They had each his own problem这句话对吗

您好:

我最近看到章振邦的新编英语语法教程学生用书里面有这么一个说法:当先词为复数名词或代词作主语并且带有each作为同位语时,如果each出现在动词之后,随后的人称代词或相应的限定词用单数。


后面给了这么几个相关的例句:

  1. They had each his own problem.

  2. I gave the girls each a toy she likes best.


下面是我在COCA(美国当代英语语料库,基本只收录权威网站,期刊或者文学作品中的文字)和webcorp(伯明翰城市大学开发的语料库,用于搜集互联网上的句子,这里我是基于Bing搜索的)中的搜索结果:


COCA:
”they have each his”— no results
”they have each their”— no results
”they had each his”—no results
”they had each their”—no results

webcorp:
”they had each his”— 1 result (They had each his proper name)
”they had each their” —no results
“they have each his” — no results
”they have each their” — several results (e.g. They have each their advantages)


下面是我在Wordreference中就相关句子得到的母语者的回答:

  1. All your sentences are incorrect because they are not using proper syntax. All your sentences must appear thusly: "They each have/had...  ..."not "They have/had each...." (Reno33, 美国)

  2. I agree with Reno. It's a simple grammar point that 'they' and 'his' don't match. There is, of course, singular 'they' but the rest of the sentence should match pronouns. (bennymix, 安大略湖一带)

这样看来They had each his own problem.这个句子并能说是对的,那么章老这里下这样的结论依据何在呢?

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最佳答案 2020-02-19 00:09

章振邦在《新编高级英语语法》中已经删去了这种说法和例句。


  1. They had each his own problem.

  2. I gave the girls each a toy she likes best.

第二句为each作宾语的同位语,she likes best为定语从句修饰a toy, 主语不可能用they. 所以这个句子是没有问题的。

第一句牵涉二个问题。一个是each的位置,一个是代词的数的问题。关于数的问题,由于代词照应的主语,所以应该用复数代词their,但可以后接单数名词own problem。

至于each的位置,这取决于have是否是操作词。each和both, all一样,作主语的同位语时,可以其位置与中位状语的位置相同。即正常情况下用于操作词之后,实意动词之前。have作为实意动词,在美国英语中不是操作词,所以美国英语中each, all, both以及中位状语都要置于have之前。但在英国英语,have表示“有”的意思时为操作词,表示做某事的意义不是操作词。例如:英国人可能说:Have you any problem? 美国人则说 Do you have any problem?

所以,They have each their own problem. 这是英式英语的表达。美国人会认为each的位置不对,而说:They each have their own problem.

当have作吃、喝等动作意义时,无论在英国英语还是美国英语都不是操作词。此时each作主语的同位语时,无论是英国英语还是美国英语,each都必须放在have前:

They each had a cup of tea.

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  • lightheart   提出于 2020-02-18 17:50