| 词组 | Reactions |
| 释义 | Reactions There are several ways of expressing your reaction to something you have been told or something you see. ◊ exclamations You often use an exclamation to express your reaction to something. An exclamation may consist of a word, a group of words, or a clause. Wonderful! Oh dear! That's awful! In speech, you say an exclamation emphatically. When you write down an exclamation, you usually put an exclamation mark (!) at the end of it. ◊ 'how' 'How' and 'what' are sometimes used to begin exclamations. 'How' is normally used with an adjective and nothing else after it. 'They've got free hotels run by the state specially for tourists.' ---'How marvellous!' 'There was no attempt made to set things out -- they were just piled in the tomb higgledy-piggledy.' ---'How strange!' The use of 'how' to begin a clause in an exclamation, as in 'How clever he is!', is now regarded as old-fashioned. See section on commenting on a quality in entry at ↑ ◊ 'what' 'What' is used in front of a noun group. 'I'd have loved to have gone.' ---'What a shame!' '...and then she died in poverty.' ---'Oh dear, what a tragic story.' What a marvellous idea! What rubbish! What fun! ◊ WARNING You must use 'what' and 'a' (or 'an') if you are using a singular count noun. For example, you say 'What an extraordinary experience!' You do not say 'What extraordinary experience!' You can put a 'to'-infinitive such as 'to say' or 'to do' after the noun group, if it is appropriate. 'If music dies, we'll die.' ---'What an awful thing to say!' What a terrible thing to do! ◊ exclamations in question form You can express a reaction by using an exclamation in the form of a question beginning with 'Isn't that'. 'University teachers seem to me far bolder here than they are over there.' ---'Isn't that interesting.' 'It's one they don't make any more.' ---'Oh, isn't that sad!' 'It was a big week for me. I got a letter from Paris.' ---'Oh, isn't that nice!' A few common exclamations have the same form as positive questions. Alan! Am I glad to see you! Well, would you believe it. They got their motor fixed. 'How much?' ---'A hundred million.' ---'Are you crazy?' ◊ expressing surprise or interest You can express surprise or interest by saying 'Really?' or 'What?', or by using a short fixed expression such as 'Good heavens' or 'Good grief'. 'It only takes 35 minutes from my house.' ---'Really? To Oxford Street?' 'He's gone to borrow John Powell's gun.' ---'What?' Good heavens, is that the time? 'What's happened?' ---'Good grief! You mean you don't know anything about it?' 'Good Lord', 'Goodness', 'My goodness', and 'Good gracious' are rather old-fashioned expressions which are still used by some people in some parts of Britain. 'You might see a boy aged four working seven or eight hours a day.' ---'Good Lord.' My goodness, this is a difficult one. 'Good God' and 'My God' are strong expressions. You should not use them if you are with religious people who might be offended by them. 'I haven't set eyes on him for seven years.' ---'Good God.' My God, what are you doing here? You can also express surprise or interest using a short question with the form of a question tag. 'He gets free meals.' ---'Does he?' 'They're starting up a new arts centre there.' ---'Are they?' 'I had a short story in Varsity last week.' ---'Did you? Good for you.' To express very great surprise, you can use a short statement that contradicts what you have just heard, although you do in fact believe it. 'I just left him there and went home.' ---'You didn't!' You can also express surprise, and perhaps annoyance, by repeating part of what has just been said, or checking that you have understood it. 'Could you please come to Ira's right now and help me out?' ---'Now? Tonight?' 'We haven't found your man.' ---'You haven't?' You can also use 'That's' or 'How' with an adjective such as 'strange' or 'interesting' to express surprise or interest. 'Is it a special sort of brain?' ---'Probably.' ---'Well, that's interesting.' 'He said he hated the place.' ---'How strange! I wonder why.' 'They sound somehow familiar.' ---'They do? How interesting.' You can say 'Strange', 'Odd', 'Funny', 'Extraordinary', or 'Interesting' to express your reaction to something. 'You falsify your results?' ---'If necessary, yes.' ---'Extraordinary.' 'They both say they saw it.' ---'Mmm. Interesting.' You can also say 'What a surprise!' Tim! Why, what a surprise! 'Flick? How are you?' ---'Oh, Alan! What a surprise to hear you! Where are you?' In informal situations, you can use expressions such as 'No!', 'You're joking!', or 'I don't believe it!' to show that you find what someone has said very surprising. 'Gertrude's got a new boyfriend!' ---'No! Who is he?' ---'Tim Reede!' ---'You mean the little painter chap? You're joking!' You've never sold the house? I don't believe it! 'You're kidding' is a more informal way of saying 'You're joking'. 'They'll be allowed to mess about with it.' ---'You're kidding!' Some people use expressions beginning with 'Fancy' and an '-ing' form to express surprise. Fancy seeing you here! Fancy choosing that! In formal situations, you can say things like 'I find that very surprising'. '...so these houses are designed from practice rather than theory.' ---'I find that extraordinary.' ◊ expressing pleasure You can show that you are pleased about a situation or about what someone has said by saying something like 'That's great' or 'That's wonderful', or just using the adjective. 'I've arranged the flights.' ---'Oh, that's great.' 'Today we had the final signing. We can drink champagne morning, noon, and night for the rest of our lives.' ---'That's wonderful.' 'We can give you an idea of what the prices are.' ---'Great.' You can also say things like 'How marvellous' or 'How wonderful'. 'I'll be able to stay for a week.' ---'How marvellous!' 'I've just spent six months in Italy.' ---'How lovely!' 'She has a large flat in Rome, and a flat in London as well.' ---'How nice.' Oh, Robert, how wonderful to see you. However, you do not say 'How great'. You can also say things like 'Isn't that nice' or 'Isn't that wonderful'. 'The children always do the washing up. They love to.' ---'Well, isn't that nice. You don't see it much any more.' 'And he can see me?' ---'Perfectly.' ---'Isn't that marvellous.' In a formal situation, you can say 'I'm glad to hear it', 'I'm pleased to hear it', or 'I'm delighted to hear it' when someone tells you something. 'He saw me home, so I was well looked after.' ---'I'm glad to hear it.' Note that these expressions are often used to indicate in a humorous way that you would have been annoyed if something had not been the case. 'I have a great deal of respect for you.' ---'I'm delighted to hear it!' You can also show that you are pleased about something by saying something like 'That is good news' or 'That's wonderful news'. 'My contract's been extended for a year.' ---'That is good news.' ◊ expressing relief You can express relief when you are told something by saying 'Oh good' or 'That's all right then'. 'I think he will understand.' ---'Oh good.' 'They're all right?' ---'They're perfect.' ---'Good, that's all right then.' You can also say 'That's a relief' or 'What a relief!' 'He didn't seem to notice much.' ---'Well, that's a relief, I must say.' 'It's nothing like as bad as that.' ---'What a relief!' When you are very relieved, you can say 'Thank God', 'Thank goodness', 'Thank God for that', or 'Thank heavens for that'. 'He's arrived safely in Moscow.' ---'Thank God.' Thank God you're safe! 'You've found all my treasures?' ---'They were in the trunk.' ---'Thank goodness.' 'I won't bore you with my views on smoking.' ---'Thank heavens for that!' In formal situations, you should say something like 'I'm relieved to hear it'. 'Is that the truth?' ---'Yes.' ---'I am relieved to hear it!' 'I certainly did not support Captain Shays.' ---'I am relieved to hear you say that.' ◊ expressing annoyance You can express annoyance by saying 'Oh no' or 'Bother'. 'Bother' is slightly old-fashioned. 'We're going to have one of those awful scrambles to get to the airport.' ---'Oh no!' Bother. I forgot to eat my sandwiches before I came here. People often use swear words to express annoyance. 'Blast', 'damn', and 'hell' are mild swear words used in this way. However, you should not use even these words when you are with people you do not know well. Damn. It's nearly ten. I have to get down to the hospital. 'It's broken.' ---'Oh, hell!' You can also say 'What a nuisance' or 'That's a nuisance'. He'd just gone. What a nuisance! Note that people often say things like 'Great' or 'Oh, that's marvellous' to express annoyance in a sarcastic way. Usually the way they say these things makes it clear that they are annoyed, not pleased. 'I phoned up about it and they said it's a mistake.' ---'Marvellous.' ◊ expressing disappointment or distress You can show that you are disappointed or upset at something by saying 'Oh dear'. 'We haven't got any results for you yet.' ---'Oh dear.' Oh dear, I wonder what's happened. You can also say 'That's a pity', 'That's a shame', 'What a pity,' or 'What a shame'. 'They're going to demolish it.' ---'That's a shame. It's a nice place.' 'Perhaps we might meet tomorrow?' ---'I have to leave Copenhagen tomorrow, I'm afraid. What a pity!' 'Why, Ginny! I haven't seen you in years.' ---'I haven't been home much lately.' ---'What a shame.' People often just say 'Pity'. 'Do you play the violin by any chance?' ---'No.' ---'Pity. We could have tried some duets.' You can also say 'That's too bad'. 'We don't play that kind of music any more.' ---'That's too bad. David said you were terrific.' You can express great disappointment or distress by saying 'Oh no!' 'Johnnie Frampton has had a nasty accident.' ---'Oh no! What happened?' ◊ expressing sympathy When someone has just told you about something bad that has happened to them, you can express sympathy in several ways. One way is to say 'Oh dear'. 'First of all, it was pouring with rain.' ---'Oh dear.' You can also say things like 'How awful' or 'How annoying'. 'He's ill.' ---'How awful. So you aren't coming home?' 'We couldn't even see the stage.' ---'Oh, how annoying.' 'We never did find the rest of it.' ---'Oh, how dreadful!' You can also say 'What a pity' or 'What a shame'. 'It took four hours, there and back.' ---'Oh, what a shame.' You can express sympathy more formally by saying 'I'm sorry to hear that'. 'I was ill on Monday.' ---'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.' 'I haven't heard from him for over a week.' ---'I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe he's away from his base and out of touch.' If what has happened is very serious, for example if a relative of the other person has died, you can express strong sympathy by saying 'I'm so sorry' or, more informally, 'That's terrible'. 'You remember Gracie, my sister? She died last autumn.' ---'Oh, I'm so sorry.' 'My wife's just been sacked.' ---'That's terrible.' If someone has failed to achieve something, you can say 'Bad luck' or 'Hard luck', which implies that the failure was not their fault. If they can make a second attempt, you can say 'Better luck next time'. 'Eleanor's been appointed to the job in Cambridge.' ---'Oh, bad luck.' Well, there we are, we lost this time, but better luck next time. |
| 随便看 |
英语用法大全包含2070条英语用法指南，基本涵盖了全部常用英文词汇及语法点的翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。