英语词类手册介词分册 第三章 英语介词from与of的用法

第三节 英语介词of用法例析(中)B

 

 

编者  四川大竹  张有樑

（续前：二、系表结构句中的of结构 1.“be of+名词”结构“半系动词+ of介词短语”）

2.表语位置上的of结构——of前后词的固定配搭

名词化的形容词of结构——“be+形容词+ of (a)…”

结构式：“be + more of a／much of a／less of a／enough of a／etc.”这种结构形式常可达到形容词名词化、幽默、风趣、分寸准确等多项修辞目的。

“be + more of a … than a…”——意“是…而不是…／与其说是…【后者】不如说是…【前者】”——注意观察than后有a或无a句的译法。

例：He is more of a teacher than a scholar. 他是一位教师，不是学者。

He is more of a sailor than a mariner. 他是一个海员，而不是水兵。

He is more of a fool than a knave. 与其说他是个无赖，不如说他是个笨蛋。

He is more of a poet than a musician. 与其说他是个音乐家，不如说他是个诗人。

He is more of a politician than a scholar. 与其说他是个学者，不如说他是个政客。

He is more of a director than a producer.与其说他是位制片人，倒不如说他是位导演。

另：Truth is more of a stranger than fiction. 真相比小说还要不可思议。【than后无a】

He is more of a sportsman than his brother. 同他弟弟相比，他更像个运动员。

 

“be +not much of (a)…”——意“并不是…”【多用于否定句】

例：Lao Li is not much of a teacher. 老李不善于教书。

She is not much of a journalist. 她并不是一个新闻记者。

There is not much of a secret to success. 成功没有什么秘诀。

He is not much of a good doctor. 他不能称得上是个好医生。

His brotheris not much of a companion for him. 他兄弟与他情趣不甚相投。

I’m not sure Greg is much of a homemaker. 我不确知格雷格是一个家庭主妇。

He is too much of a coward to tell the truth. 他太胆小了，不敢讲真话。【too…to结构】

To learn English is not much of hard work. 学英语不是件难事。【of后无a】

There is not much of it but I will try to make it do. 东西不多，但我会将就着用。

 

“be +little／less of (a)…”——意“没有那么…”【多用于肯定句】

例：It is little short of a miracle. 简直是奇迹。【双否定而为肯定】

There is little of a woman in her. 她没有什么女人味。

He is less of a fool than he looks. 他不象看上去那样笨。

You’re less of a fool than I thought. 你不是我想象的那么愚蠢。

It is less of a problem than I’d expected. 问题不像我预料的那么大。

Realistically, there is little prospect of a ceasefire. 实事求是地讲，停火的希望很渺茫。

It is less of a problem to be poor than to be dishonest. 和不诚实相比，贫穷不是个问题。

 

“be +enough of a…”——意“真够…的”【具感情色彩】

例：Sam is enough of a responsibility. 萨姆就够操心的了。

He was enough of a man to tell the truth. 他光明磊落讲了实话。

I was enough of a fool not to think of that. 我怎么傻到连这一点儿也没有想起来。

I was enough of a good sport to give you a drink. 我是挺够哥们儿的人，请喝一杯。

Robert was enough of a fool not to think of that. 罗伯特也够傻的了，竟没想到那一点。

 

of短语用作不定式的逻辑主语——特定系表结构句“It +be+形容词+ of短语+不定式”。

语法公式：It is／was + adj.+ of + sb.+ to do sth.——在该句式中，介词of后的sb.用宾格代词或名词与of构成介词短语，这sb.便是其后不定式所表动作的行为主体，即逻辑主语【of成为逻辑主语引导词】；it是句子形式主语，带逻辑主语的动词不定式是句子的真正主语；系动词be一般用过去式was或现在时的is，It与is常常连写成It’s；句子表语自然就是形容词了，这类形容词要求使用能够表示人(sb.)的品行和特点，前面可有very之类的副词修饰语。句意通常为“某人做某事很／真…”，译法多样，不拘一格。

“It’s+ good／generous／nice／clever／polite／right／wise／kind等正面意义形容词+ of短语+动词不定式”句式。

例：It is good of you to help us. 你来帮助我们，你真好。【good】

It is very good of you to offer to help us. 承蒙帮助，不胜感激。

It was good of you to phone me. Goodbye. 谢谢你打电话来，再见。

Hello, John! It was good of you to come. 你好，约翰，很高兴你能来。

It’s good of you to help me with my English. 你能帮我学英语，真是太好了。

It is generous of you to share your food with me. 你把食物与我分享，真慷慨。【generous】

It’s generous of you to give me such a good book. 您送给我这么好一本书真是慷慨。

It is generous of you to give him so much money. 你给他那么多钱，真是太慷慨了。

Oh, it is nice of you to say so. 哦，谢谢你这么说。【nice】

It was very nice of you to offer me dinner. 感谢你请我吃饭。

It was ever so nice of you to give us support. 非常感谢你支持我们。

It is very nice of you to be so considerate. 你们想得这样周到是很好的。

It was really nice of Ms. Smith to give us a treat. 史密斯女士给我们的款待真是棒极了。

It was clever of her to find her way here. 她能找到这儿来真是聪明。【clever】

It was clever of you to solve the problem. 你能解答那个问题真是聪明。

It is clever of him to come down without ropes. 他不用绳子就能下来，很是聪明。

It is very friendly of you to help me. 你帮助我，真是太好了。【friendly】

It was friendly of them to invite us. 他们真是很友好，邀请了我们。

It was polite of her to offer me her seat. 她把座位让给我，真有礼貌。【polite】

It is not polite of you to cut the speaker short. 你打断发言者的话，真不礼貌。

It was wise of you to remain silent. 你保持沉默，这很明智。

It is wise ofher to take up the job. 她接受那项工作，真是太明智了。

It is wise ofhim to make such a decision. 他做出这样的决定是明智的。

It is wise of them to turn down the suggestion. 他们很明智,拒绝了这个建议。

It is not very wise of you to sell the property. 你把物业卖了可不是办法。

It’s very kind of you to tell me. 你来告诉我真的太好了。【kind】

It was kind of you to send me a present. 你真好，送我礼物。

It was kind of you to come to our dinner. 感谢你来我们这儿吃晚饭。

It is most kind of you to take me to the airport. 多谢你把我送到了飞机场。

特别提示：若kind of后面不是宾格代词而是形容词，则kind of意为“有几分／有点点”。

例：Actually, it was kind of easy. 实际上，那很轻松。【kind of】

It was kind of strange to see him again. 再见到他有点奇怪。

This time it was kind of up and down. 这次则经历了一些曲折。

It was kind of sad that we had to say good-bye. 我们不得不告别，真有点伤感。

 

“It’s+ cruel／foolish／impolite／rude／silly／stupid／tasteless／wrong等负面意义形容词+ of短语+动词不定式”句式。

例：It is cruel of him to beat his boy like that.他那样打孩子真是残忍。【cruel】

It is cruel of you to bully your friend like that. 你如此欺凌朋友真是残酷。

It is foolish of you to do that. 你真傻，做那样的事。【foolish】

It is foolish of him to do a thing like that. 他做像那样的事真是愚蠢。

It was foolish of her to marry that man. 她把自己嫁给了那男子，真不明智。

It was foolish of you to give up the good chance. 你真蠢，放弃这么好的机会。

It is foolish of them to turn down the proposal. 他们拒不采纳那个建议是愚昧的。

It was impolite of you to say so. 你那样说是不礼貌的。【impolite】

It is very impolite of you to do so to customers. 你这样做对顾客太不客气了。

It is impolite of you to cut into the conversation in this way. 你这样打断谈话是不礼貌的。

It is rude of me to have kept you waiting. 让你久等了，我很失礼。【rude】

It was rude of a student to sass to the master. 学生对校长出言不逊是粗鲁无礼的。

It is silly of me to say such a thing. 我说这话真傻。【silly】

It is silly of you not to forgive others for their faults. 你不原谅别人的过错是愚蠢的。

It is silly of you to let this wonderful opportunity slip.你真糊涂让这个大好机会给溜掉了。

It was stupid of her to believe that. 她竟相信那种事，真愚蠢。【stupid】

It is stupid of you to believe him. 你居然相信他，真是太愚蠢了。

It is stupid of him to refuse the invitation. 他拒绝了邀请，真是件错事。

It was tasteless of you to say that. 你说那种话真是庸俗。【tastelees】

It was tasteless of you to behave like that. 你非那么干(不可)，真没意思。

It is wrong of you to bully the child. 你不该欺侮那个孩子。【wrong】

It was wrong of me to get so angry. 我不该发这么大脾气。

It is wrong of you to get around the regulation. 你存心规避规章制度是不对的。

It is wrong of you to fasten the blame on him. 你把过错推到他的头上是不对的。

It is wrong of you to trifle with the girl rs affections. 你不该玩弄那女孩子的感情。

 

英语中能够如此配搭使用的形容词不少，上面所列者只是相对典型常用，还有如crazy、careless、selfish等其它许多，各举单例如下。

例：It is crazy of you to give him money. 你真糊涂，竟给他钱。

It was not discreet of you to say that. 你那样说有欠考虑。

It was dishonest of you not to say so. 你没有这样说是不诚实的。

It was imprudent of you to say so. 你这样说是轻率的。

It is insensitive of you to mention that. 你提那件事是愚钝的。

It is ingenuous of you to believe what he says. 你太天真竟会相信他说的话。

It is imprudent of you to lend money to a stranger.你把钱借给陌生人,未免太不谨慎了。

It was very mean of you to hit your wife. 你打妻子，太卑鄙了。

It is mean of you to bite the hand that fed you. 你真卑鄙，居然恩将仇报。

It is selfish of you to eat all cakes. 把蛋糕全吃完，你真是太自私了。

It was spiteful of you to tell him that. 你告诉他那件事是怀有恶意的。

It is sweet of you to have remembered us. 你还惦记著我们，真感谢你。

It was enterprising of him to go by himself. 他竟敢独自去，真有胆量。

It was very sharp of you to have noticed that. 你注意到了这一点是够机灵的。

It was uncivil of you to say that. 你说那种话很失礼。

It was unwise of you to say that. 你那样说太愚蠢了。

It is ungrateful of you to say that about him. 你那样说他未免太忘恩负义。

It is sweet of you to have remembered us. 你还惦记著我们，真感谢你。

It is considerate of you to call on your relatives from time to time.

你时时拜望亲戚(想得)很周到啊！

It is careless of you to neglect your son of his medicine-taking.

你也太粗心了，竟然忘记给你儿子吃药。

It is very perspicacious of you to find the cause of the trouble so quickly.

你真是明察秋毫，问题的原因这麽快就找出来了。

特别提示：注意“It’s…of sb. to do”与“It’s…for sb. to do”的区别

A “It’s+adj.+of sb. to do”与“It’s+adj.+for sb. to do”是同类句式，其区别在于adj.的使用：前者of所用形容词是描述不定式动作行为者(sb.)的性格、品质；而后者for所用形容词仅仅是描述不定式的动作(to do sth.)的属性，不是对不定式行为者的品格评价。

例：It is rude of you to treat him like this. 你这样对待他是不礼貌的(粗鲁无礼)。【You are rude.】

It’s not polite for you to treat him like this.【To treat him like this is not polite.】

你如此对待他是不礼貌的。【像这样的行为不礼貌】

B 鉴于“It’s+adj.+of sb. to do”主要是表现sb.的性格，故可以换成“sb. is adj to do”。

例：It’s very kind of you to help me.＝You are very kind to help me. 你能帮助我，真是太好了。

It’s clever of him to work out the maths problem. 他真聪明，解出了这道数学题。

＝He is clever to work out the maths problem.

若要将“It’s+adj.+for sb. to do”改写，便只能如下例操作——改成含主语从句的复合句。

例：It’s difficult for us to finish the work.＝That we finish the work is difficult.

对我们来说，完成这项工作很困难。

It’s very dangerous for children to cross the busy street.

＝That children cross the busy street is very dangerous.

对孩子们来说，穿过繁忙的街道很危险。

                             （未完待续）