The top official has duty to protect young from carbon emissions.
上面句子中的不定式作定语,have duty to do sth 意思是“有做做某事的责任”。
类似地,在I have work to do中,不定式to do,也是定语,意思是“有要做的工作”。
The top official has duty to protect young from carbon emissions.这个句子感觉在young前应该加上the, the young表年轻人,表类别时,一般是the+形容词. 句中的to protect the young from carbon emissions是对duty的解释说明,将其内容具体化,即:保护年轻人免遭碳排放的后果。例如:Every citizen has duty to report crimes to the police.和 Public servants have duty to serve people heart and soul.在这种情况下,不定式做后置定语的结构,常常表达为:---N+to do ---, to do是对前面名词的解释,说明其具体指代,名词与不定式之间形成同位语。再看更多的例子。1. We all have a dream to go to college(上大学的梦想). 2. Every now and then, we have an itch to travel(旅行的渴望). 3.She expressed a wish to be alone.(一个人的愿望) 4. We have faith in his ability to handle problems.(处理问题的能力) 5. He doesn't have the courage to apologize for his actions.(为自己的行为道歉的勇气)
The top official has duty to protect the young from carbon emissions.
句中的duty最好前面加个a。
张满胜老师在“英语语法新思维高级教程驾驭语法”一书第4章不定式中把同位语关系划分到定语这一类,他自己也说了,严格意义上这两者不一样,只是为了方便读者理解而已。
我认为楼主的这一句严格来说是同位语。判断不定式后修饰是否为同位语Leech提过一个方法:
The police have been investigating a plot to kidnap a prominent diplomat. (例句)
The relation of apposition can be seen if we relate the noun phrase to a subject +be + complement construction:
The plot is to kidnap a prominent diplomat.(引自A Communicative Grammar of English 1st by Geoffrey Leech1975年)
所以楼主的例句:The top official has a duty to protect the young from carbon emissions.
是否可以改成:
The duty is to protect the young from carbon emissions.
回答是肯定的,所以可以判断为是不定式后修饰作同位语。事情还没有结束:
He lost the ability to use his hands. (A Students Grammar of the English Language)
作者Greenbaum认为这里的不定式是作同位语,按照上面的说法是否可以写为:
The ability is to use his hands. (?)
然而这是一个错句,并没有这种表示方法。
所以上面改写的说法是充分不必要条件。Leech在其第三版中就把上面的那段话删除了,不过仍然还是有很大的价值。
不定式作什么成分就那几种:主谓,动宾,状和补,以及同位语,其实仔细对比分析,还是可以判断是属于哪种或是哪几种的!