early age与young age的惯用法问题

许多书上都说,英语习惯上说 early age,而不说

young age。但在一本书上看到这样一个句子:

She married young (=at a young age), and was divorced when her children were tiny.  她结婚很早,孩子很小时就离了婚。

句中的括号内用了 at a young age,这符合英语习惯吗?是否应该改为at an early age?

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最佳答案 2014-06-03 23:33

这位网友说得不错,我也见过“英语习惯上说 early age 而不说 young age”的说法。但确实也偶尔可见到 young age 的用法,尤其是用于 at (from) an young age 等搭配中。如:

She died tragically at a young age.(《韦氏高阶英语词典》age 词条)

at / from an early age (=a young age) (《麦克米伦高阶英语词典》age 词条)

我的感觉是:英语可以说 early age,也可以说 young age,但比较而言,early age 比用 young age 更普通。不过值得一提的是,英语习惯上不能按汉语习惯将“他年纪很轻”直译成His age is very young,应说:He is very young.

这是一个有趣的问题,欢迎有更多朋友参与讨论和提供相关例句!

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其它 1 个回答

黎反修   - 英语翻译 (已退休)
擅长:数词用法,存在句,英语考试

early age 和young age 都可以用,例如:

From an early age, she was interested in writing a novel. 她从小就对写小说感兴趣。(《外研社英汉多功能词典》p.43)

He started playing the piano at an early age. 他幼年开始弹钢琴。(《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》第7版age 词条 )

young age 童年 (席玉虎主编《英语常用词用法详解大词典》p.123)

She died tragically at a young age.(《韦氏高阶英语词典》age 词条)

at / from an early age (=a young age) (《麦克米伦高阶英语词典》age 词条)

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  • 蒋仁仙   提出于 2014-06-03 21:00