【问】 R.Quirk等在CGEL中说:about和of常常与think连用,但含义不同: He thought 按照他们的说明,think about应译作“考虑”、“思考”,而think of应译作“想到”、“想起”。但是,按照这种解释,如何翻译下面的句子呢? We're thinking of going to France for our holidays,but we' ve not decided for certainyet. (LDCE) 【答】 为了使复杂的问题简单化,R. Quirk等人对think about与think of所作的词义区分,是正确的。例如,下面各句中的think of与think about就具有完全不同的含义: 1. She frequently thought of Sophia. (Bennet) 她常常想起索菲娅来。 2. I can't think of the word for “sky” in Spanish. (Whitford) 我想不起来西班牙语“天空”这个词了。 3. Who first thought of the plan? (Palmer) 谁先想出这个计划的? 4. ... a method which had never even been thought of before 一个从前从来没有人想到过的方法 但是,英语的实际应用情况却比上面的区分复杂得多。think of除用来表示“想起”、“想到”之外,也可用来表示“考虑”、“思考”(think about)。你所提到的句子we're thinking of...可以译作:我们正考虑到法国去度假,但还未决定下来。EED认为think of与think about是 同义的:“If you are thinking of doing something,you are considering doing it in the future,eg Is he still thinking of going away to Italy for a month?... I thought about being a reporter. ”可见,这里的think of与think about都可译作“考虑”、“打算”、“想”等等。类例: 1. What are you thinking of,Diana? (Galsworthy) 戴安娜,你在考虑(想)什么? 2. What are you thinking of doing? (Bennet) 你打算做什么? 3. People without a job try not to think of the future. (J. B. Heaton) 没有工作的人尽力不去想未来的事。 另外,think of与think about都可用来表达“对某事的看法”(have as an opinion about): What do you think of the government's latest offer to the unions? (LDCE) 关于政府最近提交给工会的建议,你有什么看法?