你真的应该学习情态动词!You Really Should Learn Modals!

这周我们将向你展示如何使用情态动词给出建议。情态动词(modals)是助动词,表达说话者的态度及其强弱程度。

例如,“He should visit Prague. 他应该去布拉格。”

在这个句子中,”should” 是情态动词,”visit” 是主动词。

情态动词后跟动词的原型形式,不要在动词后加第三人称单数 “s”。说 “He should visits Prague” 或 “He should to visit Prague” 听起来很奇怪。正确的表达是 “He should visit Prague”。

英语大约有 17 个情态动词 – 语法专家对确切数字没有达成一致。今天我们将重点介绍用于给出建议的三种常见情态动词:should、ought to 和 had better。

使用 should

让我们从 should 开始。Should 有多种含义。它可以用来表示确定性,例如 “He should be here by 5 o’clock.”

Should 可以用作条件词 if 的替代,你可能会听到有人说 “Should you need help, just ask me.”

但更多时候,我们使用 should 来提出建议和友好的忠告,例如 “You should apply for that job” 或 “You should try that new restaurant.”

情态动词 should 的过去形式是 should have + 过去分词。例如 “I should have brought my wallet.” 注意主谓动词 brought 处于过去分词形式。

使用 should have 来表达遗憾或对过去的不满。想象一下你信任了某个人,后来那个人背叛了你。你可以说 “I should have known better than to trust him.”

甲壳虫乐队在他们的一首流行歌曲中使用了这个表达。

I should have known better with a girl like you
That I would love everything that you do
And I do
Hey hey hey

使用 ought to

接下来我们将讨论的情态动词是 ought to。Ought to 是另一个用于给出建议的情态动词。有时 ought to 听起来更像是 “otta”,就像 Al Green 的这首浪漫歌曲中一样。

Sit back down and talk to me
About how you want to be
You ought to be with me
Yeah you ought to be with me

Ought to 的含义与 should 类似,但它并不经常使用。在现代美国英语中,ought to 很少与过去时态或疑问句一起使用。

使用 had better

让我们继续讨论 had better。Had better 比 should 和 ought to 更强烈,它带有间接的威胁。

例如,如果你说 “You had better finish the report”,你并不是在提出一个礼貌的建议。你是在发出一个间接的威胁。

换句话说,如果你不完成报告,你就会遇到麻烦。权威人物有时会用 had better 来对下面的人说话。父母也经常使用这种形式。

听着卡通人物 Malory Archer 说话。Malory 是一个间谍机构的负责人。人们认为她傲慢无情。听听她使用 had better 时的声音语调。

Oh for — I’ll send up some help.
And Missy, you had better watch it!

正如你所听到的,Malory 并不是在提出一个礼貌的建议。她是在威胁一个地位较低的人。

Had better 并不总是无礼的,它可以表达一种紧迫感,例如 “Your plane is leaving! You had better run!” 换句话说,”如果你不跑,你就会错过你的航班。”

Had better 没有过去时态或疑问句形式。

快速语境中的情态动词

对于英语学习者来说,should、ought to 和 had better 可能很难听懂。母语使用者在日常对话中经常会缩写这些词。在快速语境中,情态动词似乎消失了,因为它们被缩写了,而且通常落在无重音节上。

我们将在一些例子中进行朗读。第一个句子将以缓慢、清晰的语调朗读。然后,我们将在快速、非正式的语调中再次朗读它。

I should have been listening to what she had to say.
I shoulda been listenin’ ta what she had t’ say.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
You otta be ashamed of yourself.

You had better decide what you want to do.
You’d better decide whatcha wanna do.

这就是我们今天为你提供的所有建议。关于情态动词还有很多可以学习的。我们将在未来的节目中更详细地介绍它们。在此之前,你应该和英国朋克乐队 The Clash 一起练习情态动词。

Darling you’ve got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I’ll be here till the end of time
So you’ve got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
I’m Pete Musto.

文章中的词语

modal verb – a verb (such as can, could, shall, should, ought to, will, or would) that is usually used with another verb to express ideas such as possibility, necessity, and permission

  • 情态动词 (modal verb) – 与另一个动词一起使用,表达可能性、必要性和许可等想法的动词,例如 can、could、shall、should、ought to、will 和 would。

auxiliary verb – a verb (such as have, be, may, do, shall, will, can, or must) that is used with another verb to show the verb’s tense, to form a question, etc.

  • 助动词 (auxiliary verb) – 与另一个动词一起使用,以显示动词的时态、形成疑问句等,例如 have、be、may、do、shall、will、can 和 must。

attitude – n. the way you think and feel about someone or something

  • 态度 (attitude) – 你对某人或某事的想法和感受。

certainty – n. the state of being or feeling about how likely it is that something will happen

  • 确定性 (certainty) – 某件事发生可能的程度。

conditional – adj. showing or used to show that something is true or happens only if something else is true or happens

  • 条件 (conditional) – 只有当其他事情是真的或发生时,才表示或用于表示某件事是真的或发生的。

past participle – the form of the verb that is used with “have” in perfect tenses and with “be” in passive constructions

  • 过去分词 (past participle) – 与 “have” 一起用于完成时态,与 “be” 一起用于被动结构的动词形式。

arrogant – adj. having or showing the insulting attitude of people who believe that they are better, smarter, or more important than other people

  • 傲慢 (arrogant) – 具有或表现出侮辱性态度,认为自己比其他人更优秀、更聪明或更重要的人。

unstressed – adj. not having an accent

  • 无重音 (unstressed) – 没有重音的。

syllable – n. any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced

  • 音节 (syllable) – 一个词在发音时自然分成的部分。

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