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说说My flat is twice bigger than yours这个句子
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说说My flat is twice bigger than yours这个句子

■倪肖丁(西安)

《语法无敌全答》(外文出版社2014第一版)有这样一个例句:

My flat is twice bigger than yours. 我的公寓比你的大两倍。

这个例句存在两个问题。

首先,倍数比较级用法不当。用twice(还有half)表示倍数进行比较时,应该用as …astwice the...结构,而不是more than结构,这是英文的习惯用法。有些英文词典直接把twice as much/manytwice as作为句式结构列出。

CGOEL明确告诫:Twice is used with as many as or as much as rather than more.

PEU则有专门提醒。例如可以说:

She's twice as lively as her sister.

但不说*She's twice livelier than her sister.

可以说:

I ’m not going out with a man who’s twice as old as me.

但不说*I’m not going out with a man who’s twice older than me. 

所以,《语法无敌全答》的例句本身就不符合英语习惯用法。其中的twice bigger than应该改为twice as big as,或者全句改成My flat is twice the size of yours

遗憾的是像twice bigger这种不符合英语惯用法的例句在国内英语语法和教参中屡见不鲜。例如《高中英语语法全解》(安徽科学技术出版社2016第八次印刷)有例句I’m twice older than you;《常考英语语法手册》(石油工业出版社,2008)有例句This room is twice larger than that one;《高中英语语法表解大全》(中央编译出版社20083版)有The road is twice longer than that one,等等。

其次,对倍数比较句式的意思理解有误。国内基础英语语法和教参中这类理解错误很常见,即使专业性很强的辞书中也同样存在。例如,葛传槼先生的《英语惯用法词典》在time词条中指出:Your house is three times as large as mineYour house is three times larger than mine两句意思不同:前者意为你的房子是我的房子的三倍大小,后者意为你的房子比我的房子大三倍[就是我的房子的四倍大小]”

但是实际上,无论是N times more…than还是N times as…as,意思都一样,按汉语的表达习惯,都是“ N倍那么大(多、长),或者大(多、长)N-1

对此,英文权威词典和语法著述都有明确的结论。

Chambers Essential English Dictionary1995)在定义times (倍数) 时说:One thing is a certain number of times greater than, or as great as, another if it is equal to the other multiplied by that number(如果说A is N times greateras great as B,那么A=B N)。

CGOEL指出: Count as many ( . . . ) as  and noncount as much ( . . . ) as are equivalent to more ( . . . ) than when they are premodified by a times-phrase(前有倍数短语修饰时,as many/much asmore...than相等)。例如:

Five times as many people came to the demonstration as (did) last time

= Five times more people came to the demonstration than (did) last time.

SwanPEU和国内章振邦《新编英语语法》系列也有相关的、更为详细的阐述。而且,他们的观点在英语的实际中也能得到证实。例如,英文版《大英百科全书》在介绍澳大利亚昆士兰州时写道:The state is more than twice the size of the U.S. state of Texas and seven times larger than the United Kingdom.

我们知道,Queensland面积是172.72万平方公里,United Kingdom面积是24.41万平方公里。也就是说,前者是后者的7倍多(而不是8倍多)。这表明seven times larger than=seven times as large as

由此可知,《语法无敌全答》上的My flat is twice bigger than yours一句,即使不考虑其语法缺陷,其真实含义也只能是我的公寓=你的公寓2”。所以,在纠正英文的同时,汉译也应改为我的公寓是你的两倍大,或我的公寓比你的大一倍

 

完整内容请查看:https://www.cpsenglish.com/article/135

 

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