The city of Taipei

  • John works in the city of Taipei, so he has not much time to teach his son. (約翰在台北工作,所以沒有很多時間來教導他的兒子) (正)
  • John works in the Taipei’s city, so he has not much time to teach his son. (誤)

解說:表示一個城市的名稱可以用所有格來強調這個城市,如 the city of Taipei。其實,of 在此是表示一種同位格關係,意為「就是;等於」(that is; being);以 the city of Taipei 為例,Taipei 就是 city,而這個 city 就是 Taipei。其他例子還有 the age of ten (10 歲),the art of painting (繪畫藝術),the problem of unemployment (失業問題) 等。

Q:It is obvious (that) he is right. 中的 that 可以省略,但 The news that the president was assassinated is true. 中的 that 卻不能省略,為什麼? 請問還有沒有其他情況是不能省略 that 的?

A:如果你將第二句的 that 拿掉,句子就變成 The news the president was assassinated is true. (總統遭暗殺的消息是千真萬確的),完全不合英文語法,所以 that 不能省略。在此,”that” 是連接詞,引導 “the president was assassinated” 構成名詞子句,做為 “the news” 的同位語。當 that 所引導的名詞子句做同位語時,that 不能省略。至於 It is obvious (that) he is right. (顯然地,他是對的),這句的 that 也是連接詞,引導 he is right 構成名詞子句,是本句的真正主詞,而 it (= that he is right) 是形式主詞,而在這種以形式主詞代替真正主詞並將真正主詞置於主句的動詞之後或挪到句末的句型中,that 可以省略;但若將真正主詞置於主句的動詞之前 (亦即下面所講的第1種情況),那麼 that 就不能省略。

關於 that 不能省略的情況,常見的應該還有下列幾種:

  1. that 所引導的名詞子句當句子的主詞時:That he came late made his teacher angry. (他遲到一事讓老師生氣)。
  2. that 所引導的名詞子句當主詞補語時:My idea is that we should get more people to do it. (我的想法是,我們應該叫更多的人來做這件事)。
  3. 在所謂「分裂句」(cleft sentences) 的強調句型 “It is/was… that” 中:It was they that cleaned the classroom yesterday. (就是他們昨天打掃教室) (在此,that 也可用 who 來代替,但僅限被強調的元素是人);It is English that Professor Chen teaches us. (陳教授教我們的課程就是英文)。
  4. that 所引導的名詞子句當主動詞的受詞,但這個子句被挪到句末,而其前面用 “it” 來做形式受詞時:They found it difficult that they would finish their work in two days. (他們覺得要在兩天內完成他們的工作是有困難的);He made it clear that he was not interested in this subject. (他清楚地表示,他對這主題沒興趣)。
  5. that 為關係代名詞,在關係子句 (形容詞子句) 中做主詞時:That is the same man that asked me for money yesterday. (那個人就是昨天向我要錢的男子),但 that 在關係子句中若做受詞,則可省略:The letter (that) I received was from my father. (我收到的那封信是我父親寫來的)。

名詞1 + of + 名詞2 的同位格關係

一般而言,名詞1 + of + 名詞2 是表示一種所有格關係,如 One of the legs of the table is broken. (這張桌子的一隻腳斷了),句中one of the legs 和 the legs of the table 都是所有格關係,即名詞1 屬於名詞2。此外,名詞1 + of + 名詞2 亦可表示受格和主格關係。例如:

He gave a lecture on the use of solar energy. (他就太陽能的利用作了一場講演)
— solar energy (名詞2) 當 use (名詞1) 的受詞
We waited for the arrival of the next bus. (我們等待下一班公車的到來)
— next bus (名詞2) 當 arrival (名詞1) 的主詞

然而,名詞1 + of + 名詞2 還可表示同位格關係,此時 of 意為「就是;等於」(that is; being);以 the City of New York (紐約市) 為例,New York 就是 city,而這個 city 就是 New York。其他例子還有 at the age of ten (10 歲時),the art of painting (繪畫藝術),the problem of unemployment (失業問題),a price increase of 20 percent (百分之二十的價格上漲),some fool of a boy (= some foolish boy,某位蠢男孩) 等等。在這種名詞1 + of + 名詞2的同位格關係中,名詞1 和 名詞2 之間相當於劃上了等號。