是一常见的固定词组,常置于形容词之后,直译的话,应是“对触觉而言”,但实际上常意译为“摸起来或摸上去(感到)”,如上述(1)中的cold to the touch即可译作“摸上去冰凉”。再如:
(2)This is soft to the touch .
(3)That is smooth to the touch .
(4)Natural fabrics feel much nicer to the touch .
那么touch之前为何有一定冠词the呢?这就牵涉到另一个问题,即“定冠词+人体一部分”的用法。我们知道,泛指人体一部分时,英语常用“定冠词+单形名词”,实例如:
(5)The brain is the centre of thought.
(6)He said it was a feast for the eye as well as the palate .
(7)A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
(8)It is the ear , not the eye , which is the true test of verse.
(9)She began to swing her arms, up and down, from the shoulder .
(10)Education aims at removing fetters from the mind .
(11)Whenever I make any slips of the tongue , she is always the first person to correct me.
(12)A simple instance of a servo-system at work is the flexion reflex. This occurs when the foot , for example, receives a painful stimulus and is withdrawn by the flexion of the leg .
而touch(触觉)亦是人体的一部分,故而泛指时其前亦应用定冠词。
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