司關(guān)慶
英語(yǔ)中say,talk,speak和tell意義相近或相同,都有“說(shuō)話,講述”之意,但用法不同,中學(xué)生極易混淆。
say(說(shuō)話,講話),一般著重講話的內(nèi)容,指有連貫性的說(shuō)話,通常用做及物動(dòng)詞。例如:I dont know what he said.我不明白他所說(shuō)的。My watch says six oclock
now.現(xiàn)在我的手表六點(diǎn)了。常見(jiàn)短語(yǔ)有say sorry to,say hello to, say goodbye to. 但對(duì)某人說(shuō)要用say to somebody,這時(shí)say看作不及物動(dòng)詞.Say之后也可以搭配賓語(yǔ)從句say that——比如He said that he had seen the movie before.此外say 也經(jīng)常用于直接引語(yǔ)?!癉ont be late again.”says the teacher.表示據(jù)說(shuō)It is said that——.(for example)It is said that her mother is ill.(=Her mother is said to be ill.)
talk(講,說(shuō)話,交談),talk強(qiáng)調(diào)兩個(gè)人之間的談話,有一種交流的意思,與speak的意義相近。一般用作不及物動(dòng)詞,指一般的談話或交談,而不如speak正規(guī)的“演講”、“發(fā)言”。如,The old man is talking over there.作為不及物動(dòng)詞,跟賓語(yǔ)時(shí)必須加上相應(yīng)的介詞talk with/to somebody,talk about something.例如They are talking about English with the teacher.
speak(講話,說(shuō)話,演講),側(cè)重于指正規(guī)的“演講”、“發(fā)言”“致詞”等(一個(gè)人在一群人中講話),強(qiáng)調(diào)說(shuō)話的動(dòng)作,強(qiáng)調(diào)單方的“說(shuō)”或“講”。例如The baby cant speak.常常用作不及物動(dòng)詞,例如 The headmaster is going to speak at our class meeting.但是跟語(yǔ)言作賓語(yǔ)時(shí)看作及物動(dòng)詞,往往直接和語(yǔ)言連用,指人們對(duì)語(yǔ)言的掌握或使用,也可單獨(dú)用來(lái)表示發(fā)言或說(shuō)話的基本能力。Can you speak English or Japanese? I can speak neither of them.另外speak 跟人時(shí)為不及物動(dòng)詞,speak to somebody 經(jīng)常用在電話交談中 Could I speak to Mary,please? ——Sorry, she is nt here now.
tell(告訴,講述),tell指把一件事情告知給別人或講述一件事情、一個(gè)故事等,強(qiáng)調(diào)一個(gè)人向另一個(gè)人或多個(gè)人傳達(dá)某種信息。常用作及物動(dòng)詞。該詞的用法相對(duì)復(fù)雜一些,其用法大致可以歸納為五個(gè)方面。首先,它是英語(yǔ)中表達(dá)講故事,說(shuō)實(shí)話和撒謊的專用詞語(yǔ)tell a story, tell the truth,tell a lie.Dont tell lies to me, tell me the truth,please.其次,它可以用于雙賓結(jié)構(gòu),即tell somebody something或者用于tell somebody about something。例如,Would you like to tell me the truth? I want to tell you something about my English teacher.第三,它可用于復(fù)合結(jié)構(gòu)(賓語(yǔ)+賓語(yǔ)補(bǔ)足語(yǔ))tell somebody to do something或者 tell somebody not to do something.例如,The teacher often tells us not to be late for class.My mother always tells me to study hard at school.第四,其后還可以跟賓語(yǔ)從句,即tell somebody that——.(for example)He told me that he had learned a lot from the story.最后,用于區(qū)分、辨別、比較事物的異同時(shí)常常使用tell.比如,Can you tell the differences between Picture 1 and Picture 2?你能說(shuō)出圖一和圖二的區(qū)別嗎?I cannot tell which is which.我分不清哪個(gè)是哪個(gè)。有時(shí)還與from 連用 Can you tell true friends from false friends?你能分清真假朋友嗎?
總之,say 強(qiáng)調(diào)說(shuō)話的內(nèi)容;speak 強(qiáng)調(diào)說(shuō)話的動(dòng)作,及物時(shí)加語(yǔ)言;talk強(qiáng)調(diào)兩個(gè)人之間的談話;tell則強(qiáng)調(diào)告知對(duì)方,區(qū)分異同。endprint