提問:
親愛的編輯同志:
我是一名剛進(jìn)入外企工作的職場新人。進(jìn)了公司之后,原本語法基礎(chǔ)就比較薄弱的我發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個很有意思的問題——對于“明天見”這句簡單的表達(dá),我就聽到了以下幾個不同的版本。為此我頗感疑惑,到底是這些表達(dá)都可以,還是它們各有各的用法呢?希望您能夠指點(diǎn)迷津。
1) I'll see you tomorrow;
2) I'm going to see you tomorrow;
3) I'm seeing you tomorrow;
4) I'll be seeing you tomorrow.
回答:
其實(shí)在英語當(dāng)中,要表達(dá)發(fā)生在未來的事情是比較復(fù)雜的,這大概是因?yàn)橛卸喾N方式可以表示將來時態(tài)。上面四個句子中的用法就經(jīng)常被混淆,因?yàn)檫@些用法的區(qū)別并不是完全固定的,有些時候它們可以互相替換,但是在有的情況下,用串了可是會鬧誤會的。
下面我們來舉例說明:
第一個例子:
I'll see you tomorrow.
這個是will+不定式動詞原型的形式。如果是在說話的同時做的決定,就用這個形式。
請看例句:
When can you give me an answer?
Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Is that okay?
第二個例子:
I'm going to see you tomorrow.
這是“be going to”+不定式動詞原型的形式。如果表示是在說話之前就已經(jīng)做好將來的計劃或者決定,就可以用這種形式。
我們來用例句比較一下前面的兩種表達(dá)方式的區(qū)別:
1. - They say the weather will be nice tomorrow. It's said that it will be a nice day tomorrow.
- Really? Oh well, in that case, I think I'll go to the beach.
2. - They say the weather will be nice tomorrow. It's said that it will be a nice day tomorrow.
- I know - I checked the news yesterday. I'm going to go to the beach. Would you like to come?
在這兩組句子當(dāng)中,兩種表達(dá)方式的區(qū)別就很明顯了。在第一句中,決定是在說話的同時做的,而在第二句當(dāng)中,決定是之前就已經(jīng)做好了的。不過,will通常用于書面語,而to be going to常見于口語,另外,我們通常習(xí)慣性用“go”的現(xiàn)在進(jìn)行時態(tài)代替“going to+go”的形式。
比如:
我們說I am going to town on Saturday,而不說I am going to go to town。
我們說Aegean is going to university next year,而不說 Aegean is going to go to university next year。
現(xiàn)在,我們來看看第三種表達(dá)方式:
I'm seeing you tomorrow.
這是用現(xiàn)在進(jìn)行時來表示將來。我們可以用這種形式來談?wù)撜降摹⒃趯砟硞€時間段的計劃或者是安排。事情是已經(jīng)確定了的,安排也是早就做好的,而且不會有變化了。這種表達(dá)方式跟“to be going to”是比較類似的,但是前者更正式一些,而且時間點(diǎn)更確切。
值得一提的是,在用這種表達(dá)方式的時候,未來的時間是確定的。因此這種方式常用于表達(dá)會議、社交聚會等正式場合。比如說,在周五的時候,辦公室里最常見的問題大概就是:What are you doing this weekend?
最后一種形式:
I'll be seeing you tomorrow.
這是will +不定式的將來進(jìn)行時。這種表達(dá)方式更強(qiáng)調(diào)按照計劃未來某一個時間點(diǎn)正在進(jìn)行的活動或者事情,而這個活動或者事情只會持續(xù)相對來說比較短的時間。
比如:
At this time tomorrow, I'll be swimming in the sea. No more work for me - I'm on holiday!
最后,我們來做一組關(guān)于將來的對話的測試。請注意畫線部分,如果有錯,請改正。
Tina:Have you got a holiday planned?
Eva: Nicole has asked me to visit her in Australia.
Tina: Australia! Sounds brilliant! You①'re going to have a great time there.
Eva: How about you?
Tina: Well, I hope I can go away if I can spare the time, but my boss ②won't be happy if I take off more than a few days. I imagine that my family probably go to Thailand again, to see our relatives there, but I don't think I ③will be able to go with them. They've told me they ④'ll learn some Thai before they go this time… Look, I am sorry, I really get my hands full, we ⑤will have a meeting at ten. I am going to call you back tomorrow evening.
Eva: Okay, I⑥'ll speak to you then.
測試答案:
1. X應(yīng)該用will,因?yàn)镋va要去澳洲度假的消息是剛告訴Tina的,而且是Tina的主觀預(yù)測。
2. V
3. V
4. X 用be going to更合適,事先有所安排的事情。
5. X 用 現(xiàn)在進(jìn)行時或者be going to 更合適,會議是事先安排的。
6. V
好了,說了這么多,希望能夠?qū)δ阌兴鶐椭鋵?shí)簡而言之,“to be going to”和用現(xiàn)在進(jìn)行時(但并不是所有動詞都可以用進(jìn)行時表示將來的,能用的多數(shù)為動作趨向性動詞,比如go,leave等)表示將來的話就是指這個將來的計劃和安排是早已經(jīng)做好了,而用will時候,決定是說話的當(dāng)時做的,而will be doing呢,就是在強(qiáng)調(diào)將來某時間點(diǎn)的行為和狀態(tài)啦。
Anyway, time to finish. I'm meeting my boss in an hour and at this time tomorrow,I will be writing another article for you!