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第01章
看动词,定句型

分析长难句,少不了要划分句子成分,而句子成分的排列组合又构成了五种基本句型,句型结构背后的决定因素是动词,故简言之, 看动词,定句型 。本章我们就来概括介绍一下句子成分、五种基本句型及动词分类。

英语句子里可以包含如下七种 句子成分 (因为定语属于构成名词短语的 短语成分 ,所以不在句子成分考虑之列):

A. 主语(Subject,简称S)

B. 谓语动词(Verb,简称V)

C. 直接宾语(Direct Object,简称Od)

D. 间接宾语(Indirect Object,简称Oi)

E. 宾语补足语(Object Complement,简称Co)

F. 主语补足语(Subject Complement,简称Cs)

G. 状语(Adverbial,简称A)

在不考虑状语及定语的情况下,上述六种句子成分可以有五种排列组合,构成如下五种基本句型:

1. SVCs:主+谓+主补(或称主系表)

2. SV:主+谓

3. SVOd:主+谓+直宾

4. SVOiOd:主+谓+间宾+直宾

5. SVOdCo:主+谓+直宾+宾补

这五种基本句型是由 动词 决定的。下面思维导图给出了英文动词分类与五种基本句型之间的逻辑关系:

现在换个视角来看五种基本句型中的动词特点,如下:

以上思维导图给出了五种基本句型中的谓语动词特点:

1. SVCs:系动词

2. SV:不及物动词

3. SVOd:单宾动词

4. SVOiOd:双宾动词

5. SVOdCo:宾补动词

这五种动词可以用作 谓语动词 (从而构成五种基本句型),也可以用作 非谓语动词 。无论英语句子结构多么复杂,都无外乎是源自这五种动词的用法组合,在此基础上再进行其他各种句法结构操作。因此, 分析句子结构重在掌握句中动词的用法特点。

现在我们可以通过一个失败的爱情故事来记住并掌握英文动词分类、句子成分及五种基本句型:

She is loveable. Her love died. She loved me. She gave me a kiss. She made me happy. (她还是那么可爱,可她对我的爱已逝。她爱过我,吻过我,让我开心过。)

这五个句子正好依次对应SVCs、SV、SVOd、SVOiOd及SVOdCo这五种句型,具体分类如下表所示:

下面我们来看考研真题例句:

真题 Publishers have responded to the demand that they make their product free to readers by charging their writers fees to cover the costs of preparing an article. (2020年英语一Text 2)

解析 这个句子有两个谓语动词(have responded、make)和三个非谓语动词(charging、to cover、preparing)。

首先,主句Publishers have responded是 主谓 句型,后接介词短语to the demand作have responded的状语,句意为 “出版商回应这一要求”

其次,在名词demand后边接了一个that引导的同位语从句that they make their product free to readers,来表示“要求”的具体内容,句意为 “出版商向读者免费提供产品(的要求)” 。这是 主谓宾宾补 句型,其中their product是直接宾语,形容词短语free to readers是宾补,这里make用作宾补动词。

三个非谓语动词都在by charging their writers fees to cover the costs of preparing an article这个介词短语中。注意,该短语不是就近修饰从句谓语make,而是修饰主句谓语have responded,表示出版商为回应这一要求所采取的策略、手段。可见, 搞清楚介词短语的修饰对象很重要。 其中,动名词短语charging their writers fees是 双宾语 句型(their writers是间接宾语,fees是直接宾语),来自charge的用法搭配charge somebody fees“向某人收费”。不定式短语to cover the costs以及动名词短语preparing an article都是 单宾语 句型。

综上可见,该句中使用了不及物动词respond、单宾动词cover与prepare、双宾动词charge以及宾补动词make。这些不同用法的动词直接决定了该句的基本结构。

译文 为了满足向读者免费提供产品的要求,出版商向作者收取费用以支付准备文章的成本。

上面这句出现了四种基本句型结构,唯独没有“主系表”句型,请看下面真题例句:

真题 It was also, and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period, a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them. (2022年英语一翻译46题)

解析 首先,在阅读该句时,我们要在脑中调整一下语序,请比较:

a. It was also, and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period, a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them.

→b. It was also a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them, and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period.

由b句可见,a句的主干结构是It was also … a battle … 主系表 句式。句首的It指代文章第一句中的a titanic and merciless struggle。因此,该句核心意思就是This struggle was also a battle between … “这场斗争也是……之间的一场较量” 。较量的双方是those who made codes “编制密码的人” 和those who broke them “破解密码的人” ,其中who引导的两个定语从句都是 主谓宾 句式。

其次,我们来看中间的插入语:and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period,这里and是连接前后两个分句(如b句所示),其中this指代and前面的分句。我们可以把and this替换成which,从而把这个插入语改写为非限制性定语从句:

→c. It was also a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them, which is unknown even to many people well read about the period.

这个非限制性定语从句是对前面整个主句 发表评论 ,表明主句所说的内容是很多人不知道的。

单从句法结构角度来看,原句甚至还可以改写成一个主语从句:

→d. It is unknown even to many people well read about the period that it (=the struggle) was also a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them.

现在我们来思考这样一个问题:作者为什么采用了a句这种非常规造句方式,而没有采用b、c、d句这样的常规句式呢?这是因为a句最能够承上启下地连接上下文语境内容,请看真题节选:

Between 1807 and 1814 the Iberian Peninsula (comprising Spain and Portugal) was the scene of a titanic and merciless struggle . It took place on many different planes: between Napoleon's French Army and the angry inhabitants; between the British, ever keen to exacerbate the emperor's difficulties, and the marshals sent from Paris to try to keep them in check; between new forces of science and meritocracy and old ones of conservatism and birth. (46) It was also, and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period, a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them .

I first discovered the Napoleonic code-breaking battle a few years ago when I was reading Sir Charles Oman's epic History of the Peninsular War . In volume V he had attached an appendix, “The Scovell Ciphers.” …

一方面,在a 句中,It 指代上文中的a titanic and merciless struggle,而与a句不同的是,d句开头的It仅为形式主语,实际指代后边的that从句;另一方面,a句表语内容a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them也就是下文第二段第一句中提到的the Napoleonic code-breaking battle,这样能很好地衔接下文第二段内容,而b、c两句句末是unknown even to many people well read about the period,和下文衔接起来不够平顺。另外,像原句这样的写法,可以对and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period起到强调作用。由此可见,英文造句的句式结构虽然丰富多样、变化多端,但仍需根据具体的上下文语境来选择最合适的那一个句式。

最后我们来分析unknown even to many people well read about the period,可以拆分为unknown to many people和even … well read about the period这两部分。前者是unknown to somebody的搭配,意为“为某人所不知”。后者中,well read是“副词+过去分词”构成的一个复合形容词(下文“知识拓展”会展开解释),意为“博学的,博览群书的”,而well read about the period是一个形容词短语,后置,修饰people(相当于说many people who are well read about the period),并且呼应前面的even,表示“甚至连什么样的人都不知道”。整个分句and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period相当于说this is something that even people well read about the period didn't know,意思是 “甚至连那些深谙这段历史的人都不知道这点” 。这里the period就是指文章开头的between 1807 and 1814这段历史期间。

译文 这场斗争也是加密者与解密者之间的较量,而这一点甚至连那些深谙这段历史的人都不知晓。

知识拓展:

well read逻辑构造分析

上面说过,well read是“副词+过去分词”构成的一个复合形容词。说到过去分词,大家想到的一定是它有被动含义,但是,我们这里的过去分词read是 主动含义 (下文会详解原因)。因此,当我们说:

a. She is extremely well read .

不是说 “她被好好地读了” ,而是说 “她极为博学” ,是表示“She has read a lot of books.”这样的主动含义。请看下面左图的朗文词典释义:

如果要说具体在哪个领域很精通,则添加介词in,比如说:

b. She's very widely read in law. (她精通法律。)

上面例句中的过去分词read都是主动含义,这是因为此时read是 不及物动词 ,而不及物动词不带宾语,自然就无法变成被动句,其过去分词也就没有被动含义。可见,我们常说的“过去分词(即-ed分词)表示被动,现在分词(即-ing分词)表示主动”这句话,实际上是不严谨的。严格来说,应该是“及物动词的过去分词表示被动, 不及物动词的过去分词表示主动, (不论及物还是不及物动词)现在分词都表示主动”。因为read可以作不及物动词,所以它的过去分词可以表示主动。我们看下面左图的朗文词典例句:

c. children who are just learning to read and write

这里的read就是不及物动词。

d. Her books are quite widely read .

不同于b句中的widely read表示 主动 含义,d句中的widely read是 被动 含义,等于read by a lot of people。

在搞清楚了well read具有主动含义之后,我们再来进一步探讨具有主动含义的过去分词的功能。通常情况下, 具有主动含义的过去分词一般不能用作定语,无论是前置定语还是后置定语皆不可行。 例如the visitor who has arrived 不能简化为用过去分词 arrived作定语,不能说:

a. the visitor arrived* 或the arrived visitor*

这些都是错误的表达(当然the visitor arrived若作为一个句子则完全没问题)。但是, 如果有 副词修饰这种具有主动含义的过去分词,比如newly-arrived,此时就可以作前置定语了 ,因此可以说:

b. the newly-arrived visitor=the visitor who has arrived recently

再比如:

c. a well-read man=a man who has read a lot

如果构成形容词短语,比如well read about the period,就可以作后置定语了,比如上面考研句子里的many people well read about the period

最后顺便说一下,也有一种省事的分析方式,就是把read看作形容词,然后用副词well修饰形容词read。不过,这种分析方式就忽略了上面所说的那么多语言知识,也不能告诉我们 well read/widely read既可以具有主动含义,也可以具有被动含义。

综上可见,看似不起眼的well read的背后原来还有这么多的用法学问。这就又回到我上面说的这个观点: 分析句子结构重在掌握句中动词的用法特点,然后在此基础上再进行其他各种句法结构操作。 比如在前面的考研句子中,系动词was与其表语a battle被另外一个分句分隔:It was also, and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period, a battle …,这样造句的原因上文已经解释过了。不过要注意,这里and连接的是一种非常规的并列结构,叫作 插入并列 (Interpolated coordination),此结构的详解参见 10.1.6节“非常规的并列结构”

考研真题实战演练

请分析下面各句的结构,尤其注意动词用法,并把句子译成中文。

1. Zoos are, in that sense, similar to natural history and archaeology museums, serving to satisfy our need for contact with these living creatures while leaving the vast majority undisturbed in their natural environments.(2022年英语一Part B)

2. You cannot buy class, as the old saying goes, and these upstart entrepreneurs cannot buy their prizes the prestige of the Nobels.(2014年英语一Text 3)

3. One could interpret much of the work of Beethoven by saying that suffering is inevitable, but the courage to fight it renders life worth living.(2014年英语一翻译50题)

4. By all accounts he was a freethinking person, and a courageous one, and I find courage an essential quality for the understanding, let alone the performance, of his works.(2014年英语一翻译47题)

5. He agreed to join because he “found the foresight behind the establishment of the SBoRE to be novel, unique and likely to have a lasting impact”.(2015年英语一Text 3)

6. But now piracy involving illegal streaming services as well as file-sharing costs the US economy about $30 billion in lost revenue a year and some 250,000 jobs.(2025年英语一Text 3)

7. ACE says it's helped shrink the number of illegal streaming services in North America to 126, from more than 1,400 in 2018, aided in part by the MPA's support for a 2020 federal law that made large-scale streaming of copyrighted material a serious crime.(2025年英语一Text 3)

答案

1. Zoos are, in that sense, similar to natural history and archaeology museums, serving to satisfy our need for contact with these living creatures while leaving the vast majority undisturbed in their natural environments. (2022年英语一Part B)

解析 主句Zoos are … similar … 是主系表句型。句中其他动词都用作非谓语动词,包括serving、to satisfy和leaving,其逻辑主语都是zoos。因此,时间状语从句while leaving …写完整就是while they (=zoos) leave …,该从句修饰的是非谓语动词短语serving to satisfy …。这里leaving作宾补动词,其后接宾语the vast majority“ 绝大多数动物 ”和宾语补足语undisturbed“ 不受打扰 ”。in their natural environments是地点状语。

译文 从这个意义上说,动物园类似于自然历史博物馆及考古博物馆,可以满足我们与这些生物接触的需求,同时让绝大多数生物在自然环境中不受打扰。

2. You cannot buy class, as the old saying goes, and these upstart entrepreneurs cannot buy their prizes the prestige of the Nobels. (2014年英语一Text 3)

解析 本句关键是要知道第二个buy后边接了 双宾语 :their prizes是间接宾语,the prestige of the Nobels是直接宾语,相当于说buy the prestige of the Nobels for their prizes。一般来说, 间接宾语多为人称 (personal),但这里的间接宾语是非人称(impersonal)的奖品their prizes。本句中两个buy用法不同,第一个buy接 单宾语 。另外,关于这里as the old saying goes的构造,详见 第09章as从句专题9.3节

译文 正如常言所说,你无法用金钱买到阶层地位,同样,这些暴发户企业家们也无法为他们所设立的奖项买到像诺贝尔奖一样的声誉。

3. One could interpret much of the work of Beethoven by saying that suffering is inevitable, but the courage to fight it renders life worth living. (2014年英语一翻译50题)

解析 我们重点看that引导的从句:that suffering is inevitable, but the courage to fight it renders life worth living,该从句作saying的宾语。其中fight的宾语it指代suffering,fight it可以译成“ 与痛苦斗争或抗争 ”。动词render是一个使役动词,基本意思是“使成为(to cause to become; make)”,所以其后接的是 宾补结构 :life是宾语,worth living是宾语补足语。宾语与补足语合起来相当于简单句Life is worth living。因此,谓语部分renders life worth living字面意思是“ 使生命值得活,不枉这一生 ”。进而可以转译成“ 彰显了生命的意义 ”。

译文 贝多芬许多作品或许可以用这样一句话来诠释:痛苦难免,但与之抗争的勇气恰恰彰显了生命的意义。

4. By all accounts he was a freethinking person, and a courageous one, and I find courage an essential quality for the understanding, let alone the performance, of his works. (2014年英语一翻译47题)

解析 首先,从该句的整体结构来看,是由and连接的并列句:“By all accounts he was a freethinking person, and a courageous one”与“I find courage an essential quality for the understanding, let alone the performance, of his works”,这里I find“ 我发现,我认为 ”,与上文By all accounts“ 根据大家的说法 ”语义呼应:前一个分句谈论人们对贝多芬这个人的看法,后一个分句谈论作者对他的音乐作品的看法,前后形成语义对照。

其次,从句型结构来看,前者是主系表句型,后者是主谓宾宾补句型。也即find X Y 宾补结构 :I find是主谓,courage是宾语,an essential quality是宾语补足语。

再次,“the understanding, let alone the performance, of his works” 完整的逻辑关系是“the understanding of his works , let alone the performance of his works ”,其中of表达动宾关系,即相当于说understand his works和perform his works。短语let alone意为“更不必说”。因此,此处可以译成“ 理解他的作品,更别说演奏他的作品 ”。

译文 根据大家的说法,贝多芬是一位思想自由、勇敢无畏的人。而且我还发现,勇敢是理解其作品,更是演奏其作品不可或缺的品质。

5. He agreed to join because he “found the foresight behind the establishment of the SBoRE to be novel, unique and likely to have a lasting impact”. (2015年英语一Text 3)

解析 同上句的find X Y宾补结构类似,这里有find something to be adj. 宾补结构。其中something是宾语,to be adj. 是宾语补足语。因此,在该句中,the foresight behind the establishment of the SBoRE是宾语,动词不定式短语to be novel, unique and likely to have a lasting impact是宾语补足语。其中不定式短语to have a lasting impact是补充形容词likely的,一起构成形容词短语likely to have a lasting impact,然后与单个形容词novel及unique形成并列关系。

译文 他同意加入统计数据检查委员会(SBoRE),因为他“认为设立该组织背后的远见卓识是新颖、独特的,而且可能会产生深远的影响”。

6. But now piracy involving illegal streaming services as well as file-sharing costs the US economy about $30 billion in lost revenue a year and some 250,000 jobs. (2025年英语一Text 3)

解析 本句主语中心词是piracy,在这里译为“ 盗版行为 ”,其后接分词短语involving illegal streaming services as well as file-sharing作后置定语,二者合起来构成名词短语,作主语。谓语动词costs后接双宾语:间接宾语是the US economy,直接宾语是about $30 billion in lost revenue a year and some 250,000 jobs。

译文 但如今,盗版行为——包括非法流媒体服务与文件共享——每年使美国经济承受约300亿美元的收入损失,并导致约25万就业岗位流失。

7. ACE says it's helped shrink the number of illegal streaming services in North America to 126, from more than 1,400 in 2018, aided in part by the MPA's support for a 2020 federal law that made large-scale streaming of copyrighted material a serious crime. (2025考研英语一Text 3)

解析 首先,says后边接了宾语从句,该从句的谓语动词是has helped,shrink是省去了to的不定式,而shrink …和to …搭配。其次,过去分词短语aided …修饰前面的宾语从句内容,表示前面取得的成果部分得益于后者(即MPA的支持)。再次,that引导定语从句,修饰law;定语从句谓语动词made后接了复合宾语:宾语是large-scale streaming of copyrighted material,宾语补足语是a serious crime。

译文 创意与娱乐联盟(ACE)表示,在它的帮助下,北美的非法流媒体服务数量已从2018年的1400多个减少到126个,这在一定程度上得益于美国电影协会(MPA)对2020年一项联邦法律的支持,该法律将流媒体大规模传输受版权保护的材料定为严重犯罪。 IEajIl4H6MK8dlAd8VG2Zt5V2DgGboGnBQUYU+yHUXiwSxBdkBrIBQH6mC4KHtit

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