学英语这些年,你都犯了哪些语法错误?
1.could, should, or would
这三个读音相近的词困扰了不少英语学习者。
“should”用来提供建议,比如“That shirt looks great on you. I think you should buy it.”。
“would”则是用来描述不可能或者虚拟的事情,比如“I would love to go to Italy, but I don't have enough money.”,这句话就是在说一件不可能发生的事。而“would”也可以表示委婉语气,就像这句“Would you like some tea?”
“could”有三种用法——
①描述过去的能力,例:“When I was younger, I could run twice as fast.”
②描述将来可能发生的事,例:“If we work really hard, I think we could save up enough money for a vacation this year.”
③用于礼貌请求,例:“Could I have a cup of tea?”
2. there, their, or they're
这三个词发音相同,用法却完全不同。
“There”可以表示“那里”,表示一个指定地方,例如“The book is over there on the table.”;“there”也可以和be动词一起使用构成“there+be"句型,例如“There are 5 cafes on this street.”。
“Their”是形容词性物主代词,意为“他(它)们的”,例如“That's their house.”。
“They're”是“they are”的缩写,用法也是一样,你可以说“They're going to play soccer with us tonight.”,也可以说“They are going to play soccer with us tonight.”,意思完全一样。
3. its vs. it's
和上一条一样,这两个词读音相同,用法完全不同。“it's”是“it is”的缩写,用法也是相同,你可以说“It's really cold outside today.”,也可以说“It is really cold outside today.”,意思完全相同。“its”则是“it”的物主代词形式,意为“它的”,例如“This city is known for its amazing pasta.”。
4. a vs. the
许多语言中并没有使用定冠词与不定冠词,因此对有些英语学习者来说,这是种难以区分的概念。当你在谈论一件事物的时候,一般使用不定冠词“a”,例如“Let's watch a movie.”,这句话中的“movie”并没有特指;如果你要谈论的事物大家都很熟悉,那就可以使用定冠词“the”,例如“Let's watch the movie.”,这句话中的“movie”则是表示一部谈话双方都知道的、正在谈论的电影。