虚拟语气中若主句包括宾语从句如何安排谓语时态(续)

由于不能追问,针对上个问题“虚拟语气中若主句包括宾语从句如何安排谓语时态”中老师的回答继续请教。上个问题中老师说主语中的虚拟语气 would have done 不能用在主语的宾语从句中,但有这么一题(“英语语法网”的语法练习《 英语虚拟语气考点练习13题》):

Thank you very much indeed. If it had not been for your advice I really _____ what I should have done.

A.do not know   B.have not known  C.had not known  D. would not have known.

我选D答案给的A.

请问老师该题怎么理解。

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最佳答案 2015-08-19 19:43

在虚拟条件句中,如果主句的宾语是个宾语从句,到底是主句用虚拟语气还是从句用虚拟语气,通常没有固定的格式,这需要根据句子的具体语境来确定:
1. 如果主句内容与事实相反,宾语从句内容与事实相符,则主句谓语用虚拟语气,宾语从句谓语用陈述语气。如:
If you went into town, you'd notice all the pubs have loud jukeboxes. 你若进城去,你会注意到所有的酒吧都有声音很大的自动点唱机。(all the pubs have loud jukeboxes为客观事实,与事实相符,故用陈述语气)
2. 如果宾语从句内容与事实相反,主句内容与事实相符,则宾语从句谓语用虚拟语气,主句谓语用陈述语气。如:
If we had been spotted at that point, I don’t know what would have happened to us. 如果当时我们被发现了,我不知道会有什么后果。(I don’t know 指现在的的情况,故用陈述语气,指“现在不知道”)
I hate to think what would have happened if we hadn’t arrived. 我不敢想象当时我们没有到达会出现什么情况。(I hate to think指现在的情况,故用陈述语气,指“现在不敢想象”)
▲请看一道高考题:
If Newton lived today, he would be surprised by what ______ in science and technology. (2007天津卷)
A. had discovered                     B. had been discovered
C. has discovered                     D. has been discovered
本题答案为D。此题可用排除法来做。根据what与discover的关系可知,此处应用被动语态,即指被发现的东西,故可排除选项A和C;由于句首使用了非真实的条件句(即虚拟条件句), 所以此题的迷惑性很大,许多考生会误选B。其实,由于句中的虚拟语气是对现的情况进行假设(注意句中的today),所以主句谓语用了 would be 与其呼应,而“在科学和技术方面所取得的发现”指的是现在的事实,而非假设,所以此处要用现在完成时,而不能用过去完成时。即答案选D,而不是B。

▲语法网上这道题的分析:
Thank you very much indeed. If it had not been for your advice I really _____ what I should have done.
A.do not know      B.have not known     C.had not known      D. would not have known.
本题之所以选 A,是因为 I don’t know 指现在的情况,即:如果当时不是听了你的建议,我现在真不知道我当时做出了什么事来。

 

与刘老师探讨,并向刘老师学习!
下面给出以上各句的出处:
(1) If you went into town, you’d notice all the pubs have loud jukeboxes. 如果你进了城,你会注意到所有的酒吧都有音量很大的自动点唱机。(摘自《柯林斯高级英语词典》)
(2) If we had been spotted at that point, I don’t know what would have happened to us. 如果当时我们被发现了,我不知道会有什么后果。(摘自《柯林斯高级英语词典》)
(3) I hate to think what would have happened if we hadn’t arrived. 我不敢想象当时我们没有到达会出现什么情况。(摘自《牛津英语搭配词典》)
另外补充一句:
(4) If it hadn’t been for your help, I don’t know what I’d have done. 要不是你的帮助,真不知道我当时会怎么办。(摘自《英语用法指南》)
其实刘老师的分析也是有道理的,只是上面提到的几个句子有些特殊而已。如果网友能综合地理解,对英语学习一定会大有帮助!

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其它 1 个回答

刘永科   - 教育出版集团英语总顾问 & 英语系列图书主编
擅长:语法理论,语言学,文化背景

一、你这个例子与前面的问题,没有关联性。我把前面的解答抄在这里:

【问】1. 如果主句的宾语是个宾语从句,那么would have done 是用在主句中充当谓语,还是主句的宾语从句中充当谓语?

【答】would have done用在主句中,宾语从句用陈述语气。

【问】2. 如果用在主句中充当谓语,那么宾语从句的谓语用什么形式?

【答】宾语从句仍用陈述语气。根据语境需要,宾语从句一般使用“过去范畴的时态”:一般过去时,过去完成时,过去进行时、过去将来时等。如:

If you had come earlier, you would have seen what had happened.

即便不用虚拟语气,宾语从句也用过去完成时:You saw what had happened.

If you had asked him, he would have told you that he would refuse to help.

即便不用虚拟语气,宾语从句也用过去将来时:He told you that he would reuse to help.

二、实话实说,这个句子不好理解,不知所云:

Thank you very much indeed. If it had not been for your advice I really don't know what I should have done.

至少两个地方无法解释:don't know 意思是“现在仍然不知道”;what I should have done 意思是“我过去本该做而没有做的事情”。

整个句子意思是:多谢你的帮助。如果当时没有你的建议,我现在真的不知道我本该做而没有做的事情。(注:这句话表达的意思是,“我现在仍然不知”)

 

 看见陈老师的解答,我想补充几句:

I don’t know what would have happened to us if we had been spotted at that point.

该句完全正确。因为if we had been spotted at that point是修饰what would have happened to us的,它与I don’t know 无关。

但是,如果把主句I don’t know分隔出来,移到 if 从句后、宾语从句中的主句之前: If we had been spotted at that point, I don’t know what would have happened to us.

那么,根据句子结构和逻辑分析,If we had been spotted at that point 则是修饰 I don’t know,现在,它修饰的对象变了,不是原来的 what would have happened to us

同理,I hate to think what would have happened if we hadn’t arrived. 如果把主句 I hate to think分隔出来,变成:If we hadn’t arrived, I hate to think what would have happened.

那么,很难想象这个句子会表达什么意思。

最后,需要说明的是:

If we had been spotted at that point, I don’t know what would have happened to us. 能跟I don’t know what would have happened to us if we had been spotted at that point.相等吗?这种分隔破坏了原有的句子格局,导致修饰成分错位。

如有不足或错误,请陈老师批评指正。

 

看到了陈老师的回复,很高兴!

陈老师给的4个句子,句1, 句3,都没问题。

句1的虚拟语气用在主句上,宾语从句用陈述语气。这很正常。

句3,I hate to think 的宾语从句含有条件虚拟语气句,也很正常。

但是,我对句2,句4,仍持有怀疑态度,因为这样的修饰关系根本讲不通。实实在在地说,这样的表达不符合语法规则。

尽管例句出自国外辞书,但这两个句子我无法认同。限于目前本人水平,我解释不了,这已经超出了虚拟语气的用法。我认为这种用法不多见,除非是 informal or spoken English。句子在这儿摆着,无论谁分析这个句子结构,都是这样的:

条件句:If we had been spotted at that point,   主句:I don’t know ...

我仍然认为,这样表达才是符合规则的:

I don’t know what would have happened to us if we had been spotted at that point.

I don’t know what I’d have done if it hadn’t been for your help.

 

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  • 曹强 提出于 2015-08-19 13:33

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