Will went in front, his shaggy little garron picking the way carefully through the undergrowth.A light snow had fallen the night before, andthere were stones and roots and hidden sinks lying just under its crust, waiting for the careless and the unwary. Ser Waymar Royce came next, his great black destrier snorting impatiently. The warhorse was the wrong mount for ranging, but try and tell that to the lordling. Gared brought up the rear. The old man-at-arms muttered to himself as he rode.
威爾打前鋒,騎著他那匹長毛的馬,在矮樹叢里小小心翼翼地探路。昨夜下了一場小雪,這會兒樹叢底下有許多石塊、樹根和水洼,一不小心就會摔倒。威瑪·羅伊斯爵士跟在后面,他那匹高壯駿馬不耐煩地吐著氣。巡邏任務最不適合騎戰(zhàn)馬,但貴族子弟哪聽得進去?老兵蓋瑞殿后,一路低聲喃喃自語。

Will went in front, his shaggy little garron picking the way carefully through the undergrowth.

這一句話主語是Will,謂語是went,逗號后跟著的his shaggy little garron picking …則是另一個主語。這其實是兩句話:Will went in front. His shaggy little garron picked the way carefully. 從句子結構上來說,這兩句本來沒有聯(lián)系,而且是不同的主語,但兩句話是有邏輯關系的。把其中一個句子的動詞用分詞形式來作為另外一個狀語,這個動作的發(fā)出(或承受)的“主語”就是獨立主格。獨立主格結構不能使用任何連接詞。而且獨立主格不是獨立的句子,而是“格”。這樣說比較晦澀難懂,我們來看個例子。

John goes into his house, followed by his dog.

John goes into his house, his dog following him.

前一句是分詞作伴隨狀語,而后一句his dog 則是獨立主格了。

但是并不是說獨立主格沒有過去分詞(表過去、表被動、表伴隨)的情況:

All the work done, you can have a rest.

【阿天提示】其實很多用法需要自己去體會,會使用就好,并不一定要能懂學術講法。

語法實用教學哪家強?還不快去看看周立老師的8天語法快車道。輕松解決語法困擾,英語順暢用起來。

there were stones and roots and hidden sinks lying just under its crust,

這里是使用的there be 句型,指這里有。需要注意的是,“這里有”的固定搭配是there be,不能根據(jù)漢語翻譯成there have/has——根本沒有這個用法。

看看這個句子,The Forbidden City is there.對句子進行倒裝就變成了There is the Forbidden City. 為甚要倒裝呢?我們漢語也說: “球,進了!”,這個時候你要是說“進球了!” 也是沒錯的,但是語氣沒有那么強。久而久之,就形成了there be 句型。所以,物體是沒有there和have/ has (擁有)連用的用法的。這個時候如果要使用have/has 就要用代詞they/it, 變成they have … / it has …。而there be 句型其實是刷存在感的。

這句話我們還可以分解:

There were stones and roots and hidden sinks.

The stones, roots and hidden sinks lay just under its crust.

這兩句話,第一句的賓語和第二句的主語重合。英語本身就是“標記性”的語言,對于內部結構的簡化提升,就是英語從低級向高級發(fā)展的過程。由于英語本身表述的東西要求準確精細,說話重復時,就有了簡化提升。

語法還昏?

【阿天提示】請看上面的鏈接,這些內容的實用講解盡在周立老師的課程中。

crust,?這里是指雪層。它還可以指如面包或者披薩外的那層酥皮或者是某個物體表面的硬薄外層。也可以指地殼。

unwary,不謹慎的。wary,謹慎小心的。注意是因為認為有可能會遇險,而提高警惕。而careful,則是提醒避免犯錯。be wary of (doing) sth., 提心吊膽,如履薄冰地做某事,I’m wary of driving in this fog. 你還可以提醒別人,Keep a wary eye on that guy. I don’t trust him.

snort, 動詞,用鼻子發(fā)出哼聲。最近有個孩子畫了一幅老爸吃白糖的畫,結果他老爸就被請到局子里了,就是因為他是snorting cocaine。抽鼻子用鼻子吸入其實是sniff;擤鼻子blow someone’s nose。Stop sniffing and blow your nose. ╰ひ╯, 呃,把鼻涕抽進去,抽得太猛不就… 那畫面太美,不敢直視。

mount, 這里是名詞,座駕。

rear,?后部,和front 相對??础额^文字D 》里老出現(xiàn)說某個車子是FR的,其實就是指Front engine, Rear drive. 發(fā)動機在前,后輪驅動。就是前置后驅。

mutter, 嘀咕,咕噥,私下小聲說。

聲明:本文系阿天授權滬江英語獨家發(fā)布,嚴禁轉載。中文翻譯選自重慶出版社屈暢的版本,講解為阿天原創(chuàng)作品。