英语中的停顿和意群简析

英语中的停顿和意群简析

英语和汉语一样，人们在朗读或讲话时，为了生动、清楚地表达自己的意思，或作稍微短暂的呼吸换气，将意思表达完整，往往需要在语言表述的某些地方加以停顿。在英语教学中常遇到学生朗读或讲话时对停顿无所措的情况，直接影响着教学进程和效果。和汉语一样，讲话者不得随意乱停。若停顿的不是地方，不仅不能准确的表达意思，而且可能引出许多笑话或误会来。譬如，汉语中人们常说的这样一则笑话：“我是××总经理”、“派来的”。就是因为停顿上的错误，让人误解，觉得滑稽可笑。中学阶段的应试教育模式，强调的是阅读理解、语法结构和习题练习，往往对会话、读音重视不够，致使大学生不知该在何处停顿换气，影响英语的学习与交流。为此，我们应对这个薄弱环节予以重视，让学生全面掌握英语知识，使学生的听说与读写译有机地统一起来，提高学生的整体英语水平。当然，英语学习是一个复杂的语言接受、理解和应用的综合过程，涉及教育学、心理学、语音学、语法学等方面的知识，我们结合教学实际，应用有关理论，就意群在英语停顿中作用问题作一探讨。

一、停顿（Pａｕｓｉｎｇ）

英语语法规定根据阅读或讲话句子长短情况，可按意群进行停顿。在同一意群的各个词之间不能停顿，而应一口气读完，以便整体意思不致中断，使人能完整地理解讲话人的意图和目的。

例如：ÀＩdid not see Mary / at the party .

Á Changjing is the longest river / in our country .

 A child begins / to speak / the moment it opens its lips / to utter any acknowle dged sound.

注：意群和意群之间并非一定要停顿，根据情况，有些可停也可不停。

例如：上例À Á 就可不停。

ÀＩdid not see Mary at the party .

Á Changjing is the longest river in our country .

上例Â 也可少停一次。

 A child begins to speak / the moment it opens its lips / to utter any ackn owledged sound.

现已知停顿的规则，但要准确地运用还必须弄清楚英语中的意群及其划分。

二、意群（Sense-groups）。

意群指句子可以按照意思和语法结构分为若干段落，每一个段落就称为一个意群。它是在意思上相对完整，在语法上密切联系，不能再分的一个词组。

例如1 .下列句子可分为两个意群：

À We study hard / for our country .

Á There are only two windows / in that room .

2.下列句子可分为三个意群：

À I will be glad / to meet you again / next year.

Á He said / that he would do better / in his English study.

3.下列句子可分为四个意群：

À We worked / with the workers there / and learned a lot / from them.

Á The forest had been green / in the summer / when we had come / into the tow n..

三、意群的划分。

一般规则如下：1.冠词与名词划为同一意群。

À There is an English novel on the bookshelf.

Á The film we saw last night is very interesting.

2.形容词与名词划为一个意群。

À Please pass me that red-blue pencil.

Á I have not enough money to buy it.

3.系动词与表语划为一个意群。

À How to go there is a problem.

Á To rise early is his custom.

4.介词短语划为一个意群。

À There are some tall trees in front of the building.

Á Keep him in the dark about the matter.

5.动词不定式短语划为一个意群。

À I refused to believe the evil rumor.

Á Because he is ill , he feels unable to do it to it

6．分词短语化为一个意群。

À They lived in a room facing the south.

Á A letter posted today will reach him the day after tomorrow.

7.动名词短语划为一个意群。

À Seeing him happy made me happy too.

Á Have you finished correcting the students’papers?

8.动词及其主语或宾语划为一个意群。

À We can sing a song in English

ÁI received a letter from him after a long silence.

9.副词与动词放在一起划为一个意群。

À He has been working hard since he came here.

ÁNow that you are a big boy, you must behave better.

10.关系词与从句、连词与其后面部分划为一个意群。

À W should strike while the iron is white hot.

ÁTake the medicine before you go to bed.

 He said that he would come to see you soon.

à Do you know whose pen it is?

Ä She told a story which moved us deeply.

Å We should never pretend to know what we do not know.

ÆYou can go either by boat or by train.

ÇI awoke one morning and found myself famous.

因此，朗读时一个意群不能分开读，即不能在意群中间停顿，否则，就会影响整体意思的表达和理解，出现与前面提到的与汉语一样的错误，在教学中应引起重视。