英语写作思维方式有几个重要特征

英语写作思维方式有几个重要特征:

1、“我”字当头

英美文化强调个人。而儒家文化强调他人。“我”字当头就是以我、我们、你、你们、他、他们，这些行为的执行者为重心和中心展开表达。强调主语，强调动作的执行者。英语强调动作。汉语强调状态。英语常把行为者和动作放在句首。汉语常把状语放在重要地方。例如：I found my bike lost when I walked out of the Shengli wovie theater after watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon yes-terday afternoon.(昨天下午在胜利电影院看完《卧虎藏龙》出来时，我发现我的自行车不见了。) 当然用另一种方法表达也可以。 Yesterday afternoon when I walked out of the Shengli movie theater after watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I found my bike lost. 但是比起前者来略显头重脚轻。又例如：Many recently opened summer resorts around Beijing are filled with pleasure-seeking natives of Beijing.(北京附近新开放的夏季旅游点到处都是北京人。) 比较 Many natives of Beijing are enjoying themselves in the recently opened summer resorts around the city. 这一句将动作执行者置于句首，这种表达方式更符合英语习惯。

2、直截了当

英美文化突出坦率，特别是在英语中更是这样。中国文化推崇含蓄。英语句子和英语修辞倾向直截了当的表达。汉语句子和汉语修倾向含蓄婉转的表达。例如： If you want to get more help from me, I would be glad to do my best for you.(如果你希望从我这儿获得更多的帮助，我将愿意帮忙。) If you need more help, just let me know. 这二句话反映了英语思维的简练和直截了当。另外，大部分英语句子使用动作的主动时态。中国学生喜欢作动作的被动时态。例如： The sone of Youth was written by her.(《青春之歌》是她写的。) 比较 She wrote The Song of Youth. 当然如果是属于交际场合中的礼节，英美人在用词上比中国人更显含蓄。例如，如果要表达“你要买点儿什么？”(What do you want to buy?)这样的中文思想，英美人会说： What can I do for you? 或者 Can I help you? 又例如，用中式思维表达下面的思想： A: Do you think I should buy a car?(你认为我该买辆汽车吗？) B: You’d better not buy it now.(你现好现在别买。) 比较英美人飞惯用的表达方汉表示同样的思想： A: Do you think I should buy a car? B: I would not buy it at this moment.(目前你最好别买。直译是：如果我是你，我就不买。)

3、事件表达的具体性

本文中“事件”这个词泛指所有实在的物体，通俗一点儿可以理解为“内容”。它与“过程”相辅相成并紧密相连。“过程”也就是事物发展的方法，也可能理解为“形式”。事件表达的具体性是指句子中的句词，或者句子要表达的事物具体、准确，不能含糊其辞，让读者去猜。例如： The good painting competition drew crowds of students. 这里的good 和students就属于用词不准确，不具体。“好”和“坏”也非常笼统和抽象，在英语句子中应尽量少使用。如果你the threedays well-organized painting compertition就很具体，给读者一个清晰具体的信息。同样，student可分为elementary school students(first to fifth graderw), the middle school students(sixth to eighth graders), high school students(ninth to twelfth graders), college students(freshman, sophomore, junior and senior), graduate students(master students, Ph. D. students, or first-year/second-year graduate students, etc.)。除非在前面已经提到，否则第一次出现应该具体表达所指的人。同样，“a good wife”就远不如“a diligent and considerate wife”具体和准确。

4、语言表达的形象性

西方文化区别于东方文化的一个显著特点是社会生活的自然化。撞单地说，就是抽象的、人类的、感情的东西可以用具体的、自然界的、物质的事物来表述。比如，a lot of bikes 可以用a sea of bikes来表达，因为sea是一种形象生动的词汇；in full development 可以用in full wing来表达，因为swing是从秋千的摆动引申而来的；the rising prices 可以用the skyrocketing prices来表达，等等。语言表达的形象就是用自然界相对应的事物和动作描写人类社会的活动，使得句子简练生动。这种表达不只局限于句词，表现具体动作的动词也可以表现抽象的意义，也可以转换成名词。例如rain这个单词是“下雨”的意思，它可以用作名词，也可以用作动词。但是在许多地道的英语句子中，rain的具体意义被引申使用于抽象思维，从而表现出高度的形象和生动性。下面的几个例句就表现了它的各个层次上的用法： (1) It is raining hard. (2) It is torrential rain. (3) The tennis game was rained out.(由于下雨，网球比赛被迫停止。) (4) The children rained questions on their teacher.(孩子们像雨点一样的问题使老师应接不暇。) (5) Debris from the explosion rained down the slope. (爆炸后的碎粒像雨点一样落到斜波上。) (6) Come rain or shine, I will see you on Thursday.(不论发生什么，咱们星期四见面。) 西方人喜爱用自然界具体形象表达生活中的抽象行为。既然rain可以如此表达，那么我们可以将其引申，同rain意思相同的词汇如drizzle, shower, downpour, storm, thunder, thunderstorm 都可以用于抽象意义。例如：(1) The priest drizzled water on the baby’s head.(牧师在婴儿头上洒了一点儿水。) (2) The speech was liberally drizzle with jokes about the incident.(发言中有意掺杂了一些对这件事的玩笑。) (3) His boss showered him with praise for everything he had done for the company.(他为公司做的每件事，他的老件都要大加赞赏。) (4) A shower of confetti fell on the newly-married couple outside the church.(在教堂外，五彩纸屑纷纷落在新郎新娘身上。) (5) She received a downpour of criticism at the meeting.(在会上她遭到激烈的批评。) (6) She stormed out of my office.(她愤怒地站出我的办公室。) (7) The issue has provoked a stormy debate between the left and the right of the party.(这件事引起了党内左右党派激烈的争论。) (8) “I never want to see you again,” he thundered.(“我再也不想见到你了，”他大声吼道。)

(9) A thunderstorm of laughing rose in the next door.(隔壁屋中突然传出一阵雷鸣般的笑声。)

5、时间表达的现实性

时间和空间是相辅相成的一对事物。英语表达在时间概念上表现了极强的具体性和现实性。我国学生喜欢用较大的时间概念，如nowadays, at present, in that time, recently, for a long time。英美作者常用具体的时间名词，如these years, the decade, these days, at that historical moment/point, the year, the month, the week, the day, the hour, the minute, the second, the moment, the point。这种差别可能出于经济生活的特征。现代化西方人的生活节奏比较快，造成时间概念上的紧凑，因而使用较小的时间单位。我们常听美国人说，“You have 168 hours a week so you have plenty of time to complete the work.”也许以后我们的生活节奏快了，也会使用较小的时间单位。这一类常见的例子有： (1) I have no idea about what is going to happen at this moment.(比较: I have no idea about what is going to happen at this time.) (2) The year of 1978 marks an important moment in modern Chinese history.(比较: The year of 1978 marks an important time in modern Chinese history.) (3) I tried calling her the instant I got home.(比较: I tried calling her as soon as I got home.) (4) I have been looking for a job