第19章　主　語 19.2　用it作主語的句子

19.2　用it作主語的句子

19.2.1　用it作人稱代詞（Personal Pronoun）

1) it最基本的用法是作人稱代詞，主要代表剛提到的東西以避免重復：

Did the black snake frighten you? ——Yes, it did. 那條黑蛇嚇著你了嗎？——是的。

Look at that car. It's going much too fast. 瞧那輛車，開得實在太快了。

Where's my coat? "It's in the cupboard." “我的大衣在哪里？”“在衣柜里？”

Where is your car? "It's in the garage." “你的車在哪里？”“在車庫里？”

2) 也可代表抽象的事物：

The government has become very unpopular since it introduced the new tax.該政府自開征新稅后就變得很不得人心。

It was a great surprise to me when he did a thing like that. 他做這樣的事我大為吃驚。

I've broken the mirror. "It can't be helped." “我把鏡子打破了？”“這是沒法幫忙的事？”

It's all my fault. 這都怪我。

3) 也可以指動物或未知性別的嬰兒：

Is this your dog? "No, it isn't." “這是你的狗嗎？”“不是的？”

Her new baby is tiny. It only weighs 2 kilos. 她的新生嬰兒很小，只有兩公斤重。

What a beautiful baby—is it a boy? 多漂亮的寶寶，是男孩嗎？

4) 還可代表一個彼此都知其何所指的東西：

Does it itch much? 癢得厲害嗎？

Where does it hurt? 哪兒疼？

It's meingitis. 這是腦膜炎。

19.2.2　非人稱代詞it

it有時并不指具體東西，而指天氣、時間、環(huán)境等，稱為非人稱代詞it（Impersonal it），可以：

1) 指天氣：

It's raining (snowing). 在下雨（雪）。

It's frosty (a lovely day). 今天霜凍（天氣晴朗）。

It's a fine night (full moon tonight). 這是個晴朗的夜晚（今晚是滿月）。

It's sunny (a bit windy). 現(xiàn)在陽光燦爛（微微有點風）。

It was pouring with rain. 這時下著傾盆大雨。

It was very cold (quite warm) at the weekend. 周末天氣很冷（很暖和）。

2) 指時間：

It's Tuesday today. 今天是星期二。

It's nearly half past eight. 快八點半了。

It's the third of June. 今天是六月三日。

It was twilight (midnight) when they came out of the hall. 他們從大廳出來已是黃昏時分（午夜）。

What time is it? "It's ten to eleven." “現(xiàn)在是什么時候？”“是十點五十？”

It's five years since I saw you last. 從上次見到你以來已經(jīng)五年了。

It's our wedding anniversary. 這是我們結婚周年紀念日。

3) 指環(huán)境：

It gets very crowded here in the summer. 夏天這兒很擁擠。

It's lovely here. 這兒環(huán)境很優(yōu)美。

It's quiet (very noising) here. 這兒很安靜（吵）。

They're sure to see you. It's bright moonlight. 他們肯定能看到你，月亮這么亮。

It's nice down there. 在那兒很好。

It's getting so dark. 天這么黑了。

4) 指距離：

How far is it to Kunming? 到昆明有多遠？

It's two miles to the beach. 到海濱有兩英里。

It's 112 miles form London to Birmingham. 從倫敦到伯明翰有112英里。

It's half an hour's walk to the city library. 去市圖書館走路只要半小時。

It's only twenty minutes' drive to our university. 到我們大學乘車只要二十分鐘。

How far is it from your home to your office? 從你家到辦公室有多遠？

It's about a night journey to this place by train. 到這地方差不多要坐一晚上的火車。

19.2.3　用于強調(diào)的it

1) it可用來對句子的某一成分加以強調(diào)，例如Nancy saw your sister in Tokyo last week.可改為許多強調(diào)結構：

It was Nancy who saw your sister in Tokyo last week. （強調(diào)主語）

It was your sister whom Nancy saw in Tokyo last week. （強調(diào)賓語）

It was in Tokyo that Nancy saw your sister last week. （強調(diào)狀語）

It was last week that Nancy saw your sister in Tokyo. （強調(diào)狀語）

從這些句子可以看出這類句子的結構是：

it+動詞be+強調(diào)部分+who（m）或that+其他部分

這類句子可稱為分裂句（Cleft Sentence），這種結構稱為分裂結構（Cleft Structure）。

2) 在強調(diào)主語時，可用who （間或用that）引導后面部分：

It was Peter who lent us the money. 是彼得借錢給我們的。

It was you who had been wrong. 錯的是你。

Was it you who (that) broke the window? 打破窗子的是你嗎？

Who was it that called the meeting? 召集會議的是誰？

若主語是物不是人，則需用that：

But here it's my word that counts. 但在這里是我說了算。

3) 在強調(diào)賓語或介詞賓語時，若是人，則關系代詞用whom，間或用that（a）；若是物，則需用that（b）：

a． It's Tom whom you should ask. 你應當問的是湯姆。

It was Jim in whom she still had her faith. 她信任的仍然是吉姆。

It was Peter with whom I first came in contact. 我最初接觸的是彼得。

It was the president that (whom) Jean shot yesterday. 昨天吉恩槍殺的是總統(tǒng)。

It's me that he blamed. 他責怪的是我。

It's pilots that we need, not ground staff. 我們需要的是飛行員，不是地勤人員。

b． It's money that they want. 他們要的是錢。

It's Spain that they're going to, not Portugal. 他們準備去的是西班牙，不是葡萄牙。

It was a key that I found there. 我在那里找到的是一把鑰匙。

4) 在強調(diào)狀語時后面多用that：

It was on Monday night that all this happened. 這一切都是在星期一夜里發(fā)生的。

It's today that he's going. 他是今天走。

It was here that he chiefly differed from an Englishman. 他和英國人的主要不同就在這里。

Why is it that you object to the idea? 你為什么反對這個意見？

5) 在口語中，who，that這類關系代詞有時省略：

I think it was Goethe said this. 我想這話是歌德說的。

It was Philip drove Miss Sophia yesterday, wasn't it? 昨天是菲力普給索菲婭小姐開車，對吧？

It was you I thought of all the time. 我一直惦念的是你。

It was then I heard Phuong's steps. 就在這時我聽到了馮的腳步聲。

What is it you want me to do? 你要我做的是什么？

Was it in 1980 this happened? 這事是1980年發(fā)生的嗎？

6) 有些否定句也可改成這種強調(diào)結構：

問句也可變成這種結構：

19.2.4　先行主語it

1)it可以用作先行詞，作為句子形式上的主語，而把真正的主語移到句子后部去。這可使句子變得更平穩(wěn)，不致主語太長，顯得頭重腳輕。這種it稱為先行主語（Preparatory Subject）?？梢频骄渥雍蟛咳サ闹髡Z最常見的是不定式。句子謂語可有下面幾種類型：

a． be+形容詞+不定式：

It is easy to criticize others. 批評別人是容易的。（比較：To criticize others is easy.）

It's better to be early. 早去好一點。（比較：To be early is better.）

It's absurd to be afraid. 害怕是荒謬的。

It's nice not to be dependent on them. 不依靠他們是好的。

b． be+名詞+不定式：

It was his duty to take care of the orphans. 照顧孤兒是他的職責。

It's a privilege to visit your country. 訪問貴國是一大榮幸。

It would be a pity to miss this opportunity. 錯過這個機會是可惜的。

It was not my habit to ask people for things. 我沒有向人索取東西的習慣。

c． be+介詞短語+不定式：

It was against my principle to do that. 做這樣的事有悖我的原則。

It's beyond me to say why. 我無法說明原因。

It's not within my power to help them. 我沒有力量幫助他們。

It's unlike him to be late;he's usually on time. 遲到在他來說是不正常的，他一向很準時。

d． 及物動詞+賓語+不定式：

It cost 100 dollars to repair the car. 修車花了一百美元。

It gave me great pleasure to watch them. 觀察它們給了我很大的樂趣。

It takes two to make a quarrel. （諺）吵架要有兩個人。

It makes me sick to think about it. 想到那事就讓我惡心。

不定式前有時可有for引導的短語，表示其邏輯上的主語：

What time would it be most convenient for me to call again? 什么時候我再來最方便？

It's getting harder every day for a poor man to get a living. 窮人維持生計日益困難。

關于不定式作主語可參閱第12.1.3節(jié)。

2) 用it作先行主語，代表動名詞時也不少，這類句子用“be+名？”作謂語時最多（a），也可以“be+形容？”（b）或其他結構（c）作謂語：

a． It's no use studying for an exam at the last minute. 臨時抱佛腳來應考是沒用的。

It's no good standing here in the cold. Let's go home. 在這寒風中站著沒好處，咱們回去吧。

It isn't much fun staying at home by yourself. 一個人待在家里沒意思。

It's a waste of time talking to him. 和他談話是白費時間。

b． Is it worthwhile quarrelling with him? 和他吵值得嗎？

It's hopeless trying to convince her. 想說服她是沒有希望的。

It's terribly tiring working like this. 這樣干非常累。

It's pleasant sitting here. 在這里坐著很愉快。

c． It doesn't matter waiting a few more days. 再等幾天沒有關系。

It doesn't make any difference my being there. 我是否在那里無所謂。

It felt funny being dressed like a boy. 打扮成男孩感覺怪怪的。

關于這類句子可參閱第12.2.2節(jié)，關于用先行主語it代表從句將在下面第19.3.2節(jié)再談。

19.2.5　it的其他用法

1) it還可表示“是誰 （在某處或做某事）”：

Who is that (it)? "It's me."（在電話上）“你是哪位？”“是我？”

Is that Tom over there? ——No, it's Peter. 是湯姆在那里嗎？——不是的，是彼得。

It's your Mum on the phone. 是你媽來電話。

Who is that? "It's the postman." “是誰呀？”“是郵差？”

What's that noise? "It's only the dog." “這聲音是怎么回事？”“是狗？”

Why, it's you! she cried.“啊，原來是你？”她叫道。

Her face lighted when she saw who it was. 看到是誰時她的臉開朗起來。

Nothing has happened. It's only the wind shaking the house. 什么也沒發(fā)生，只是風刮得房子晃動。

2) 還可以用來泛指某件事：

It says here there was a big fire in SoHo. 聽說梭荷中心有一場火災。

Isn't it awful! 真糟糕！

It's a shame, isn't it? 這很遺憾，是吧？

It doesn't matter. 沒關系。

It's getting very competitive in the car industry. 汽車業(yè)競爭越來越激烈了。

So you're going to be married this time. When is it? 這么說這次你要結婚了，什么時候結？

It's my turn. 該輪到我了。