英语句子主语的特殊表现形式 作者  樑翁

——简录自《英语自学参考系列手册·句法手册》第二章 句子成分

我们在前面《英语句子的主语和宾语》中，已经讲清了英语句子主语的一般表现形式，与一般形式相对而言，我们把下面要讲的主语形式称为特殊形式。

1. 并列主语——由并列连词连接的两个或多个词语并列作为一个句子主语的成分叫并列主语(coordinate subject→Co. S.)。并列主语与词组主语是有区别的：词组作主语，其谓语动词只用单数形式；并列主语的谓语单复数形式得视情况而定【详见谓语部分】。

例：Milk and eggs are nutritious.  牛奶和鸡蛋都富有营养。

Father or mother will tell △you ○the nitty-gritty.  爸爸或者妈妈将会告诉你事实真相。

Neither Lance nor I know that man.  我和兰斯都不认识那个人。

Not only Jean but also his brother is as busy as a bee. 不仅吉恩而且连他兄弟都极忙。

The teacher, as well as the students, has come to the meeting. 老师及学生们都已到会。

 

2. 逻辑主语——当动词不定式或动名词等非谓语动词所表动作的执行者不是句子的主语时，就得用特殊的形式来表明该动作的执行者【行为主体】。句中这代表行为主体的名词，从语法结构分析并不是句子主语，但从表意作用看所表达的却是动作的施动者，这样的词语就是该动作的逻辑主语(logistic subject→Log. S.)。带逻辑主语的非谓语动词叫做该非谓语动词的复合结构(compound structure→Com.Str.)，常见的有不定式复合结构(infinitive compound structure→Inf. Com.Str.)、动名词复合结构(gerund compound structure→Ger. Com.Str.)两种。可以将复合结构当作一个整体充当句子的主语、宾语、表语或状语，下面我们只列举其充当句子主语的例句。①

⑴动词不定式复合结构：for＋名词/代词＋不定式 【for短语为动词不定式的逻辑主语】

例：For her to submit would be impossible. 要她屈服是不可能的。

For us to study the market economy theory is very important.

学习市场经济理论对我们来说是非常重要的。

For students to integrate theory with practice is necessary.

理论联系实际对于学生很必要。

For the adults to learn English is not an easy thing.

成年人学英语不是件容易的事。

 

⑵动名词复合结构：物主代词／名词所有格＋动名词【动名词前的物主代词或名词为其逻辑主语】

例：Your going there will help a lot.  你到那里对事情将大有帮助。

His coming here goes over big.  他的到来大受欢迎。【go over big 大受欢迎】

Lao Li's going won’t be of much help. 老李去不会有多大帮助。

Mary's grubling annoyed him. 玛丽老嘟嘟囔囔使他很烦。

 

3. 无灵主语——句中以表无生命事物的名词所充当的主语。

在英语句子中，经常使用无生命名词(inanimate noun)如某一实物、抽象概念、动作名词等作主语。无生命名词也叫无灵名词，由无灵名词充当的主语便叫无灵主语(inanimate subject)。这种无灵主语也有人将称其为非人称主语(impersonal subject)；而用表示感觉、意识、情感或心理过程的动词作谓语，使之拟人化，表达简练而生动，而且更符合英语的习惯。这类句子也称作无灵主语句(sentence with inanimate subject)。

这种句子，常用形象的写法赋予无生命主语以有思想的人所特有的动作，以增加句子的表现力。但由于中西方文化的差异，英汉两种母语的思维方式不同，英语的这种表达模式不符合我们汉语的习惯，所以我们对此类句子所表达的含意要特别留心探究；尤其是用作这类句子的谓语动词，多数是不能按其本来的字面意思直译的。

①以时间、地点等名词作主语，常用justify(辩护)、find(发现)、see(看见)、witness(见证)等动词作谓语。

例：The end justifies the means. 目的为方法辩护。

Dusk found him crying in the street.

= He was found crying in the street at dusk. 黄昏时候他在街上哭泣。

Shanghai first saw the rise of the movement．这个运动首先在上海兴起。

The following year saw the death of his mother. 第二年他妈妈去世了。

Every day sees our motherland flourishing. 每天都看见我们祖国欣欣向荣。

The year 1949 witnessed the founding of the People's Republic of China．1949年中华人民共和国成立。

 

②用表示生理、心理状态的名词，或用表示某种遭遇的名词如anger (愤怒)、conviction (信念)、courage (勇气)、desirefaith (希望)、idea (主意)、melancholy(忧郁)、trouble(麻烦)、word(言语)等作主语；用desert(抛弃)、escape(逃脱)、fail(失败)、seize(抓住)、visit(拜访)等动词作谓语；而宾语一般又是表示人的名词或代词。

例：All his convictions deserted him.= He has deserted all his convictions. 他失去了一切信念。

A profound melancholy seized him．他突然产生了一种深沉的忧郁情绪。

Many troubles visited the poor old man last year．去年这个可怜的老人碰到了不少麻烦。

When he met his girlfriend for the first time, words failed him．

 当他第一次见到他女朋友时，他说不出话来。

 

③具有行为和动作意义的名词如idea (想法)、sight (看见)、illness (疾病)、loss (损失)等作主语，用含有使役意义的动词如let(让)、make(使)、remind(提醒)、anguish (使极度痛苦)等作谓语。

例：His illness let him anguished deeply. = Illness made him feel very painful. 他的病让他痛苦万分。

The loss of her son anguished her deeply. 她儿子的死亡使她悲痛万分。

The sight of the orphan always reminds me of her parents．一见到那个孤儿，我就想起了她的父母。

The idea that he will go abroad for further study made him excited．一想到要出国深造，他就兴奋不已。

 

④无灵主语的句子，也可用ensorcel (迷惑)、bring (带来)、keep (保持)、leave (留下)、prevent (阻止)、write (写道)、show(表明)等动词作谓语。

例：The rain prevented us from coming.=We couldn't come because of the rain.下雨使得我们没能来。

Happiness was written on the faces of the people. 人民脸上露出了喜悦。

Last night's storm brought several trees to the ground. 昨夜的暴风雨刮倒了几棵树。

The beauty of the summer moon ensorcelled us. 夏日夜晚的皎洁月光使得我们心旷神怡。

 

4. 形式主语it ——动词不定式短语及其复合结构、动名词短语及其复合结构，或者是主语从句等一般较长的词语，若放在句首作主语会使句子显得头重脚轻。为了句子外形的平衡，习惯上常用引词it作形式主语(formal subject→For. S.)，替代真实主语(real subject→Re. S.)放在句首的位置，而将真实主语置于句子后部。

 

⑴形式主语It句式㈠： It＋系动词＋表语＋真实主语【不定式、动名词或从句等】

例：It is human to want something better.  精益求精是人类的特性。

【＝To want something better is human (人性的) . Re. S.为动词不定式】

It feels good to be out here for a while. 出来在这儿待一待感觉挺舒服。

【＝To be out here for a while feels good. 】

It is the job of the police to prevent crime. 防止犯罪是警察的职责。

【＝To prevent crime is the job of the police.】

It is difficult for a foreigner to learn Chinese.  外国人学汉语是困难的。

【＝For a foreigner to learn Chinese is difficult. Re. S.是不定式复合结构】

It is no use crying over spilt milk.  覆水难收。【谚语；直译：牛奶已倒，哭也没用。】

【＝Crying over spilt milk is no use.  Re. S.为动名词短语】

It is a waste of time our arguing about it. 我们辩论这件事是浪费时间。

【＝Our arguing about it is a waste of time.】【Re. S.：our arguing…为动名词复合结构】

It is understood that you will come.  相信你会来的。

【＝That you will come is understood.】  【Re. S.是that引导的主语从句】

特别提示：此句式中不定式逻辑主语引导词用for或用of。

在“It＋系动词＋表语＋不定式【真实主语】”句式中，作真实主语的动词不定式若需出现行为主体【即不定式的逻辑主语】，可用“It’s…for…inf.”或“It’s…of…inf.”结构模式来表示，句中介词for或of作为引词，其本身并无词义，只是不定式逻辑主语的身份介绍者。此两结构的主要区别在于句子所用表语形容词的性质不同。

A.不定式复合结构的逻辑主语常由for引出，这时句子的表语要用表达事物静态特征的静态形容词，如：big (大的)、rare (稀有的)、easy (容易的)、difficult (困难的)、necessary (必要的)、impossible (不可能的)、important (重要的)、essential (基本的)等。这类静态形容词通常只说明不定式动作的性质【一般不用以形容人】。

例：It is impossible for her to go alone. 她单独去是不可能的。

It's necessary for you to do so.  你这样做是必要的。

It is easy for us to understand this lesson. 我们弄懂这一课是容易的。

It's difficult for a young man to speak of his view of life.

一个青年人要讲清自己的人生观是不容易的。

B.如若句子的表语形容词不但能说明不定式的动作性质，也能说明其逻辑主语【动作的施动者】的性质，这就得用能描述人物特征或品行的动态形容词，如：good (好的)、nice (美好的)、right (正确的)、kind (善意的)、stupid (愚蠢的)、foolish (愚蠢的)、busy (忙碌的)、careless(粗心的)、impolite (无礼的)等。此时便要在介词for的位置用of代替，即用“It’s…of…inf.”的句子结构模式。

例：It's nice of you to invite me. 你邀请我太好了。【意含：邀请我的行为好，邀请我的你也好】

It's very kind of you to help me so fervidly.  能如此热情地帮我你真好。

It was careless of him to break the cup. 他粗心，把茶杯打破了。

It is foolish of Tom to do such things. 汤姆做这种事太傻了。

 

⑵形式主语It句式㈡：It＋take【专用动词】＋宾语＋不定式短语【真实主语】

①It takes／took +名词(词组) +不定式短语. 意表：【不定式】做什么需要【名词】什么。

例：It takes money to set up as a lawyer. 要想当律师就得花钱。

It takes patience to educate children. 教育儿童须要有耐心。

It takes four hours to go there and back. 到那里往返要4个小时。

It takes brains to administer upon a large corporation. 管理一家大公司需要智慧。

It takes gumption to quit a good paying job. 要辞去一个待遇很好的工作需要勇气。

It takes two to make a quarrel. 一个巴掌拍不响。／两个人才吵得起来。【谚】

It takes years of hard work to compile a good dictionary.

  编辑一部好词典需要数年的艰苦工作。

It took an hour for the car to come here. 【for the car是逻辑主语】

 这辆汽车开了一小时才到达这里。

It has taken nearly 30 years for me to compile the information. 我搜集这些信息花费了将近30年。

 

②It takes sb. some time to do sth.【双宾语】＝sb. takes some time to do sth.

意表：某人花了多长时间来做某事。

例：lt takes us an hour to go there . 到那里去要花我们一个小时。

It took him a long time to get over his cold. 很久之后他的感冒才好。

It took her a long time to dictate this letter. 口述这封信花了她很长时间。

It took the firm five years to recoup its losses. 这个公司五年后才挽回损失。

It took me a while to latch onto his style of humour. 过了一会儿我才明白他的幽默方式。

It has taken me a month to weave the four cane chairs.

 我用了一个月的时间藤编了这四把椅子。

比较：It took me long time to think over it.

       ＝I took long time to think over it. 我费了长时间来考虑。

It took me ten years to compile that dictionary. 我用了十年时间编了那部字典。

＝I took ten years to compile that dictionary.

＝That dictionary took me ten years to compile.

It took me four years to master English. 学会英语花了我四年功夫。

I took four years to master English. 我花了四年功夫学会英语。【master(vt.)掌握／精通】

特别提示：sb. takes some time to do sth.句式并不常用

上面等号两边的句式，最常用者是“It takes sb. some time to do sth.”这一句式，至于“sb. takes some time to do sth.”这一用法曾有争议。【上面两句话分别录自《最新英汉四用辞典》P. 1677和《简明英汉词典》P. 1015。】

又如：She took a long time to choose her new hat. 她花了很长时间为自己选了顶新帽子。

 【录自Oxford Advanced Learner;s Dictionary of Current English (Third Edition 1974) P.146】

 

③It takes sb. some money to do sth.——此句式也适用于“某人花钱做什么”。

上述It takes…句式也可用money【包括钱币名称】作宾语，并可用cost (花费)换用take：

It takes(sb.)some money to do sth.＝It costs (sb.) some money to do sth. (某人)花钱做某事。

比较：It takes a lot of money to buy a house like that. 买一所那样的房子要花很多钱。

It'll take you £50 to fly to Paris. 乘飞机去巴黎需花50英镑。

＝It'll cost you £50 to fly to Paris.

又例： It took me £12 to buy that coat.【＝It took £12 for me to buy that coat.】

买这外套花去我12英镑。

 

⑶形式主语It句式㈢：It＋appears／seems／happens＋主语从句.

此句式是种较特殊的主语从句用法，因为appear、seem、happen等可作半系词，如此一想，其后该接表语从句。但是此句式中的appear、seem、happen等都被视为不及物动词，不带宾语，故尔其后不存在宾语从句，后面所接的当属主语从句。钱歌川先生在《翻译的技巧》中论述“it从句”时说：“在主句‘it+动词’之后，从句之前，可接用名词、形容词、副词或什么都不接，而直接接上从句也行。”此为直接接用主语从句之用法。

例：It appeared that Geffrey might change his mind. 看来杰弗里会改变主意。

It appeared that he had a taste for music. 看来他对音乐还有一定的鉴赏力。

It often happens that he beats his wife black and blue. 他常把老婆打得青一块紫一块的。

It (so) happened that I saw him yesterday. 昨天我偶然碰到他。

It seems that there is going to be a change. 好象会有变化。

It seems (that) you were lying. 看来你在撒谎吧。

It seems to me that we have been neglecting our duty.

我感觉我们疏忽了我们的职责。

特别提示：从句之前若接用了名词或形容词等，appear／seem／happen便成了系动词

A.因为在“it+动词”之后，主语从句之前，接用了名词、形容词、副词等，它们便成了appear、seem或happen的表语。

例：It seems obvious that we cannot go on like that. 显而易见，我们不能这样下去了。

B.由“it seems that…”→“主语+ seems to be…”句的改写【剥离主语还原变为不定式作表语】

例：It seems that the boy is ill. →The boy seems to be ill. 那男孩似乎病了。

It appears that he is sleeping. →He appears to be sleeping. 他好象在睡觉。

It happens that she has been hurt. →She happens to have been hurt. 她碰巧受伤了。

It seems / appears to me that no one noticed his escape. 似乎没人注意到他逃跑了。

→No one seems / appears to have noticed his escape.

 

5.“It is (of) no use…”或“There is no…”句式中的Ger.或Inf.主语

⑴“It is (of) no use doing sth／to do sth.”意表：“做……亦徒然”。

此句式中use后可接动名词或不定式作主语【包括含逻辑主语的复合结构】，但以接动名词主语较普遍。

例：It is no use talking／to talk. ＝It is of no use talking / to talk. 说也没用。

It's no use trying／to try. 试也没用。

It's no use your protending / for you to protend that you didn’t know the rules.

假装不懂规则对你没有好处。【复合结构主语】

但use后接动名词或接不定式，此二者的隐含意思稍有差别，需细致体会其用意。

①It's no use后接动名词，通常指比较一般的情况，即指普通事实。

例：It is no use buying books but not reaging them. 买书而不读没有用。【此说为通常惯例】

It is no use asking her — she doesn’t know anything. 【有“一无所知”为前提】

问她毫无用处——她什么也不知道。

②It's no use后接不定式，是指比较具体的情况，即指某一特定场合。

例：It's no use to argue with Selma. 与塞尔玛争论没有用。【指具体的争论】

It is of no use to look for that missing earing. 【“丢失耳环”是特殊情况】

寻找那枚丢失的耳环是徒劳的。

特别提示：句中use处可换用good但表意有所不同。比较例句：

例： It is no use (用处) crying over spilt milk.  覆水难收。【谚语】

It's no good (好处) doing it like that. 那样做没有好处。

 

⑵There is no use doing sth.／to do sth. ＝It is no use doing sth.／to do sth.

例：There is no use arguing about it. ＝It’s no use arguing about it. 争论此事毫无意义。

There is no use talking.＝There is no use to talk. 说也没用。

She doesn’t know anything, so there is no use asking her.【“一无所知”是前提】

她什么都不知道，(所以)问她没用。

There is no use to call him up, because he isn’t here now. 【有now的时间限定，特指】

找他没用，他现在不在那里。

 

 ⑶There is no＋v.-ing. 不可做某事【注意此There be句中无use】

例：There is no denying the fact.  事实是不可否认的。

There is no joking about the matter.  这事不得开玩笑。

 

 

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