Arrived at the station, he found his train gone一句该如何看待
■倪肖丁(西安)
有下面三个句子:
Arriving at the station, he found his train gone.
Having arrived at the station, he found his train gone.
Arrived at the station, he found his train gone.
《薄冰英语常见共性问题解答》(商务图书馆第一版2010)(133页)认为以上三句意义基本相同。第三句中arrived在语法上叫不及物动词过去分词,是being arrived或having been arrived的省略。
有读者就此提出如下问题:
1. 第三个例句中的Arrived (at)与句子主语he不构成被动关系,但却用过去分词短语作状语。那我可以说Finished the work, I went home吗?
2. 按照《薄冰英语常见共性问题解答》的上述说法,如果把省略部分补全,就可以写成:
Being arrived at the station, he found his train gone.
Having been arrived at the station, he found his train gone.
这是否意味着上述五句意义基本相同?
上述问题的提出,说明《薄冰英语常见共性问题解答》的诠释不够全面、精准,从而对读者认知造成了困扰。
对此,我们需要做出一些澄清。
1. 《薄冰英语常见共性问题解答》列出的第三句中,Arrived的确是不及物动词的过去分词,这是没有问题的。我们知道,及物动词过去分词通常具有“完成”和“被动”双重含义。例如:a used stamp, the completed project。
但不及物动词的过去分词通常只具完成意义,不具被动意义。特别是一些表示位置变动的动词,即Zandvoort所称的mutative verbs(变移动词),其过去分词常被用作名词修饰语。例如:
an escaped convict,a retired business-man, the exploded bomb,a fallen leaf, the collapsed hotel,a travelled man等。
有些分词则通常需要有副词修饰才可以这样用。例如:
a well-read person
the recently-arrived(not: the arrived)immigrants/visitors
The train just arrived at the platform six is the delayed 13:15 from Hereford. (PEU)
以上各例中的过去分词均具有主动意义,即它们所修饰的名词(人或物)发出了这个行为。因此PEU称之为“主动的过去分词”(active past participle)。
2. 上述不及物动词的过去分词都用作名词修饰语,即定语,这是比较常见的。但《薄冰英语常见共性问题解答》上述第三个例句中的Arrived at the station却用作状语,即Zandvoort所称的free adjuncts(自由附加语)。
这一用法可在A Handbook of English Grammar中得到印证,而且实际上Arrived at the station, he found his train gone也是该书的原句。毫不例外,这个arrived也具有主动含义,即句子的主语发出(而非承受)了arrive的行为。
这种用法主要出现在早期比较随意的文体中。例如:
Arrived at the entrance of the hall, he beheld, all along the walls and piled from floor to ceiling, a profusion of rich merchandise, with bales of silk and…(The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night)
Arrived there, he usually has to wait for the train. (How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day)
Arrived at Mr. Damon's home in Waterfield, Tom got quickly to work on the little job he had come to do for his old friend. (TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE)
但这种用法十分罕见。除了arrive,其它动词尚未见到如此使用,不宜“以此类推”。所以不可以说*Finished the work, I went home。
即使arrive这个动词的过去分词短语作状语,基本上也属于“存量”现象,在现代英语中不算规范用法。
例如,剑桥版语法教程Advanced Grammar In Use (2013 Third edition)直接对此用法予以否定。该教程在Study planner环节设计有分词用法学习自测题。其中9.9题如下:
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