作者:雅思考官小姐姐
鏈接:https://www.zhihu.com/question/27037537/answer/2748234003
來源:知乎
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(今天小姐姐試着用中英兩種語文來回答,如果各位喜歡這樣的風格的話,請不吝點贊留言:D )
Not sure if there is a site that documents all grammatical rules that are obsolete/archaic (there probably is one or even a couple somewhere), but one rule I could quickly think of is the prescriptive rule of placing prepositions before relative pronouns (e.g. in which, of which, to which, for which, at which, to whom, by which, whereby), which prevents a sentence from ending with a preposition.
我不是很確定是否有一個網站是把所有比較古老、過時的語法全部列出來(我想這樣的網頁應該是存在的),不過我可以輕易想到的一個比較常見的例子是一個要求將介詞放在關係代名詞之前的規定(例如in which, of which, to which, for which, at which, to whom, by which, whereby)。這種規定可以防止一個句子以介詞作為結尾。
For example, the IELTS speaking test has questions like this:
"Describe a contest you would like to take part in",
"Describe a picture you took that you are proud of,"
or "What do you most often use a laptop for?"
These are all considered to be 「incorrect」 if you ask an experienced editor of a reputable news media. The reason is, the "correct" way to write these sentences, according to ELA teachers and textbooks in America, is to front the preposition. In other words, leaving a dangling preposition at the end of a sentence is taboo.
舉例來說,雅思口語考試有諸如以下的問題:
「描述您想參加的比賽」 (注意: 英文的原文是以介詞 「in」 結尾),
「描述您拍過最令你驕傲的照片」(注意: 英文的原文是以介詞 「of」 結尾),
或「您最常使用筆電做什麼」 (注意: 英文的原文是以介詞 「for」 結尾)。
若您詢問經驗豐富的知名新聞媒體編輯,這些問項都被認為是「不正確的」。原因是根據美國英文教師和教科書的見解,寫這些句子的「正確」方式是介詞必須放在前面(像是 「in which」, 「of which」, 「for what」)。換句話說,在句末留下懸垂介詞是大忌。
While it is quite okay for native speakers and advanced learners to end sentences with a/an 「in,」 「of,」 or 「for,」 their old-school, traditional teachers might frown at the usage and advise them to 「front」 the preposition, which makes the preposition precede the relative pronoun. The three sentences, if written/spoken with prescriptive grammar would then look like this:
「Describe a contest in which you would like to take part.」
「Describe a picture of which you are proud.」
「For what do you most often use a laptop?」
雖然母語人士和進階英語學習者會使用「in」, 「of」或「for」等介詞來結束句子,但他們保守、傳統的老師可能會對於這種用法皺眉,並建議這些人將介詞"前置",將介詞置放在關係代詞前面。以下三種句子,如用課本規定的文法書寫或說法的呈現如下:
「描述一項您想參加的比賽」 (「Describe a contest in which you would like to take part.」),
「描述一張您拍過最驕傲的照片」 (「Describe a picture of which you are proud.」),
或「您最常使用筆電做什麼事情」 (「For what do you most often use a laptop?」)?
However, even flagship English proficiency tests like the IELTS and TOEFL are often ditching this rule when it comes to designing their test questions. The SAT (a standardized test that most universities in the U.S. use as a basis to make their admissions decisions before the pandemic) is also not forcing students to worry about the changed subjective and objective pronoun cases in sentences like 「Who did Jane sit between?」 and 「Who did Jake give the present to?」
(Pay attention to the 「who」 and the 「whom」 - Prescriptively, the sentence should be 「Between whom did Jane sit」 and 「To whom did Jake give the present,」 but nowadays, fewer people are fussing over the distinction between 「who」 (which is in the subjective case like 「he」 and 「she」) and the 「whom」 (which is in the objective case like 「him」 and 「her」).
然而,連旗艦的留學考試如雅思和托福考試經常不採用此規定,且SAT (有人稱之為美國高考,是一個許多美國頂尖大學在疫情前會拿來作為錄取學生與否的依據的的標準化測驗)也沒有強迫學生計較"Jane和誰坐一起"或"Jake把禮物給誰"等的這種主客關代詞的變化。
(請留意"誰(主格)"和"誰(受格)"-- 在正規文法規則之下,句子的正確寫法應該是「Between whom did Jane sit」 and 「To whom did Jake give the present」,但現在幾乎不會有人特別計較區分"誰"這個字是用主格(who)還是受格(whom)表達。*原則上,現在who和whom已經原則上通用了。
That said, although the fronting of prepositions might be relatively dated and overly formal, there is still a place for it in English writing since, in my opinion, it adds a touch of sophistication and creates a balance in our increasingly casual world.
雖然介詞的前置可能相對過時或太過正式,但不可否認,它在英文寫作仍佔有一席之地,因為在小姐姐心目中,它賦予了在日益隨意的世界中帶來了一絲的複雜和精緻,也創造了一種平衡。
If you are still craving more, here are some well-written articles on the topic for your reference.
若您渴望了解更多資訊,這兒有幾篇關於該主題的好文供您參考。
「Up with which I will not put」 — delicious, but misleading | Odile Sullivan-Tarazi
palimpsestediting.com/the-editors-notebook/grammar-and-punctuation/up-with-which-i-will-not-put-delicious-but-misleading
Ending a Sentence with a Preposition: It』s Ok and It』s Not
www.grammarly.com/blog/youve-been-lied-to-heres-why-you-absolutely-can-end-a-sentence-with-a-preposition/#:~:text=It's%20not%20an%20error%20to,avoid%20ending%20sentences%20with%20prepositions
In Which, Of Which, At Which, To Which: How to Use Prepositions with Relative Pronouns - One Minute English
oneminuteenglish.org/en/in-which-of-which-at-which-to-which/
How to correctly apply "in which", "of which", "at which", "to which", etc?
english.stackexchange.com/questions/3228