导言：语法？什么语法？

When we speak or write, or listen or read, we create sentences with words and phrases. Grammar is the system of rules that guide us as we make and comprehend the sentences of others. All languages have some kind of grammar.

当我们说话或写作，或倾听或阅读时，我们用词语和短语构成句子。语法是指导我们构造并理解他人句子的一套规则体系。所有语言都有某种语法。

When we use the word grammar in the sense discussed here, that “system of rules” does not necessarily include rules like “Never end a sentence with a preposition,” or “Don’t dangle your participle around here, bub.” That kind of rule may often be helpful, but it’s not what this book is generally about.

当我们在此处讨论的意义上使用grammar（语法）一词时，那种“规则体系”并不一定包括诸如“绝不要用介词结束句子”或“小子，别在这儿悬垂你的分词”之类的规定。这类规则往往是有帮助的，但本书大体上讲的并非这些。

So what rules are we talking about here? To begin with an example, we might say this:

那么，我们在这里谈论的究竟是哪些规则呢？先从一例说起，我们或许会这样说：

On Tuesday, Devlin caught Alicia in the wine cellar.

星期二，德夫林在酒窖里抓住了艾丽西亚。

Or I could say this:

或者我也可以这样说：

On Tuesday, Alicia caught Devlin in the wine cellar.

星期二，艾丽西亚在酒窖里抓住了德夫林。

(On Tuesday, Alicia and Devlin had more fun than I’ve had all year.)

（星期二，艾丽西亚和德夫林玩得比我一整年都开心。）

But the point is this: Those two sentences contain exactly the same words. The only difference is the placement of *Devlin and *

Alicia, and that difference alters the meaning of the sentence considerably.

但关键在于：这两个句子包含完全相同的词语。唯一的区别在于*Devlin（德夫林）与Alicia（艾丽西亚）*的位置，而这一差别极大地改变了句子的意思。

Sometimes we can move words around without changing the meaning at all:

有时我们可以调换词语的位置而完全不改变意思：

Alicia and Devlin are characters in Hitchcock’s film Notorious. Devlin and Alicia are characters in Hitchcock’s film Notorious.

艾丽西亚和德夫林是希区柯克电影Notorious（《美人计》）中的人物。德夫林和艾丽西亚是希区柯克电影Notorious中的人物。

If we put some words in a certain order, it makes one meaning, and we change the meaning when we rearrange certain words. Other changes don’t alter the meaning at all. Those are some of the things we mean by the rules of grammar: Certain word orders and changes are meaningful in certain ways and others aren’t.

如果我们按某种顺序排列某些词语，就会产生某种意思；而当我们重新安排某些词语时，意思就会改变。另一些改动则根本不改变意思。这些正是我们所谓“语法规则”所指的部分内容：某些词序和变动在某种方式上是有意义的，而另一些则不是。

Here’s another example. Suppose we alter the sentence this way:

再看一例。假设我们这样改动这个句子：

Tuesday on caught cellar Alicia Devlin wine the in.

Tuesday on caught cellar Alicia Devlin wine the in.（这些词语的顺序被乱排，无法表达任何意义。）

(If you talk like that, you’re spending too much time in the wine cellar.)

（如果你那样说话，说明你在酒窖里待得太久了。）

In this example, we’ve used the same words but arranged them haphazardly, and with that order, the words make no meaning at all. That’s what happens when you break too many grammar rules.

在这个例子中，我们用了同样的词语，却把它们随意排列；以这种顺序，这些词语根本表达不出任何意思。这正是你违反太多语法规则时会发生的事。

There are still other kinds of rules:

还有另一些种类的规则：

He caught her in the wine cellar. She caught him in the wine cellar.

他在酒窖里抓住了她。她在酒窖里抓住了他。

(Just where is this wine cellar and how do I get there?) We know, as speakers of English, that he and him both refer to Devlin, and she and her refer to Alicia. So why do we have to use different words? Why not use he and she in both sentences, and forget about him and her?

（这个酒窖到底在哪儿，又该怎么去？）作为英语使用者，我们知道he（他）和him（他）都指德夫林，而she（她）和her（她）都指艾丽西亚。那么，为什么我们非得用不同的词呢？为什么不在两个句子里都用he和she，而把him和her抛开呢？

We can’t, because the rules of English say so: We have to use one form—one inflection—of he and she if they appear before

Introduction: Grammar? What Grammar? | vii *caught, *and another inflection (him and her) if they appear after caught.

我们不能那样做，因为英语的规则就是这样规定的：如果he和she出现在caught（抓住）之前，我们必须使用它们的一种形式——一种屈折变化；而如果它们出现在caught之后，则须使用另一种屈折变化（him和her）。

If you’ve spoken English all your life, you already know that rule, even if no one ever taught it to you. You learned it intuitively when you were very young—that is, you learned it simply by listen- ing to other English speakers—and now you seldom have to stop and think about when to use he and when to use him.

如果你一辈子都在说英语，那么即便从没有人教过你，你也已经知道这条规则。你在很小的时候就凭直觉学会了它——也就是说，你只是通过听其他英语使用者说话而学会的——如今你很少需要停下来思考何时用he、何时用him。

But a speaker who is just learning English may have to study and practice rules like that. At this point, we should stress that, for beginning students of English as a second language, there are definitely more helpful books than this one. For you, this book may not be the best starting place.

但一位刚开始学习英语的人，可能必须研习并练习这类规则。在此我们要强调，对于把英语作为第二语言的初级学习者，绝对有比本书更有帮助的书。对你而言，本书或许并非最佳的起点。

Here we will assume that our reader has an intuitive under- standing of many such rules of English. We’ll often refer to them, because they’re helpful in learning about other matters of English grammar.

在此我们假设，读者对英语的许多此类规则已具备直觉性的理解。我们会时常提及它们，因为它们有助于学习英语语法的其他内容。

BUT WHY? WHY?

但为什么呢？为什么？

Understanding the basics of English grammar is helpful when- ever we study language. When we’re learning to become better writers, for instance, we have to discuss language, and that re- quires some knowledge of the terms and concepts of sentence structure—that is, of grammar.

无论何时我们研究语言，理解英语语法的基础都是有用的。例如，当我们学习成为更出色的写作者时，必须讨论语言，而这需要掌握一些关于句子结构——也就是语法——的术语和概念知识。

For example, we may discuss improving something we wrote by rewriting a passive sentence as an active sentence. But discuss- ing that improvement—and making it—means we need to recognize a passive verb and know how to change it into an active verb, and then make all the related changes in the sentence.

例如，我们可能会讨论如何把写好的东西改得更好，方法是把一个被动句改写成主动句。但要讨论这一改进——并加以实施——意味着我们必须能识别被动动词，并懂得如何把它变成主动动词，进而对句子作出所有相关的改动。

The terms and concepts you learn in English grammar apply to other languages, too. Many of the grammatical concepts of English apply to other European languages, and some apply to non- European languages as well. That means that English speakers can use grammatical terms and concepts they already know to help

你在英语语法中学到的术语和概念，也适用于其他语言。英语的许多语法概念适用于其他欧洲语言，也有一些适用于非欧洲语言。这意味着，英语使用者可以借助他们已经掌握的语法术语和概念，来帮助

them learn a new language. For example, it’s easier for English speakers to learn about direct and indirect objects in German if they already understand these concepts in English.

他们学习一门新语言。例如，如果英语使用者已经理解了直接宾语和间接宾语这两个概念，那么他们学习德语中的直接与间接宾语就会更容易。

Any time we want to learn about language or discuss it, basic grammatical terms and concepts are likely to be useful. We encounter those terms and concepts in dictionaries and other reference works; we encounter them in books on linguistics and psychology.

每当我们想了解或讨论语言时，基本的语法术语和概念都可能有用。我们在词典和其他参考书中会遇到这些术语和概念；在语言学和心理学的著作中也会遇到它们。

So why study grammar? To become a better writer? To learn a new language? To study linguistics? To become an English teacher? To use a dictionary more effectively? If you want to do any of these things, you’ll find a basic knowledge of grammar helpful.

那么为什么要学习语法呢？为了成为更出色的写作者？为了学习一门新语言？为了研究语言学？为了成为英语教师？为了更有效地使用词典？如果你想做其中任何一件事，都会发现基本的语法知识很有帮助。

SENTENCING GUIDELINES

造句指南

The simple declarative sentence is the usual basis of all grammatical study. Other kinds of sentences are important, but we begin with declaratives.

简单陈述句是全部语法研究的通常基础。其他种类的句子固然重要，但我们从句子的陈述形式开始。

A declarative sentence doesn’t ask a question or give an or- der. It simply makes a statement, an assertion. All of the following sentences are examples of declarative sentences:

陈述句不提出问题，也不发出命令。它只是作出一个陈述、一个断言。下面所有这些句子都是陈述句的例子：

Mr. Morton lives in our neighborhood. Mr. Morton is a pest. I like Mr. Morton. High Street takes you out to the city park. The old train station stands on Front Street, by the river.

莫顿先生住在我们小区。莫顿先生是个讨厌鬼。我喜欢莫顿先生。高街能带你前往城市公园。旧火车站坐落在前街，河边。

In the chapters that follow, we’ll primarily focus on declarative sentences.

在接下来的各章中，我们将主要关注陈述句。

But what is a sentence? One common definition—one you may have heard before—goes like this:

但什么是句子呢？一个常见的定义——你可能以前听过——是这样的：

A sentence is a unit of language that contains a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete idea.

一个句子是语言的一个单位，它包含一个主语和一个谓语，并表达一个完整的意思。

Introduction: Grammar? What Grammar? | ix Audiences of professional linguists, when presented with this definition, hiss, boo, and throw vine-ripened tomatoes. (They’re an unruly lot.) They raise plenty of objections about it too, espe- cially concerning the vague notion of “a complete idea.” But we often encounter this definition in introductory grammar courses because it doesn’t require students to know many grammatical terms or concepts. For the time being, we’ll settle for this familiar definition. But hold your fire; we’ll return to the task of defining the sentence later, after we’ve learned a bit more. (And we will explain subjects and predicates in the first chapter.)

专业语言学家们听到这个定义，会发出嘘声、喝倒彩，并掷出成熟的番茄。（他们是一群难缠的家伙。）他们对此也提出了大量反对意见，尤其是针对“完整的意思”这一含糊的概念。但我们在初级语法课程中常会遇到这一定义，因为它不要求学生掌握许多语法术语或概念。眼下，我们暂且接受这个熟悉的定义。不过先别急着开火；待我们多学一点之后，还会回过头来重新界定句子。（我们也会在第一章中讲解主语和谓语。）

WHAT KIND OF GRAMMAR?

这是何种语法？

There are various approaches to grammar. For example, you may have heard of the approach called generative grammar (or sometimes transformational-generative grammar), associated with the linguist Noam Chomsky. That is an important and influ- ential approach to language, but not one that we’ll discuss in this course. You may encounter it, however, in books on linguistics, where you’ll also encounter many of the terms discussed here.

研究语法有各种不同的路径。例如，你可能听说过所谓generative grammar（生成语法，有时也称transformational-generative grammar，即转换-生成语法）的研究路径，它与语言学家诺姆·乔姆斯基相关。这是一种重要且有影响力的语言研究路径，但本书课程不会讨论它。不过，你可能会在语言学著作中遇到它，在那里你也会遇到此处讨论的许多术语。

The approach in this book is sometimes called traditional * grammar* **or classroom grammar because it is often used in English and modern language classrooms, where it has long been taught. (Grammar is always taught long and never short. Suck it up.)

本书所采用的研究路径有时被称为traditional grammar（传统语法）或classroom grammar（课堂语法），因为它常用于英语和现代语言课堂，且久已被传授其中。（语法向来是长篇大论地教，从不会三言两语带过。忍忍吧。）

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO OR WHAT YOU DO

你该做什么，还是你做了什么？

DO?

做？

Approaches to grammar can also be classified as prescriptive or descriptive.

研究语法的路径也可分为prescriptive（规定性）与descriptive（描述性）两类。

Putting it simply, prescriptive grammar tells students how they should speak and write to communicate in the *standard * dialect of their language, the variety of English used by educated speakers.

简单地说，prescriptive grammar（规定性语法）告诉学生，要如何在自己语言的standard dialect（标准方言）——即受过教育的说话者所使用的英语变体——中进行交流，他们应当如何说、如何写。

Descriptive grammar describes the ways language is actu- ally used, even by speakers of non-standard dialects. Descriptive grammar seldom makes explicit judgments about what is right or wrong in a sentence.

Descriptive grammar（描述性语法）描述语言实际被使用的方式，即便使用者的方言并不标准。描述性语法很少对一个句子对错与否作出明确的判断。

Like many approaches to grammar, the approach in the following chapters is to some extent a combination of the prescriptive and descriptive. This book describes the grammar of Standard American English—the variety educated Americans usually speak and write in professional situations—and so this book implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) prescribes standard uses over others. But much of what we’ll learn here applies to any variety of English.

与许多语法研究路径一样，后续各章所采用的方法在某种程度上是规定性与描述性的结合。本书describes（描述）Standard American English（标准美国英语）——即受过教育的美国人在专业场合通常说写所用的英语变体——的语法，因此本书也含蓄地（有时也明确地）prescribes（提倡）标准用法胜于其他用法。但我们在此学到的大部分内容，适用于英语的任何变体。

Every language has its own internal logic, however inconsistent it may sometimes be. Learn a few premises, usually simple ones, concerning things like word order, or number, case, and tense, and you’ll understand something of the logic of a language, even if you don’t yet know all the cases and tenses. You’ll see that many features of English grammar are clearly and simply logical. And some aren’t. (And some aren’t even trying.)

每一种语言都有其内在逻辑，尽管它有时可能并不一致。只要弄懂几条前提——通常是简单的前提——涉及词序、数、case（格）和tense（时态）之类，你就能理解一门语言逻辑的某些方面，即便你尚未知晓所有的格与时态。你会看到，英语语法的许多特征清晰而简单地合乎逻辑。而有些则不然。（有些甚至根本没在尝试。）

HOW MUCH GRAMMAR?

需要多少语法知识？

This is an introductory book: It gives you the most basic, the most frequently used terms and concepts of English grammar.

这是一本入门书：它为你提供英语语法中最基础、最常用到的术语和概念。

By comparison, A *Comprehensive Grammar of the English * Language (by Quirk, Greenbaum, and others) is 1792 pages long. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (by Pullum, Huddleston, and others) is 1860 pages long.

相比之下，A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language（《英语语法大全》，Quirk、Greenbaum 等人著）长达 1792 页。The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language（《剑桥英语语法》，Pullum、Huddleston 等人著）长达 1860 页。

This book is nowhere near as complete, or as long. (You’re welcome.)

本书远没有那么完备，也没有那么长。（不客气。）

But even a basic book like this one offers challenges. This book contains roughly 200 grammatical terms, some that you may have encountered before, and others that may be new to you. The workings of English (or any other language) is a vast topic. Even an introductory text, if it aims to give you a good start, will cover a good deal of territory. That’s why it’s important to know about— and use—the resources available in this book.

但即便是像本书这样基础的书，也颇有挑战。本书包含大约 200 个语法术语，其中一些你可能见过，另一些则可能对你而言是全新的。英语（或任何其他语言）的运作方式是一个庞大的课题。即便是一本入门教材，只要旨在为你提供良好的开端，也会涵盖相当广的范围。正因如此，了解并善用本书所提供的资源十分重要。

Introduction: Grammar? What Grammar? | xi

USING THIS BOOK

如何使用本书

One way to get a good grasp of what you learn here is to do the exercises at the end of each chapter and check your work by looking up the answers in the back of this book. If you make mistakes, reexamine the exercises you missed until you understand your mistake. Don’t write the answers in your text—that way, you can return to the chapter and use the exercises again for review and practice.

要牢牢把握在此学到的内容，一个方法是做每章末尾的练习，并通过查阅本书末尾的答案来核对你的作业。如果你出了错，就重新检视你做错的练习，直到弄懂自己的错误。不要把答案写在书上——这样你便可以回到该章，重新使用这些练习进行复习和操练。

When you don’t remember what a particular term means, you can always find out by using the index or by consulting the glossary in the back of the book, which will also refer you to the relevant chapter.

当你记不起某个特定术语的含义时，随时可以通过索引查找，或查阅书末的术语表，术语表还会指引你前往相关章节。

As we’ll remind you again and again, having a dictionary handy is important when you’re studying English grammar (or any language for that matter). Dictionaries can help you figure out if a particular word is an adverb or a preposition or a conjunction, or the right form of a verb or plural noun.

正如我们会一再提醒你的那样，在学习英语语法（或就此而言任何语言）时，手边放一本词典很重要。词典能帮你弄清某个特定的词究竟是副词、介词还是连词，或者是不是动词的正确形式、名词的复数形式。

Good online dictionaries make looking up words fast and easy, and they have the kinds of grammatical information you’ll sometimes need. Here are some online dictionaries you could consult:

优秀的在线词典让查词快捷而轻松，而且它们具备你有时需要的那种语法信息。下面是一些你可以查阅的在线词典：

• www.merriam-webster.com • www.merriam-webster.com

• www.dictionary.com • www.dictionary.com

• www.ahdictionary.com • www.ahdictionary.com

(the online American Heritage Dictionary) （在线版American Heritage Dictionary（《美国传统词典》））

The online Oxford English Dictionary, the massive historical dictionary, is a wonderful resource, but it may overwhelm you with the sheer quantity and range of its information. We’d recommend that you do not refer to it as you begin to learn about grammar. (But it’s still fun to browse through.)

在线版Oxford English Dictionary（《牛津英语词典》）是一部庞大的历史词典，是极好的资源，但它所提供的信息在数量与范围上可能令你应接不暇。我们建议你在开始学习语法时不要查阅它。（不过浏览一番仍然很有趣。）

And now we’ll find out more about those declarative sentences; on to Chapter 1.

现在我们就去进一步了解那些陈述句；进入第 1 章。