代名词(pronouns: I, me, my, mine, myself, he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, you, your, yours, yourself / yourselves, etc.)是一个代替名词的词,是取代句子中的名词的词,用於避免一遍又一遍地重複相同的名词。
Carlo saw Clara, and he waved at her.
在这句话中Carlo看到了Clara,他朝她挥手,he和her的代词分别取代了Carlo和Clara。最普遍的三种类型的代名词:主语(subject)(例如,he);宾语(object)(him);或 possessive(his)。在代名词的使用时,性别(gender)是重要的,使用不正确的性别可能会把整个句子误解。
大家一般也清楚代名词 I/You/We/He/She/It 的用法,只有"They"是比较有趣:皆因它在不同情况下可以当单数(Singular"they")或複数使用,也可以称它做性别中立(gender-neutral or non-binary)的代名词。我们看看以下例子:
1)They ?are my students, and these excellent assignments are ?theirs. I hope they were completed by ?themselves. ?I like all of ?them?and? their ?assignments.
这句子中的"They","theirs","themselves","them"及"their"最一般複数的用法。
2)Someone ?left ?their ?books in the classroom. Please let ?them? know where? they ?can get it.?
中文翻译是:“有人把书本留在班房,请你/你们让他/她知道在哪裏可以拿取这些书本。”
这个句子以单数代词(Singular pronoun) "their", "them" 及 "they" 指未知道或未肯定的人或事。
3)They ?will not be the first or last person who gets ?themself ?involved in an identity theft case.?
这句子中的主语"They"及"themself"用作强调单数代词或一个人使用,什麼性别也可以。当然,我们要看看情况是否可以这样一概而论,这句子纯粹强调身份盗窃案件发生在任何人身上也可以。
大家有兴趣可以看看这个牛津字典有关Singular They的历史:
A brief history of singular"they"
https: //public.oed.com/blog/
a-brief-history-of-singular-they/
顺带一提,大家勿乱用缩写的possessive代名词"it's"。例如:
It's a dog. 可以是:
It is a dog. 它是一头狗。
It was a dog. 它从前是一头狗。
It has a dog. 它有一头狗。
这有可能会造成世界大战。
事实上,以apostrophe缩写也不应该在学术文章或是商业办公室英语formal writing中使用。整体formality及seriousness会即时降低。
Miss Carol大专院校语文讲师、企业培训讲师及国际英文公开试主考官
Email:carolc.english@gmail.com