7. Mix It Up with Active and Passive Voice

主動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)和被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)混合在一起

In many English sentences, the subject is the one performing the action described by the verb of the sentence. This is called “active voice.”

在許多英文的句子里,，句子的主語(yǔ)是動(dòng)作的執(zhí)行者。這就是主動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)

While the children played a game in the backyard, their dad prepared dinner.

孩子們?cè)诤笤和嬗螒虻臅r(shí)候,，他們的爸爸在準(zhǔn)備晚飯,。

In other instances, the subject is being acted upon. Someone else is performing the action! This is “passive voice.”

在其他的情況下，主語(yǔ)是被執(zhí)行者,，其他人在完成這個(gè)動(dòng)作,。這就是被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)。

While a game was played by the kids, dinner was prepared by their dad.

孩子們?cè)诤笤和嬗螒虻臅r(shí)候,，他們的爸爸在準(zhǔn)備晚飯,。

This sentence also has two clauses, and both of them are written in the passive voice: the game was played (by the kids) while dinner was prepared (by their dad).

句子由兩部分組成,，兩部分都包含著被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)：游戲由孩子們來(lái)玩，晚飯由爸爸來(lái)做,。

While it’s recommended to use passive voice sparingly, you should know how to recognize and use both active and passive voices.

我們推薦偶爾使用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài),，但是你應(yīng)該明白如何讓辨認(rèn)并且使用主被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)。

A good mix of active and passive verbs will make your English, especially written English, varied and colorful. Don’t be afraid of combinations!

同時(shí)使用主被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)尤其是你的書(shū)面英語(yǔ)富有變化且多彩,。要勇敢地把主被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)結(jié)合在一起使用,。

8. For Collective Nouns, Context Is Everything

對(duì)于集合名詞，語(yǔ)境決定一切

Sometimes, a singular noun represents a group of people or a collection of things. Should it take a singular or a plural verb? Is family singular or plural? Is government plural or singular? How about crowd or flock? These types of nouns are known as collective nouns. You’ll treat them differently depending on context.

有時(shí)候,，一個(gè)單數(shù)的名詞代表著很多人或者很多事物,。那么這種情況下，謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞應(yīng)該采取單數(shù)還是復(fù)數(shù)呢,？family是單數(shù)還是復(fù)數(shù)呢,？government是單數(shù)還是復(fù)數(shù)呢？crowd和flock呢,？這類(lèi)名詞被叫做集合名詞,。對(duì)待這類(lèi)詞應(yīng)該視語(yǔ)境而定。

First, consider whether you’re operating in British English or American English. In American English, collective nouns typically take a singular verb. For example:

首先,，要考慮你正在處理的是英式英語(yǔ)還是美式英語(yǔ),。在美式英語(yǔ)中，集合名詞的謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞多用單數(shù)形式,。例如：

My family loves me a lot.

我的家人很愛(ài)我,。

The American government is voting on this issue today.

美國(guó)政府今天將就這個(gè)問(wèn)題投票。

There are two important exceptions that you’re likely to encounter in casual conversation: police and people. Police and people always take a plural verb.

在日常的交流中,，你還會(huì)遇到兩個(gè)重要的特殊集合名詞：police和people,。police和people的謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞通常才用復(fù)數(shù)形式。

The Boston Police make reports on the matter.

波士頓警察正在就這個(gè)問(wèn)題作報(bào)告,。

People are starting to wonder what’s going on.

人們想知道發(fā)生了什么。

However, in British English, collective nouns may take a singular or a plural verb, depending on the rest of the sentence. If the collective noun represents a group acting as one unit, it takes a singular verb. If the collective noun stands for several individuals or things acting independently, it takes a plural verb. For example:

然而,，在英式英語(yǔ)中,，集合名詞的謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞既可以采用復(fù)數(shù)形式，也可以采用單數(shù)形式,，這要視句子中的其他成分而定,。如果集合名詞代表一群人但卻以一個(gè)整體出現(xiàn)，那么謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞使用單數(shù),。如果集合名詞代表幾個(gè)個(gè)體或者一些事物以單獨(dú)的形式出現(xiàn),，那么謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞采用復(fù)數(shù)形式。例如：

My family are all coming to the wedding. (“Family” stands for several different people who’ll arrive at the wedding, not necessarily together.)

我的家人都來(lái)參加婚禮了,。（family代表不同的人,，他們將來(lái)參加婚禮,，但是不是必須同時(shí)到達(dá)。）

The staff disagree on the deadline for the project. (The staff are employees who have different opinions about the project deadline.)

員工們對(duì)于這個(gè)方案的最后期限意見(jiàn)不統(tǒng)一,。（staff是不同的雇員,，他們對(duì)于方案的最后期限有著不同的看法。）

9. Always Use Complete Sentences, Not Sentence Fragments

使用完整的句子而不是句子片段

The most basic sentence in English has two elements: a subject and a verb.

英語(yǔ)中最基本的句子有兩個(gè)成分：主語(yǔ)和謂語(yǔ),。

She sings.

她唱歌,。

I write.

我寫(xiě)作。

Having a subject and a verb is the minimum requirement for English sentences. If either of those is missing, the sentence isn’t complete. Sentence fragments shouldn’t be used alone.

在一個(gè)英文句子中,，主語(yǔ)和謂語(yǔ)是最基本的存在,。兩者中的任何一個(gè)丟失，句子都不是完整的,。句子片段不能夠單獨(dú)使用,。

Make it a rule for yourself to always write in complete sentences. Check if there’s a subject and a verb in your sentence. If not, insert one! Connecting sentence fragments into more complex sentences will make your English speech and English writing correct and varied.

寫(xiě)完整的句子應(yīng)該成為你為自己制定的規(guī)則。寫(xiě)好之后要檢查句子里是否有主語(yǔ)和謂語(yǔ),。如果沒(méi)有,，要補(bǔ)充上。把句子片段連接起來(lái)組成更加完整的句子會(huì)使你的英文演講和英文寫(xiě)作富有變化且正確,。

10. Learn Some Question Tags to Simplify Your Life

使用反義疑問(wèn)句使生活更加簡(jiǎn)單

You know those short questions that sometimes get added to the end of a sentence, don’t you? These are called question tags, and they’re neat, aren’t they? They can make your life easier, especially in an English conversation, because they allow you to easily turn statements into yes or no questions.

你認(rèn)識(shí)那些放在句尾短的疑問(wèn)句吧,，是不是？他們被稱(chēng)作反義疑問(wèn)句,，這些句子很簡(jiǎn)潔,，不是嘛？使用他們能夠使生活更加簡(jiǎn)單,，尤其是在使用英語(yǔ)交流的時(shí)候,，因?yàn)樗麄兡軌虬涯愕年愂龊苋菀椎霓D(zhuǎn)化成帶有yes或者no的問(wèn)題。

The rule for forming a question tag is simple: if the main verb of the sentence is positive, the question tag takes its negative form. If the main verb of the sentence is negative (has “not” in it), the question tag takes its positive form. A question tag will always conform to the main verb of the sentence.

反義疑問(wèn)句的使用規(guī)則很簡(jiǎn)單：如果主句謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞是肯定的,，那么反義疑問(wèn)句的謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞就用否定的形式,。如果主句謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞是否定的（句子中含有not）,反義疑問(wèn)句的謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞就采用肯定的形式。反義疑問(wèn)句的謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞常與逐句地謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞一致,。

She forgot her lunch, didn’t she? or She didn’t forget her lunch, did she?

她忘記吃午飯了不是嘛,？或者她沒(méi)有忘記吃午飯，是嘛,？

However, here’s another thing to remember: if the main verb of the sentence is “I am,” the question tag that corresponds is “aren’t I.”

這里我們還需要記住另一個(gè)規(guī)則：如果主句的主語(yǔ)和謂語(yǔ)是“I am”,那么反義疑問(wèn)句相應(yīng)的形式就應(yīng)該是“aren’t I ”,。

I am going to have to change my plans, aren’t I?

我不得不改變我的計(jì)劃，不是嘛,？

If you don’t feel like using a contraction to form a negative question tag, be careful with the placement of “not.”

如果你不想使用縮寫(xiě)形式的反義疑問(wèn)句,，要額外注意not的位置。

She forgot her lunch, did she not?

她沒(méi)有忘記吃午餐,。不是嘛,？

11. Feel Free to Use Dangling Prepositions

自如地使用懸垂介詞

Whenever a preposition gets separated from its object in the sentence (or when it doesn’t have an object at all), it becomes a dangling preposition.

當(dāng)介詞在句子中與它的賓語(yǔ)分開(kāi)使用時(shí)（或者它根本就沒(méi)有賓語(yǔ)時(shí)）,，它就變成了懸垂介詞。

Whom are you talking to?

你在跟誰(shuí)說(shuō)話(huà),？

You can come downstairs; there’s nothing to be afraid of.

你可以下樓,，沒(méi)什么可害怕的。

You may encounter native English speakers who believe it’s incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition. However, dangling prepositions aren’t a grammatical error.

你可能會(huì)遇到一個(gè)以英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)的人,，他認(rèn)為以介詞結(jié)束一個(gè)句子是錯(cuò)誤的,。然而，懸垂介詞在語(yǔ)法上并不是錯(cuò)誤的,。

Actually, avoiding dangling prepositions may result in some awkward sentences!

事實(shí)上,，不把懸垂介詞至于句尾還會(huì)引起句子的歧義。

For example:

例如：

To whom are you talking?

你在跟誰(shuí)說(shuō)話(huà),？

You can come downstairs; there’s nothing of which to be afraid.

你可以下樓,，沒(méi)有什么好害怕的。

These sentences are correct, but not very desirable. As long as you understand dangling prepositions and their grammatical rules, feel free to use them!

這些句子雖然是正確的,，但是說(shuō)法卻不是非�,？扇　Ｖ灰�你知道懸垂介詞并且明白他們的語(yǔ)法規(guī)則,，請(qǐng)自如地使用他們,。

12. But Be Careful with Dangling Participles in Complex Sentences

在復(fù)雜句中小心使用懸垂分詞。

Participles are often used to introduce a subordinate clause in a sentence.

在句子中,，分詞用來(lái)引出一個(gè)從屬的句子,。[/

Doing my homework, I noticed that a few of my notes were missing.

[cn]做家庭作業(yè)的時(shí)候，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我的幾個(gè)紙條不見(jiàn)了,。

That little girl, having dropped her ice cream, is crying uncontrollably.

那個(gè)女孩的冰淇淋掉了,，她正在嚎啕大哭。

在這些例子里,。分詞通常與主語(yǔ)相關(guān),。他們描述主語(yǔ)執(zhí)行的動(dòng)作或者說(shuō)明主語(yǔ)的狀態(tài)。

上述的例子還可以開(kāi)改寫(xiě)成這樣,，他們的意思是相同的：

While I was doing my homework, I noticed that a few of my notes were missing.

當(dāng)我正在做家庭作業(yè)的時(shí)候,，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我的紙條不見(jiàn)了。

That little girl has dropped her ice cream and is crying uncontrollably.

那個(gè)小女孩把她的冰淇淋弄掉了,，她正在嚎啕大哭。

Dangling participles can cause problems for English learners; they can make it easier to forget or confuse the subject-participle relationship. A very common mistake many English learners make is to use a participle that doesn’t relate to the subject of the sentence.

懸垂分詞的使用對(duì)于英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)者而言是一個(gè)大問(wèn)題,；他們會(huì)常常使我們忘記或者混淆主語(yǔ)與分詞之間的關(guān)系,。對(duì)于英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)者而言一個(gè)常見(jiàn)的錯(cuò)誤就是，他們使用的分詞與句子的主語(yǔ)沒(méi)有關(guān)系,。

Walking to the university, the rain started to fall, so he opened his umbrella.

走去學(xué)校,，開(kāi)始下雨,，因此他帶了雨傘。

這個(gè)句子是錯(cuò)誤的,！很明顯,，是他走去學(xué)校，而不是雨,。正確的說(shuō)法應(yīng)該是這樣的：

Walking to the university, he opened his umbrella, because the rain started to fall.

他帶著傘走去學(xué)校,，因?yàn)橄掠炅恕?/font>

正如你所見(jiàn)，在句子中,，懸垂分詞能夠引起令人困惑的語(yǔ)法錯(cuò)誤,，這就反映出了你的寫(xiě)作功底有所不足。與懸垂介詞不同,，我們應(yīng)該盡量避免使用懸垂分詞,。

在英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程中，你可能并不喜歡學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)法,，但是請(qǐng)不要灰心,。一點(diǎn)一點(diǎn)進(jìn)步，一次弄懂一天就可以,，這樣你就會(huì)慢慢的熟練起來(lái),。在這12個(gè)語(yǔ)法小妙招里，我們列出了英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)者最常犯的錯(cuò)誤,。祝你好運(yùn),！(滬江英語(yǔ))