2 be able to 可以用 sth 作主语吗

Ideally a history would bring together texts and objects, and some chapters of this book are able to do just that, but in many cases we simply can’t.

这是2023年高考英语老全国卷1阅读D中的一句。

请问 be able to 可以用 sth 作主语吗?

有些书说,be able to 可以用 sth 作主语;有些书说,be able to 不可以用 sth 作主语。请问这有什么讲究吗?谢谢!

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6 个回答

凡哥英语   - 归师
擅长:英语

小王同学和好题老师不仅仅提供例句,而且都明确提出了自己的看法和见解,我个人也很赞同。至于网友强调的“有何讲究”,我也补充一下自己的看法供参考:

首先,大家都忽略了一个问题:抛开国内各种“某某编(chao?)”之类的语法书,国外有没有哪(些)本“权威”、“主流”的语法“巨著/名著”明确指出 be able to 的主语不能是人?好像没有。如果没有的话,“be able to的主语只能是人”的说法,会不会又是国人的“自创”或者说照套数学思维来个同理可证、同理可推?就好像由建筑物前加不加 the 想当然地推断出 go to hospital表示“看病”,go to the hospital表示“去医院”这种谬论?

其次,如果国外“权威”书籍找不到明确地说明,那国外“权威”字典会不会有说明?我们知道,如果某个字或词在英语中存在特殊用法,字典一般都会指出来,比如“仅用于表语”、“仅用于名词之后”等等。那么有没有“权威”英英词典,指出be able to的主语只能是人?好像也没有。就连最喜欢说“人们通常用......而不用......”的朗文都没有指出这点。

那么,为什么国内“某某编”之类的语法书会产生“只能是人”这样的误解呢?这个可能和中英文思维的差异有关:

和单独的形容词ableunable不同,"(be) able to (do sth)" 实际上被视为modal verb (这个可以去查英英,甚至有些字典干脆把“able to do sth”整体视为一个phrase),它和can, can't, could, couldn't modal verb一起,主要用来表示做某事的ability(能力),通常是“人”做某事,所以很多字典的例句,其主语都是人。但是,除了“写实”,英文还喜欢使用“比喻”和“拟人”的手法。比如说,中文思维通常认为只有“活物”才能够“说”出什么,“死物”是不可能“说”什么的,所以在中文思维中,类似“那个标志禁止吸烟”、“这张地图那里有个机场”这样的句子会认为是病句,但在英文思维中,在他们的日常生活中,这些死物是完全可以“说”的-- The sign says..., the map says...而不仅仅存在于文学创作中。这就属于我上面说的中英文思维差异。

所以,不真正具备英文思维的人,会认为只有人才有做某事的能力,而在英美人的日常生活、日常交往中,将“死物”拟人化用于主语的现象,大量存在(可参考好题老师提供的例句)。就好像中文思维中,只有“活物”才能“看到”东西,时间和地点这些“死物”是没办法“看”东西的(做主语的),但实际上,英文中,时间或地点都可以saw sth。有些人认为以时间或地点作为seewitness的主语,是一种特殊用法,殊不知,用“死物”做主语,也是英语常见的用法。

说一千,道一万,如果英语中真的存在“be able to do sth”的主语只能是人,哪怕不是100%的人这么用,英语字典一定会明确指出或提醒注意的。所以呢,我总是建议学生,如果要看语法书,就直接看英文原版吧。国人的翻译或编(chao)撰(xi),总会夹带“私货”的,虽然有时候这种夹带并非故意(而是习惯性用中文思维方法去阐述英文语言现象),但对于学生的学习,还是会造成一定的影响。

一家之言,仅供参考;

勤查英英,必有所获!

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小王同学

网友的说法确实有所依据,如《薄冰英语惯用法词典》(第7页)的说法:

be able to的主语一般不能是物,不能接被动的不定式,应试时应遵守这条规则。

不可说:

*The bus is able to seat seventy people.

一般不说:

*The radio was able to be repaired.

应改为:

The radio was capable of being repaired/could be repaired.

但是,还有这样的说法:

韦氏高阶词典:

A weight lifter is able to lift [=can lift] a very heavy weight.

韦氏大学词典:

a) having a quality or nature that makes something possible

a car able to hold five people

b) susceptible to some action or treatment

a shoe able to be repaired

是不是应该有包容的态度呢?

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好题  
擅长:英语

赞同小王同学的解答,我补充一下我的理解,供参考。认为be able to 不能用sth做主语的说法应该是片面,过于绝对化或过时的观点。我在这里提供几个权威词典和书刊的例句供佐证:

1.《朗文英语搭配和同义词词典》例句:

attachments-2023-10-BvyfnwQh653cd461574c4.png

attachments-2023-10-jytap2AV653cd4bf1ec4d.png

attachments-2023-10-QDHnifmn653cd5110f545.png

attachments-2023-10-yXXA4GcM653cd5d9e3eb2.png

2. Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's Dictionary 例句:

attachments-2023-10-vXxCXotM653cd6681ae9f.png

attachments-2023-10-U3FmODTo653cd6ef5fba0.png

attachments-2023-10-iGad3SDn653cd7afa2b08.png

3. 《剑桥英语语法》出现的句子:

attachments-2023-10-WXlJpRVf653cd812739c1.png

attachments-2023-10-UEI9jtlX653cd876ee035.png

4. Garner’s Modern English Usage 出现的例句:

attachments-2023-10-6ZrLIJ2L653cd93ace219.png

语料库中这种用法的句子有很多,因篇幅,在此省略。

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曹荣禄  
擅长:动词用法,句法问题

the freedictionary 关于这个问题的用法说明: 

Usage Note: The construction able to takes an infinitive to show the subject's ability to accomplish something: We were able to finish the project thanks to a grant from a large corporation. The new submarine is able to dive twice as fast as the older model. Subjects to which people don't ascribe active roles tend to sound awkward in this construction, especially in passive constructions involving forms of the verb be, as in The problem was able to be solved by using this new method. Here, the use of the passive underscores the subject's not taking an active role, while the use of able suggests the opposite, creating a conflict. In our 2005 survey, only 24 percent of the Usage Panel accepted able in a sentence like this, though 54 percent accepted the use of capable instead (the problem was capable of being solved), suggesting that capable is less jarring. It may be easier just to substitute can or could, which are standard: The problem could be solved by using this new method

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陈根花   - 华文出版传媒执行主编
擅长:英语考试

大家对这个问题讨论得好热烈,我也来凑个热闹,以下只是个人理解,不妥之处请大家指正!

一方面,我觉得有人认为 be able to 通常用人作主语的观点是有依据的。比如:《麦克米伦高级英语词典》对 be able to do sth 的解释就是:used for saying that it is possible for someone to do something. 注意,这里用的是 for someone 而不是 for someone or something

虽然更多的词典对 be able to do sth 给出的是更中性的解释(即没有明确指明是sbsth),如:

to have the skill, strength, knowledge etc needed to do something(朗文)

to have the skill, intelligence, opportunity, etc.(牛津)

to have the necessary physical strength, mental power, skill, time, money or opportunity to do something(剑桥)

但《麦克米伦高级英语词典》明确指明 for someone,这至少代表了一家之言。

另一方面,我觉得认为 be able to do sth 可以用 sth 作主语也是有道理的。请看一些英英词典对 able 的解释:

having the power, skill, money, etc., that is needed to do something(韦氏)

having the necessary power, resources, skill, time, opportunity, etc., to do something(柯林斯)

在通常情况下,sth 不太可能做某事的 skill, time, money 等,但 sth 完全可能会做某种的 power,所以当要表示 sth 具有做某事的 power (能力)时,就有可能使用 Sth is able to do sth(事实上这样用的实例确实不少)。也许就是因为这个原因,《剑桥语法》认为 be able to 不用虚义代词作主语(因为虚义的代词通常不太可能具有做某事的 power),该书(p1258)给出的相关解释是:

Are able to could here be replaced by can, which is a raising verb. Yet able differs from can in that it does not allow dummy pronouns as subject.(不过,该书随后给出的对比例句中 can 并非表示能力,而是表示推测

同时我们认为,如果一个句子在含义上不具备“sth-主语具有做某事的 power”这样的语境,原则上就不宜用 sth  be able to的主语。

《剑桥语法》的相关截图:

attachments-2023-10-wgMoAEP4653de39fc35b8.jpg

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陈才   - 英语教师
擅长:中考英语,词法问题

Ideally a history would bring together texts and objects, and some chapters of this book are able to do just that, but in many cases we simply can’t.

分句(1):Ideally a history would bring together texts and objects,

分句(2):some chapters of this book are able to do just that, but in many cases we simply can’t.

连接词:and 用来连接分句(1)和分句(2)

some chapters主语// of this book 后置定语//are系动词// able to do just that表语//

备注:are able to do just that是系表结构,可以用sth作主语,some of chapters of this book是句子主语

分句(1):some chapters of this book are able to do just that

分句(2):but in many cases we simply can’t.

连接词:but用来连接分句(1)和分句(2)

Science may be able to provide some explanations of paranormal phenomena.  

科学也许能够解释某些超自然现象。

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