(1)“What a beautiful day!”
"Yes. It's ____ that I'd like to take a walk."
A. such nice weather B. a so nice weather
C. too nice weather D. nice weather so(TOEFL)
(2) It is ____ that we'll have to be very careful.
A. a so big work B. a so big job C. such a big job D. such a big work(全国研考)为什么句(1)只能选 A(such nice weather),而不能选 B(so nice weather),句(2)只能选 C(such a big job)而不能选 B(so big job)? 据我所知,so + 形容词 + 名词也是一个正确的结构,例如:He has so much work to do that he is staying late at the office.
首先应当弄清楚,so 是个副词,可以放在形容词或副词之前作状语(如 so beautiful, so good),而 such 是个形容词,用来修饰名词,作定语。当名词之前有另外的形容词时,则在此形容词之前一般既可以用 such,也可以用 so。但是,在这两种结构中,不定冠词 a(an) 的位置是不同的:such a beautiful girl, such a lovely day, so beautiful a girl, so lovely a day。不难看出, 句(2)中的 B(a so big job)是不符合这个条件的(改成 so big a job 就可以用了)。那么, 为什么句(1)不能选用 B(so nice weather)呢? 这是因为: 当名词为不可数名词或复数名词时, 不能使用 so, 而必须使用 such。也就是说, so 一般用于 so...a(an)结构。因此之故, 选 B(so nice weather)是错误的(weather 为不可数名词)。你可能反驳说: 为什么可以说 so much work 呢? work 不就是不可数名词吗?
对于这个问题我们的回答是: 当名词之前有表示数量的词语(如 many, much, few, little)时, 则只能使用 so 来修饰它们, 而不能使用 such:
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They have only so much time to do their lessons. (DAI) 他们只有这么些时间做功课。
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He didn't invite us in so many words, he just asked whether we were coming. (LDCE) 他并没有说很多话来邀请我们,他只是问我们是不是去。
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I have so few books. 我就这么几本书。
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He has so little information. 他只有那么一点点儿信息。
[附注]不难推论,当 little 作“小的”解时,就可以使用 such 了:such a little animal(这样小的动物)。
请做下面的试题:
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“It was ____ that we had gone for a walk.” A. so beautiful day B. such beautiful a night C. such a beautiful weather D. so beautiful a night(TOEFL)
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Today was such beautiful day that I couldn't bring myself to complete all my chores. A B C D