用法辨析

沈红梅

“人生自古谁无死，留取丹心照汗青”。学习过程中，常常有学生对英文中“die”的用法模糊不清。His grandfather has been dead for many years. 此处dead是什么詞性，表达什么意思？Die和death的用法有什么不同？Dying又是什么意思？今天我们就讲讲这几个词的区别与用法。

1.Dead是形容词，表示没有生机的状态，意为“无生命的”“呆板的”。如：

He found a dead bird in the garden.他在花园里发现了一只死去的鸟。

2.Die是瞬间动词，用于逝去的那一刻，过去式为died。如：

His father died last week. 他的爸爸上周去世了。

Every year some people die from the accident. 每年许多人死于事故。

3.Death是名词，意为“死亡”。如：

She cried sadly after knowing his husbands death. 当得知丈夫去世后，她哭得非常伤心。

The death of her mother made us surprised. 她母亲的死让我们感到很惊讶。

4.Dying可以表示die的现在分词，也可以是一个独立的形容词，表示“奄奄一息的；濒临死亡的”。如：

The dying old man was saved by a kind-hearted lady. 一个好心的妇女挽救了这个奄奄一息的老人。

注意：在考试中出现这样的改写句子：He died ten years ago. 他10年前去世了。可以改写为：He has been dead for ten years. 他去世10年了。

如题一：His grandmother _________ for 6 years. And he still misses her very much.

A. died

B. has died

C. has been dead

D. has been died

解析：本题考查动词时态及瞬间动词与延续性动词的辨析。句意：他的奶奶去世6年了。他仍然非常想念她。由句意可知，句子应用现在完成时表达，排除A；时间状语为“for +一段时间”，因此谓语动词应用延续性动词，而die为瞬间动词，排除B、D，选C。

题二：Premier Zhou Enlai _________ for many years， he still lives in the hearts of Chinese People.

A. died

B. was died

C. has been died

D. has been dead

解析：本题考查现在完成时的用法。句意：周恩来总理已经逝世多年，但他仍然活在中国人民的心中。短语for many years意为“许多年”，表示“一段时间”，常用在现在完成时的句子中。因此，谓语动词必须是延续性动词。而die是瞬间动词，可排除，be dead表状态，可和表示“一段时间”的状语连用。选D。

经典练习

用“die”的适当形式填空。

1. Pop star Whitney Houston was found on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

2. His father five years ago.

3. His mothers was a great blow to him.

4. The old man from a car accident last year.

5. Plants and people without water.

6. His dog for two weeks.

答案：1. dead 2. died 3. death 4. died 5. die 6. has been dead