談到代名詞的誤用,特別是代名詞的數和所指引的主語的數不符,使得后頭謂語動詞的數也跟著出差錯,真是差之毫厘,失之千里,不可不察。
這里要指出一些方向,以避免因代名詞的錯誤而使句子的意思模糊不清。
怎樣避免代名詞的錯誤呢?
㈠不要用同個代名詞指引兩個性別一樣的名詞,如:
① Mr Li told Mr Lin that he was wrong.
這里的he既可指林先生,也可指李先生,含糊不清。應該改為②或③:
② Mr Li said to Mr Lin, "I am wrong."
③ Mr Li said to Mr Lin, "You are wrong."
㈡避免把代名詞和它所指引的名詞隔開太遠,如:
④ The man leaned over the bench for hours working on the plan. It was too low to be comfortable.
這里的代詞it離開名詞the bench太遠,結果關系不清楚,因為在位置上,它更適合指引the plan.在這種情況下,只好避開it,而用名詞,即the bench.
㈢避免濫用指示代詞"this,that"或關系代詞"who,which,that"泛指上文的內容。例如:
⑤ Tom's brother is an accountant, and this is the profession everyone envies.
這里的this指"accountant"。“會計師”是一種專業人士,和后頭的“專業”(profession)并不相稱,因此要把this改為 accountancy(會計工作),才合句子的意思。
⑥ The profit from the business was large, which I realised sometime later.
這里的"which I realised sometime later"是句形容詞分句,應該出現在先行詞后面,不應該脫離出來而獨立。如果要用它來修飾全句話,更不合邏輯,應該改為⑦或⑧:
⑦ I realised sometime later that the profit from the business was large.(主句 + 名詞分句)
⑧ The profit from the business was large. I realised this (matter) sometime later.(單句 + 單句)
㈣避免用代名詞"they, you, it"影射腦子里的事物,如:
⑨ In Singapore, it relies heavily on tourism as a source of national revenue.
這里的 it 指向什么呢?如果是心目中的“政府”或“旅游促進局”,那就要明言,不要用不清不楚的it:
⑩ In Singapore, the government…
11. In Singapore, the Tourist Promotion Board…
12. In less industrialised countries, they do not know the problems of urban development.
這里的代名詞they是不是指the people(人民)?如果是就用吧。In less industrialised countries, the people…過后,要再提這主語時,才用they:...the people…They are only interested in their daily life.
其實,在這種主語不詳的情況下,被動語態是最好的選擇:
13. In less industrialised countries, the problems of urban development are not known "Though the standard of living is raised, the costs of living are also increasing."
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