有一读者问: 高中英语课本中有这么一句话:
(1)The book was not meant to be an attack on Christian belief.
我在教学过程中觉得它还可以变为主动语态:
(2)Darwin didn't mean the book to be an attack on Christian belief.
但有人说不应这样变,应变成:
(3)Darwin didn't mean to attack Christian belief in the book.
请赐教。
像句(1)这样的被动结构一般不可变作主动结构,有的英英词典(如 Cobuild English Language Dictionary )明确地指出了这一点。但如主语与宾语皆指人,则一般可用主动结构,如:
(4)His father meant him to be an engineer.
(5)I did not mean you to read the letter.
上述句(3)当然没有错,但它似乎并不直接是句(1)的主动结构。
