问英语
原书主词条 · 2 个连续词条

afraid of doing/afraid to do

原书 PDF 第 98 页

afraid of doing/afraid to do1

问

我在一本语法书上遇到这样两个句子：

  1. You need not be afraid of being punished.

  2. He is afraid to do it.

但是,该书并没有对 afraid of doing 与 afraid to do 这两个结构在语义和用法上进行区别。

答

afraid of doing 与 afraid to do 这两个结构在语义上是有区别的。afraid of doing 是指“担心、害怕会发生某事”（worried or anxious about sth. which might happen），例如：

  1. He is not afraid of dying. 他不怕死。

  2. She seems awfully afraid of losing her job. (LDCE) 她好像特别害怕失去她的工作。

afraid to do 则是指“由于害怕而不愿去做某事”（unwilling to do sth. because you are frightened）。be afraid to do sth. = fear to do sth.（害怕做某事），例如：

  1. Don't be afraid to ask questions. (ECD) 不要不敢提问题。

  2. She was afraid to leave her room. 她不敢离开她的房间。

  3. She was afraid to see you again. (Shaw) 她不敢再见你了。

  4. He was afraid to take even a drink of water. (Sinclair) 他甚至连水也不敢喝。

[附注]当 be afraid of 后接的动名词表示意志所致的行为时,它也可能表示“(因担心其后果而)不敢去做某事”:

I'm afraid of telling/to tell her the truth. (BEU) 我不敢告诉她真情。

Markdown：英语常见问题解答大词典-1.md · 5809—5838 行PDF：第 98 页 · afraid of doing/afraid to do 1-2

afraid of doing/afraid to do2

问

《朗文英语正误词典》(安徽科技出版社, p. 9; 朗文出版公司、上海译文出版社, p. 7) 说:

“× The road to the airport was very busy and we were afraid to miss the plane.

∨\vee The road to the airport was very busy and we were afraid of missing the plane.

到机场的路很拥挤,我们担心要误飞机。

(说明)be afraid to do something = be unwilling to do something because you are frightened (因为害怕而不想去做某事), 如: She was afraid to eat it in case it was poisonous. (她怕有毒不敢吃。) be afraid of doing something = be worried or anxious about something which might happen (担心某事会发生)。”

但是我手头有这样的例句: I'm afraid of flying. (我害怕乘飞机。)(PEU), 似乎不能用 be worried or anxious about something which might happen(担心某事会发生)来解释。

答

该书把 were afraid to miss 改为 were afraid of missing 是完全正确的(见 afraid of doing)。该书将 be afraid of doing something 解释为 be worried or anxious about something which might happen(担心某事会发生)，基本上也是正确的。但是这里应当补充的是，be afraid of doing something 除经常作“担心某件不称心的事情会发生”之外，有时也可作“害怕做某事”或“不 敢做某事”解，亦即跟 be afraid to do something 的意思相似。例如：

  1. She was afraid of waking him. 她不敢叫醒他。

  2. I'm not afraid of hurting you. (Greene) 我不怕伤害你。

  3. I'm afraid of telling her. (PEU) 我不敢告诉她。

  4. I'm afraid of diving into the swimming pool. (= I don't want to do it.) (PEU) 我害怕在游泳池里跳水。

这里应当强调指出, be afraid to do 绝不可用来代替作“担心或害怕某件不称心的事会发生”解的 be afraid of doing。

练习

  1. I don't like to speak Spanish because I'm afraid ____ mistakes.

    1. A

      making

    2. B

      to make

    3. C

      of making

    4. D

      to making

  2. Let's not be afraid ____.

    1. A

      to finish when we have attained the end

    2. B

      to end when we have achieved the end

    3. C

      of ending when the end has been completed

    4. D

      to end when we have reached the end (TOEFL)

Markdown：英语常见问题解答大词典-1.md · 5839—5881 行PDF：第 98 页 · afraid of doing/afraid to do 1-2