在英语句子中,状语通常由副词或介词短语来充当。名词主要用作主语、宾语和表语等句子成分,其作状语直接修饰动词、副词、形容词等的用法经常被忽略。其实在英语的实际使用中,名词作状语很普遍。
尤其是在现代英语口语中,名词作状语这一现象屡见不鲜。而一般语法书对此谈得很少,甚至只字未提。笔者在此就英语名词作状语的结构及其用法作一粗浅归纳,以期对英语学习者有所帮助。
一、名词作状语的结构。
1.名词+s
该结构中的名词主要是表示“时间”意义的名词,加上s后在句中作状语,有些词典因而把这类名词看作副词。如:hours, mornings, afternoons, evenings, nights, weekends, mondays, tuesdays等。
这类名词主要用于美国英语。例如:
we h**e been sitting here hours waiting for you.
we worked nights at that time.
tuesdays i usually go to the library to read some magazines.
i h**en' t so much to do evenings and weekends.
2.不定冠词+名词。
该结构有时表达程度轻、数量少、时间短。例如:
i hardly slept a wink last night.昨天晚上我连眼都没合。
wait a minute, please!
3.不定代词+名词。
不定代词some, any, all, another等加上一些表时间意义或行为方法的名词,通常在句中直接作状语。例如:
he has waited some time.
i will stay another five months.
it may start raining any moment.
do it any way you like.
4.指示代词+名词。
该结构构成的名词短语通常在句中充当状语。例如:
he asked us whether we were going away that day.
we h**e been discussing the project these days.
i’11 come and see you again this evening.
he has been watching you these ten minutes.
do it this way.
5.数词+名词。
这些名词通常是表示度量或时间的名词。多数用作程度状语,修饰形容词或副词,也可以修饰动词。例如:
this desk is two meters long.
i walk three kilometers a day.
the baby weighs nine pounds.
the meeting will last six days.
i’m five years older than his brother.
why did you come two hours late this morning?
6.形容词+名词。next, first, last, whole等形容词加上名词可引起该词组的状语化。例如:
i saw a film yesterday and i' 11 see another next week.
he went to shanghai last monday.
first thing in the morning we swept the courtyard.
we swam the whole day.
7.名词+连词/介词+名词。以并列连词and或or以及介词by, after, in等连接起来构成固定短语的名词词组通常在句中作状语修饰谓语动词。
常见的有:day after day, night after night, year after year, arm in arm, hand in hand, bit by bit, step by step, part by part, side by side, time and time again, heart and soul, hand and foot, rain or shine等。例如:
she looked after the child day and night.
they waited on him hand and foot.他们殷勤周到地侍候他。
we should serve the people heart and soul.我们应该全心全意为人民服务。
在这些名词词组里,前后两个名词通常属于同类性质的名词或同一个名词,如可以是人体某部位或其它同类物体。这些词组作状语,常放在句尾,具有加强语气的作用。
二、名词作状语的用法。
名词作状语时,可在句中修饰谓语动词、形容词、副词以及介词短语等。
1.修饰谓语动词。
名词作状语修饰谓语动词时经常置于所修饰的谓语动词之后或句末,当动词是不及物动词时,千万不可把状语看作宾语。例如:
the meeting lasted an hour.其实这句话应说成:the meeting lasted for an hour.
以介词for引导的短语作状语。当介词for省略后,an hour便充当状语修饰谓语动词lasted
2.修饰形容词、副词或介词短语。
当名词作状语修饰形容词、副词或介词短语时,常置于这些词之前。例如:
he said it had been completed a year before.
we completed the work five days ahead of time.
the room is three times larger than that one.
3.名词可充当时间、地点、方式、程度、让步等状语。
1)作时间状语。如:
i ) i shall be back next week.
2) one day a mouse came into the garage and played on the floor.
3) to see once is better than to hear a hundred times.
2)作地点状语。如:
i ) the swallows go south in winter.
2) she lives next door.
3) we are going some place tonight.
3)作方式状语。如:
1) please pronounce the word the way she does.
2) he tr**els pullman.他乘软席卧车旅行。
3) send the letter (by) airmail.
4)作程度状语。如:
1) he talked a great deal.
2) he is a head taller than his sister.
3) these vases are centuries old.
5)作让步状语。如:
1) rain or shine, we h**e to go.不管天晴还是下雨,我们都得走。
2) he spends an hour a day running, summer or winter.不管是夏天还是冬天,他每天都要花一小时跑步。
总之,英语名词作状语颇为常见,尤其是作形容词修饰语的现象越来越普遍。将它们用在书面语中可使描写简练、生动、形象;用在口语中则语气更强,更具有夸张性。
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