通常觉得,以 -ed 结尾的形容词用于修饰人,以 -ing 结尾的形容词用于修饰事物。但有时确实可以见到以 -ed 结尾的形容词用于修饰事物,如 interested look。请剖析一下这种使用方法的特征。
▲英语中,有一类“使令性动词”,表示人的心理或情绪变化。由此变化而来的目前分词和过去分词是同一个词源:目前分词表示事物本身的性质与给别人的感受,意为“让人如何”;过去分词表示人的心理和情绪遭到的变化,是被动的感觉,意为“感到如何”。通常觉得,也正如你所说的那样,以-ed结尾的形容词多用于修饰人,以-ing结尾的形容词多用于修饰事物。但这只不过一种表象,不是问题的实质。请看:
You always look frightenIng when you wake up.你醒来时总露出让人恐惧的样子。
You always look frightened when you wake up.你醒来时总露出感到恐惧的样子。
The little boy is very interesting. 这个小孩子非常有趣。
The little boy is very interested in the toy. 这个小孩子对着玩具有兴趣。
▲为什么出现上述两种状况?问题的重要在哪儿呢?
我觉得,问题的重要在于分词形容词的性质:“目前分词(的形容词)表主动,过去分词(的形容词)表被动”。-ing修饰人完全可以,-ed也可以修饰物(限于表情之类)。同一个人或事物,可以有两种结果:
You look frightening.
Since you look frightening, you have a frightening look.
You look frightened.
Since you look frightened, you have a frightened look.
▲这是我一个人撰写的题,目前考考你:
1. Richard felt ________ with their ________ service at the hotel.
2. The movie was ________. Rose was greatly ________.
3. Sophia wasn’t ________ though her answer was ________.
4. Jenny is ________ at the ________ news.
5. The cartoon was ________ and Victor was very ________ in it.
6. William became ________ at his ________ job.
7. The tiger looked ________, but Lily wasn’t ________.
8. His speech was very ________. Mary became ________.
9. Charles wasn’t ________ though the story you had told was ________.
10. The scene was quite ________. Catherine got ________.
11. The result of the examination was ________, so Judy became ________.
12. The great man’s death was ________. Henry became ________ at it.
13. Karen felt ________ at the ________ party last night.
14. The noise is very ________. Peter has become ________.
15. Nancy was ________ by his ________ question.
16. Your explanation is ________. Mark has got ________.
17. Alice felt ________ because there was an ________ silence.
18. The train’s delay was ________. Bill felt ________.
19. Helen is ________ because she has made ________ progress in her study.
20. Anne was ________ by my ________ words.
21. Samuel felt ________ when he heard her ________ words.
22. Julia became ________ of the ________ lecture by the professor.
23. David was ________ by the ________ buildings in the old city.
24. Nina was ________ because there had been several ________ phone calls.
25. Andrew felt ________ when he saw the ________ battle in the film.
【参考答案】1.satisfied, satisfying 2.moving, moved 3.discouraged, discouraging 4.surprised, surprising 5.interesting, interested 6.bored, boring 7.frightening, frightened 8.inspiring, inspired 9.amused, amusing 10.amazing, amazed 11.disappointing, disappointed 12.astonishing, astonished 13.excited, exciting 14.annoying, annoyed 15.puzzled, puzzling 16.confusing, confused 17.embarrassed, embarrassing 18.frustrating, frustrated 19.pleased, pleasing 20.encouraged, encouraging 21.upset, upsetting 22.tired, tiring 23.fascinated, fascinating 24.disturbed, disturbing 25.terrified, terrifying
▲问题的重要,不是对你说多少类似an interested look的词组,而是你要了解里面的道理和不同。再给剖析一下:
a satisfied smile(感到)认可的微笑 (这种微笑是在人感到认可后表现出来的微笑)
比较:a satisfying smile让人认可的微笑(这种微笑是叫人认可的微笑。意味着笑得真诚自然,不做作。)
an astonished expression(感到)惊讶的表情 (这种表情是在人感到吃惊后显现出来的表情)
比较:an astonishing expression让人惊讶的表情(这种表情是叫人吃惊的表情。意味着这个表情有的可怕,使人惊讶。)