人在生活中会产生许多情绪,而其中害怕、恐惧的情绪如何表达呢?常常听到的 afraid、scared 跟 fear 又该如何区分?你也有过这样的疑惑吗?
请问这句:He is afraid ofthe monster living under his bed.(他会怕住在他床底下的怪物。)这边的 is afraid of 可以改成 is scared of 或是 fears 吗?
今天就为大家一解心头之惑吧。
afraid 的用法
首先 afraid的词性是形容词,可以广泛地代表所有害怕的情绪,用法是 be afraid of something / someone 或 be afraid to do something,举些例子:
All the students in the school are afraid of the strict math teacher.这个学校里的所有学生都害怕那位严格的数学老师。
Although Kate has lots of questions, she is afraid to speak up in class.(虽然 Kate 有许多的疑问,但她害怕在课堂中发言。)注:要注意,afraid 虽然是形容词,但是不会放在名词前面修饰。
此外,afraid还有另一种意思是「恐怕」、「很遗憾地」,用来委婉地、礼貌地说出坏消息或反对意见,也来看两个例子:
I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it to our Friday dinner this week.我恐怕没办法出席我们这礼拜五晚上的聚餐。I’m afraidwe’ve run out of the special edition cupcakes for the day.很遗憾地,我们的特别版杯子蛋糕今天已经售完了。
除此之外,afraid 还有一种相当常见的惯用法,也就是 I’m afraid so. (= Yes.)或 I’m afraid not. (= No.)。
I'm afraid so.表示 Yes.,但语气比较委婉,类似我们中文说的「恐怕是这样、恐怕如此」。I'm afraid not. 表示 No.,语气同样比较委婉,表达「恐怕不行、恐怕不可以唷」。比如说:
A: Did he turn down your offer?他拒绝了你的提议吗?B: I’m afraid so.恐怕是。A: Am I allowed to push back the deadline? 我可以把期限延长吗?B: I’m afraid not.恐怕不行。
scared 的用法
接下来 scared的词性也是形容词,意思是「恐慌的」、「在恐惧中的」、「被吓到的」,用法是 be scared of something / someone 或 be scared to do something,例如:
She was so scared of cockroaches that she slept with all the lights on.她怕蟑螂怕到连睡觉时全部的灯都会开着。Jacob doesn’t like living in Japan, because he isextremely scared of earthquakes.Jacob 因为极度害怕地震所以不喜欢住在日本。Hank is scared to go to the dentist because he hasn’t been brushing his teeth daily. Hank 因为没有天天刷牙所以害怕去看牙医。
fear 的用法
至于fear,是指「恐惧」这种情绪。那要注意,它是当名词用或是动词用。用法是: someone’s fear of something / someone 或 fear something ,来看几个例子:
His fear of being caught cheating by his teacher haunted him in his dreams.被老师抓到在作弊的恐惧使他作恶梦。Peter’s fear of gaining weightstopped him from eating his third piece of cake.Peter 对于体重增加的恐惧使他没有吃下第三块蛋糕。People in China fear the number four.中国人害怕四这个数字。The members of the group fear that their illegal plans may be overheard someday.团体中的成员害怕他们的非法计划将有一天被听到。
现在回到一开始的问题,He is afraid of the monster living under his bed.是否可以改成 is scared of 或是 fears,答案是:可以。不过因为词性不完全相同,所以改写的时候要注意。
可以改成:He is scared of the monster living under his bed. 或者是 He fears the monster living under his bed.。
所以说 afraid 跟 scared 都是形容词,也都表示「害怕的」,但差别是只有 afraid 可以表达「恐怕」,且不可以放在名词前面修饰;至于 fear 也表达「害怕」,但在词性上是动词或名词,使用时要特别注意。