假設我們要翻譯以下的中文句子:
他是聰明的孩子
也許我們會將以上的句子翻譯成以下的句子:
*He is clever baby.
這種翻譯是錯的,boy的前面,必須有一個冠詞,英文冠詞只有兩個:a和the,在這個例子,我們應該加a,因此正確的翻譯是:
He is a clever boy.
我們現在再看以下的中文句子:
他是昨天來看我的孩子。
以下的翻譯是錯的:
*He is boy who came to see me yesterday.
為什么錯呢?仍然是在于boy前面沒有冠詞,這次我們必須加the,正確的翻譯是:
He is the boy who came to see me yesterday.
一般來說,英文句子的單數名詞前面都會有冠詞,沒有冠詞是例外,以下的句子都是錯的:
*He saw cat.
*Swimming is good exercise.
*Java is computer language.
*King of England died last night.
*He is professor who taught me English.
正確的句子是:
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.
我們知道大多數的名詞前面要加冠詞,但究竟要加a,還是the呢?我們在下一節(jié)討論。