I asked him more than ten questions, but he did not reply a single one. (全国高考)
这是一道改错题。标准答案规定将 reply 改为 reply to。但是,我查英汉词典,reply 也可用作及物动词,作“回答”“答复”解。既然如此,为什么在上面的试题里一定要把 reply 改为 reply to 呢?
及物动词 reply 意为“回答说”，一般接 that 从句、直接引语，或者用在不定代词之后作定语。如果接名词，则是指“回答出来的话”“回答出来的内容”。它不能表示“对……作回答”“答复某人”“回……信”等，因此不能说，reply me, reply my letter, reply my question 等等。请看下面的例句：
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He replied that no one would go. (RCD) 他回答说谁也不去。
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‘Did you have a nice journey?’ ‘Yes,’ Jenny replied, ‘nice and quick.’…(EED) “你旅行很愉快吗?”“是的，”珍妮回答说，“又愉快，又迅速。”……
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He did not know what to reply. (UED) 他不知道该作什么样的回答。
(比较 He did not know what to reply to. 他不知道该对什么事情作回答。)
- Not a syllable did he reply. (RCD) 他一个字也没有回答。
当表示“回信”“对……作出回答”时，则必须使用 reply to + 宾语：
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He gave me no chance to reply to his question... (EED) 他没有给我机会来回答他的问题……
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She replied to me in a very rude manner. 她以一种非常无礼的方式答复我。
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None of the letters have been replied to. (CIE) 所有的来信连一封也没有回。
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For a moment Arthur was at a loss how to reply to it. (Voynich) 有片刻阿瑟不知道如何回答这个问题。
I ____ to your letter which arrived two days ago before leaving for Rome.