英语写作常见错误例析(冠词用法)

英语写作常见错误例析(冠词用法)

同学们写作中用错冠词主要是由于对定冠词和不定冠词用法以及区别分辨不清而造成的。常见的错误类型有：不定冠词a和an的混用，不定冠词与定冠词混用，不定冠词、定冠词与零冠词的混用等。请看实例：

误用：Coming top in the exam was quite achievement.

改为：Coming top in the exam was quite an achievement.

说明：当副词quite, rather直接用于修饰名词时，名词前必须要有不定冠词，又如：The film had quite an effect on her. 这影片对她影响极大。She is quite a beauty. 她真是个美人儿。We had quite a party. 我们举行了一个很不错的晚会。

句意：考第一是很了不起的成绩。

误用：The walk is expected to last all day so bring packed lunch.

改为：The walk is expected to last all day so bring a packed lunch.

说明：表示一日三餐的名词包括breakfast, lunch, supper，原则上说它们是不可数的。如：Breakfast is served until 9 a.m. 早餐一直供应到上午9点。I usually have a sandwich for lunch. 我午饭时通常吃块三明治。但是，当它们受到描绘性形容词的修饰时，如果不是特指，则其前要用不定冠词，此时的a含有 a kind of 的意思。如：We had a very late lunch. 我们很晚才吃午饭。After a quick breakfast, he hurried to the

1

station. 匆匆忙忙吃完早餐，他就赶到车站去了。

句意：预计要走一天，所以要带份准备好的午饭。

误用：I’ve been invited to a Asian wedding and got to know how such a wedding is held.

改为：I’ve been invited to an Asian wedding and got to know how such a wedding is held.

说明：Asian 读音以元音开头，故其前用不定冠词时要用 an，而不是用 a。又如：From being a librarian she is now an MP. 她从一个图书馆管理员当上了如今的下议院议员。` Any public figure risks being made an Aunt Sally by the popular press. 任何知名人士都要冒风险，会成为通俗刊物的众矢之的。 Her career climaxed in the award of an Oscar. 她荣获奥斯卡金像奖是她事业的顶峰。 The ship embarked passengers and cargo at an Italian port. 这艘船在意大利一个港口载客装货。

句意：我应邀参加亚洲人的婚礼，知道了这种婚礼是如何举行。

误用：“The police may have the car followed and may even have it stopped on some pretext ”, Rebet persisted. “I have foreseen that possibility; that is why the second car will follow the first one.”

改为：“The police may have the car followed and may even have it stopped on some pretext ”, Rebet persisted. “I have foreseen that possibility; that is why a

2

second car will follow the first one.”

说明：在通常情况下，序数词前要用定冠词，但有时序数词前也用不定冠词，表示在原有序数的基础上再增加一次，含有“再一”“另一”之意，有类似another的用法。如：Shall I ask her a third time? 我还要问她第三次吗? Several candidates were called for a second interview. 有几个候选人被叫来进行第二次面试。

句意：“警察可以对那辆车进行跟踪并且找借口要车停下”，瑞别特坚持说：“我已经预见到这种可能性；那就是为什么会有一辆车跟着前一辆的原因。”

误用：He paid an architect to design a house for him, and had it built far enough under the estimate (not too a difficult feat in those years of falling prices) to be able to afford a swimming pool.

改为：He paid an architect to design a house for him, and had it built far enough under the estimate (not too difficult a feat in those years of falling prices) to be able to afford a swimming pool.

说明：当 too 表示“太”且其后修饰一个“a / an+形容词+名词”结构时，习惯上要改为“too +形容词+a+名词”。又如：It’s too good a chance to miss. 这个机会太好，不能错过。

句意：他出钱聘请一名建筑师为他设计了一幢房子并把房子以远远低于预算价格造好（在那价格不断下降的岁月里这不算难以办到的举动），因而能造一个游泳池。

3

误用：In twenties and thirties, my grandfather had a sawmill on his farm.

改为：In the twenties and thirties, my grandfather had a sawmill on his farm.

说明：逢整“十”的基数词用于复数形式可以表示某人的大约年岁和世纪中的年代，注意此时要在数词前用定冠词。又如：The war broke out in the nineties. 这次战争爆发于90年代。Karl Mark began to learn the Russian language in his fiftieth. 马克思五十多岁开始学俄语。

句意：在20和30年代，我祖父家的农场里建有一间锯木厂。

4