英语中的十大“一致”

刘鹏

英语中存在着多种“一致”现象，这是其区别于汉语的显著特点之一。它广泛出现在单项选择、完形填空、短文改错和书面表达等题型中。英语中“一致”问题主要体现在以下十点：

一、主谓一致

这是最普遍最基本的一致。主要有三个原则：

1. 语法一致

语法一致指主语在数和人称上与谓语动词、助动词在语法上保持一致。在这方面常犯的错误是第三人称单数与谓语不一致。所以应保持人称与数的一致。

例如：

a. There are some differences between the two words.

b. The boy goes to school by bike every day.

c. He has an hour for sports after classes every afternoon.

d. The teacher， with 6 girls and 8 boys of her class， ______ visiting a museum when the earthquake struck.

A. was B. were

C. had been D. would be

该题答案为A。

2. 概念一致

概念一致指主语的数和谓语动词、助动词在概念上保持一致。这种情况下只有吃透词的含义，弄清语境，才能把握好主语的数。

例如：

a. My family is a happy one.（family 指“家庭”时，为单数。）

b. My family are watching TV now.（family指“家庭成员”时，为复数。）

c. Every possible means has been tried.（means受every制约，为单数。）

d. All means have been tried.（means受all制约，为复数。）

涉及概念一致的名词主要有以下几种：

（1）形复意单，为单数：the United States， news，physics， maths等。

（2）形复意单，为复数：trousers，glasses，scissors等。（由两个对称体构成一个整体。）

（3）形单意复，为复数：people，police，cattle等。

（4）形同意不同，数不同：politics意为“政治”，当“政治学”讲时，为单数；当“政治观点”讲时，为复数。

（5）形复，意同，数不同：这类词的数受制于表数量的定语，如：one works“一家工厂”，为单数；two works“两家工厂”，为复数。

3. 就近一致

就近一致指一个句子中有两个或两个以上的主语，谓语要和它邻近的那个主语一致。主要体现在there be句型和“neither ... nor ...”、“either ... or ...”、“not only ... but （also） ...”、“not ... but ...”等结构中。

例如：

a. There is a pen and two pencils in the box.

b. Are either you or he going to Beijing tomorrow？

二、主语和表语一致

主要指主语和表语在数上一致。

例如：

1. ... but after class we become strangers at once.

（stranger → strangers）

strangers要服从主语we，和we在数上保持一致。

2. The story is an example of human nature.

但是，当表示部分与整体关系时，主语和表语在数上可以不必一致。

例如：

There future theme parks are a good combination of fun and learning.

Are you saying under 1500 words is not a short story？

三、主语和代词的一致

主要指在性别和数上一致，尽管不必把这个代词译成汉语，但这是英语中不言而喻的内在一致。

例如：

1. He does his homework until late into the night.

2. Mary stood there，holding her head high.

3. Tom went there himself.

4. Children wear their smart clothes on Childrens Day.

四、代词与其指代的名词/代词/句子一致

1. He works hard at his lessons and does well in them.

2. Its easier to fall into bad habits than into good ones.

3. I， who am fond of music， often go to the concert.endprint

4. The boy does well in his lessons， which makes his parents happy.

五、名词的性别和代词一致

英语不同于汉语之处还表现在某些名词本身有性别之分。

阳性：king国王，headmaster男校长，bull公牛，dog公狗等；

阴性：queen王后，女王，hostess女主人等。

例如：

1. The waiter is busy with his work now.

2. The actress often offers her extra income to the Hope Project.

3. The hero seldom thinks of himself.

4. Aunt Li usually closes her shop at the end of the day.

六、代词和与之相关的“数”一致

某些代词有明确的数量概念，动词、数词、名词等应与代词的数一致。

例如：

1. Neither / Either of my two brothers is an engineer.（neither / either“两个”中的一个，为单数。）

2. Each of his hands is dirty.（each≥2，意为“每个”， 为单数。）

3. Any of us three has a bike.（any≥3，意为“任何一个”， 为单数。）

4. Both of my parents dont work as doctors.（both = 2）

5. I have four sisters. All of them are workers.（all≥3， 指“全部”。）

七、定语/限定词与所修饰的中心词一致

这种一致在汉语里直截了当，即不需通过词形的变化来体现，但在英语中既靠不同的词又需不同的词性变化来表达。

例如：

1. Two girls share one room in our school.

2. These four students are from the south.

3. All the students watched the TV program “On Macaus Return”.

八、逻辑一致

主要指上下文和前后句在语义和数量等方面的一致，主要由转折词、连词等体现出来。

例如：

1. “狗在打仗”译为：A dog is fighting.（不可接受。fight这个动作应在同类中的两个或以上，或不同类的双方、多方中进行，才合乎情理。）

应改为：The / Some dogs are fighting against each other.

2. “参观者在展览大厅门口排好了队”译为： The visitor has lined up at the entrance to the exhibition hall. （不可接受。一般情况下，一个人是不需要排队的。）

应改为：The visitors have lined up at the entrance to the exhibition hall.

3. Her uncle seemed to be acting rather strangely towards her. They had _____ quarreled several times.

A. still B. therefore

C. even D. certainly

该题答案为C。

由acting rather strangely到quarreled这个变化过程可知，这是一种递进关系，even词译为“甚至”，合乎逻辑。

4. It was early autumn and _____ the trees had their leaves on.

A. so B. then

C. therefore D. generally

该题答案为C。由于early autumn，所以trees had their leaves on是顺理成章的，并且and therefore相当于so。

5. I am trying to improve the situation since it doesnt work.

该句中的since应改为but，这是通过上下文的意思进行逻辑意义方面的改正。

九、动词的形式/时态与时间状语一致

动词的形式与时间状语有直接的关系，即：时间状语决定动词的时态。例如：

1. He joined the Party in 1982.

in 1982这类时间状语是用于一般过去时的时间状语。

2. She has lived here since she moved here 30 years ago.

一般过去时受“ ... ago”一类时间状语的限制，所以用moved；现在完成时受“since ...”一类时间状语的限制，所以用has lived。

3. By the end of last year he had mastered 2000 English words.endprint

4. By the end of next year I will have learned 3000 English words.

十、时态一致

主要有两种情况：一是在含有时间和条件状语从句的复合句中，如果主句是一般将来时，从句要用一般现在时或现在完成时；二是在含有宾语从句的复合句中，如果主句是一般过去时，从句要用相应的过去时态。

例如：

1. The number of deaths from heart disease will be reduced greatly if people _____ to eat more fruit and vegetables.

A. persuade B. will persuade

C. be persuade D. are persuaded

该题答案为D

2. Ill tell him the news as soon as he comes back tomorrow.

3. He said （that） he had already seen the film.

但是，如果宾语从句表示客观真理，则时态不变：

The teacher told us in class yesterday （that） the earth goes round the sun.

巩 固 练 习

1. Though the room was very dark，we took the photos in _____.

2. Uncle Wang told us about his travels. Then we had dinner with _____.

3. The wires were very old. The machines were connected with _____.

4. Please remember me to _____ wife.

5. In the terrible hurricane， nineteen people lost

_____ lives.

6. She _____ quiet enough，doesnt she？

7. They tried to put the satellite into the space， _____ the rocket failed.

8. The headmaster often _____ some advice to _____ students.

9. We were all very tired，but _____ of us would have a rest.

10. Most students today _____ their own ideas，and they _____ always depend on their teachers in everything.endprint