1 who 抑或 whom？

1　who 抑或 whom？

有一位读者来信问道：who 在什么情况下可以代替 whom？

关于这个问题，许多年来，一直都是有争议的。我们的初步看法是：作为疑问代词，在非正式英语中，主格 who 确是常可代替宾格 whom，例如：

(1)Who do you trust?

(2)Who are you looking for?

who 也可在间接疑问句中代替 whom， 例如：

(3)It depends on who you want.

who 也可置于及物动词之前，例如：

(4)—I saw Ted Dawson today.

—You saw who ? （有人说大多数人仍用 whom）

who 也可置于不定式之前，例如：

(5)Learn who to trust and who not to trust, but don't really trust anyone to start off with.

who 甚至有时还可置于介词之后，例如：

(6)—I give it away.

—To who . （但仍须说 To whom did you give to?）

但在正式英语中，尤其在正式书面语中，许多语法家认为疑问代词 whom 还是不被 who 代替的好。

who 与 whom 用作关系代词时，在非正式英语中，whom 也常被 who 所代替，例如：

(7)The man who I bought it from told me to oil it.

(8)The man who I saw is called Smith.

(9)The people who you were talking to are Swedes.

(10)Mr. Dantry, who I found in great shape and still as dynamic as in the past, asked me to write a note on the mission of March 1940.

为什么主格 who 可以代替宾格 whom 呢？ 其原因并不复杂。由上述例句可以看出， who 所占有的位置是一句之首或一从句之首， 而这正是主语的正常位置，而主语的位置应为主格 who 所占有，这一错觉就是 who 可代替 whom 的原因所在。

但请注意，在复合定语从句中，who 与 whom 却都被认为是正确而且自然的英语。用 who 的情况有如：

(11)I met a man who I thought was a lunatic.

(12)There is no one who we can believe is competent.

有的语法家认为 who 之后应有停顿（或一逗号），如：

(13)There was one， who , I learned it after days, was seen expiating some maturer offence in the hulks.

用 whom 的情况似乎更不鲜见。之所以可以用 whom， 显然是受到其后的及物动词的影响的缘故。但有的较保守的语法家认为用 whom 是错误的，应代之以 who。注意 whom 之后一般不停顿（或不用逗号），例如：

(14)A woman whom I knew was my friend spoke next.

(15)There I saw an old woman whom I guessed was his mother.

(16)The school, founded by the 300 residents of the village, has enrolled 40 children whom they hope will be future soccer stars.

(17)We would welcome your personal recommendation of friends and colleagues whom you consider merit inclusion in Dictionary of International Biography.

whom 有时则难以说是与其后的及物动词有任何关系， 例如：

(18)My wife whom I thank heaven is an honest woman.

(19)He instructed Chang to arrest the Kuomintang agents whom Han had told him were hiding in the village.

最后，我们认为，对中国学生来说，在没有把握的情况下，还是按语法和教科书的规定办事为好。

2　who else's 还是 whose else？

有人问：有这样一道选择题：

If the pen is not yours, _____can it be?

A. who's else　B. whose else　C. whose else's　D. who else's

我认为应选 B，但有人认为应选 D，请问究竟选哪一个对？

应选 D， 这是当今英语一般应用的形式。在20世纪以前，人们多用 whose else。 但从20世纪初开始，除英国教育界有一些人仍在灌输 whose else 外，大多数人都倾向于用 who else's 了。同样，其他如 somebody else 等的所有格也都用 somebody else's 等了。

3　and what not 为何译作“等等”？

有读者问：有这样一句话：

They ransacked his house and took away his books, clothes, typewriter, manuscripts, furniture and what not.

为什么 and what not 被译作“等等”?

and what not 形式上为否定，实义上则为肯定，故可译作“等等”。它是一种省略结构，在此相当于 and I don't know what else they did not take away。 其本意是：我不知道还有什么东西他们没有拿走。

与 and what not 相似的还有 or what not, and I don't know what, and （或 or）what have you， and God knows what 等。这些说法皆起源于美国口语，所以许多英国词典未予收纳。著名的《朗文当代英语词典》 （Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ）曾收入 and what not, 但在其后年版本中却又不见了。

4　what, which, who

有读者问： 下面两句中的what与which有什么区别？

(1)What class are you in?

(2)Which class are you in?

一般说来，what所指的选择范围较为广泛，是无限制的；which所指的选择范围则较小，是有限制的。据此，上述句（1）的意思仅仅是：你在哪个班？ 句（2）的意思则是： （在这几个班中）你在哪一个班？ 再试比较：

(3)What paper do you take? 你订的是什么报？

(4)Which paper do you take?在这几种报纸中你订的是哪一种？

但当which后接表示人的名词时，尤其在较为正式的文体中，却也可用在无限的选择范围内，如一英人所举的例证：

(5)Which writers do you like?

（在一般文体中仍应用What writers do you like?）

顺便提一下，用who时，其选择范围不仅可是无限的，如：

(6)Who is your favourite composer?

也可以是有限的，如：

(7)Who do you like best, your mother or your father?

（当然也可用which代替who，但通常多用who）

最后，必须指出，只有which可后接of，如：

(8)Which of the writers do you like best?