2012年5月18日星期五

古德明: 模稜兩可




問:以下一句,believes是不是應改為believe? ──Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient myths(賈斯珀.懷特相信古代神話。像他這樣的人今天很少)。

答:這是個頗多爭議的問題。我只能說believebelieves兩個說法都正確。
請看Godfrey HowardThe Good English Guide: "One of those" is plural, because the verb is controlled by "those", not by "one" : "She is one of those successful women who are now on the board."One of those是複數,動詞受those而不是one支配:「她做了董事,屬於事業有成婦女。」)
但是,John KenyonAmerican Speech卻引述著名文法家Otto Jespersen的意見:Jespersen suggests that... the writer or speaker is more immediately concerned with "one" than with "those"(耶斯波生認為,說或寫的時候,我們重視的是one而不是those)。

英國詩人Joseph Addison1672-1719)寫過以下兩句,one of those who之後一用單數動詞is,一用複數的are,標準在於下筆時較重視的是one還是those,兩句都不應視為錯誤:(1My worthy friend Sir Roger is one of those who is not only at peace within himself, but beloved and esteemed by all about him(我敬重的朋友羅傑爵士是坦蕩自得、並深獲身邊的人愛戴的那種人)。(2I am one of those people who by the general opinion of the world are counted both infamous and unhappy(我是世人眼中不名譽、不快樂的那種人)。