《英语难题研究一千则》(北师大出版社,1992年,L.43)的作者指出：“《新英汉辞典》将He comes of a morning(an afternoon, an evening, a Sunday)译为:他经常上午(下午,晚上,星期天)来”,是译错了。因为of a morning原指不一定哪个morning,不能译为‘经常上午(来)’。” 您同意这种说法吗?
我们认为,该书作者的解释是对这个结构的误解。of a morning 除可作“不一定哪个早晨”解之外,还可作“上午经常……”解。F. T. Wood 在其 Current English Usage (1981 年, p. 185) 曾对这个结构作过明确的解释: “of a Saturday morning, of an evening, etc. is old-fashioned usage, still retained in several dialects, to express frequency, repetition or regularity: I always go to church of a Sunday evening.”
我们再看几个实际例句：
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I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercises every morning and to read more of an evening. (New Concept English, Book 3, p. 124) 我有两个切实可行的计划: 每天早晨进行体育锻炼, 晚上多看些书。
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Sometimes he goes fishing of a morning( = habitually in the morning). 有时他早晨去钓鱼。
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They always like to go there of an evening. (LDCE) 他们总喜欢晚上去那儿。
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What do you do of a Sunday( on Sundays)? (RCD) 星期天你经常做什么?
of my own 见 own