问英语｜英语常见问题解答

many¹

问

During that time, 174 babies were born in the world. Maybe you think that isn't many. 《中学英语 1 + 1 · 高一英语同步讲解与测试》(上)(中国青年出版社, p.83)说：“many 和 few、a few 在句中可作定语、主语，但不能作表语。如只能说 I have many/few books. 而不能说 My books are many/few.” 请问 many 和 few 真的不能作表语吗？上面的 that isn't many 是否用错？

答

CGEL的编著者R.Quirk等人在该书的索引中列出了many的predicative use(many的表语用法)词条,并在§5.23和§6.53两节中明确指出：

“many 和 few 在正式语体中还能用作表语: His faults were many/few. (他的缺点很多/很少。)”

“many 和 few 一样, 在正式语体中可以用作表语: His sins were many, and friends were few. (他的罪恶很多, 而他的朋友却很少。)”

many²

as many as

问

The number of people who lost homes reached as many as 250,000. [《高中英语教科书》第一册(上),人教社,p.26]

与该书配套的《教师教学用书》(p.108)对 as many as 的解释是：“‘as many as’的意思是‘和……一样多’，类似的结构还有 as long as（和……一样长），as high as（和……一样高），as wide as（和……一样宽）等。”

在 as many as + 数词结构中, as many as 是“和……一样多”的意思吗?

答

当 as many(long, high, wide) as 与数词连用时，它是一种表达说话人“言其多（长、高、宽）”的口气的，因此，不能解释为“与……一样多（长、高、宽）”，而应解释为“多（长、高、宽）达……”或“……之多（长、高、宽）”。把句中的 as many(long, high, wide) as 去掉之后，句子仍是完整的，但却失掉了说话人“言其多（长、高、宽）”的口气（参见 as … as $^{5,6}$ ）。例如：

Three people offered to buy it. 有三个人出价买这件东西。(此句没有表达出说话人认为三个人是多,还是少,只是客观地描述)
As many as three people offered to buy it. 出价买这件东西的有三人之多。（此句表达出了说话人“言其多”的口气）
He can jump 1.8 metres. 他跳高可以跳到 1.8 米。(说话人没有表达出跳到 1.8 米是跳得高,还是跳得低)
He can jump as high as 1.8 metres. 他跳高可以跳到1.8米之高。（表达了说话者“言其高”的口气，外行人也可以看出跳到1.8米算是很高的了）

练习

After supper she would sit down by the fire, sometimes for ____ an hour, thinking of her young and happy days.
1. A
  as long as
2. B
  as soon as
3. C
  as much as
4. D
  as many as(上海高考,03春-25)

many³

a great (good) many/a great (good) many of

问

A great many of men were killed. 书上给的答案是A(将A great many of改为A great many)。难道a great many of不作“很多的”解吗？

答

英语里既有 a great (good) many(在这里 many 是个形容词) 的说法,也有 a great (good) many of(在这里 many 是个代词) 的说法。但是,两者的含义和用法不同。前者后跟的是无定的复数名词,即没有限定词(the, these, those, his 等)的复数名词,后者后跟的则是有定的复数名词,即带有限定词的复数名词或者代词。其含义为“……之中的许多”。这种区别相当于 most (all, many) students 和 most (all, many) of the students 的区别(参见 all the students)。请对比下列实例:

It seems there are a good many people out of work. 好像有许多人失业。
You've made a great/good many mistakes. 你犯了很多错误。
A great many people have benefited from our research. 很多人从我们的研究中受益。
A good many of the beggars were blind. 这些乞丐之中有许多人是盲人。
A great many of his books are kept here. 他的许多书保存在这儿。
a good many of us 我们之中的许多人

练习

There are ____ sheep on the grassland.
1. A
  a great deal of
2. B
  a lot
3. C
  a good many