试探英语中一些常用词的用法变化

顾祖良

（常熟理工学院外国语学院，江苏常熟 215500）

正如《变化中的英语》(The Changing English Language)(Foster 1981)一书中所指出的那样:“英语不是象我们生活中别的固有的东西那样一成不变的。”随着人类社会的进步，交流的日益频繁，英语语言也在不断发展。英语语法规则来源于语言实际，有一定的时代局限性。因此，语法规则也应随着语言实际的变化，而作出相应的补充和修改。笔者发现在《英语惯用法词典》（葛传槼2000）中，有一些语法规则似乎不能反映现代英语的语言实际，宜进行必要的修改。现举例如下，供读者参考。

一、be comprised of的搭配用法

The book is comprised of five chapters.(p.135)原作者认为be comprised of用法有误，该改作:The book comprises five chapters.或把is comprised of改作 consists of或is composed of）。

而笔者认为，在现代英语中，除了可说 be composed of,consist of外,也可说be comprised of.此用法已相当普遍。例如：

1.This draft document is comprised of eight chapters concerning the health assessment.这个草案是由八章关于健康评估组成的。

2.The first group is comprised of teachers who are not teaching in their field.第一组是由不在其专业领域授课的教师组成的。

3.These messages can be comprised of words,numbers,or alphanumeric combination.这些消息可以由单词、数字或字母数字组合组成。

4.The third group was comprised of fifteen students that had not been accepted in the first year but were admitted the second year that they applied.第三组由十五位学生组成，他们第一年没录取，第二年申请后录取了。

5.The committee meets twice a year and is comprised of representatives from the Australian Government and State and Territories.委员会每年举行两次会议，该委员会由来自澳大利亚政府、州和地区的代表组成。

6.The population of the United States is comprised of people from many different parts of the world.美国的人口由来自世界各地的人组成。

7.The council is comprised of members of the nine tribes in the Hanford region.该委员会是由在汉福德地区的九个部落成员组成。

8.The city’s population is largely comprised of Asians and Europeans.这个城市的人口主要是由亚洲人和欧洲人组成。

二、doubt跟that-clause的搭配用法

通常说“I do not doubt that he will come soon.” 和 “Do you doubt that he will come soon?”，但不说“I doubt that he will come soon.”(p.189)

另外，《简明英语惯用法》（葛传槼等 1998：81）也认为：“I doubt that they will be friends again.” 不合习惯。

而笔者认为，在现代英语中，doubt that-从句，不仅可以用于否定句和疑问句，也可以用于肯定句，表示unlikely，强调疑虑很大，不相信。有时，that可省略。例如：

1.Doctors doubted that surgery would be necessary.医生不大相信手术是必要的。

2.I doubt that he’ll come on time.我认为他不大可能按时来。

3.I doubt that it is authentic.我认为这不太可靠。

4.I doubt that she will get the job.(=Idon’t think she will.)我不大相信她会得到那个职位。

5.He doubted the car was hers because everyone knew she had no money.他不相信这辆车是她的，因为大家都知道她没钱。

6.I doubt that we’ll ever see George again.我认为我们未必能再次见到乔治。

7.I doubt that her interest will be of long duration.我认为她的兴趣未必会持续长久。

8.I doubt that thousands of years from now these electronically produced images will be considered art.我认为数千年之后这些运用电子手段设计的图像未必会被看作艺术。

三、forbid sb.from doing sth.的搭配用法

forbid的宾语后面接不定式。例如：His health forbids him to go.不可说“His health forbids him from going.”。(p.251)

另外，《注意你的英语惯用法》（王正元，王卫新2005:311）也认为：可说forbid sb.to do sth.,不说forbid sb.from doing sth.。

按传统的语法规则，动词forbid要用于forbid sb.to do sth.的结构中，作“禁止某人做某事”解。然而，在现代英语中，forbid还可用于forbid sb.from doing sth.的结构中。此用法已相当普遍。forbid的这一新用法，笔者认为很可能是受到stop/prevent/prohibit/inhibit//ban/restrain/discourage/dissuade sb.from doing sth.句型的影响，演变而来的。例如：

1.He was forbidden from leaving the country.他被禁止离开该国。

2.Women are forbidden from going out without a veil.妇女不戴面纱禁止外出。

3.The union is forbidden from striking.工会被禁止罢工。

4.The authorities forbade minors from entering the place.当局禁止未成年人进入此地。

5.Civilians are strictly forbidden from entering that area.严禁平民进入那个地区。

6.He forbade them from mentioning the subject again.他不准他们再提到这个问题。

7.International law?forbids?asylum seekers from being returned to countries where they may be persecuted.国际法律禁止寻求庇护者被遣返回国，因为他们可能会受到迫害。

8.Most Texas schools?forbid?officials from recommending or requiring students to buy specific brands if there are others equally suitable for teaching purposes.如果有其他品牌同样适合教学目的，大多数德克萨斯州学校禁止官员推荐或要求学生购买特定的品牌。

四、one’s intention后跟to do sth.的搭配用法

intention前用了my,your,no,the,an some,any,all,every等词，后面通常接of和动名词。(p.309)

而在实际的语言中，名词intention前，如有one’s修饰，用在“实义动词+one’s intention”的结构中，其后除了可跟of doing sth.外，还可跟to do sth.。但在It is one’s intention后，则要用to do sth.，to do sth.在句中作真正的主语。Collin Coubild English Usage (Sinclair 1999:326)明确指出:You do not say that it is someone’s intention of doing something.例如：

1.They announced their intention of cutting down all the trees.他们宣布了打算砍伐所有的树木。

2.She felt offended at my remarks,but it wasn’t my intention to hurt her.她觉得我的话得罪了她，但我并没有伤害她的意思。

3.The council has announced its intention to crack down parking offences.委员会已宣布有意打击违规停车。

4.It is still my intention to resign if they willfully fail to print the story.如果他们执意不刊印这个故事，我还是想辞职。

5.It wasn’t my intention to make you angry.我不是有意惹你生气的。

6.He has announced his intention to resign.他已宣布打算辞职。

7.It is our intention to be the number one distributor of health products.我们的目的是要成为第一个保健品分销商。

五、oblivious和介词的搭配用法

Oblivious of his engagement,he went to bed.oblivious后面该接of,接to不算正当。（p.402）

当oblivious作“忘却的”或“不注意”解时，其后介词搭配，不只限于of,在现代英语中，除可跟of外，也可跟to。例如：

1.He was quite oblivious of/to the danger.他完全没有觉察到危险。

2.He drove off,oblivious of the damage he had caused.他车开走了，没有注意到自己造成的损害。

3.You eventually become oblivious to the noise.你终究会变得不在意吵闹声的。

4.He worked on,completely oblivious of everything/of the passage of time.他继续工作着，完全忘却一切/忘了时间的流逝。

5.He was so full of his plan that he was oblivious to our warnings.他一心一意执行自己的计划，全然忘了我们的警告

6.The young couple were oblivious to the stare of strollers.那对年轻人毫不理会散步者的目光。

7.His own arrogance made him oblivious to the criticisms of others.傲慢使他忘记了他人的批评。

8.She seemed almost oblivious to the crowds of reporters.她似乎不在意那成群的记者。

9.He was totally oblivious to the fact that he had almost been killed.他全忘记了曾险些被杀的事实。

10.He seemed oblivious to how far they were walking.他似乎不觉得他们已经走得多远了。

六、opinion和the的搭配用法

I am of(the)opinion that the problem ought to be discussed again.等句子里的the可有可无，似乎没有the比有the普遍。(p.414)

而笔者认为，在现代英语中，be of the opinion that从句，名词opinion前的冠词the往往不省略。例如：

1.be of the opinion that...(formal)(=to believe or think that)认为

2.The committee is of the opinion that Barnes was wrongly dismissed.该委员会认为,解雇巴恩斯是错误的。

3.George is of the opinion that(=he thinks)that they should close the factory.乔治认为他们应该关闭那家工厂。

4.I’m of the opinion that it’s what every marriage needs.在我看来，这正是每一个婚姻所需要的。

5.I have always been of the opinion that these people should be treated as prisoners of war.我一直认为这些人应该被当作战俘看待。

6.It will take a while for international standards to be implemented,but we are of the opinion that we have to move now.要执行国际标准，这将需要一段时间，但我们认为我们必须现在行动。

7.I’m of the opinion that the more transparency there is,the better for everyone.我的意见是，越透明，对每个人越有利。

8.The doctor was of the opinion that surgery was unnecessary.医生认为没有必要手术。

七、stop/prevent sb.from doing sth.和stop/prevent sb.doing sth.的搭配用法

We cannot stop him coming.不算正当 (p.557)要改为：We cannot stop him from coming./We cannot stop his coming.

She prevented him going.也有人说，但不算正当。(p.454)

而笔者认为，在现代英语中，既可说stop/prevent sb.from doing sth.,又可说stop/prevent sb.doing sth.介词from可省略。例如：

1.Lynn’s parents tried to stop her seeing him.琳的父母试图阻止她和他见面。

2.My parents tried to stop me(from)seeing Anna.我父母想方设法不让我再约见安娜。

3.There is nothing to stop you phoning him whenever you want.没有什么能阻止你随时打电话给他。

4.Did any of them try to stop you coming?他们中有没有人试图阻止你来?

5.You can’t stop people saying what they think.人们怎么想就怎么说，你阻止不了。

6.Nothing would prevent him/his speaking out against further injustices.什么也挡不住他再为其他不平事鸣冤。

7.What can we do to prevent this disease spreading?我们有什么办法可以阻止这种疾病蔓延呢？

不过，在被动结构中，介词from往往不可省略。《高中英语语法全解》（马德高2010:75）明确指出：在短语spend...(in)doing与prevent/stop...(from)doing中，当spend和prevent/stop用被动语态时，介词in和from不可以省略。例如：

1.The BBC was stopped from broadcasting a programme about the Secret Service.英国广播公司被禁止播放有关情报机关的一个节目。

2.However，they were unreasonably stopped by the police from entering the lounge.但他们却受到警察的无理阻扰，不准进入休息室。

3.There were reports that some people had been prevented from voting.据称一些人受到阻扰，不许他们投票。

4.He is prevented by law from holding a licence.按法律规定他不得持有执照。

八、substitute和介词的搭配用法

在谈到substitute和介词的搭配用法时，《英语惯用法词典》（葛传槼2000：560）认为：

不算正当：We have to substitute coffee with tea.

We have to substitute coffee by tea.

的确，按传统的语法规则，动词substitute的句型是，substitute A for B,而在现代英语中，除了可用substitute A for B外，还可用substitute B by A或substitute B with A.例如：

1.substitute A for B/substitute B with/by A （用...）代替；取代

2.Butter can be substituted with margarine in this recipe.做这道菜可以用人造黄油代替黄油。

3.I had no more scissors,so I had to substitute the blunt ones with a knife.我没有更多的剪刀，所以只好用小刀替代钝剪刀。

4.So it is necessary to substitute sketch with calligraphy.因此以书法代替素描成为必要。

5.Substitute crab stick with crab meat for a more sumptuous dish.如果要吃得丰盛一些,可以不用蟹柳，改用蟹肉。

6.We can substitute wine with tea.我们可以茶代酒。

7.Those characters that do not map will be substituted by a reserved code point.那些没有映射的字符将通过预留的代码点来代替。

8.In case the leading missile is destroyed it will be substituted by another similar missile.如果领航导弹被摧毁，它将由另一枚类似的导弹代替。

九、Sth.is worth doing.和It is worth doing sth.的搭配用法

不可说:It is worth discussing the question again.(p.681)

按传统的语法规则，worth要用于Sth.be worth doing的句型中。然而，在现代英语中，worth还可用于It is worth doing sth.的句型中。这种用法已很普遍。例如：

1.It isn’t worth waiting for him.等他不值得。

2.It’s not worth discussing an idea.不值得讨论这个想法。

3.It isn’t worth quibbling over such a small amount.不值得为这样的小数目斤斤计较。

4.If you haven’t read To Kill a Mockingbird recently,it is worth reading the novel again.如果最近你没有读过《杀死一只知更鸟》，该小说值得再读一遍。

5.I wanted to know if it is worth reading the novel because it is so lengthy.我想知道该小说是否值得一读，因为篇幅太长了。

6.Designer sunglasses cost more,yes;as to whether it’s worth buying them,that’s largely personal.名牌太阳镜价格更高，没错。至于是否值得购买，主要取决于个人。

7.It’s worth comparing a range of models before deciding which one to buy.值得比较一系列模型后再决定买哪一个。

8.It’s well worth booking early,as tickets tend to sell out very fast.票很值得提前预订,因为往往会很快售完。

综上所述，我们不难看出，comprise,doubt,forbid,intention,oblivious,opinion,prevent,stop,substitute和worth在现代英语中，用法上发生了一些变化。随着时代的发展，英语语言也在不断发展。一些传统的英语语法规则，有一定的时代局限性。因此，语法规则也应随着语言实际的变化，而进行相应的补充或修改，这样才能符合英语语言实际使用情况。

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