一、经典例句引出概念
1. 人教版新课标课本中有此一句:
All hope was not lost.
所有的希望都没失去。 错误译法
并非所有希望都已失去。 正确译法
2.
Happily his uncle didn't die. 幸运的是,他叔叔没有死。
His uncle didn't die happily. 他叔叔死得很惨。
一个是“幸运没有死”,一个是“死得很惨”。差别为何如此之大?问题在哪里呢?通过分析,我们发现:
第一句相当于It was fortunate that his uncle didn't die. 译为:幸运的是,他叔叔没有死。
第二句His uncle didn't die happily. not不是修饰die,而是修饰happily。所以,句子的实际含义是:His uncle died not happily. 译为:他叔叔死得很惨。
以上语言现象(All hope was not lost. His uncle died not happily.)叫做否定转移。
二、否定转移的结果
否定转移的结果是:不能照字面翻译,有时构成部分否定。
一般情况下,部分否定都能一目了然,例如:
She is not always happy. 她并不总是快乐的。(not修饰always)
You are not completely right. 你并非完全正确。(not 修饰completely)
You can’t fool people all the time. 你不可能一直都在欺骗人。(not修饰all the time)
以上几个例句一看就知道not否定哪个词,而且句子意思按汉语习惯理解就可以。但是,像All hope was not lost. 就很难一眼看出not否定哪个词,以至于造成理解错误。实际上,not是修饰all的。此句可以变成:Not all hope was lost. 并非所有的希望都已失去。
表面看是“都不”,实际上是“不都”。就是说,部分否定是“否定转移”造成的结果。再举几例:
All that glitters is not gold. 闪光的东西并非都是金子。
All people don’t like popular music. 并不是所有的人都喜欢流行音乐。
Both of the books are not useful to you. 这两本书对你并非都有用。
英语中,当句子的主语含有表示“全部、所有”概念的代词或形容词时(如all, both, every, everything, everybody, everyone等),一旦和否定词not连用,即可构成部分否定。即:不能按字面翻译,应把not转移到这些词的前面来理解。例如:
All of the boys in our class don’t like football. 我们班上并非所有的男生都喜欢足球。
Both sisters are not interested in physics. 姐妹俩并不都对物理感兴趣。
Everybody doesn’t know the answer. 并非人人都知道答案。
把not置于主语的前面,则更符合汉语习惯:
Not all of the boys in our class like football.
Not both sisters are interested in physics.
Not everybody knows the answer.
如果需要全部否定,通常要把这些具有“全部”概念的词语改为相应的否定词,但不能再用not,例如:
None of the boys in our class like football.
Neither of the sisters is interested in physics.
Nobody knows the answer.
三、拓展
“否定转移”是英语的常见现象。除此之外,还有下列几种情况:
1. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I know you. 对不起,我想我不认识你。
(not否定宾语从句中的know,类似用法的动词还有believe, suppose, imagine等)
2. She didn’t take an umbrella because it was raining. 她不是因为下雨才带雨伞的。(因为下雨,所以她没带雨伞。——讲不通)
(not否定原因从句,相当于She took an umbrella not because it was raining.)
3. Mary does not seem to like you.玛丽看起来不喜欢你。
(not 否定不定式like,相当于Mary seems not to like you.)
4. They didn’t come by train.他们不是坐火车来的。
(not否定介词短语by train,相当于They came not by train.)
5. I don’t find the story interesting.我发现故事没有趣。
(not否定宾语补足语interesting,相当于I find the story not interesting.)
6. We can’t praise the novel too highly. 这部小说我们怎么赞扬都不过分。
(not否定too highly,意味着“赞扬的程度不过分”。)
7. I can’t thank you enough. 我对你真是感激不尽。
(not否定enough,意味着“感激不够”,又如:We couldn’t enjoy your meal enough. 你做的饭我们喜欢不够。)
8. ---What did you think of the film last night? ---It couldn’t be better.
“你认为昨晚的电影怎么样?”--- “好极了。”
(couldn’t是“不可能”,better是“更好”。“不可能更好”意味着“再好不过了”。当can’t 或couldn’t 跟比较级连用时,它们并没有否定谓语动词,而是否定了“比较级”,因而更加重了肯定的含义。又如:I can’t agree more. 我再同意不过了。I can’t miss you more. 我对你的思念已经达到了顶峰。)
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