介词后的短语和名词从句

田  智

北师大《中小学外语教学》1994/No.6

介词后有时可以跟短语或从句。现将其用法归纳如下：

一、“doing”结构可作介词宾语：

He thought of a new way of fishing．

他想出了一种打鱼的新办法。

She saved money by giving up smoking．

他靠戒烟节省钱。

I looked forward to seeing you．

我盼望见到你。

二、介词后(除except、but)一般不可直接跟“to do”。但在一些表示“说”或想法的“动词+介词短语”及“形容词+介词短语”结构中，常可删去介词短语再接to do。(即以不定式短语来取代介词短语)例如：

He was surprised at the sight.

可改为：He was surprised to see it.

They are sure of their success.

可改为：They are sure to win the game.

He reminded me of the 1etter.

可改为：He reminded me to write the letter．

这样，有时在同一动词后，出现可跟介词十doing或to do两种形式。例如：

Crusoe was frightened at seeing the footmark．

Crusoe was frightened to see the footmark．而except、but(除)后可直接跟(to) do．例如：

I could do nothing except just sit here．

我只有坐在那儿，别无办法。

He had no choice but to go for her help．

他只好去求助于她。

三、“wh-疑问词+to do”

结构可用于介词后，此时介词常可省略：

He isn’t certain(of) what to do．

他不知该怎么办。

She was worried(about) how to find a job.

她很担心，不知该怎样去找工作。

We haven’t solved the problem(of) where to hold the party．

我们还没有解决在哪儿举办晚会的问题。

四、that引导的名词性从句不能直接跟在介词后。一些表示“说”或想法的含介词的短语，可以用that从句来取代。例如：

He insisted on his idea．

可改为：He insisted that he was right．

I was not aware of your arrival．

可改为：I was not aware that you had arrived．

He told me about his story．

可改为：He told me that he had been done wrong.

其它情况下，介词后要加上the fact，然后再跟that从句。例如：

He didn’t pay attention to the fact that the boy was ill．

他没有注意那男孩生了病。

From the fact that he hasn’t written for more money，  I suppose that he has found a job．

他没再写信来要钱，我认为他已找到了工作。

至于in that (因为)和except that，夸克等语法家认为是复合连词(compound conjunction)而不是介词+that。

五、介词后可跟wh-疑问诃引导的名词从句。当这类从句相当于由特特殊疑问句变来的间接引语时(即wh-词为疑问连词)时，介词有时可省去：

It depends (on) whether it’ll be fine to-morrow．

这要看明天是否天晴。

I’m not certain (of) what’s going to  happen.

我不能肯定将会发生什么事。

但在worry，question后的介词不省：

I’m worried about where he is．

我很着急，不知他在哪儿。

The policeman questioned me about what I had done．

警察问我刚才干什么了。

当这类从句没有疑问意义，相当于“名词 +定语从句“时，介词不可省：

I’m sorry for what (the things that) you’ve done．

我为你做的事感到遗憾。

I often think about when (the time when)1 was young．

我经常想起年轻时的岁月。

He had a vivid picture of where (the place where) they used to live．

他对他们过去曾经生活过的地方记忆犹新。

六、在except和from后，常可跟介词短语。例如：

He has always been in good health except in the past few days．

除近几天外，他身体一直很好。

The baby crawled out from under the table．

这婴儿从桌子底下爬了出来。