中国人轻松学英语常用语法(12)
第十二章 冠词（Articles）
假设我们要翻译以下的中文句子：
他是聪明的孩子
也许我们会将以上的句子翻译成以下的句子：
＊He is clever baby.
这种翻译是错的，boy的前面，必须有一个冠词，英文冠词只有两个：a和the，在这个例子，我们应该加a，因此正确的翻译是：
He is a clever boy.
我们现在再看以下的中文句子：
他是昨天来看我的孩子。
以下的翻译是错的：
＊He is boy who came to see me yesterday.
为什么错呢？仍然是在于boy前面没有冠词，这次我们必须加the，正确的翻译是：
He is the boy who came to see me yesterday.
一般来说，英文句子的单数名词前面都会有冠词，没有冠词是例外，以下的句子都是错的：
＊He saw cat.
＊Swimming is good exercise.
＊Java is computer language.
＊King of England died last night.
＊He is professor who taught me English.
正确的句子是：
He saw a cat.
Swimming is a good exercise.
Java is a computer language.
The King of England died last night.
He is the professor who taught me English.
我们知道大多数的名词前面要加冠词，但究竟要加a，还是the呢？我们在下一节讨论。
12§1 a和the之不同用法
a和the最大的不同，在于a后面的名词不是指定的，而the后面的名词是有所指的。我们不妨看以下的两个句子，他们都是正确的，但意义却不同。
John is a boy.
John is the boy.
〝John is a boy.〞的意思是〝约翰是一个男孩〞，而〝John is the boy.〞的意思就完不同了，我们一定曾经提到过某一个男孩子，而约翰就是那个男孩子。可能的情形是：There is a boy who is very good in mathematics. John is the boy.
我们就以〝国王〞为例，如果我们泛指一般的国王，我们可以用复数，也可以用单数，但必须用a，以下是一些例子：
Kings are also human beings.
Even a king will die sooner or later.
Have you ever met a king ?
I do not like to be a king.
He is an ordinary person, not a king.
如果我们的国王是指某一个特定的国王，就必须用the，举一个例子；如果我们说〝国王万岁〞，我们当然是指我们的国王，因此〝国王万岁〞的翻译就是
Long live the King.
以下的例子都是正确
Here comes the King.
The King is a popular person in our country.
Even the King of England can not come in.
读者应该了解，同类型的句子，可以用a，也可以用the，但意义是完全不同的，请看以下的句子：
He is not a boy who would cheat others.
意思是：
他不是那种会欺骗别人的男孩子。
再看以下的句子：
He is not the boy who cheated in an examination yesterday.
他不是昨天在考试中舞弊的男孩。
再看以下的句子：
He is a King.
意思是〝他是一个国王〞。
如果说
He is the King.
意思就完全不同了，这句话的意思是〝他是我们国家的国王〞。
请注意，世界上国王有好多个，如果我们仅仅说他是一个国王，当然没有指定哪一个国家的国王，就用a king，如果我们用the King意思当然指我们共识中的国王。这时的King中的K必须大写，以示尊敬。
我们再举一个例子：
Please open a window.
是指请开一扇窗子，随便哪一扇都可以。
Please open the window.
就不同了，说这句话的人和听这句话的人一定有一个共识，〝the window〞一定是指某一扇特定的窗子，也许这间房子里只有一扇窗，也可能他们谈话中曾经提到某一扇窗，〝the window〞就是指那一扇窗。
我们可以再举一个例，假如我们说，〝我们需要一场大雨〞，我们说
We need a heavy rain.
如果我们说，〝这场雨好大〞，我们说
The rain is really heavy.
有了这个基本观念以后，我们就很容易了解以下句子中，为什么要用the：
I am going to the train station.
The post office is quite near.
Where is the library?
根据这种原则，当我们提到地球，月亮这种独一无二的东西，就必须用the。
the earth
the sun
the moon
the universe
除此以外，the还有一个特殊的用途，我们可以在the的后面加一个形容词，使这两个字变成了一个名词，举例来说：
the rich＝富人
the poor＝穷人
the weak＝弱者
the deaf＝聋人
the blind＝盲人
请注意，以上的名词是复数：
The rich always get richer.
The poor are getting poorer.
The blind are often very sensitive to sounds.
以下是一些用a和the的例子，读者应设法了解句子中为何有时用a，有时用the。
He is a student.
He is the student who can swim very well.
I like to be a teacher.
He is the teacher who taught me English.
The president of the United States in an important person in the world.
I have a son and a daughter.
I have two sons. This is the son who will be a doctor.
I want to be a teacher who is loved by students.
He is not the person whom we talked about.
There is a boat in the river.
This is the boat which we can use.
The rain is going to stop tomorrow.
We need a good rain.
The weather is really bad.
Is there a train station near us?
Where is the station?
Do you know where the post office is?
There is a post office inside that building.
The library looks so good.
The rich should pay more taxes.
We should pay more attentions to the poor.
The blind can also study computer science now.
The earth is round.
The sun never sets in the British Empire.
Do you think we can reach the moon?
How large is the universe?
练习【练习五十六】
将下列中文句子译成英文：
1.他是一个好学生。
2.他是那位老师都喜欢的学生。
3.我要做总统。
4.这是总统。
5.请打开一扇窗。
6.中华民国的总统将于明年访问美国。
7.我要做一个好的工程师。
8.他是那位我们常常谈到的老师。
9.Java是一个新的计算器语言。
10. 我有一只狗。
11. 他是获大奖的教授。
12. 火车站在哪里？
13. 请告诉我邮局的地址。
14. 这里有邮局吗？
15. 富人常住在城里。
16. 盲人可以用计算机。
17. 太阳在东边升起。
18. 宇宙是非常大的。
19. 为什么我们白天不能看到月亮？
20. 总统几岁？
【练习五十七】
将适当的冠词填入下列的空白：
1. He isstudent who went to see you.
2. There isriver in this area.
3. I don’t want to beteacher.
4. He wants to becomedoctor.
5. No one wants to bebeggar.
6. Please opendoor which opens to the hall.
7. UNIX iscomputer operating system.
8. WINDOW isonly operating system invested by Microsoft.
9. I havedog and two cats.
10. She isteacher who got many prizes.
11.earth is not flat.
12. Is therehotel around here?
13. Where istrain station.
14. I really likelibrary.
15. Please give meglass of water.
16.wind is getting stronger and stronger.
17. He isfriend of mine.
18. It is hard forpoor to go to colleges.
19. He isswimmer who swam across the English Channel.
20.weather is getting colder and colder.
21. This isbook which I bought yesterday.
22. I don’t like to beprofessor.
23. I am going to takevacation next month.
24. John will becomebasketball player.
25. I ridebicycle to work every morning.
12§2 a和an的用法
在英文里，a有时必须用an代替，凡是一个字一开始的发音是元音的话，那么前面就不能用a，而必须用an。例子：
an apple
an answer
an egg
an eye
an island
an idea
an old lady
an odd case
an umbrella
请注意，用an与否并不是完全和字母有关，而是和发音有关。举例来说，u虽然是一个元音字母，但是我们却说a unit，而不能用＊an unit，因为unit的一开始发音并非元音。
其它类似的例子有：
a useful car
a university
a uniform
a one-sided opinion
反过来说，有些字并不以元音开始，但是却必须用an，因为这些字的第一音节是元音发音，例子：
an honest person
an hour
【练习五十八】
填入a或an
1. He isEnglish Professor.
2. This iseasy job.
3. He is justordinary person.
4.friend in need is friend indeed.
5. Give mehint.
6. I haveAmerican friend.
7. I will becomeengineer.
8. Is hehonest boy?
9.hour later, he went away.
10. Is thisuniversity library?
12§3 冠词使用时的例外
在以上的两节，我们好像说冠词的使用是有一定规则的，其实不然，例外也不少。在很多情形之下，冠词是要省略的，更麻烦的是，连省略冠词的规则都有例外，应该省的却又不省了。
第一个有关冠词的特殊用法是这样的，假设我们要说〝男生通常不喜欢弹钢琴〞，我们不能说
Boy does not like to play the piano.
而要说
Boys do not like to play the piano.
这时，Boys的前面，是没有冠词的，理由很简单，我们不能加a，因为boys是复数，我们也不能加the，因为boys并没有指定哪一个男孩，也没有指定哪一种男孩。类似的例子有：
Girls are more diligent than boys.
When spring comes, flowers start to bloom.
Dogs are often close to their masters.
Cats are often quite lazy.
Men eat more than women.
Professors are all very smart.
第二个规则有关所谓不可数名词，很多名词是可以数的如：
a cup, two cups
a boy, three boys
a teacher
a student
a boat
an airplane
a glass of water
a cup of tea
可是很多名词是不可数的，以下这些名词都是抽象的，因此不可数
time
love
hatred
pain
joy
sadness
kindness
wisdom
hope
patience
这些抽象名词的前面是不要加冠词的，例子如下：
Time flies.（时间过得很快）
We can not live without love.
Let there be no hatred.
We must be able to endure pain.
Loving others creates joy.
There is sadness in his voice.
Can you feel his kindness?
He has wisdom.
There is hope among us.
I am losing patience.
以上的例子，乃是泛指的事物，如果特定的抽象名词，仍要加冠词。例如：
This is the time to cry.
Do you feel the pain?
There is a hatred towards was in our society.
Everyone can feel the joy of being loved.
We just can not avoid the sadness of losing some loved ones.
He does have the patience to listen to long talks.
It is a virtue not to steal.
