Q:Be full of 和 be filled with 可以互換嗎?

A:這兩個動詞片語雖都意為「充滿,裝滿」,但含意並不相同,所以不能互換。

Full of 中的 full 為形容詞,意為「滿的」,但 full of 的含意是 having or containing a lot of things or people or a lot of something,而 filled with 的含意是 making something full 或 becoming full of something,其中 filled 為動詞 fill 的過去分詞形容詞。由此可知,在這兩個片語中,只有 be filled with 能表達真正裝得滿滿沒有剩下任何空間的意思,而 be full of 是表示含有或裝有很多東西、許多人或大量的某種東西,相當於「都是;滿是」的意思。例如:

  • The room was full of books. (這個房間都是書) (正)
    The room was filled with books. (誤) - 除非這個房間沒有其他任何東西,而且書籍從地板疊到天花板,整個房間都堆滿書,這句才講得通。
  • The restaurant is always full of customers. (這家餐廳總是門庭若市) (正)
    The restaurant is always filled with customers. (誤) - 除非這家餐廳的客人摩肩接踵,大家擠成一堆,沒有任何移動或用餐空間,這句才講得通。
  • His trousers are full of holes. (他的褲子都是洞) (正) - 褲子上有許多洞。
  • Her essay was full of grammatical errors. (她的論文滿是文法錯誤) (正) - 論文中有許多文法錯誤。
  • Her eyes were full of tears. (她眼中滿是淚水) (正)
  • Her eyes were filled with tears. (她眼淚盈眶) (正)
  • The room is filled with smoke. (這個房間煙霧瀰漫) (正)

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Bring、take 和 fetch 的用法

這三個動詞都是用來表示拿著/帶著某物或帶著某人到某地的意思,但它們移動的方向並不相同,使用時必須搞清楚方向才能用最適切的字來表達最正確的意思。

Bring 意為「拿來,帶來」,移動的方向可以是從說話者到聽者所在的地方或是從聽者到說話者所在的地方。Bring 是個不規則動詞,過去式和過去分詞都是 brought。例如:

  • Bring your guitar when you come to visit me. (你來看我時把你的吉他帶來)
  • I’ll bring my guitar to your house tonight. (今晚我會把我的吉他帶去你家)
  • Can I bring my sister with me tonight? (今晚我可以帶著我妹妹一起來嗎?)
  • Tony visited us and brought his sister with him. (東尼帶著他妹妹一起來看我們) (正)
    Tony visited us and took his sister with him. (誤)
  • Please don’t forget to bring your grammar books next time. (下次請別忘記帶你們的文法書來)
  • Can you bring me my grammar book I left on your desk the other day? (你能把我幾天前留在你書桌上的文法書帶來給我嗎?) (正)
    Can you take me my grammar book I left on your desk the other day? (誤)
  • A: Shall I bring anything to your birthday party? (A:我要不要帶些東西參加你的生日派對呢?)
    B: Oh, just a bottle. (B:哦,帶瓶酒就好了)

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用作比較的兩個成分要對仗工整

  • It is easier to make a plan than to carry it out. (擬定計劃比執行計劃來得容易) (正)
  • It is easier to make a plan than carrying it out. (誤)

解說:這句的主詞是不定詞片語 “to make a plan”,it 是假主詞;用作比較的兩個成分要對仗工整,即詞類和結構都要一致,所以 than 後面也要使用不定詞片語。再舉一例:”It’s easier said than done.” (說來容易做來難),句中作比較的兩個成分 said 和 done 都是過去分詞。

過去分詞作受詞補語

  • Have you ever heard Tibetan spoken? (你曾經聽過有人講藏語嗎?) (正)
  • Have you ever heard Tibetan to be spoken? (誤)
  • Have you ever heard Tibetan speaking? (誤)

解說:現在分詞和過去分詞都可作受詞補語,其中現在分詞表示主動和進行,而過去分詞表示被動。本句 spoken 為過去分詞作受詞補語,表示「語言被講」。

Might as well

Might as well 是日常生活中常見的一個片語,意為「倒不如;不妨;做…也無妨」,如 We might as well celebrate our wedding anniversary at home. (我們倒不如在家裡慶祝結婚紀念日)。這個片語還意為「還不如」,如 The party was a complete waste of time. I might as well have stayed at time. (這場聚會完全是浪費時間,早知道還不如待在家裡好)。

Might as well 的起源不可考,可能來自英國成語 “someone might as well be hanged/hung for a sheep as a lamb”,最後將這個成語的後半部拿掉而變成現在的樣子。這個成語意為「偷小羊還不如偷大羊,反正一樣要被處絞刑;一不做,二不休」(古時候,英國的偷羊者,不論是偷大羊還是偷小羊,均處以絞刑),且經常不用主詞,如 Oh, might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, I suppose. (哦,我看乾脆一不做,二不休)。
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英文中唯一以 “mt” 結尾的單字

英文中唯一以 “mt” 結尾的單字是 dreamt。

解說:當動詞用的 dream (做夢;夢見) 的過去式和過去分詞有兩種,一為 dreamed, dreamed,另一為 dreamt, dreamt,前者為美式英語拼法,後者為英式英語拼法。但 dreamed 和 dreamt 的發音不同,前者是 “dream” 的唸法 [driːm] 再加個 “d” 音,而 dreamt 則唸成 [dremt]。

Defuse vs. diffuse

Defuse 是個及物動詞,意為「緩和,改善 (緊張或不安的氣氛;困難或危險的情況);拆除 (炸彈的) 引信」,如 The South Korean government is trying to defuse tensions over the ferry disaster. (南韓政府正盡力緩和渡輪災難所帶來的緊張氣氛);How long did it take you to defuse the bomb? (拆除那枚炸彈花了你多久的時間?)。

Diffuse 可當動詞 (及物或不及物) 和形容詞用,前者意為「(使) (熱量、氣體等) 擴散,(使) 彌漫;傳播 (觀點、資訊等),(使) 散佈」,而後者意為「分散的;擴散的;瀰漫的;(言語、演講等) 冗長的」,如 The powder diffused through the water. (粉末在水中擴散開來);The news diffused quickly across Taiwan. (這消息很快傳遍整個台灣);I enjoy diffusing knowledge. (我喜歡傳播知識);That’s a diffuse community. (那是個分散的社區);Professor Lee made a diffuse speech. (李教授發表了一場冗長的演說)。儘管 diffuse 可當動詞和形容詞用,但形容詞比動詞常用許多。

這兩個發音相似但意思迥異的字很常被搞混,以致於經常發生錯把「馮京」當「馬涼」的情事,尤其是把 diffuse 當作 defuse 使用,如 All attempts to diffuse the bomb have failed. (所有為拆除這個炸彈所作的嘗試都失敗了)。此外,值得注意的是,由於 diffuse 可當形容詞用,因此 diffused 應避免用作過去分詞形容詞,而僅用作動詞 diffuse 的過去式和過去分詞。至於 defuse,由於不能用作形容詞,因此 defused 用作過去分詞形容詞殆無疑義,也才是 the defused bomb (被拆除的炸彈) 等片語的正確用字。

Being 和 been 的差異

Being 是 BE 動詞的現在分詞,而 Been 是 BE 動詞的過去分詞。有些人還是三不五時會被這兩個看似簡單的分詞所搞混。這裡提供一個規則讓大家參考,been 一定用在 have (及其他 have 形式,如 has, had, will have 等) 之後,而 being 絕不會用在 have 之後。Being 是用在 BE 動詞之後 (及其他 be 形式,如 are, were, is, was 等)。例如:

  • She is being very clever today. (她今天表現得很聰明) (正)
  • She has being very clever today. (誤)
  • They have been busy. (他們一直很忙) (正)
  • They are been busy. (誤)
  • Sophia has being working at that big company. (蘇菲亞一直在那家大公司工作) (誤) - being 不可位在 have 或 has 的後面。

Being 可用作名詞。例如:

  • A human being (人;人類)
  • A strange being stepped out of the spaceship. (一個奇怪的人步出了太空船)

Being 亦可用作動名詞 (動名詞也是名詞類,用法與名詞相同)。例如:

  • Do you like being so careless? (你喜歡這麼粗心大意嗎?)
  • The accident was caused by his being so clumsy. (這起事故肇因於他太笨手笨腳了)
  • I live in terror of not being misunderstood. (我活在不被誤解的恐懼中)。這句話語出英國大文豪王爾德 (Oscar Wilde) - 竟然有人希望被誤解,以被誤解為榮。

一般而言,現在分詞和過去分詞都可以當形容詞來修飾名詞,但 being 和 been 不行。例如:

  • Broken vase (破碎的花瓶) (正)
  • Deleted file (刪除的檔案) (正)
  • Cooking oil (烹飪油) (正)
  • Jogging girl (慢跑的少女) (正)
  • The been car (無意義) (誤)
  • The being flower (無意義) (誤)

Q:I worry about you. 和 I am worried about you. 這兩句的意思一樣嗎? 含意有沒有不同呢?

A:雖然這兩句的結構不同,I worry about you. 中的 worry 為不及物動詞,而 I am worried about you. 中的 worried 為分詞形容詞,但它們的意思幾無不同,皆為「我擔心你」或「我為你擔憂」;此外,它們的文法都正確。

然而,它們的含意並不相同。I worry about you. 是一般性或普遍性的陳述,是指說話者一直以來或大多數時間都為此人擔憂,是一種長期或持久性的擔憂,而 I am worried about you. 則有一項「現在」的元素存在,表示說話者對說話當時所見所聞或最近所發生的某一特殊情況的憂慮、擔心。為了讓讀者瞭解它們之間的語意差異,茲將這兩句加以延伸如下:

  1. I worry about you because I’m your mother. (我擔心你,因為我是你母親)
  2. I’m worried about you; you’re looking very thin. (我為你擔憂;你看起來好瘦哦)

母親向來都為子女操心,所以在第 1 句中,母親為子女擔憂是一種普遍性的情況,不是特殊情況。第 2 句為特殊情況,因為你平常可能體重很正常,但此時此景你看起來瘦巴巴的,所以我為你擔心。