特指与泛指

二、特指与泛指

初学英语的人一开始学名词，就涉及这个问题。定冠词the表示特指，不定冠词a表示泛指，这个概念所有的英语教程都会提到。但是，在用英文写作文和进行汉英翻译时，即便是多年学习英语的人，恰当地用好冠词也是很不容易的事。其根源是汉语表示这两个概念的方式与英语不同，汉语中不存在明确表示特指或泛指概念的特定标记。在很多场合，汉语是靠词的顺序来表示这两个概念的，例如:

例1:老李，来客人啦!

Mr.Li，you have a visitor!(讲话人事先不知道老李有客人要来。)

老李，客人来啦!

Mr.Li，the visitor has come!(讲话人事先知道老李有客人要来。)

例2:今天我吃苹果了。

I've had an apple today.(可能有人建议讲话人每天吃个苹果。)

苹果我吃了。

I've had the apple.(可能有人问某个苹果谁吃了。)

但在多数情况下，表示这两个概念的标记不明显，我们只能靠上下文和语感来判断了。请看下面这两段对话:

对话一:

A:我的车丢了。　　　　　　　　　　　　My Car has been stolen.

B:哪辆车呀?你们家不是有两辆吗?　　　　Which one?You have two，right?

A:就是我每天开着上班的那辆。　　　　　It's the one I drove to work every day.

B:真可惜，那可是辆好车。　　　　　　　What a shame!It's a nice car.

对话二:

A:在这儿看什么呢?　　　　　　　　　　 What are you looking at?

B:看汽车。　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Cars.

A:瞧见红旗了吗?　　　　　　　　　　　 Have you seen any Red Flag?

B:瞧见了，刚才过去的那辆就是。　　　　Yes，the one that has passed by.

比较下列例句中的名词:

例3:手电筒在哪儿?没有手电筒我什么也看不见。

Where is the flashlight?I can't see anything without a flashlight.

例4:别把香蕉放在冰箱里，香蕉是不能放在冰箱里的。

Don't put these bananas in the fridge.Bananas can't be stored there.

例5:这间教室用做多媒体语音室，别看小，里边装配有先进设备。

This classroom is used as a multi-media laboratory.Though small，the laboratory is equipped with advanced facilities.

例6:过生日别送他小提琴，他根本不拉小提琴。

Don't give him a violin on his birthday.He doesn't play the violin.

例7:是您上周从我们书店订购了本书吗?书已经到了。

You ordered a book from our bookstore，didn't you?The book has arrived.

例8:孩子们正看的飞机是架喷气式的。

The plane the children are watching is a jet.

例9:好多麦子都让那场雨给毁了。现在我们最不缺的就是雨了。

A lot of wheat was damaged by the rain.We don't need rain anymore.

1.表示泛指事物的名词

一般来讲，泛指的事物是对话中第一次提到的事物，或没有具体所指的事物。

例1:北京冬天树是光秃秃的。

In winter，trees in Beijing are bare.

例2:她是三个孩子的母亲。

She is a mother of three children.

例3:现在多数中国人还买不起汽车，不过也有一家买两辆的。

Most Chinese cannot afford a car yet.But some families have two cars.

例4:要买车，你想买什么样的?

If you plan to buy a car，what type do you like?

例5:北京过春节已经不再禁放鞭炮了。

Firecrackers are no longer banned in Beijing on Spring Festival.

例6:孩子嘛，总归是孩子。

Children will always be children.

例7:那年云南地震了，因为是在白天，所以没有伤亡。

An earthquake that hit Yunnan Province caused no casualties because it happened in daytime.

例8:洗衣机、电视机、甚至小轿车对中国城市居民来说已不算奢侈品了。

Washing machines，TV sets and even cars are not luxuries for residents in Chinese cities.

例9:解决北京交通拥堵最好的办法是修地铁。

The best way to solve the problems of traffic jams in Beijing is to build underground railways.

例10:我们是代表学校参赛的选手。

We are players representing our school.

例11:战争有正义和非正义的区别，我赞成前者，反对后者。

There are just wars and unjust wars;I'm for the former and opposed to the latter.

例12:你知道哪个地方河流没有被污染?

Do you know of any place where rivers are not polluted?

例13:请出示身份证，我是警察。

Show me your ID card，I'm a policeman.

例14:书我是不借给人的，不过对你是例外。

I never lend my books to others，but you are an exception.

例15:这些学生由于课堂表现突出受到奖励。

These students were awarded for outstanding performances in class.

例16:带着孩子不要到人多的地方去。

Avoid crowds when you have your kids with you.

2.表示特指事物的名词

特指的事物一般是对话双方都知道或应该知道的事，在英语中要用定冠词the表示。

例1:这家工厂的产品是一流的，就是价格太高。

The products of the factory are first-rate in quality，but too expensive.

例2:半决赛明天开始。

The semi-finals will begin tomorrow.

例3:这是去太原的长途汽车吗?

Is this the coach to Taiyuan?

例4:把你刚买的手机给我看看。

Show me the cell phone you have just bought.

例5:英语系办公室就在四楼。

The general office of the English Department is on the fourth floor.

例6:把晾着的衣服收进来吧，要下雨了。

Take in the washing.It's going to rain.

例7:调查得怎么样了?会不会起诉嫌疑人?

How is the investigation going?Will the suspects be prosecuted?

例8:实验进行得还顺利，只是头几天出了点问题。

The experiment has been going on quite smoothly，except for some problems in the first few days.

例9:掌声差点儿把房顶给掀翻了。

The applause almost brought down the house.

例10:这本书里的内容是他在战争中的经历。

The book is about his war experiences.

例11:在采访的时候，他对这问题未置可否。

During the interview，he made no comment on this issue.

例12:把这些钱放在一块儿就是一大笔。

It will be a large sum when all the money is put together.

例13:河只有30米宽，但水流湍急，两岸又都是悬崖峭壁，只有飞鸟才能过去。

The river is only 30 meters wide，but the current is so swift and the cliffs on its banks are so steep(that)only birds can fly across it.

还有一种特指事物是在某种特定环境中是唯一的人或物。例如:

例14:现在谁是美国国务卿?她当过外交官吗?

Who is the US Secretary of State now?Was she in the foreign service?

例15:一句话里边，主谓语要一致，也就是说，在单复数和人称方面要一致。

The predicate should agree with the subject of a sentence in number and person.

例16:许多证据都说明他有罪，可是陪审团却说他无罪。

There was a lot of evidence showing he was guilty，but the jury brought in a“not guilty”verdict.

当然，汉语中也不是绝对没有表示特指和泛指事物的词，如表示特指的有“这个”、“那个”、“这些”、“那些”等，表示泛指的有“某个”、“某些”、“一个”、“一些”等。但是，在日常交往中，中国人是不习惯老把它们放在嘴边的。经常使用这些表达方式让人觉得啰唆、多余、带有洋腔。所以在汉译英中遇到这些问题，我们必须有意识地强化名词单复数、特指与泛指的概念，否则，英译文读者就会觉得你的译文意思模糊，甚至不知所云了。

思考题

1.中国人不经常使用表示名词单复数、特指和泛指事物的词，为什么不影响人际沟通?

2.汉语中没有表示名词单复数、特指和泛指事物的词是否意味着中国人思维不精确?