问英语｜英语常见问题解答

问

《英语惯用法词典》(葛传槨著, p.283) 说:

“‘on the ground of’(以……为理由)里不可用plural式。”

真的是这样吗？

答

这种说法不符合英语的实际使用情况。CGEL给出的形式是:on(the) ground(s) of(见§9.11),我们再看几个实例:

He left on (the) grounds of ill health [that he was ill]. (LDCE) 他因病离去。
He was excused on the ground(s) of his illness. (ELD) 他由于有病而被原谅了。
He was always declining their invitations on ground of ill health... (EED) 他由于身体不好总是谢绝他们的邀请……
He resigned on the ground of illness. 他以生病为理由辞职了。
She was prohibited from speaking on the grounds that it would stir up trouble. (EED) 有人以可能引起麻烦为理由而禁止她发言。

问

（1）The ground must be just right—neither too wet nor too dry.

(2) A lot of good land has gone with them, leaving only sand.

(3) Knock a long, strong stick into the earth next to the hole.

ground, land 和 earth 都作“土地”解, 它们有区别吗?

答

广义地说,ground 是指从具有一定面积的角度来考虑的“大地表面”“地面”。另外,ground 还作“土壤”解:

We sat on the ground to eat our picnic. 我们坐在地上吃野餐。

与海洋河流相对而言的地面叫 land(陆地、大地):

After two weeks in a boat, we were happy to see land. 我们坐了两个星期的船以后，看见陆地非常高兴。

句(2)中的 land 则另有含义:地皮或农业用地(ground used for farming)(无复数):

They have bought some land and they are going to build a house on it. 他们买了些地，打算盖一所房子。
There is good land here for growing corn. 这儿有一块适于种植谷物的好地。

earth 除作“地球”解之外，还作相对于天空的“地面”解或作供植物生长的“土壤”“泥土”解：

ground