She hears of my plans only a few minutes or so before I give orders to carry them out.
a few minutes before是前面省略了介词for,还是a few minutes 修饰介词before?
我跟Expert 的看法不同。
1. a few minutes or so 修饰before,而不是hear of 的持续时间,之前决不可加for 。
2. hear of (听说)是个终止性动作,不能延续,不可用 a few minutes or so 修饰。
3. a few minutes or so 说明前后相差的时间,如果去掉也可以,只表示先后,看不出时间差。
4. 句子应该这样翻译:
She hears of my plans only a few minutes or so before I give orders to carry them out.
【翻译】就在我下令执行计划的几分钟前,她就听说了(我的计划)。
我举一个类似的句子,做个比较:
He left here three minutes before you arrived.
在你到达的三分钟之前,他就离开了这里。
three minutes 修饰before,说明前后相差的时间,如果去掉,只表示先后,看不出时间差:
He left here before you arrived.
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