文法淺釋 (42)

文法(grammar)與句型(sentence patterns)

二. 形容詞 ( Adjective)- 形容名詞或代名詞

20) He is more kind than brave. (與其說他英勇不如說他仁慈。)

kind 屬單音節形容詞，若與他人或他物相比較時，則單音節形容詞可以

用字尾加 –er或 –r：

He is wiser than I am. 他比我聰明。

She is cleverer than her brother.   她比她弟弟聰明。

但, He is more diligent but less intelligent than his brother. 

他比弟弟用功但較笨。

若指同一個人或事物本身兩種性質的比較時，一 律用 more + 單音

節或 多音節形容詞) + than…：

故原句= He is more kind than (he is) brave.

原句亦可用含 “原級”的比較表示：He is not so brave as (he is) kind.

【比較】：

與其說Tom 是音樂家不如說他是科學家。

 Tom is more of a scientist than a musician. 

=Tom is not so much a musician as a scientist.

more A than B = not so (much) B as A = less B than A.

與其說是B，不如說是A

a. He was more frightened than (he was) hurt.  與其說他受傷不如說他受驚嚇。=He was not so much hurt as (he was) frightened. = He was less hurt than (he was) frightened.

b. This is less an admission of lunacy than a precise architectural description.

= This is more a precise architectural description than an admission

of lunacy. 與其說這是承認瘋狂，倒不如說是一種仔細的建築

描述【註】：admission 〔D'm0NDn〕n. 承認；lunacy〔'lunDs0〕n. 瘋狂)

21) To spend money on lifeless idols is worse than useless. (把金錢 花在沒有生命的偶像上比無用更糟)。

1. 如 20)題說明

2.  longer; wider; worse; thicker; higher; taller 等例外；它們可用在本身兩種性質之比較：

The table is longer than (it is) wide. =The table is rectangular. 這張桌子是長方形。

*** 不可說：The table is more long than wide.

【比較】：

For better or worse, if Obama wins, a thinking president is what we’ll have.

不論好壞，若歐巴馬當選，或我們將會有一位會思考的總統。

22) To die with honor is preferable to live in disgrace. (光榮地死勝於含辱偷生。)

preferable a. 較好的；A is ~ to B = A is better than B = A is superior to B ；A勝過 B 。

preferable本身已含 “比….好” 故不可再加 more 

**比較：

*Poverty is more preferable than dying to ill health.

與死亡相比，貧窮勝於不健康。(健康的乞丐嬴過多病的皇帝)

*It was a narrow victory for a sitting president, but it was preferable to the alternative. 對一位

無所事事的總統而言，它雖是塲險勝，卻比敗選好。

Justin Lai編著

11/11/2013

AACHW13