Chapter 20 / 第20章¶

Many Things / 许多事情 (But no Cabbages or Kings) / （但没有卷心菜或国王）

In this book, we don't try to cover every possible topic in English grammar, but here are a few that we still need to discuss briefly.

在本书中，我们不试图涵盖英语语法的每一个可能的话题，但这里有一些我们仍然需要简要讨论的内容。

THE EXPLETIVE IT / 虚词 it

The personal pronoun it can be used as an expletive (as there is used), to postpone the subject until later in the sentence. The subject will then appear later in the sentence, usually to the right of the verb.

人代代词 it 可以用作虚词（expletive）（像 there 一样使用），将主语推迟到句子后面。主语随后会出现在句子的后面，通常在动词的右边。

The expletive it can only work with a subject that is a nominal infinitive phrase or a nominal clause.

虚词 it 只能与作为名词性不定式短语或名词性从句的主语一起使用。

The expletive it is used less frequently than there, appearing in sentences similar to the following pairs, where the first sentence in each pair contains no expletive. All the subjects are underlined.

虚词 it 比 there 使用得少，出现在类似于以下句子对的句子中，其中每对中的第一个句子不包含虚词。所有的主语都划线标出。

To admit my mistakes is difficult. It is difficult to admit my mistakes.

That I made mistakes is true. It is true that I made mistakes.

As we've seen, the phrase to admit my mistakes is called a verbal (more specifically, a nominal infinitive phrase). And that I made mistakes is a nominal clause.

正如我们所看到的，短语 to admit my mistakes 被称为动词性词（更具体地说，是名词性不定式短语）。而 that I made mistakes 是一个名词性从句。

Like the expletive there, expletive it has no grammatical function in these sentences, only a stylistic function: to postpone the appearance of the subject. In the following pairs of sentences, the grammatical structure is exactly the same in both sentences, and the underlined portions are the subjects.

像虚词 there 一样，虚词 it 在这些句子中没有语法功能，只有一个文体功能：推迟主语的出现。在以下句子对中，两个句子的语法结构完全相同，划线部分是主语。

To trust him is difficult. It is difficult to trust him.

To understand the theory requires patience. It requires patience to understand the theory.

That the universe is expanding is a fact. It is a fact that the universe is expanding.

That you have worked hard became apparent. It became apparent that you have worked hard.

When we write sentences like these, we typically write the versions with the expletive it; the versions without it sometimes seem awkward.

当我们写这样的句子时，我们通常写带虚词 it 的版本；没有它的版本有时显得笨拙。

In English, we also use the pronoun it as a subject in conventional expressions regarding weather or time. In these sentences, it is an indefinite pronoun, not an expletive:

在英语中，我们也在关于天气或时间的惯用表达中将代词 it 用作主语。在这些句子中，it 是不定代词，不是虚词：

It may rain today. It is about four pm.

Don't confuse the pronoun it with the expletive it that postpones the subject. If there is no nominal clause or infinitive phrase later in the sentence, it is a pronoun, not an expletive.

不要将代词 it 与推迟主语的虚词 it 混淆。如果句子后面没有名词性从句或不定式短语，it 是代词，不是虚词。

SENTENCE MODIFIERS / 句子修饰语

Sentence modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that don't modify any particular word in the sentence. Instead they modify the entire sentence in an unusual way, by indicating the writer's attitude or intention about the sentence. The following sentences begin with sentence modifiers:

句子修饰语（sentence modifier）是不修饰句子中任何特定词的词、短语或从句。相反，它们以一种不寻常的方式修饰整个句子，通过指示作者对该句子的态度或意图。以下句子以句子修饰语开头：

Clearly, he's a fool. Frankly, he's a fool. Sadly, he's a fool. To tell the truth, so are you.

Sentence modifiers are concise ways of saying things that would otherwise require more words, even an entire additional clause.

句子修饰语是表达事情的精简方式，否则将需要更多词语，甚至一个完整的额外从句。

If we rewrote the sentences above without sentence modifiers, we would produce the following sentences (or something like them):

如果我们重写上面的句子而不使用句子修饰语，我们将产生以下句子（或类似它们的内容）：

It is clear to me that he's a fool. I speak frankly when I say that he's a fool. I am sad to observe that he's a fool. I tell the truth when I say that you are, too.

Sentence modifiers often appear at the beginning of sentences, but, like adverbs, they can be placed elsewhere. Notice, in all the examples in this section, the placement of commas:

句子修饰语经常出现在句子的开头，但是，像副词一样，它们可以放在别处。请注意，在本节的所有例子中，逗号的位置：

So, to tell the truth, are you. So are you, to tell the truth.

It's easy to mistake sentence modifiers for adverbs. Keep in mind that true adverbs will modify some specific word or phrase in the sentence: a verb, adjective, or another adverb. This sentence contains an adverb, modifying the phrasal verb laid out:

很容易将句子修饰语误认为副词。请记住，真正的副词会修饰句子中的某个特定词或短语：一个动词、形容词或另一个副词。这个句子包含一个副词，修饰短语动词 laid out：

Mark honestly laid out his plans.

But this sentence contains a sentence modifier that reveals the attitude of the writer:

但这个句子包含一个揭示作者态度的句子修饰语：

Honestly, Mark laid out his plans quite well.

Similarly, don't mistake dangling participles (or any participles) for sentence modifiers:

同样，不要将悬垂分词（或任何分词）误认为句子修饰语：

Speaking frankly, Michael criticized the plan. [A participle, modifying Michael / 分词，修饰 Michael]

Frankly, this plan looks impractical. [A sentence modifier / 句子修饰语]

This next example is ambiguous when out of context: It could contain a dangling participle or a sentence modifier that looks like a dangling participle. In either case, it probably needs rewriting: delete speaking.

下一个例子在脱离语境时是模糊的：它可能包含一个悬垂分词或一个看起来像悬垂分词的句子修饰语。无论哪种情况，它可能都需要重写：删除 speaking。

Speaking frankly, Michael's criticisms seemed reasonable.

ABSOLUTE PHRASES / 独立短语

An absolute phrase, sometimes called a nominative absolute, is a noun phrase often followed by a modifier (a participial phrase, a prepositional phrase, or other adjectivals):

独立短语（absolute phrase），有时称为主格独立结构（nominative absolute），是一个名词短语，通常后跟一个修饰语（分词短语、介词短语或其他形容词性结构）：

The sun having set, Dracula considered where he might have breakfast.

Some grammarians call these phrases absolute, meaning that the phrases are independent from the rest of the sentence; they are said to play no grammatical role in the sentence.

一些语法学家称这些短语为独立，意思是这些短语独立于句子的其余部分；据说它们在句子中不扮演任何语法角色。

But in these chapters, we consider absolutes as noun phrases used adverbially, telling us when, where, why, or how the action of the verb is performed:

但在这些章节中，我们将独立结构视为以副词方式使用的名词短语，告诉我们动词的动作是何时、何地、为何或如何执行的：

Dr. Seward being out of town, I will sign the forms for him. The classrooms infested with spiders, we called Renfield. Harker, his hands trembling, stepped into his English classroom.

This simple test for absolutes may be helpful: If the sentence still means the same thing after you've added the preposition with to the beginning of the noun phrase, the noun phrase is very probably an absolute:

这个针对独立短语的简单测试可能有帮助：如果在将介词 with 添加到名词短语开头之后，句子的意思仍然相同，该名词短语很有可能是一个独立短语：

[With] the classrooms infested with spiders, we called Renfield. [With] Renfield taking care of the spiders, we left for lunch.

VERBS HAVE MOODS / 动词有语气

Earlier we discussed the four-way classification of sentences according to their purposes: the declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences.

之前我们讨论了根据目的对句子的四路分类：陈述句（declarative）、疑问句（interrogative）、祈使句（imperative）和感叹句（exclamatory）。

Verbs are an important part of that classification, and a related quality of verbs in those kinds of sentences is called modality, expressed by the mood of a verb in certain sentences. Grammarians have discussed and classified verb moods in several ways, but, generally, English verbs are said to have four moods, three of them corresponding with the classifications of sentence purpose:

动词是这种分类的重要组成部分，这些种类句子中动词的一个相关特性称为情态（modality），由某些句子中动词的语气（mood）表达。语法学家以多种方式讨论和分类了动词语气，但通常，英语动词被认为有四种语气，其中三种与句子目的的分类相对应：

Verbs in the indicative mood are those that appear in declarative sentences (Joshua went away). （陈述语气（indicative mood）的动词是那些出现在陈述句中的动词（Joshua went away）。）
Verbs in the interrogative mood appear in interrogative sentences (Did Joshua go?). The use of the do auxiliary in questions is often a mark of the interrogative mood. （疑问语气（interrogative mood）的动词出现在疑问句中（Did Joshua go?）。在疑问句中使用 do 助动词通常是疑问语气的标志。）
Verbs in the imperative mood appear in imperative sentences (Go away!). The disappearance of the subject and some auxiliaries is often a mark of the imperative. （祈使语气（imperative mood）的动词出现在祈使句中（Go away!）。主语和一些助动词的消失通常是祈使语气的标志。）

Exclamatory sentences, as we saw, have no special form or structure.

感叹句，正如我们所看到的，没有特殊的形式或结构。

There's a fourth mood, and it's the important one at the moment because it's useful in creating sentences that don't correspond neatly to the four-way classification:

还有第四种语气，此刻它是重要的，因为它有助于创建不完全对应四路分类的句子：

Verbs in the conditional mood express necessity and possibility. （条件语气（conditional mood）的动词表达必要性和可能性。）

We create verbs in the conditional mood using a subset of the auxiliary verbs that are called the modal auxiliaries:

我们使用一组称为情态助动词（modal auxiliary）的助动词子集来创建条件语气的动词：

can and could shall and should will and would may, must, and might

(By the way, these modal auxiliaries are the verbs that don't have principal parts or infinitives.)

（顺便说一下，这些情态助动词就是那些没有主要部分或不定式的动词。）

These modal auxiliary verbs are always the first auxiliary in the complete verb, and they help us discuss various kinds of necessary, possible, or permitted actions. Notice the differences (some subtle) among these sentences:

这些情态助动词始终是完整动词的第一个助动词，它们帮助我们讨论各种必要、可能或允许的动作。请注意这些句子之间的差异（有些是微妙的）：

I can go to the store. I shall go to the store. I will go to the store. I may go to the store. I might go to the store. I could go to the store. I should go to the store. I would go to the store. I must go to the store.

Often we clarify and reinforce the conditional nature of these sentences with some modifier or additional clause, as in I could go to the store if I may borrow your car.

我们经常通过某个修饰语或附加从句来澄清和强化这些句子的条件性质，如 I could go to the store if I may borrow your car.

Notice that all of the sentences above are in some way about future possible events. So it's not surprising that one of the modal auxiliaries that we use often is will, because (as we've seen) we use it for future-tense verbs: will drive, will have driven, will be driving.

请注意，上面所有的句子在某种程度上都是关于未来可能的事件。因此，我们经常使用的情态助动词之一是 will 就不足为奇了，因为（正如我们所看到的）我们用它来构成将来时动词：will drive, will have driven, will be driving。

This has had interesting consequences for another modal, shall, which we don't use much any more.

这对另一个情态动词 shall 产生了有趣的影响，我们不再多使用它了。

According to prescriptive grammars, shall should be used for future tenses only when the subject is in the first person; will should be reserved for future tenses when the subject is second- or third-person:

根据规定语法，shall 应该仅在主语为第一人称时用于将来时；will 应该在主语为第二或第三人称时保留用于将来时：

Today I shall read that article. Today they will read that article.

This conservative use of will and shall also prescribes that will should be used for the first person and shall for the second and third persons when we express an emphatic determination to perform a future action:

will 和 shall 的这种保守用法还规定，当我们表达执行未来动作的强调决心时，will 应该用于第一人称，而 shall 用于第二和第三人称：

You may try to stop me, but I will read that article. You may try to stop them, but they shall read that article.

Because many U. S. readers and writers are unaware of these distinctions, writers commonly use will in many cases where we once used shall. But shall is still preserved in some contexts, as in certain questions: Shall we move on now? Let's continue, shall we?

由于许多美国读者和作者不知道这些区别，作者们通常在许多我们曾经使用 shall 的情况下使用 will。但 shall 在一些语境中仍然被保留，如在某些问题中：Shall we move on now? Let's continue, shall we?

Another careful distinction is sometimes made between the auxiliaries may and might, recognizing might as the past tense of may. This distinction is today seldom recognized, but is still used as in these sentences:

另一个细致的区别有时在助动词 may 和 might 之间做出，将 might 视为 may 的过去式。这个区别今天已很少被认可，但仍然在使用，如这些句子：

I may be able to help if I have the time. Last week I might have been able to help.

YA REALLY OUGHTA READ THIS / 你真的应该读读这个

Ought to (as in You ought to pipe down) is considered an unusual modal auxiliary---by some people. That requires some explanation.

Ought to（如 You ought to pipe down——你应该安静下来）被一些人认为是一个不寻常的情态助动词。这需要一些解释。

Ought is an archaic form of our verb owed (past tense of owe), so it was once used as a transitive main verb.

Ought 是我们动词 owed（owe 的过去式）的古老形式，所以它曾经被用作及物主要动词。

Today ought to is used---some believe---as an unusual two-word modal auxiliary, roughly synonymous with should, as in You should [or ought to] pipe down, or That statement should [or ought to] be enough. (Some dictionaries and grammars draw fine distinctions between the meanings of ought and should that need not concern us here.)

今天 ought to 被——有人认为——用作一个不寻常的双词情态助动词，大致与 should 同义，如 You should [or ought to] pipe down，或 That statement should [or ought to] be enough。（一些词典和语法书在 ought 和 should 的意义之间做出了细微的区别，这里我们不需要关注。）

In this analysis, ought to is followed by a present, perfect, or progressive tense verb, or a passive verb:

在这种分析中，ought to 后跟一个现在时、完成时或进行时动词，或一个被动动词：

You ought to see You ought to have seen You ought to be seeing You ought to be seen

Others argue that ought is still a transitive main verb, followed by an infinitive verb beginning, as usual, with to. In this case, ought is similar to other transitive verbs that can be followed by infinitives, like have or need. We learned about such structures in Chapters 17 and 18:

另一些人认为 ought 仍然是一个及物主要动词，后跟一个照常以 to 开头的不定式动词。在这种情况下，ought 类似于其他可以后跟不定式的及物动词，如 have 或 need。我们在第17章和第18章中学习了这种结构：

You ought to see (compare have to see or need to see) You ought to have seen (have to have seen or need to have seen) You ought to be seeing (have to be seeing or need to be seeing) You ought to be seen (have to be seen or need to be seen)

If this analysis is correct, we again notice that infinitives can have perfect, progressive, or passive forms.

如果这种分析是正确的，我们再次注意到不定式可以有完成时、进行时或被动形式。

We form negative uses of this verb by simply inserting not immediately after ought, as Rubeus Hagrid kindly demonstrates in the first of the Harry Potter books:

我们通过简单地在 ought 之后立即插入 not 来形成这个动词的否定用法，正如鲁伯·海格在《哈利·波特》第一本书中亲切展示的那样：

Now listen to me, all three of you, you're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in.

In examples like this, the placement of not suggests (but does not prove) that ought to isn't a grammatical unit (because it's interrupted by not), and that the to belongs to the following verb. In other words, sentences like Hagrid's use may be evidence that ought is a transitive main verb, followed by an infinitive.

在这样的例子中，not 的位置表明（但不能证明）ought to 不是一个语法单元（因为它被 not 打断），而且 to 属于接下来的动词。换句话说，像海格用法这样的句子可能是 ought 是一个及物主要动词、后跟不定式的证据。

A counter-argument might be that ought, considered as a main present-tense verb (Today you ought to clean your room), is strange indeed, for it has no progressive form (oughting?). This suggests that ought is an auxiliary, because some other auxiliaries lack progressive forms (i.e., there is no musting or shalling).

一个反驳论点可能是，ought 被视为一个主要现在时动词（Today you ought to clean your room）确实很奇怪，因为它没有进行时形式（oughting？）。这表明 ought 是一个助动词，因为其他一些助动词也缺乏进行时形式（即，没有 musting 或 shalling）。

The disagreement among grammarians will surely go on, and we ought not to get involved.

语法学家之间的分歧肯定会继续下去，我们不应该卷入其中。

THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD / 虚拟语气

Another mood grammarians sometimes identify (they have more moods than a thirteen-year-old) is the subjunctive mood. It appears in statements about hypothetical situations: e.g., suggestions, wishes, speculations, and prayers. The verb is usually the same as in the indicative mood, but in some cases, especially using the verb to be, there's a difference. The subjunctive often appears in traditional or conventional sentences:

语法学家有时识别的另一种语气（他们的语气比一个十三岁孩子的还多）是虚拟语气（subjunctive mood）。它出现在关于假设情况的陈述中：例如，建议、愿望、推测和祈祷。动词通常与陈述语气中的相同，但在某些情况下，特别是使用动词 to be 时，有所不同。虚拟语气经常出现在传统或惯用句子中：

Blessed be the name of the Lord! I move that this meeting be adjourned.

Sometimes we combine the subjunctive in one clause with the conditional mood in another clause:

有时我们将一个从句中的虚拟语气与另一个从句中的条件语气结合：

If I were you, I would tell him off. If he weren't so lazy, he could be a millionaire.

Increasingly in present-day English, we don't use distinctly subjunctive verbs. Instead we rely on other means to express the hypothetical nature of these ideas. Compare these pairs of sentences, in which the first sentence is in the subjunctive mood:

在当代英语中，我们越来越不使用明显的虚拟语气动词。相反，我们依赖其他手段来表达这些想法的假设性质。比较以下句子对，其中第一个句子是虚拟语气：

I suggest that Ed drop the matter. I think that Ed should drop the matter.

If Dad were here, he would know what to do. If Dad was here, he would know what to do.

The use of was in the last example is now regarded by many as acceptable, and the If indicates the hypothetical nature of the first clause.

最后一个例子中 was 的使用现在被许多人认为是可接受的，而 If 指示了第一个从句的假设性质。

EXERCISES / 练习

20a. In the following multiple-choice questions, classify the underlined words. You will use some answers more than once; you may not need some answers at all.

在以下多选题中，将划线词分类。你将多次使用某些答案；你可能完全不需要某些答案。

A. Expletive / 虚词 B. Noun of direct address / 呼语名词 C. Appositive / 同位语 D. Subject of the sentence / 句子主语 E. Sentence modifier / 句子修饰语

It was surprising to hear the news.
It was surprising to hear the news.
It is time to go.
Gosh, John, you forgot your shoes.
Frankly, John often forgets his shoes.
It is amazing that you forgot your shoes.
You can speak with Mr. Smith, the principal.
Truly, Mr. Smith is a patient man.

20b. Underline the absolute phrases in the following sentences:

划出下列句子中的独立短语：

The sun having set, we walked home. Our faces wet and cold, we arrived at my parents' house.

20c. Now combine the following pairs of sentences into single sentences, rewriting the first sentence as an absolute phrase. Underline the absolute phrase:

现在将以下句子对合并为单个句子，将第一个句子改写为独立短语。划出独立短语：

Our time was running short. We hurried to the station. Her suitcase was safely stowed away. June finally relaxed. Our last obstacle was overcome. We all relaxed.

20d. List the five moods of verbs.

列出动词的五种语气。

20e. List the nine modal auxiliaries.

列出九个情态助动词。