日常用语中如何使用名词性从句混世桃花运 ？-慢速英语听力
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.
Almost every American has seen or heard of the movie "Forrest Gump."
The film is a touching story about the life of a man who faces manychallenges.
One of the most famous quotes from “Forrest Gump” is this:
My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
These lines might interest you for two reasons.
First, if you mention them to an American, they will probably know what you are talking about. Second, if you study the lines carefully, you can learn how complexgrammaris used in everyday speech.
Today on Everyday Grammar, we are going to explore how Americans use nounclausesin speech.
Just like Gump's box of chocolates, this report might have a pleasant surprise for you!
What are noun clauses?
Noun clauses are groups of words that act as a noun. They often begin with words such asif, what, why,and so on. These clauses have a subject and apredicate, just like a sentence. However辽大二姐, they do not act as sentences on their own. Instead, they have an effect on a longer洗冤新录 , more complex sentence.
Here is an example. Imagine you do not know the answer to a question in your mathematics class. You could ask, "I wonder if my teacher knows the answer?"
In the sentence, the main clause永恒之眼入口, "I wonder," is followed by the if - noun clause紫薰浅夏 , "if my teacher knows the answer."
In this report, we are talking about noun clauses that begin with the wordswhat, why, where,and so on. Let’s call themwh-clauses. In technical language, you could call themsubordinators. They can act as subjects, objects,complements, and so on.
The good news is this: Americans commonly use if- and wh- noun clauses in a few expressions. Generally, such expressions have one of the following verbs:know, see杨淑君事件 ,andwonder.
We will use lines from popular movies and short examples to show you how Americans use these verbs with different noun clauses.
1. Know
Consider this line from the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby.
"No matter where he is, I thought you should knowwhat kind of man your father really was."
In the sentence栾舒越 , the wordwhatleads to a clause that comes after the verb,know. This is a commonpatternin American English.
If you were to visit the United States, you would probably hear expressions such as"I know what..." or "I don't know what..."almost every day.
Speakers will also use different wh- words tointroduceclauses. For example李梦蝶, you could say,"I thought you should know why I came here."Or you could say,"I thought you should know where to find the post office.”
You will also hear if-noun clauses with the verbknow.
For example零女特警r , imagine that a person asked you超能警察 ,"Do you know if the museum is near here钟彬娴 ?"You could say,"No,彭小盛 I don't know if the museum is near here."
2. See
Another word that is commonly followed by an if- or wh- noun clause is the verbsee.
Consider this line from the 1998 film “The Truman Show.”
"Do you want another slice?
No张逸文 , I'm okay.
What else is on?
"Yeah, let's seewhat else is on."
Where's the TV Guide夜神翼 ?
Americans will often use the words "Let's see what...." or "Let's see if..." to make a suggestion, as in the line from The Truman Show.
At other times, speakers will use "Let's see …" in an informal way. They do not necessarily mean it as a suggestion. Consider this quote from 1999 film, “The Green Mile.”
"Mr. Jingles? Where you been闲妻当家 ? Been worried about you, boy. You hungry? Hmm颐然 ? Let's go seeif we can't find you something to eat."
These lines show you how some Americans speak, notably in the southeastern United States. The speaker is clearly not making a suggestion; instead叶培大, he is speaking to himself in an indirect way. Although he uses the negative "can't", he actually means "can."
3. Wonder
Another word that is commonly used with an if- or wh- noun clause is the verbwonder.
The structure "I wonder if..." is commonly used to ask a question. Remember the example, "I wonder if my teacher knows the answer."
Speakers will also use wh-clauses with the verbwonder. Many forgetful people have probably said "I wonderwhere my keys are王冕好学 ?”王音璇 , for example.
Why these structures are important
Now that you have learned about if-and wh- clauses恩佐齐达内 , think back to the film Forrest Gump.
"My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
Did you notice that Gump uses one of the common grammatical structures that we have talked about in this report?
Although you might not suspect it, every time you watch an American film, listen to American music, or talk to an American, you can learn more grammar.
All of the structures we have studied today are consideredpolite巅峰进化 , and can be used informalor informal speech. They also can be used in writing.
The next time you are watching an American film张雪清 , try to find complex grammatical structures like the ones we talked about. Listen for the wordsknow, see,andwonder.What types of noun clauses do speakers use? How do they organize their sentences?
This process might be difficult. But remember this: you knowwhat you should do.
I'm John Russell.
And I'm Jill Robbins.
John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
______________________Words in This Story
grammar– n.the set of rules that explain how words are used in a language
clause– n.grammar: a part of a sentence that has its own subject and verb
predicate– n.grammar: the part of a sentence that expresses what is said about the subject
complement– n.grammar: a word or group of words added to a sentence to make it complete
challenge–n.a difficult test or problem
complement–n.something that completes something else or makes it better
pattern– n.a repeated form or design
introduce–v.to use or make something available for the first time;
stylistic–adj.of or relating to a way of doing things
polite–adj.showing respect to others
formal–adj.of or related to serious of official speech