于弟 袁小林
wow 的妙用
一篇介紹《中國詩詞大會》第二季冠軍武亦姝的英文報道中有一句:
In an earlier episode,Wu Yishu wowed the audience when performing in a section entitled“Feihualing”. 在之前的一期節目中,武亦姝在“飛花令”環節的表現,令觀眾大為驚嘆。
wow 可以作名詞,意為“極大的成功(a great success)”;作感嘆詞,意為“哇;呀”,但這里用作動詞,意思是make people admire you very much(使人佩服;驚嘆)。
妙筆生花!用wow 比surprise, astonish, amaze等詞更形象生動。
學習名詞時,我們要留意:名詞并不一定總是名詞,有時也會變成非名詞(形容詞或動詞)。這是一種有趣的“名非名”現象。
英語有哪些“名非名”的情況呢?
1. 某些名詞前面不加冠詞,但后面接 enough時。
表示這個名詞所包含的性質和特點,實際相當于一個形容詞。
I was fool enough to believe him.我真夠傻的,竟相信了他。
Jim was not man enough to face the difficulty. 吉姆不像個男人去面對困難。
I am not scholar enough to read this article.我學識不夠,讀不懂這篇文章。
2. 某些名詞前不加冠詞,但前面有no時。
并不表示否定含義,而表示這一名詞相反的形容詞意義。
Dont cheat him; he is no fool. 別騙他了,他可不傻/很聰明。
Miss Green is no beauty. 格林小姐一點也不漂亮。
What I have said is no lie. 我剛說的可是真的。
The young man is no poet, and he knows little about poetry.那年輕人可算不上詩人,他幾乎不懂詩。
比較:The young man is not a poet, and he cant write poems. 那個年輕人不是詩人,他不會寫詩。
3. 英語中某些名詞可直接表示動詞的含義。
一些名詞直接用作動詞,可表達名詞本身所有的動作特征。
Dont baby your child. 不要嬌慣你的孩子。
He is always bossing his wife about at home. 他在家總是對妻子呼來喚去。
Would you please chair the meeting today? 你今天主持這個會議好嗎?
Its not easy for a movie sequence to continue wowing viewers. 一部電影續集能夠持續讓觀眾喝彩,真不容易。
He is a disturbed child who needs mothering. 他是一個心理失常的孩子,需要悉心照顧。
She worked in a hospital for ten years nursing patients. 她在一家醫院工作了十年,護理病人。
As he aged, his memory got worse. 隨著年齡變大,他的記憶力變差了。
People were streaming out of the station. 人們一個接一個地走出了車站。
4. 身體部位的名詞可表示動詞的含義。
身體部位的名詞用作動詞,表示這一部位發出的動作。
Mary saw a man eyeing her up and down. 瑪麗看到一個人上下打量她。
The police have been tailing the criminal. 警察一直在跟蹤嫌犯。
The dog was nosing at the dustbin. 狗在垃圾桶旁邊嗅來嗅去。
Reporters nosed out all the details of the affair. 記者們打探出這件事的所有細節。
Nobody is going to hand you success on a plate. 沒有人會把成功白白送給你。
5. 一些顏色的名詞也可用作動詞。
The censors blacked out several words. 審查員涂掉了幾個詞。
The spring wind has greened the Southern shore again. 春風又綠江南岸。
What you said whited his face. 你說的話把他氣得臉發白。
Look!The cream paint is beginning to yellow. 看!乳白色的油漆開始發黃。
6. 一些動物名詞可用作動詞。
He has been dogged by bad health all his life. 他一生多病,備受折磨。
I had a whole box of chocolates and pigged the lot. 我把一整合巧克力吃了個精光。
The last question even foxed our experts. 最后的問題甚至把專家難倒了。
The man wolfed down his lunch. 那個人將午餐狼吞虎咽下去。
The policeman bulled the motor cycle off the road. 警察用力將摩托車推到公路邊上。
總之,掌握“名非名”的用法,可使英語的動作描寫更加生動、形象、有趣。