City University of Hong Kong CLASS CLASS
Making Sense of Grammar
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asked Oct 22, 2020 in Questions about English Grammar by Ariel (34,480 points) | 515 views

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条件是“有可能”的假设,是对“未来”抱持的希望;假设则是“不可能”的条件,是对“过去”的追悔。无论哪一种,讲的都是“非真实发生”之事,没有时间上可对应的实点,因此在动词时态的标记上,必须和“真实发生”之事的标记有所区别。

未来可能出现的条件 → 以没有特定时间的习惯式表达

If it rains tomorrow, we will cancel the outing. 

违反现在的事实 → 以过去式标记

If she was a man, her life would be different. 

违反过去的事实 → 以过去完成式标记

If I had known it earlier, I would not have made the same choice. 

总括而言,“辨明真假”是沟通上的需要,“事实”与“非事实”就必须有标记形式上的区别。英语可藉由多种方式传达事件的“真假值(Truth value)”。

——劉美君. (2012). 英文文法有道理! 重新認識英文文法觀念. 聯經.

answered Oct 22, 2020 by Ariel (34,480 points)

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