几个关于代词的问题

有些读者来信问到有关具体代词的用法问题,现分别答复如下:

《英语语法手册》列出通格的主要原因在于each other有时可分开用,而分开用时each即可有主格,用作主语,如书中所给之例所示。

有一读者来信问:you all与all of you有什么区别?

总的说来,you (we, us, etc.)all比较正式,all of you (us, etc.)则多用在非正式英语中。英美两国的习惯也不尽相同: 英国似乎多用you (we, us, etc.)all, 美国则似乎多用all of you (us, etc.)。较为保守的人则反对用all of you (us, etc.),他们认为any of, some of等表“部分”概念,是合乎逻辑的;而all of并不表“部分”概念,所以是不合乎逻辑的。但是事实上,all of已被广大读者所接受,在约定俗成的情况下,逻辑性就不好谈了。

如仔细琢磨,all of (us, etc.)除多用在非正式文体中外,还往往强调数目概念,如:

(1)— Shall we go?

— Yes, indeed. All of you , if you are invited.

(2)The children come from all over the world, but the common language for all of them is English.

(3)All of you are wrong.

(4)He has written six novels and all of them are good.

用作同位语时,应用all of you (us, etc.),如:

(5)The children, all of them , ran after the hare.

(6)I saw my friends, all of them .

用作宾语时,似乎多用you (us, etc.)all,如:

(7)Happy New Year to you all .

(8)She is the brightest of us all .

(9)They told us all to wait.

有时all of you (us, etc.)与you (we, etc.)all是有细微差别的,如:

(10)All of them are workers.

(11)They are all workers.

例(10)的意思是:他们每一个人都是工人。例(11)的含义则是:他们都是工人,没有一个别的阶级的人。

有一位读者问到:

(12)Tom admired his friends Frank and Terry. He imitated _____.

A. every action of them B. every of theirs action

C. their every action D. every action of theirs

这一句中的标准答案是D,能否用A?

填C或D皆可,只是前者似乎多用在正式文体之中。A则不可用,正如不可说every friend of him一样。of后如是名词,则可用此结构,如可说a friend of my father,当然也可以说a friend of my father's。但of之后如是代词,则须用所有格。

有一读者来信说“托福”考试有一道选择题:

(13)Each soldier and sailor_________given a gun.

A. were B. was C. am D. are

问应如何做?

句中的each soldier and sailor是each soldier and each sailor的省略结构(省去了第二个each)。这种结构应分作两个单独的结构来看,故须用助动词was。再如:

(14)Each book and (each)paper is found in its place.

亦可用“every+单形名词+and+(every)+单形名词”结构,如:

(15)Every hour and every minute is important.

他还问到下面一道选择题如何做:

(16)Free movie tickets will be sent to_________comes first.

A. whoever B. whomever C. whosever D. however

自然应选whoever,因为这里的宾语从句需要一个主语。但也有不少人认为整个从句是介词to的宾语,故应用whomever,如:

(17)A finger through the loop, a tug on the string! Electric current would flow, and the explosion would be instant, devastating, final, for whomever or whatever was nearby.

有两位读者来信问: 关系代词that在定语从句中作介词的宾语时,介词不能放在它的前面,只能放在从句中有关动词的后面,这里的“有关动词”

是什么意思?

这里所谓“有关动词”乃指与从句中介词直接有关的动词而言,如:

(18)It is the very thing that I'm looking for. (从句中与介词有关的动词显然是look,它与for构成短语动词look for)

(19)That is the most complete democracy that I have ever heard of. (从句中与介词of有关的动词显然是hear,它与of构成短语动词hear of)

(20)Ah, here is the thing that I'm after. (从句中与介词有关的动词是连系动词am, be after是一种常见的搭配)

广西一位读者来信说,老师说当定语从句修饰的先行词是一不定代词时,引导定语从句的关系代词用that而不用which,但高中英语课本里却出现了这样一个句子:

(21)And there, glowing with a faint blue light in the glass test tubes on the tables, was the mysterious something which they had worked so hard to find: Radium.

你的老师那样说,可能是考虑到你还是一个中学生,英语学得不多。等你的英语水平较高时,我想他(她)就会给你指出:不定代词用作先行词时,其后的关系代词多用that,但也可以用which。尤其在较正式的文体中,有的人喜用which,殊不知that亦可用在正式文体中。这都是就不定代词之后的关系代词而言的。而在你所提出的句(21)中,something之前不仅有定冠词the,而且有形容词mysterious,所以与其说它是不定代词,不如说它是名词(或名词化的不定代词)。它应同名词一样对待,其后就既可接that亦可接which了。

上海一位读者问下面一句中为什么用about me而不用about myself:

(22)I haven't any small change about me.

这里确是只能用about me。为了学习上方便,不妨记住:表方位(或地点)和随同概念的介词之后一般须用人称代词宾格而不用自身代词。再如:

(23)I have no money about me . (表地点)

(24)I have no money with me . (表随同)

(25)She hasn't an ounce of confidence in her . (表地点)

(26)He closed the door behind him . (表地点)

(27)They looked around them uneasily. (表地点)

但也有例外,如:

(28)The problem which I am setting before myself may best be indicated by a comparison.

这里为什么用的是自身代词myself呢? 有的语法家认为这是由于说话人主观上强调“我将问题摆在我自己面前而不是摆在别人面前”的原故。如果不用自身代词而用人称代词宾格,如上述例(23)—(27),则意味着人称代词宾格与全句主语理所当然地同指一人,根本不可能指另一个人。

代词种类繁多,用法亦较复杂,还有不少问题只得留在以后讨论了。