英語(yǔ)講義【175】揮之不去的錯(cuò)誤

字號(hào):

信箱里有張房地產(chǎn)貸款的信件及其細(xì)項(xiàng),印得漂亮,寫得也很清楚;美中不足的是幾個(gè)語(yǔ)文運(yùn)用上的錯(cuò)誤,如混淆詞、動(dòng)詞形式和慣用法。這些錯(cuò)誤,我已經(jīng)在不同場(chǎng)合里處理過(guò),可是常常又看到它們出現(xiàn),雖然不是“召之則來(lái)”,但卻是“揮之不去”。
    現(xiàn)在就把這幾個(gè)錯(cuò)誤整合起來(lái),一一分解,希望未犯者不要犯、犯者不要重犯。
    (一)“I am interested to attend the seminar and be able to enjoy the benefits.”
    這句的連詞“and”連接兩個(gè)并列句“I am interested……seminar”和“I am able to……”第二句的主語(yǔ)和動(dòng)詞和第一句一樣,可以省略為“……and (am) able to……”這里的動(dòng)詞“am”也是可有可無(wú),但改用“be”,就是動(dòng)詞形式不對(duì)了。此外,“interested”多和“in”連用,因此也可改成“I am interested in attending the seminar……
    (二)“We are looking forward to hear from you soon.”
    這句的語(yǔ)意沒(méi)有問(wèn)題:“我們盼望你盡速來(lái)信?!眴?wèn)題是“to”這個(gè)字,這里把它當(dāng)作不定式動(dòng)詞(infinitive)中的“to”,如“to come, to read, to sing”等。但是這句里的“to”是片語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞 (phrasal verb)“l(fā)ook forward to”的一部分,是介詞(preposition),后頭要有賓語(yǔ)(object),可當(dāng)賓語(yǔ)的是名詞(Noun)、代詞(Pronoun)、動(dòng)名詞(Gerund: v……ling)等。這句里用“hear”,動(dòng)詞形式不對(duì),要改為“hearing”(動(dòng)名詞)。不然,句子就要改寫為:“I am looking forward to your response (reply) soon / your early response (reply).”
    (三)“Beside the mortgage planning, I also want to find out how I can benefit from the other scheme.”
    有些英文字形同義異。上面這句話的意思不是很清楚嗎?有什么問(wèn)題呢?假如把“beside”改為“besides”,全句就沒(méi)問(wèn)題,但是少了個(gè)“s”的“beside”就把意思從“除此之外”變?yōu)椤霸凇赃?;與……相比”了。
    現(xiàn)在試把介詞beside和besides填入下列句子的空白處:
    (1)John is sitting his teacher.
    (2)What other languages do you speak English?
    (3)teaching, Jason writes a lot.
    (4)your wonderful achievements, my performance counts for nothing.
    (四句的答案刊于文后。)
    (四)“We could provide loan package that cater to your needs.”
    這句復(fù)雜句的意思明白易解,可惜的是形容詞從句中的動(dòng)詞“cater to”和先行詞“l(fā)oan package”的數(shù)不搭配。由于這先行詞是單數(shù)的名詞,修飾它的形容詞從句的動(dòng)詞也要單數(shù)的“caters to”才對(duì)。如果是復(fù)數(shù),動(dòng)詞也要復(fù)數(shù)(沒(méi)有“s”):“We could provide loan package and other services that cater to your needs.”
    (五)“Please let us have your response at your earlier convenient.”
    這個(gè)慣用法的位置好,但成分不準(zhǔn)確,應(yīng)該是:at your earliest convenience(盡早)。
    這個(gè)用法有些過(guò)時(shí),改用“as soon as possible”好了。
    (答案:(1)beside (2)besides (3)Besides (4)Beside.)