The film "Casablanca" is one of the most famous American movies of all time.
At the end of the film, the actor Humphrey Bogart says a heartbreaking farewell to the woman he loves.
《卡薩布蘭卡》這部電影一直都是最著名的美國電影之一,影片最後,亨弗萊·鮑嘉心碎地向他愛的人告別。
Bergman:But what about us?
Bogart:We'll always have Paris.
Besides affecting one's emotions, this movie scene can teach you a lot about English grammar. It can show you how English speakers use adverbs in a sentence.
除了打動情緒以外,這部電影裡也有很多英語語法知識,我們可以學習到如何在一個句子中使用副詞。
In our program today, we explore a single word: always. We will discover why Bogart said his famous line the way he did.
在今天的節目中,我們將考察一個單詞:Always。然後就會知道為什麼Bogart的名句是那樣說的。
Donot worry. Unlike the ending of "Casablanca," we will not leave you in tears!
別擔心,我們不會像《卡薩布蘭卡》的結局一樣讓你掉眼淚的!
Adverbs and Movability
Inother Everyday Grammar stories, we explored adverbs.
在另一個每日語法故事中,我們考察過副詞。
Adverbs are words that change the meaning of a verb, adjective, or sentence. They are often used to show time, place, or a way of doing things.
副詞是能夠改變動詞、形容詞或者句子意思的單詞,它們常常被用於表示時間、地點或者方式。
Adverbs are often movable. They can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence.
副詞常常是不固定的,可以出現在句子的開頭、中間或末尾。
Consider these examples:
Occasionally I eat seafood.
I occasionally eat seafood.
I eat seafood occasionally.
In this example, the adverb occasionally appears in three different places in the sentence. The placement of the adverb does not change the meaning. All three sentences have the same meaning. Most English speakers would not think it strange if you used any one of these sentences.
看這個例子。在這個例子中,副詞occasionally出現在句子的三個不同的地方,位置的變化並沒有改變句意,三個句子都是同樣的意思。你可以使用其中的任意一種表達。
Always is not as movable
What about the adverb always?
那麼對於always呢?它的位置就不是那麼靈活了。
In general, the adverb always is not as movable as other kinds of adverbs – like the word occasionally.
一般來說,副詞always的位置並不像其他副詞那麼靈活,比如occasionally。
You will not often hear an English speaker use always at the beginning or the end of a sentence.
你會很少看到有人把always放在一個句子的開頭來說。
Most often, you will hear always in the middle of the sentence, before the verb itis modifying.
通常來說,你會聽到always在句子的中間,位於它所修飾的動詞之前。
In some cases, you might hear it at the beginning of a sentence – when giving an order or command, for example.*
有時候,你可能會發現always出現在句子開頭,比如當發布命令或要求時。
Or you might hear it at the end of a sentence, but usually only in an artistic setting: a poetry reading or a musical performance, for example.
或者,你也可能發現always出現在句子末尾,但是常常只出現於文藝作品中,比如詩歌朗誦和音樂表演。
But the central point is this: in speaking and in writing, always does not move its position as often as other adverbs.
但是,重點在於在口語和寫作中,always並不像其他謂語一樣可以經常移動位置。
So, if you were to take our example sentence, "I eat seafood," and use the adverb always, you could say, "I always eat seafood."
所以,如果用這個例子 "I eat seafood" 如果使用副詞always,你會說"I always eat seafood."
Always generally is found after "BE" verbs and auxiliary verbs, but before other verbs.
Always通常位於be動詞和助動詞之後,實義動詞之前。
You will find this structure in many popular films. Consider this famous line from "A Streetcar Named Desire:"
在很多電影中你都會發現這個結構。看一下《欲望號街車》中的這個名句:
"Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."
AStreetcar Named Desire, 1951
In the example, always appears after the auxiliary verb, have, and just before the main verb, depended.
在這個例子中,always出現在助動詞have之後,主動詞depended之前。
This same idea is true of Bogart's famous line from "Casablanca,"
《卡薩布蘭卡》中Bogart的那句名言也是一樣,
"We'll always have Paris."
"We'll" is a short way to say, "we will." Always appears after the auxiliary verb, will, and before the main verb, have.
"We'll"是"we will" 的縮寫,always出現在主動詞will之後,主動詞have之前。
Emphasized always
You might think that our story about the word always ends here, but it does not!
你可能會想我們今天的單詞故事就到這了,但是並沒有!
English speakers can also change the meaning of always.
說話者也可以改變always的意思。
When you hear or read the adverb always in its usual position, before the verb it is modifying. It generally has the meaning of habitually.
當你聽到副詞always出現在通常的位置,即出現在它所修飾的動詞之前時,它所表達的通常是常規的意思。
However, sometimes you will hear English speakers emphasize the word always.
但是,有時你也會聽到always在句子中被強調。
In this case, the meaning of the sentence has changed. Think back to our example sentence: "I always eat seafood."
在這個例子中,句意已經發生了改變。回想我們前面的例子:"I always eat seafood."
This sentence means that you usually eat seafood – perhaps when you go to a restaurant.
這個句子的意思是你經常吃海鮮——可能是在你去餐館吃飯的時候。
If the speaker says, "I ALWAYS eat seafood," with the emphasis on the word "always," then the speaker is expressing annoyance. Perhaps the speaker is angry that another person – a close friend, for example – did not remember they like to eat seafood when they go out to dinner.
但是如果強調always,像這樣說"I ALWAYS eat seafood,"那麼說話者就是在表達他生氣了。或許,這個說話者正在生氣另一個人——比如說他的一個死黨——不記得外出吃飯時他們喜歡吃海鮮。
Here is another example: you hear a child say, "My father always works late on Thursdays." This sentence uses the adverb always to express a habitual or common action.
還有一個例子:當你聽到一個孩子說"Myfather always works late on Thursdays."這個句子用always表示一個習慣。
However,if you hear the child say, "My dad ALWAYS works late on Thursdays,"then you know that the child is unhappy with the father's work schedule.
但是,如果你聽到一個孩子說"Mydad ALWAYS works late on Thursdays," 那麼你應該知道這個孩子正為他爸爸的工作時間表而不開心。
What can you do?
So,now you know that if Bogart had used the emphasized always in the film Casablanca, the ending of the film would have been very different.
那麼,現在你就知道如果Bogart在電影中強調了always,電影的結局就會截然不同。
The next time you are listening or speaking, try to pay attention to the placement of the word always. Then, try to identify if it is emphasized or not. This will help you understand the speaker's feelings.
下一次當你聽或者說的時候,試著去留意always的位置。然後,確認它是不是被強調了。這能夠幫助你更好的理解說話者當時的感情。
Remember: English does not always communicate meaning through grammar. Emphasis plays an important role in showing the meaning of a sentence.
With practice, you, too, will be able to use always like a native speaker!
記住:英語並不總是通過語法來傳達意思,強調語氣在表達句意時也很重要。通過練習,你也可以像說英語本土的人那樣使用always。
farewell – n. an act of leaving
adverb – n. a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree
occasionally – adv. sometimes but not often
emphasize – v. to place emphasis on (something)
auxiliary verb – n. a verb (such as have, be, may, do, shall, will, can, or must) that is used with another verb to show the verb's tense, to form a question, etc.
modify – v. to limit or describe the meaning of (a word or group of words)
scene – n. a part of a play, movie, story, etc., in which a particular action or activity occurs