讓名詞“動”起來

鄒利紅

有些名詞如book，table，hand，flag，water大家最為熟悉不過，但native speaker經常把它們當作動詞用。筆者根據自己在教學和閱讀中所碰到的情況，列舉一組名詞用作動詞的突出現(xiàn)象，以供參考。

bridge n. 橋梁；橋牌/v. 連接，溝通（to connect）

Parents are trying to bridge the generation gap with their children.

父母都在設法彌合兒女的代溝。

These tax reforms attempt to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

這些稅收改革旨在彌合貧富之間的差距。

book n. 書本/v. 預訂座位、票、旅館房間等，警方登記為指控之用

Mr. Chen has booked a room at a hotel.

The police booked him for drunken driving.

Yesterday he booked a flight to Japan.

cap n. 便帽/v. 約束或制止

The new law has capped the crabbing season in our area.

新法律限制了該地區(qū)鋪螃的時節(jié)。

club n. 俱樂部，高爾夫球棒/v. 用棍棒打

The police clubbed a path through the crowd.

The boy clubbed the birds nest with a long stick.

chair n. 椅子/v. 擔任主席

She will chair the maths department next term.

下學期她將擔任數學系主任。

corner n. 角落、角壁/v. 將某人逼入困境或令人無地自容

He has been cornered by his best friend.

Finally the escaped criminal was cornered.

那名逃犯最終走投無路了。

dog n. 狗/v. 尾隨某人，困擾某人或某事

He was dogged wherever he went.

He is dogged by ill-health.

doctor n. 醫(yī)生/v. 竄改，對……做手腳

They were charged with doctoring the election results.

He tried to doctor the number before tax time.

duck n. 鴨子/v. 逃避，躲避，回避

The man ducked behind the crowd as soon as he had spoken.

那人話一講完就躲到人群后面去了。

distance n. 距離/v. 冷淡，疏遠

It is difficult for him to distance himself from her.

flag n. 旗幟/v. 打旗號或做手勢來傳遞信息

When my car broke down， I flagged a police car.

The beach life-guards usually flag one another for communication.

floor n. 地板/v. 加油門，加速開車，使人驚訝

As soon as I saw his gun， I floored my car.

The news really floored me， I hadnot been expecting it at all.

father n. 父親/v. 為人之父

Hopefully， Mr. Chen is going to father a child soon.

house n. 房屋/v. 提供住所

I would be glad to house you for the weekend.

pride n. 榮譽/v. 感到得意或自豪

I have long prided myself on being a good cook.

radio n. 收音機/v. 廣播，發(fā)報

At the airport， a lady radioed for a missing child.

在機場，一位女士正在廣播尋找一個失蹤的孩子。

soldier n. 士兵/v. 不畏困難，堅持下去

The Marine Corps usually have to soldier on under the hardest conditions.

table n. 桌子/v. 擱置

We are tabling this matter until further notice.

top n. 頂端/v. 做得更好，高過某人endprint

If he had tried harder， he could have topped his class.

歸納起來，不外乎以下幾類名詞?？梢赞D化為動詞。

1. 表示人體部位名稱的名詞“動”起來。表示人體部位的名詞mouth，nose，hand，finger，arm，elbow，shoulder，breast，thumb，stomach，leg，heel，foot等都可以用作動詞。如：

Bill suddenly headed the ball into the goal.

比爾突然用頭將球頂入球門。

Her sweetheart lipped her and then went to the dance alone.

她的戀人吻了她，然后自己進舞場去了。

2. 表示動物名稱的名詞“動”起來。如：

Jasper foxed the invigilator in the mathematics examination.

賈思柏在數學考試中舞弊。

He is the chief suspected criminal dogged by the police.

他是被警察局追蹤的重大嫌疑犯。

3. 表示植物名稱的名詞“動”起來。如：

有些植物名詞如tree，grass，flower等都可轉用為動詞。例如：

The dog treed the cat.

狗趕貓上樹。

The hut was grassed around.

4. 表示天氣，時間名稱的名詞“動”起來。如：

The sky clouded over.

We summered in Guilin last year.

They are going to honeymoon in Suzhou.

They only hope of victory was to storm the enemy camp at night.

他們唯一的勝利希望寄托在夜晚向敵營的猛攻。

5. 表示武器、工具等名稱的名詞“動”起來。如：

The scientist rocketed the satellite into orbit.

科學家們用火箭將衛(wèi)星推進軌道。

The kids were so bravely that they stoned a cobra to death.

The county ordered his men to hammer down the announcements on trees.

6. 表示電器，樂器名稱的名詞“動”起來。如：

She telephoned that she could not come to the English Evening.

7. 表示方位，空間名稱的名詞“動”起來。如：

The deputies proposed to position the factory near a turnpike.

英語名詞轉化作動詞用，遠不只以上幾個方面所述，還有許多表示其他事物的名詞用動詞后，都各具特色，各顯其功能。比如：to author a book（寫一本書），to staff a school（為學校配備教員），to paper a wall（用紙糊墻），to people the new lands（向新開發(fā)區(qū)移民）等。

這種轉化類型繁多，不一而足，有待我們努力探索，靈活掌握正確使用。endprint