词组 | politics |
释义 | politics Politics can take either a singular or a plural verb. When it means "a person's political opinions or sympathies," it is quite likely to be plural: • Mr. Trumbo's politics were not mine —Richard Schickel, Harper's, March 1971 • ... his somewhat doctrinaire radical politics offer a refreshing contrast —Gerald Jonas, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 20 July 1975 Other senses may be either singular or plural: • ... politics is fully as sophisticated ... as psychiatry —Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Saturday Rev., 1 Sept. 1974 • ... Catholic politics in that period are one of Dr. Spadolini's special subjects —Times Literary Supp., 16 July 1970 • Japanese politics on the surface also seems wild and confusing —Edwin O. Reischauer, The Lamp, Summer 1970 • ... bedroom politics continue to be more tempestuous than national politics —N. Weber, Harper's Weekly, 23 Aug. 1976 Around the turn of the century there was considerable controversy on the subject, with Vizetelly 1906 and Bierce 1909 prescribing the singular verb. Newspapers who followed this line equated "politics are" with "molasses are." Utter 1916 and Webster 1909 said the choice could be either singular or plural; Hall 1917 found more instances of the plural than the singular in his literary sources. Today's approach is the more balanced one of Utter and Webster. |
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。