regret to have done是否符合惯用法
■倪肖丁(西安)
《薄冰英语惯用法词典》(薄冰主编,王福祯执行主编,商务印书馆国际有限公司,2009)第833页指出:regret后接不定式的完成式时,其意义相当于regret接v-ing形式,都表示对已发生之事感到遗憾、后悔。例如: He regrets to have done (或having done, doing) such a thing. 他后悔做了这件事。
《薄冰英语惯用法词典》的上述说法是否符合英语习惯?回答是否定的。
首先,英文的习惯是:表示对已发生的事情感到后悔,regret后的动词形式应该用-ing分词,无论是doing sth还是having done sth。当然也可以用that分句。例如:
I regret telling you that John stole it. (= I regret that I told you that John stole it.) (UEG)
I regret wasting/regret having wasted so much time last year. (OGEG)
这种情况下不能用regret to have done形式。例如,LDCE指出:When you are talking about the past, use regret doing sth or regret that. 例如:
I have often regretted leaving the police force.
I now regret not having worked harder at school.
但不能说* I now regret not to have worked harder at school.
Longman Essential Activator在谈到regret用于对已经发生的事情表示后悔时也明确指出:Don’t say “I regret to do it”or“I regret to have done it”. Say I regret doing it or I regret that I did it.
显然,英美辞书对regret to have done用于“表示对已发生之事感到遗憾、后悔”持否定态度,这也与我们的日常阅读体验相一致。
至于regret后接动词不定式to do...,则用于对即将传递(或已获得)的信息表示遗憾或难过。CCEG(2011)指出:Regret is only used with the to-infinitive of a small number of verbs that share the meaning of giving or receiving information.
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