老师好。我有两个问题想请教。
His proposal is doomed to fail. 是否可以改写成 It's doomed for his proposal to fail. for his proposal to fail is doomed.
to have done 表示不定式动作发生于谓语之前,可是像I'm sorry to hear that 这样的句子我一时没想通。为什么不是I'm sorry to have heard that. 谢谢老师。
问题一:
His proposal is doomed to fail. 不可以改写成 It's doomed for his proposal to fail. 或 For his proposal to fail is doomed.
一个简单的原因是:doomed是否完全形容词化语言学家们都意见不一(有的词典收录了形容词doomed,有的词典没有收录doomed这个形容词,而只收录其动词用法)。而你说的It's doomed for his proposal to fail. 或 For his proposal to fail is doomed. 显然只能是当doomed为形容词时才能用的句型。
be doomed to通常被认为是一个被动结构,其中的to可以是不定式符号(后接动词原形),也可以是介词(后接名词)。如:
be doomed to do sth
All mortals are doomed to die. 人人都注定要死。
Shakespeare presents the hero as a noble man doomed to make mistakes.莎士比亚把主人公表现成一位高尚却注定要犯错的人。
be doomed to sth
Are whales doomed to extinction? 鲸是否注定要绝种?
Her plan was doomed to failure. 她的计划注定要失败。
They were doomed to a life of poverty. 他们注定过着贫穷的生活。
问题二:
首先要说明的是,英语完全可以说be sorry to have done,但它与be sorry to do sth有区别:用完成式,则一定表示先于谓语动作发生(两者之间通常有一定的时间间隔,动作的先后关系明显,且说话人强调这种先后关系);而用一般式则可能表示先于谓语动作发生(两者之间的时间间隔很短甚至几乎同时,说话人不强调其先后关系),也可能晚于谓语动作发生。比较:
I’m terribly sorry to have kept you waiting. 很抱歉,让你久等了。(不定式先于主句谓语,两者有一定的时间间隔,且说话者强调两者的先后关系)
I’m sorry to have to tell you you’ve failed. 我只能遗憾地告诉你,你不及格。(不定式晚于主句谓语)
I’m sorry to hear that. 听到这事儿我很难过。(不定式先于主句谓语,但两者的时间间隔很短,几乎同时)