专门替中国人写的英语语法（十）

第十二章 冠词（Articles）

假设我们要翻译以下的中文句子：

他是聪明的孩子

也许我们会将以上的句子翻译成以下的句子：

*He is clever baby.

这种翻译是错的，boy的前面，必须有一个冠词，英文冠词只有两个：a和the，在这个例子，我们应该加a，因此正确的翻译是：

He is a clever boy.

我们现在再看以下的中文句子：

他是昨天来看我的孩子。

以下的翻译是错的：

*He is boy who came to see me yesterday.

为什么错呢？仍然是在于boy前面没有冠词，这次我们必须加the，正确的翻译是：

He is the boy who came to see me yesterday.

一般来说，英文句子的单数名词前面都会有冠词，没有冠词是例外，以下的句子都是错的：

*He saw cat.

*Swimming is good exercise.

*Java is computer language.

*King of England died last night.

*He is professor who taught me English.

正确的句子是：

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.

我们知道大多数的名词前面要加冠词，但究竟要加a，还是the呢？我们在下一节讨论。

12§1 a和the之不同用法

a和the最大的不同，在于a后面的名词不是指定的，而the后面的名词是有所指的。我们不妨看以下的两个句子，他们都是正确的，但意义却不同。

John is a boy.

John is the boy.

〝John is a boy.〞的意思是〝约翰是一个男孩〞，而〝John is the boy.〞的意思就完不同了，我们一定曾经提到过某一个男孩子，而约翰就是那个男孩子。可能的情形是：There is a boy who is very good in mathematics. John is the boy.

我们就以〝国王〞为例，如果我们泛指一般的国王，我们可以用复数，也可以用单数，但必须用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.

如果我们的国王是指某一个特定的国王，就必须用the，举一个例子；如果我们说〝国王万岁〞，我们当然是指我们的国王，因此〝国王万岁〞的翻译就是

Long live the King.

以下的例子都是正确

Here comes the King.

The King is a popular person in our country.

Even the King of England can not come in.

读者应该了解，同类型的句子，可以用a，也可以用the，但意义是完全不同的，请看以下的句子：

He is not a boy who would cheat others.

意思是：

他不是那种会欺骗别人的男孩子。

再看以下的句子：

He is not the boy who cheated in an examination yesterday.

他不是昨天在考试中舞弊的男孩。

再看以下的句子：

He is a King.

意思是〝他是一个国王〞。

如果说

He is the King.

意思就完全不同了，这句话的意思是〝他是我们国家的国王〞。

请注意，世界上国王有好多个，如果我们仅仅说他是一个国王，当然没有指定哪一个国家的国王，就用a king，如果我们用the King意思当然指我们共识中的国王。这时的King中的K必须大写，以示尊敬。

我们再举一个例子：

Please open a window.

是指请开一扇窗子，随便哪一扇都可以。

Please open the window.

就不同了，说这句话的人和听这句话的人一定有一个共识，〝the window〞一定是指某一扇特定的窗子，也许这间房子里只有一扇窗，也可能他们谈话中曾经提到某一扇窗，〝the window〞就是指那一扇窗。

我们可以再举一个例，假如我们说，〝我们需要一场大雨〞，我们说

We need a heavy rain.

如果我们说，〝这场雨好大〞，我们说

The rain is really heavy.

有了这个基本观念以后，我们就很容易了解以下句子中，为什么要用the：

I am going to the train station.

The post office is quite near.

Where is the library?

根据这种原则，当我们提到地球，月亮这种独一无二的东西，就必须用the。

the earth

the sun

the moon

the universe

除此以外，the还有一个特殊的用途，我们可以在the的后面加一个形容词，使这两个字变成了一个名词，举例来说：

the rich＝富人

the poor＝穷人

the weak＝弱者

the deaf＝聋人

the blind＝盲人

请注意，以上的名词是复数：

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，读者应设法了解句子中为何有时用a，有时用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?

 

【练习五十六】

将下列中文句子译成英文：

1.他是一个好学生。

2.他是那位老师都喜欢的学生。

3.我要做总统。

4.这是总统。

5.请打开一扇窗。

6.中华民国的总统将于明年访问美国。

7.我要做一个好的工程师。

8.他是那位我们常常谈到的老师。

9.Java是一个新的计算器语言。

10.我有一只狗。

11.他是获大奖的教授。

12.火车站在哪里？

13.请告诉我邮局的地址。

14.这里有邮局吗？

15.富人常住在城里。

16.盲人可以用计算机。

17.太阳在东边升起。

18.宇宙是非常大的。

19.为什么我们白天不能看到月亮？

20.总统几岁？

 

【练习五十七】

将适当的冠词填入下列的空白：

1. He is ________student who went to see you.

2. There is ________river in this area.

3. I don't want to be ________teacher.

4. He wants to become ________doctor.

5. No one wants to be ________beggar.

6. Please open ________door which opens to the hall.

7. UNIX is ________computer operating system.

8. WINDOW is ________only operating system invested by Microsoft.

9. I have ________dog and two cats.

10. She is ________teacher who got many prizes.

11. ________earth is not flat.

12. Is there ________hotel around here?

13. Where is ________train station.

14. I really like ________library.

15. Please give me ________glass of water.

16. ________wind is getting stronger and stronger.

17. He is ________friend of mine.

18. It is hard for ________poor to go to colleges.

19. He is ________swimmer who swam across the English Channel.

20. ________weather is getting colder and colder.

21. This is ________book which I bought yesterday.

22. I don't like to be ________professor.

23. I am going to take ________vacation next month.

24. John will become ________basketball player.

25. I ride ________bicycle to work every morning.

12§2 a和an的用法

在英文里，a有时必须用an代替，凡是一个字一开始的发音是元音的话，那么前面就不能用a，而必须用an。例子：

an apple

an answer

an egg

an eye

an island

an idea

an old lady

an odd case

an umbrella

请注意，用an与否并不是完全和字母有关，而是和发音有关。举例来说，u虽然是一个元音字母，但是我们却说a unit，而不能用*an unit，因为unit的一开始发音并非元音。

其它类似的例子有：

a useful car

a university

a uniform

a one-sided opinion

反过来说，有些字并不以元音开始，但是却必须用an，因为这些字的第一音节是元音发音，例子：

an honest person

an hour

 

【练习五十八】

填入a或an

1. He is ________English Professor.

2. This is ________easy job.

3. He is just ________ordinary person.

4. ________friend in need is________friend indeed.

5. Give me ________hint.

6. I have ________American friend.

7. I will become ________engineer.

8. Is he ________honest boy?

9. ________hour later, he went away.

10. Is this ________university library?

12§3 冠词使用时的例外

在以上的两节，我们好像说冠词的使用是有一定规则的，其实不然，例外也不少。在很多情形之下，冠词是要省略的，更麻烦的是，连省略冠词的规则都有例外，应该省的却又不省了。

第一个有关冠词的特殊用法是这样的，假设我们要说〝男生通常不喜欢弹钢琴〞，我们不能说

Boy does not like to play the piano.

而要说

Boys do not like to play the piano.

这时，Boys的前面，是没有冠词的，理由很简单，我们不能加a，因为boys是复数，我们也不能加the，因为boys并没有指定哪一个男孩，也没有指定哪一种男孩。类似的例子有：

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.

第二个规则有关所谓不可数名词，很多名词是可以数的如：

a cup, two cups

a boy, three boys

a teacher

a student

a boat

an airplane

a glass of water

a cup of tea

可是很多名词是不可数的，以下这些名词都是抽象的，因此不可数

time

love

hatred

pain

joy

sadness

kindness

wisdom

hope

patience

这些抽象名词的前面是不要加冠词的，例子如下：

Time flies.（时间过得很快）

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，如果特定的抽象名词，仍要加冠词。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.

还有一些不可数的名词，是所谓的物质名词，像

water

fire

air

metal

tea

coffee

bread

butter

如果这些物质名词泛指一般的东西，前面是不要加冠词的，例如

Drinking water is important.

Don't play with fire.

We need air to breath.

There is metal in this device.

I don't drink tea.

I like coffee.

Father brings bread and butter home every day.

一旦物质名词指特定的东西，前面就要加冠词，例如：

The water in this city is polluted.

There was a fire near our home last night.

The air in this town is getting worse and worse.

Copper is a metal.

The tea from India is very popular in England.

专有名词，一般说来都不要加冠词的：

Mary is from Canada.

John got married last month.

Taiwan is an island.

England is in Europe.

France is a nice country to visit.

Russia is a large country.

Park Street is the main street in this city.

Go to Taipei first.

Sun Moon Lake is a beautiful lake.

January is often very cold here.

Sunday is a day for resting.

Spring is the best season.

Mt. Everest is in Europe.

President Kennedy died when he was young.

King George was considered a mad king.

Queen Elizabeth visited Australia recently.

 

可惜的是，英文中专有名词仍有要加the的，我们将试着将这些例外写成规则，但这种规则一定挂一漏万，读者如要知道何种情况要加冠词，何种情况不加冠词，惟一的办法是多读英文的文章，慢慢地就会了解什么情形该用冠词，什么情形不用冠词。

哪些专门名词前面仍要加冠词the呢？

(1) 河流，海洋，沙漠，海峡，海湾等等专有名词的前面都要加the。

the Hudson River （赫德森河）

the Rhine River （莱茵河）

the Yellow River （黄河）

the River Thames （泰唔士河）

the Amazon River （亚马孙河）

the Pacific Ocean （太平洋）

the Red Sea （红海）

the Mediterranean Sea （地中海）

the Baltic Sea （波罗的海）

the Atlantic Ocean （大西洋）

the Sahara Desert （撒哈拉大沙漠）

the Gobi Desert （戈壁大沙漠）

the Taiwan Straits （台湾海峡）

the English Channel （英吉利海峡）

the Manila Bay （马尼拉海湾）

the Bay of Tokyo （东京湾）

the Persian Gulf （波斯湾）

(2) 国家的名词中如有of时，要加the

the United States of America

the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

the Republic of China

(3) 非常言式的名称，也要加the

the World Bank （世界银行）

the United Nations （联合国）

the Red Cross （红十字会）

the Catholic Church （天主教会）

(4) 帝国，朝代，时代等等专有名词的前面，要加the

the British Empire （大英帝国）

the Ｏttoman Empire （奥图门帝国）

the United Kingdom （联合王国）

the Byzantine Era （拜占庭时代）

the Chin Dynasty （秦朝）

the Victoria Era （维多利亚时代）

the Hanover Dynasty （汉诺威王朝）

The Renaissance Era （文艺复兴时代）

the Dark Ages （黑暗时代）

(5) 如果提到〝全体〞，就要加the

the Wangs （王家）

the Kennedys （肯尼迪家族）

请注意，Wang和Kennedy都是姓，如果要指全家人，必须在姓氏的后面加s，前面加the。

the Chinese （中国人）

the Americans （美国人）

the Africans （非洲人）

我们说过，一般的专有名词是不要加冠词的，但是有很多其它的名词前面也不要加冠词，以下是一些规则：

(1)学科一概不加冠词

I do not like mathematics.

He hates geometry.

She teaches us history.

(2)三餐一概不加冠词

Did you have lunch.

Missing breakfast is bad for your health.

We have had dinner already.

千万记住，如果我们的名词指定某一个特定的时候，就仍要加冠词，以下是一些例子：

I had a happy Christmas lunch with my family.

The dinner you treated me last night was really good.

Did you have a big breakfast?

(3)假如我们说〝上学〞，〝去教堂〞等等，都不要加冠词，例如

I went to church yesterday.

He goes to church every Sunday.

She is going to college this summer.

Did you go to school last week?

但是如果我们说的是指定的教堂，学校等等，仍要加冠词，例如：

I went to the church at the corner of Park Street yesterday.

The church which I went to when I was young is still there.

I did not go to the college which my father went to.

(4)语言不要加冠词

English is easy to learn.

There are also grammatical rules in Chinese.

Can you speech Japanese?

但是，我们必须注意语言有另一种表示的方法，例如：

The English language is easy to learn.

There are grammatical rules in the Chinese language.

(5)运动一概前面不加冠词

Do you play tennis?

I can not play basketball.

I really love soccer.

(6)动名词前面不加冠词，例如

Swimming is good for you.

I like playing tennis.

Do you enjoy playing piano?

【练习五十九】

以下的句子都有冠词用法的错误，请改正这些错误：

1.The Girls are often good in learning languages.

2.The dogs always chase the cats.

3.Do you have the time?

4.I have not had a water for two hours.

5.There is no life without the pain.

6.The love is the most important thing in one's life.

7.He has the wisdom.

8.I am losing the patience.

9.This is not time to cry.

10. Pain due to losing a loved one is hard to endure.

11. Joy being a father is really great.

12. Being honest is virtue.

13. Speaking the truth is good policy.

14. Can you feel sadness of his?

15. We need the air to live.

16. I do not drink the coffee. I drink the tea.

17. We Chinese eat the rice every day.

18. Water in this area is very clean.

19. There was fire in the next street last night.

20. Fire last night killed three kids.

21. Coffee which you are drinking is from South America.

22. Mary is from the Canada.

23. The China is a large country.

24. Republic of China was Founded in 1911.

25. Where is the England?

26. Is the Russian in Europe.

27. The President Lincoln is a great person.

28. The King George was a mad king.

29. Yellow River is a long river.

30. Have you been to Gobi Desert?

31. Manila Bay is very beautiful.

32. It is hard to cross Atlantic Ocean by a small boat.

33. Can you swim across English Channel?

34. United States of America is a large country.

35. United Nations and Red Cross often work together.

36. When did Ottoman Empire end?

37. British Empire was large before.

38. Catholic Church is one of the oldest organizations in the world.

39. This cup was made in Ming Dynasty.

40. Renaissance is a very important era for mankind.

41. We should not go back to Dark Ages.

42. Wangs did not invite me to their house.

43. I do not like Kennedys.

44. Chinese pay great attention to education.

45. I do not like the physics.

46. Are you interested in the chemistry?

47. Did you have the lunch?

48. Let us have the dinner together.

49. I always have a breakfast with my family.

50. I had big dinner last night.

51. Dinner my mother cooked for me was delicious.

52. I go to the church every Sunday.

53. He does not like to go to the school.

54. Did you see beautiful church in the next street?

55. The English is so hard for me.

56. Do you speak the English?

57. Do you play the tennis?

58. The swimming is good for you.

59. I like the walking in the woods.

60. I practice the baseball every week.

 

【练习六十】

在以下的空白处加入冠词，如不需要冠词，就让它空白：

1. ________boys usually do not like to sit still for long.

2. I love to have ________cup of coffee.

3. There is ________love between us.

4. Can you feel ________love from you mother?

5. ________joy for having a new baby is really great.

6. Do you have ________time for a walk?

7. We can not live without ________love.

8. I have not drunk ________wine for a long time.

9. Do you have ________wisdom to distinguish bad persons from good persons?

10. This is ________good dinner.

11. I did not have ________dinner.

12. ________joy being ________mother is great.

13. ________Running is ________good practice.

14. ________sadness due to the death of his mother really hurts him.

15. We need ________water to live.

16. We can not live without ________air.

17. I do not drink ________coffee.

18. ________fire with occurred last night destroyed my house.

19. ________coffee which you are drinking is very light.

20. ________Republic of China is in Asia.

21. Where is ________Russia?

22. Is ________France in Africa?

23. ________President Kennedy was liked by most American before be died.

24. ________Amazon River is a long one.

25. Have you ever been to ________Tokyo?

26. Have you ever been to ________Tokyo Bay?

27. There are more than one hundred countries in ________United Nations.

28. This is ________Ming Dynasty porcalain.

29. ________Wangs invited us to a dinner party.

30. I do not like ________mathematics.

31. ________spring is a pleasant season.

32. I had ________pleasant evening with my friends.

33. ________breakfast which I had this morning was too light for me.

34. It is not easy to study ________English.

35. I did play ________basketball yesterday.

36. ________swimming is a good exercise.

37. There should be ________chicken in every pot.

38. It is ________good idea to eat lightly.

 

【练习六十一】

将以下的句子译成成英文：

1. 狗会叫（bark）。

2. 猫会抓老鼠。

3. 有时候（sometimes），痛苦是好的。

4. 我不喝茶。

5. 感觉到被爱是很重要的。

6. 说实话令人快乐。

7. 我们需要爱。

8. 他是一个中国人。

9. 中国人喜欢喝茶。

10. 昨夜，城里有一场火。

11. 约翰来自美国。

12. 法国在哪里？

13. 我喜欢林肯总统。

14. 黄河不是黄的。

15. 红十字会已经有一百年了（one hundred years old）。

16. 明朝是一个重要的朝代。

17. 你喜爱数学吗？

18. 我今天早上没有吃早饭。

19. 我已吃过午饭。

20. 我昨天没有去教堂。

21. 我今年秋天要上大学。

22. 游泳使我强壮。