GRAMMAR SMART (4)

Making Comparisons

Female:  Now we know that the English language is 1)set up for maximum 2)clarity. We also know that it’s important to make sure that all the units you’re talking about agree.

Male: When you compare two things, be the items, people, ideas or even actions, they have to be the same kinds of things: ideas, people, items or actions.

Female:For example, while it may sound alright, it’s really wrong to say something like “My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother”.

Male: Why exactly is that wrong?

Female: Well, think about what it is that we’re trying to compare here. Do we mean to compare mothers?

Male: Well, sort of.

Female: Do we mean to compare “kuskus” ?

Male: Mm, I think I’m beginning to see where you’re headed here.

Female: OK. Then what is it we’re trying to compare here?

Male: I think it’s the way in which “my mother cooks” as opposed to the way in which “your mother cooks”.

Female: Exactly. So “My mother cooks better kuskus” than what?

Male: Than “your mother cooks”.

Female: Yes! See we need to be certain that we’re comparing things that are like. In this case the comparison is really between the two ways in which “our mothers cook kuskus”. We’re comparing verbs to verbs, “to cook” would be the verb in its particular case.

Male: But why is the original sentence wrong?

Female: Because it’s stated in the sentence “My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother”. Only one of our two “mothers” has a verb attached to her.  When you say “My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother”, what you’re actually saying is that - My mother is better at cooking kuskus than she is at cooking your mother!

Male: Yikes! That’s horrible.

Female: Yes it is and that’s why it’s important to remember to compare verbs to verbs and nouns to nouns. That way we avoid cooking our relatives and many other grammatical 3)atrocities.

Male: So, correctly phrased the sentence should sound like this “My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother cooks”.

Female: Well, yes and no. That sentence is absolutely correct, but it sounds a little bit 4)repetitive.  Another great aspect of our language is how it allows us to 5)substitute new  words in a sentence for ones that we’ve used already but need to refer to again.

Male: As in pronouns.

Female: Precisely 1.

Male: Only in this case we’re replacing a verb because who wants to use the verb “to cook” that many times in one sentence.

Female: Not I certainly. So let’s tune 2 it up by replacing it with another.  Where the corrected sentence first read “My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother cooks”, it now goes like this.

Male: “My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother does”.

Female: A good way to remember how this works is to continue the sentence in your head past the point at which you planned to stop saying it with your mouth.

Male: That may sound a little odd but in fact it’s a pretty reliable way to check whether or not you’ll need that extra verb. It goes like this.  As you’re pulling the sentence together ask yourself “Can I add a verb to the end?”

Female: If the answer to that question is “yes”, then do so.

Male: How about this “I like little 6)scruffy 3 dogs better than you”.

Female: You’re such a 7)doll.

Male: Is that a faulty comparison or not?

Female: Well, unless you intend to compare me to a little scruffy dog, yes it’s faulty. Now why don’t you tell me what it is you mean to say.

Male: That you like scruffy little dogs more than I do. What I mean to compare is what you like to what I like. Time for a review.

Female: Agreed. The rule: When comparing the differences between what it is different subjects do, make sure they all have verbs to compare.

Male: Example: “Michael Jordan can jump higher than Magic Johnson can.” “You are more guilty of deceit than I am.” “Satornia can type faster than Lucretia can.”

Female: This doesn’t mean that every comparison you ever make should be verb oriented. There are just as many occasions when you’ll mean to compare nouns to nouns.

Male: For example: “Michael Jordan’s sky hook is not as high as Magic Johnson’s sky hook”. In that case, which is grammatically correct. we are comparing “sky hooks” which are nouns not verbs. More on that later.

Female: Indeed. CE

23、巧学语法（四）

作比较

女：现在我们知道了英语以最为透明的语言自居，我们也清楚了确保你所说的每一个字词都一致的重要性。

男：当我们对两种事物——东西、人、想法或者甚至是行为做比较的时候，它们必须是同种类型的——想法、人、东西或行为。

女：例如：“My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother”听上去似乎是对的，而实际上是错误的。

男：究竟为什么会是错的呢？

女：嗯，想想我们在此试图比较什么。我们要比较的是妈妈吗？

男：这个嘛，部分是这样。

女：我们要比较的是“kuskus”吗？

男：嗯，我想我有点儿明白你是什么意思了。

女：好的。那我们在这儿想要比较的是什么呢？

男：我想应该是“my mother cooks”中的手艺与“your mother cooks”中的手艺进行比较。

女：的确如此。因此“My mother cooks better kuskus”和什么比呢？

男∶和“your mother cooks”比。

女∶对啦！我们必须明确相比较的事物是同类的。在“our mothers cook kuskus”这个例子中比较的就是“我们两位母亲做菜”的手艺。动词对动词，“to cook”在这个特殊情况下是动词。

男：但是原来的那句为什么错了呢？

女：因为它在句中说道“My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother”。两个“mothers”之中只有一个有动词连接。当你说“My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother”时，确切地是在说，“My mother is better at cooking kuskus than she is at cooking your mother”！

男：哎呀！那太可怕了。

女：是呀，这就是为什么要记住动词要跟动词比较，名词要跟名词比较的重要原因了。只有那样我们才能避免闹出烹调我们亲人之类的语法层面上的不悦了。

男：所以改过之后，句子听上去应是这样“My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother cooks”。

女∶嗯，是又不是。那句话绝对是正确的，但是它听起来有一点罗嗦。英语的另一个重要方面就是，允许我们在一个句子之中用一个新词来代替那个我们已经使用过的，但是需要再次指出的词。

男：就像代词。

女：正确。

男：因为在这个句子当中“to cook”被使用了很多次，在这种情况下，我们更换这个动词。

女：当然不是我喽。所以，我们用替换词的方式来调整一下句子。正确的那句本来读作“My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother cooks”，现在就变成这样了。

男：“My mother cooks better kuskus than your mother does”。

女：记住这个规则有一个好办法，就是在脑海中继续完成这个句子，让自己跨越那个用嘴表达出来时就会停下来的点。

男：听上去有点奇怪，但事实上，检查你是否需要添加动词确实是一个非常有效的办法。就像这样，当你把句子放到一起时，你可以问问你自己“我能在末尾加一个动词吗？”

女：如果你的回答是“可以”的话，那么你就加上吧。

男：“I like little scruffy dogs better than you”你看这句怎么样？

女：你真是个呆子。

男：那到底错没错呀？

女：哦，当然是错的，除非你想拿我跟一条小脏狗作比较。你为什么不告诉我你到底想说什么呢？

男：你比我更喜欢小脏狗，我想要比较的是你我喜欢的程度。又该复习了。

女：好的。原则：当比较不同主语的不同之处时，确定都要有动词来比较。

男∶例如∶ “Michael Jordan can jump higher than Magic Johnson can.” “You are more guilty of deceit than I am.” “Satornia can type faster than Lucretia can.”

女：这并不是说你做的每一个比较都和动词有关，也有许多情况是你想比较名词。

男：例如：”Michael Jordan’s sky hook is not as high as Magic Johnson’s sky hook.”这种情况下，语法是正确的。我们比较的“sky hooks”是名词而不是动词，这在以后还会 有介绍。

女：没错。CE

1) set up for 自认为，自以为

2) clarity [5klAriti] n. 透明度，清楚

3) atrocity 4 [E5trCsiti] n. 令人不愉快的事物

4) repetitive [ri5petitiv] a. 重复的，反复性的

5) substitute [5sQbstitju:t] v. 替换，代替

6) scruffy [5skrQfi] a. 肮脏的，不整洁的

7) doll [dCl]n. 玩偶，美丽而无头脑的女子