| 词组 | beat, beaten |
| 释义 | beat, beaten "The use of beat where beaten is called for... is illiterate," says Harper 1985. Don't you believe it. The statement betrays ignorance: no verb form used by Steele, Dr. Arbuthnot, and Dr. Johnson is illiterate: • He had beat the Romans in a pitched battle —Sir Richard Steele, The Spectator, No. 180, 1711 (OED) • They were beat ... and turned out of doors —Dr. Arbuthnot, The History of John Bull, 1712 • I have beat many a fellow, but the rest have had the wit to hold their tongues —Samuel Johnson, letter to Mrs. Thrale, in John Wain, Samuel Johnson, 1974 • Sir, a game of jokes is composed partly of skill, partly of chance; a man may be beat at times by one who has not a tenth part of his wit —Samuel Johnson, in James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791 Reader's Digest 1983 calls beat "the old variant participle" and notes that it remains in "good, though slightly informal, use, especially in the sense 'defeated.'" This is much closer to the mark than Harper's casual damnation. Here are some examples: • He is persuaded that Montgomery could have beat the Russians to Berlin —Geoffrey Bruun, Saturday Rev., 24 Feb. 1951 • Some Very Peculiar Types have beat a path to my door these last few years —Flannery O'Connor, letter, 8 May 1955 • But this one really had me beat —Roald Dahl, Avant-Garde, March 1968 • What was unforeseeable is now known: Johnson can be beat — New Republic, 23 Mar. 1968 • He ran for the Senate and was beat —Harry S. Truman, quoted in Merle Miller, Plain Speaking, 1973 • Narrowly but decisively John Lennon had beat those odds —People, 5 Mar. 1984 There are two constructions in which beat rather than beaten seems to turn up with regularity. One occurs when the verb get replaces the usual auxiliary have; it is fairly common in sports contexts. • So if they get beat a step on a pass, they're still tall enough to go up and spike the ball —Tom Brook-shier, quoted in Sports Illustrated, 21 Oct. 1963 • Navratilova got beat —Curry Kirkpatrick, Sports Illustrated, 20 Sept. 1982 • At least I'm not getting the hell beat out of me like in those TV series —James Garner, quoted in TV Guide, 5 Oct. 1984 The second is the phrase "can't be beat." Beaten does not seem to be used in this phrase. • ... for tabloid readability John Gunther can't be beat —Time, 3 Nov. 1941 • The weather couldn't be beat —Audax Minor, New Yorker, 31 Oct. 1953 • ... the dry temperate summers can't be beat — Andrea Chambers, People, 16 Aug. 1982 Our conclusion is that beaten is by far the more common form of the past participle. Beat is found in older writing, but is still used in respectable circles. It is common after get and usual in can't be beat. |
| 随便看 |
英语用法大全包含2888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。