类似five-year-old用法的详解

类似five-year-old用法的详解

湖南 刘慧娟

本文说的five-year-old的意思是“五岁大的”，其中的five只是我们随意举的一个例子，它也可换成one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve等；同时，其中的year也可根据情况改用month, day等词。本文拟这类结构的用法作一小结，同时也对其相关用法作一归纳。

一、基本用法

1.用作形容词

My four-year-old daughter was asleep on the sofa. 我四岁的女儿在沙发上睡着了。

Mary drove. Her ten-year-old daughter sat behind. 玛丽开车，她十岁的女儿坐在后面。

Their five-year-old son is able to use the calendar to count how many days it is until his birthday. 他们五岁的儿子能用日历数出离他的生日还有多少天。

In the car accident the mother was killed, but her two-year-old son was found alive. 在这次车祸中，母亲死了，但是她两岁的儿子却还活着。

2.用作名词

A seven-year-old should be able to read. 七岁的儿童应当识字了。

She’s quite clever for a ten-year-old. 对一个10岁的孩子来说，她算相当聪明了。

Tim has an average vocabulary for a 3-year-old. 蒂姆掌握了相当于3岁孩子的平均词汇。

二、用法联想

1. five-year-old中的year可用复数吗?

不可以。five-year-old这类结构中的year只能用单数，不能用复数。如：

她的两岁的儿子摇摇摆摆地走进屋里。

误：Her two-years-old son toddled into the room.

正：Her two-year-old son toddled into the room.

2. five-year-old中的连字符可以去掉吗?

不可以。若去掉，则要转换表达方式。如：

She has a ten-year-old son. 她有个10岁的儿子。

She has a son ten years old. 她有个10岁的儿子。

Her son is ten years old. 她儿子10岁。

3. five-year-old可用作表语吗？

不可以。若要用作表语，可考虑改用five years old之类的表达。如：

她20岁，但却嫁了一个50岁的丈夫。

误：She was twenty-year-old, but married a man of fifty.

正：She was twenty years old, but married a man of fifty.

4. five-year-old前用a还是an？

five-year-old前若需要用不定冠词，要用a，不能用an。但是，若将其中的five改为eight, eleven, eighteen, eighty等，则其前要用an，不用a——尤其是当它们以8, 11, 18, 80这样的数字出现时更要引起注意。如：

He has an 11-year-old daughter. 他有一个11岁大的女儿。

He married an18-year-old American girl. 他娶了一个18岁的美国女孩。

5. five-year-old用作名词时可以有复数形式吗？

可以。five-year-old这类结构用作名词时，若语法上需要用复数，可以在词尾加-s。如：

Eighteen-year-olds qualify to vote. 年满十八岁者有选举权。

The report attacks the idea of exams for 7- and 8-year-olds. 这份报道抨击了对七八岁孩子进行考试的设想。

Even ten-year-olds have started wearing lipstick and make-up in imitation of the older girls. 甚至连10来岁的女孩子们也开始模仿年龄大一点的女孩子开始抹口红和化妆。