动名词与不定式

㈡动名词与不定式

1. 动名词与不定式作主语

⑴动名词放在句首作主语

动名词作主语一般直接放在句首，谓语动词用单数。

例1：Going to the school dance is a lot of fun. But sometimes, deciding who to go with isn’t easy.

译文：去学校参加舞会可是件有趣的事，但有时决定和谁一起去可不容易。

例2：Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.

译文：憎恨别人，就好像为了赶走一

只老鼠，而把自己的房子烧掉。

例3：Having a successful marriage takes effort and patience, and communication is the key.

译文：要获得成功的婚姻需要努力和耐心，而交流就是关键。

例4：Ordering meals from an incomprehensible Chinese menu is a daunting experience for foreigners, but sometimes the most expedient method is to scan nearby tables and point to dishes that they want to order.

译文：在看不懂的中文菜谱上点菜对老外来说可是件头疼的事，不过有时最省事的方式就是看看邻座，然后用手指着自己想要的菜。

上述句子都是用动名词短语作主

语，谓语都使用了单数。让我们再来

看看考研真题例句：

1. With thousands of career-related sites on the Internet, finding promising openings can be time-consuming and inefficient. … Working with a personal search agent means having another set of eyes looking out for you. (2004年阅读，passage 1)

该句采用了动名词短语finding promising openings及working with a personal search agent来作主语，且置于句首，谓语用单数means。

译文：由于互联网上有成千上万个与

求职相关的网站，因此寻找可能的职

位空缺费时且效率又低。……拥有一

个个人搜索代理意味着有另外一双

眼睛为你寻找。

2. Creating a “European Identity” that respects the different cultures and traditions which go to make up the connecting fabric of the Old Continent is no easy task and demands a strategic choice. (2005年翻译)

该句采用了一个很长的动名词短语creating a “European Identity” that respects the different cultures and traditions which go to make up the connecting fabric of the Old Continent 来作主语，且置于句首，谓语用单数

is。

译文：不同的文化和传统把欧洲大陆

编织成一体，要创造出一种尊重这些

不同文化和传统的“欧洲品牌”绝非易事，这需要人们做出战略性的选择。

3. I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of stress, that abandoning the doctrine of “juggling your life”, and making the alternative move into “downshifting”brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and social status. (2001年阅读，passage 5)

该句采用了一个很长的动名词短语abandoning the doctrine of “juggling your life”, and making the alternative move into “downshifting”来作主语，且置于句首，谓语用单数brings。

译文：我已经发现----也许Kelsey也

会发现，她是由于过于劳累而从《她》的编辑职位上退下来----放弃“搏击生活”的理论，而采取另一种“放慢生活节奏”的方式，会带来比经济上的成功和社会上的地位更大的回报。

以上讨论的是作主语的动名词短语一般要置于句首的用法。然而，英语中有几个动名词后置作主语的固定句型，现归纳如下：

句型一：It is no good/ no use doing sth.

意为“干什么事没有用”。这里，it 只是形式主语，真正主语是doing sth.。其中，no good可替换为：any/some good, any/some/no use, a

waste of time等。

A. It is no good writing to him; he never answers letters.

B. It is no use complaining; the company won’t do anything about it.

C. Is it any good trying to explain?

D. It is no use crying over spilt milk.

E. It is not much use my buying salmon if you don’t like fish.

F. It is simply a waste of time and money seeing that movie.

句型二：There is no point/use/good (in) doing sth.

意为“干某事没有必要，没有意义”，“干某事没有用”

A. There is no point in my going out to date someone, I might really like if I met him at the time, but who, right now, has no chance of being anything to me but a transitional man.