中國(guó)人輕松學(xué)英語(yǔ)常用語(yǔ)法(12)
第十二章 冠詞（Articles）
假設(shè)我們要翻譯以下的中文句子：
他是聰明的孩子
也許我們會(huì)將以上的句子翻譯成以下的句子：
＊He is clever baby.
這種翻譯是錯(cuò)的，boy的前面，必須有一個(gè)冠詞，英文冠詞只有兩個(gè)：a和the，在這個(gè)例子，我們應(yīng)該加a，因此正確的翻譯是：
He is a clever boy.
我們現(xiàn)在再看以下的中文句子：
他是昨天來(lái)看我的孩子。
以下的翻譯是錯(cuò)的：
＊He is boy who came to see me yesterday.
為什么錯(cuò)呢？仍然是在于boy前面沒(méi)有冠詞，這次我們必須加the，正確的翻譯是：
He is the boy who came to see me yesterday.
一般來(lái)說(shuō)，英文句子的單數(shù)名詞前面都會(huì)有冠詞，沒(méi)有冠詞是例外，以下的句子都是錯(cuò)的：
＊He saw cat.
＊Swimming is good exercise.
＊Java is computer language.
＊King of England died last night.
＊He is professor who taught me English.
正確的句子是：
He saw a cat.
Swimming is a good exercise.
Java is a computer language.
The King of England died last night.
He is the professor who taught me English.
我們知道大多數(shù)的名詞前面要加冠詞，但究竟要加a，還是the呢？我們?cè)谙乱还?jié)討論。
12§1 a和the之不同用法
a和the最大的不同，在于a后面的名詞不是指定的，而the后面的名詞是有所指的。我們不妨看以下的兩個(gè)句子，他們都是正確的，但意義卻不同。
John is a boy.
John is the boy.
〝John is a boy.〞的意思是〝約翰是一個(gè)男孩〞，而〝John is the boy.〞的意思就完不同了，我們一定曾經(jīng)提到過(guò)某一個(gè)男孩子，而約翰就是那個(gè)男孩子。可能的情形是：There is a boy who is very good in mathematics. John is the boy.
我們就以〝國(guó)王〞為例，如果我們泛指一般的國(guó)王，我們可以用復(fù)數(shù)，也可以用單數(shù)，但必須用a，以下是一些例子：
Kings are also human beings.
Even a king will die sooner or later.
Have you ever met a king ?
I do not like to be a king.
He is an ordinary person, not a king.
如果我們的國(guó)王是指某一個(gè)特定的國(guó)王，就必須用the，舉一個(gè)例子；如果我們說(shuō)〝國(guó)王萬(wàn)歲〞，我們當(dāng)然是指我們的國(guó)王，因此〝國(guó)王萬(wàn)歲〞的翻譯就是
Long live the King.
以下的例子都是正確
Here comes the King.
The King is a popular person in our country.
Even the King of England can not come in.
讀者應(yīng)該了解，同類型的句子，可以用a，也可以用the，但意義是完全不同的，請(qǐng)看以下的句子：
He is not a boy who would cheat others.
意思是：
他不是那種會(huì)欺騙別人的男孩子。
再看以下的句子：
He is not the boy who cheated in an examination yesterday.
他不是昨天在考試中舞弊的男孩。
再看以下的句子：
He is a King.
意思是〝他是一個(gè)國(guó)王〞。
如果說(shuō)
He is the King.
意思就完全不同了，這句話的意思是〝他是我們國(guó)家的國(guó)王〞。
請(qǐng)注意，世界上國(guó)王有好多個(gè)，如果我們僅僅說(shuō)他是一個(gè)國(guó)王，當(dāng)然沒(méi)有指定哪一個(gè)國(guó)家的國(guó)王，就用a king，如果我們用the King意思當(dāng)然指我們共識(shí)中的國(guó)王。這時(shí)的King中的K必須大寫(xiě)，以示尊敬。
我們?cè)倥e一個(gè)例子：
Please open a window.
是指請(qǐng)開(kāi)一扇窗子，隨便哪一扇都可以。
Please open the window.
就不同了，說(shuō)這句話的人和聽(tīng)這句話的人一定有一個(gè)共識(shí)，〝the window〞一定是指某一扇特定的窗子，也許這間房子里只有一扇窗，也可能他們談話中曾經(jīng)提到某一扇窗，〝the window〞就是指那一扇窗。
我們可以再舉一個(gè)例，假如我們說(shuō)，〝我們需要一場(chǎng)大雨〞，我們說(shuō)
We need a heavy rain.
如果我們說(shuō)，〝這場(chǎng)雨好大〞，我們說(shuō)
The rain is really heavy.
有了這個(gè)基本觀念以后，我們就很容易了解以下句子中，為什么要用the：
I am going to the train station.
The post office is quite near.
Where is the library?
根據(jù)這種原則，當(dāng)我們提到地球，月亮這種獨(dú)一無(wú)二的東西，就必須用the。
the earth
the sun
the moon
the universe
除此以外，the還有一個(gè)特殊的用途，我們可以在the的后面加一個(gè)形容詞，使這兩個(gè)字變成了一個(gè)名詞，舉例來(lái)說(shuō)：
the rich＝富人
the poor＝窮人
the weak＝弱者
the deaf＝聾人
the blind＝盲人
請(qǐng)注意，以上的名詞是復(fù)數(shù)：
The rich always get richer.
The poor are getting poorer.
The blind are often very sensitive to sounds.
以下是一些用a和the的例子，讀者應(yīng)設(shè)法了解句子中為何有時(shí)用a，有時(shí)用the。
He is a student.
He is the student who can swim very well.
I like to be a teacher.
He is the teacher who taught me English.
The president of the United States in an important person in the world.
I have a son and a daughter.
I have two sons. This is the son who will be a doctor.
I want to be a teacher who is loved by students.
He is not the person whom we talked about.
There is a boat in the river.
This is the boat which we can use.
The rain is going to stop tomorrow.
We need a good rain.
The weather is really bad.
Is there a train station near us?
Where is the station?
Do you know where the post office is?
There is a post office inside that building.
The library looks so good.
The rich should pay more taxes.
We should pay more attentions to the poor.
The blind can also study computer science now.
The earth is round.
The sun never sets in the British Empire.
Do you think we can reach the moon?
How large is the universe?
練習(xí)【練習(xí)五十六】
將下列中文句子譯成英文：
1.他是一個(gè)好學(xué)生。
2.他是那位老師都喜歡的學(xué)生。
3.我要做總統(tǒng)。
4.這是總統(tǒng)。
5.請(qǐng)打開(kāi)一扇窗。
6.中華民國(guó)的總統(tǒng)將于明年訪問(wèn)美國(guó)。
7.我要做一個(gè)好的工程師。
8.他是那位我們常常談到的老師。
9.Java是一個(gè)新的計(jì)算器語(yǔ)言。
10. 我有一只狗。
11. 他是獲大獎(jiǎng)的教授。
12. 火車(chē)站在哪里？
13. 請(qǐng)告訴我郵局的地址。
14. 這里有郵局嗎？
15. 富人常住在城里。
16. 盲人可以用計(jì)算機(jī)。
17. 太陽(yáng)在東邊升起。
18. 宇宙是非常大的。
19. 為什么我們白天不能看到月亮？
20. 總統(tǒng)幾歲？
【練習(xí)五十七】
將適當(dāng)?shù)墓谠~填入下列的空白：
1. He isstudent who went to see you.
2. There isriver in this area.
3. I don’t want to beteacher.
4. He wants to becomedoctor.
5. No one wants to bebeggar.
6. Please opendoor which opens to the hall.
7. UNIX iscomputer operating system.
8. WINDOW isonly operating system invested by Microsoft.
9. I havedog and two cats.
10. She isteacher who got many prizes.
11.earth is not flat.
12. Is therehotel around here?
13. Where istrain station.
14. I really likelibrary.
15. Please give meglass of water.
16.wind is getting stronger and stronger.
17. He isfriend of mine.
18. It is hard forpoor to go to colleges.
19. He isswimmer who swam across the English Channel.
20.weather is getting colder and colder.
21. This isbook which I bought yesterday.
22. I don’t like to beprofessor.
23. I am going to takevacation next month.
24. John will becomebasketball player.
25. I ridebicycle to work every morning.
12§2 a和an的用法
在英文里，a有時(shí)必須用an代替，凡是一個(gè)字一開(kāi)始的發(fā)音是元音的話，那么前面就不能用a，而必須用an。例子：
an apple
an answer
an egg
an eye
an island
an idea
an old lady
an odd case
an umbrella
請(qǐng)注意，用an與否并不是完全和字母有關(guān)，而是和發(fā)音有關(guān)。舉例來(lái)說(shuō)，u雖然是一個(gè)元音字母，但是我們卻說(shuō)a unit，而不能用＊an unit，因?yàn)閡nit的一開(kāi)始發(fā)音并非元音。
其它類似的例子有：
a useful car
a university
a uniform
a one-sided opinion
反過(guò)來(lái)說(shuō)，有些字并不以元音開(kāi)始，但是卻必須用an，因?yàn)檫@些字的第一音節(jié)是元音發(fā)音，例子：
an honest person
an hour
【練習(xí)五十八】
填入a或an
1. He isEnglish Professor.
2. This iseasy job.
3. He is justordinary person.
4.friend in need is friend indeed.
5. Give mehint.
6. I haveAmerican friend.
7. I will becomeengineer.
8. Is hehonest boy?
9.hour later, he went away.
10. Is thisuniversity library?
12§3 冠詞使用時(shí)的例外
在以上的兩節(jié)，我們好像說(shuō)冠詞的使用是有一定規(guī)則的，其實(shí)不然，例外也不少。在很多情形之下，冠詞是要省略的，更麻煩的是，連省略冠詞的規(guī)則都有例外，應(yīng)該省的卻又不省了。
第一個(gè)有關(guān)冠詞的特殊用法是這樣的，假設(shè)我們要說(shuō)〝男生通常不喜歡彈鋼琴〞，我們不能說(shuō)
Boy does not like to play the piano.
而要說(shuō)
Boys do not like to play the piano.
這時(shí)，Boys的前面，是沒(méi)有冠詞的，理由很簡(jiǎn)單，我們不能加a，因?yàn)閎oys是復(fù)數(shù)，我們也不能加the，因?yàn)閎oys并沒(méi)有指定哪一個(gè)男孩，也沒(méi)有指定哪一種男孩。類似的例子有：
Girls are more diligent than boys.
When spring comes, flowers start to bloom.
Dogs are often close to their masters.
Cats are often quite lazy.
Men eat more than women.
Professors are all very smart.
第二個(gè)規(guī)則有關(guān)所謂不可數(shù)名詞，很多名詞是可以數(shù)的如：
a cup, two cups
a boy, three boys
a teacher
a student
a boat
an airplane
a glass of water
a cup of tea
可是很多名詞是不可數(shù)的，以下這些名詞都是抽象的，因此不可數(shù)
time
love
hatred
pain
joy
sadness
kindness
wisdom
hope
patience
這些抽象名詞的前面是不要加冠詞的，例子如下：
Time flies.（時(shí)間過(guò)得很快）
We can not live without love.
Let there be no hatred.
We must be able to endure pain.
Loving others creates joy.
There is sadness in his voice.
Can you feel his kindness?
He has wisdom.
There is hope among us.
I am losing patience.
以上的例子，乃是泛指的事物，如果特定的抽象名詞，仍要加冠詞。例如：
This is the time to cry.
Do you feel the pain?
There is a hatred towards was in our society.
Everyone can feel the joy of being loved.
We just can not avoid the sadness of losing some loved ones.
He does have the patience to listen to long talks.
It is a virtue not to steal.
