若干介词的用法比较
本节对若干语义相关的介词的用法作一比较说明。重点讲解表示时间关系和空间关系这两大类介词的用法。
1) 表示时间关系的介词
表示时间关系的介词有 at, on,
by, in, from , since,
for, during, till/until,
before, after。
a) at, on, by, in
表示在什么时间,介词用 at, at dawn, at six, at noon, at night, at midnight, at 4:30 。表示在什么年龄 ,也用
at,。
at sixteen/at the
age of sixteen。
She got married at twenty-two. 她结婚在22岁。
表示“在上、下午"、“在晚上,傍晚",介词用 in: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening。 但若在 morning, afternoon, evening 之前带有诸如 following, next,
fine, cold 之类的修饰语,则介词用 on。
on
a fine morning, on the
following evening
如果要表示“在某日的上、下午"“在某日的晚上、夜间”,介词也用 on。 例如:
We left Hangzhou on the afternoon of October 15. 我们离开杭州时是10
月15 日下午。
He called me on Sunday morning. 他给我打来电话是在星期天早晨。
如果要表示“某日上、下午"的早些时候或晚些时候,则介词通常还得用。 例如:
He phoned me in the early morning of July 4 . 他给我打来电话是在七月四日大早。
They arrived in the late afternoon of 20th December. 他们的到达是在 12
月20 日下午晚些时候。
表示在什么日子,介词用 on, on Monday,
on June 4, on
Christmas Day (在圣诞节) 但若仅用Christmas, 不带 Day, 则说 at Christmas; 同样地, at Easter (在复活节), at the Spring
Festival (在春节)要表示到什么时间、日期、时期为止,用 by, by ten,
by May 4, by August, 相当于before/not later than
ten o'clock/May 4/ August。 例如:
The train starts at 6:10, so you had better be at the station by 6:00. 火车 10 分开车,你到达车站最好在六点以前。
By May,my garden will be a mass of blossom.
五月份我的花园将会是繁花似锦。
在带有by-词组的句子中,谓语动词有时要用完成体形式 例如:
By the end
of July I'II have read all those books.
月底前我会读完所有那些书籍。
By next summer he'll have taken his final exams. 到明年夏季,他将完成最后的考试。
By (the age of)
fifteen he had mastered the English language.
到15 岁时,他已经掌握了英语。
表示在什么月份、什么季度、什么年份、什么世纪,要用 in, in October, in summer, in 2014, in the 21st century。 例如:
My daughter was born
in July 1961. 我的女儿生于七月,一九六一年。
The First World War
broke out in
1914 and ended in 1918
. 第一次世界大战爆发
于1914年,结束于1918。
要注意,由 in 引导的表示时间的介词词组,有时表示“在·…. 时间以内”,有时表示“在... …时间以后" 试比较:
I shall take
a holiday in summer. 我打算休假选在夏天。
Don't use his car in his
absence.
用他的不要在他外出期间。
I will be back in a
week. 我回来将在一星期后。
I will finish
the book in a few days 我读完此书将在几天以后。
在上述第一、二两例中, in summer/in his absence 指的是“在夏天/在他外出期间”,显然是指在此时间以内;在第三、四两例中, in a
week/in a few days 则是指“在一个星期/几天以后”表示“在做什么事或发生什么事的时候",除用 when- 分句外,还可用由 on 引导的介词词组,如 on arrival/arriving, on reaching, on getting to。 例如:
On arrival / arriving at
the airport he found that the plane had
taken off. 到达机场时他发现飞机已经起飞了。
On hearing that the plane
had taken off, they left the airport. 得知飞机已经起飞,他们就离开了机场。
On learning that there were no
late buses, they decided to go to
the early performance. 当他们得知没有晚班公交车时,便决定去观看早场演出。
b) from, since, for, during
笼统地表示一段时间,要用 for, for three
years, for two months, for ever。 例如:
He traveled in the desert for six months. 他在沙漠中旅行了六个月。
He has worked here for a
year. 他已经在这里工作了一年。
如果要更具体表示一段时间,即要指明从何时到何时,那就得用 from ... to/till/until。 比如:
Most people
work from nine
to / till the
afternoon. 大多数人从上午9 点工作到下午。
They played bridge from six to / till midnight. 他们打桥牌从 点打到半夜。
如果要讲终点时间,而不讲起点时间,通常用 till/until, 而不能用 to。 例如:
He didn't get
home till 12
a.m. 他没回家直到正午12点。
They played
bridge till
midnight. 他们打桥牌打到半夜。
Let's start now
and work till dark. 让我们开始,工作到天黑。
如果只讲起点时间,不提终点时间,便用 since, since Monday,
since her arrival。 例如:
He has been
here since Monday. 他一直待在这里,从星期一开始。
He wondered where Ann was. He had not seen
her since their
quarrel.
他不知哪里是安的去处。他从未见过她,自从他俩争吵后开始。
如果要表示具体的一段时间,还可用 during, during the
summer (of that year) , during 2015, during the Middle
Ages (在中世纪), during my holidays (在我度假期间), during his childhood。 例如:
He was ill for a week, and during that week he ate nothing. 他病了一星期,在那一星期中他没有吃东西。
He stayed in Shanghai from June to August,
and during
that period he did
a lot of reading.
六月至七月他待在上海,在那段时间里他读了许多书。
以上两例都说明,用 during 可表示一个整段时间;但是用 during 也可表示某个时段中的某个时点。 例如:
It rained all Monday,
but stopped raining during the
night.
下雨周一一整天,停雨实在夜里。
在这里, during the night 显然是星期一夜里某个时间雨停了。
表示已过的一段时间, during for 意义相仿,可以交替使用。例如:
We
stayed in Shanghai during/for the
remaining days of the summer vacation.
我们待在上海的时间是暑假的后阶段。
但是,如果表示“目的",即表示要在尚未到来的一段时间做什么事情,那就只能用 for, 而不能用during。 例如:
I went
there for my holidays. 我到那里去度假。
|
rented a house on the Lushan
Mountain for the summer. 我在庐山上租了一幢房子以便在那里度夏。