8. For Collective Nouns, Context Is Everything

　　对于集合名词，语境决定一切

　　Sometimes, a singular noun represents a group of people or a collection of things. Should it take a singular or a plural verb? Is family singular or plural? Is government plural or singular? How about crowd or flock? These types of nouns are known as collective nouns. You’ll treat them differently depending on context.

　　有时候，一个单数的名词代表着很多人或者很多事物。那么这种情况下，谓语动词应该采取单数还是复数呢?family是单数还是复数呢?government是单数还是复数呢?crowd和flock呢?这类名词被叫做集合名词。对待这类词应该视语境而定。

　　First, consider whether you’re operating in British English or American English. In American English, collective nouns typically take a singular verb. For example:

　　首先，要考虑你正在处理的是英式英语还是美式英语。在美式英语中，集合名词的谓语动词多用单数形式。例如：

　　My family loves me a lot.

　　我的家人很爱我。

　　The American government is voting on this issue today.

　　美国政府今天将就这个问题投票。

　　There are two important exceptions that you’re likely to encounter in casual conversation: police and people. Police and people always take a plural verb.

　　在日常的交流中，你还会遇到两个重要的特殊集合名词：police和people。police和people的谓语动词通常才用复数形式。

　　The Boston Police make reports on the matter.

　　波士顿警察正在就这个问题作报告。

　　People are starting to wonder what’s going on.

　　人们想知道发生了什么。

　　However, in British English, collective nouns may take a singular or a plural verb, depending on the rest of the sentence. If the collective noun represents a group acting as one unit, it takes a singular verb. If the collective noun stands for several individuals or things acting independently, it takes a plural verb. For example:

　　然而，在英式英语中，集合名词的谓语动词既可以采用复数形式，也可以采用单数形式，这要视句子中的其他成分而定。如果集合名词代表一群人但却以一个整体出现，那么谓语动词使用单数。如果集合名词代表几个个体或者一些事物以单独的形式出现，那么谓语动词采用复数形式。例如：

　　My family are all coming to the wedding. (“Family” stands for several different people who’ll arrive at the wedding, not necessarily together.)

　　我的家人都来参加婚礼了。(family代表不同的人，他们将来参加婚礼，但是不是必须同时到达。)

　　The staff disagree on the deadline for the project. (The staff are employees who have different opinions about the project deadline.)

　　员工们对于这个方案的最后期限意见不统一。(staff是不同的雇员，他们对于方案的最后期限有着不同的看法。)

　　9. Always Use Complete Sentences, Not Sentence Fragments

　　使用完整的句子而不是句子片段

　　The most basic sentence in English has two elements: a subject and a verb.

　　英语中最基本的句子有两个成分：主语和谓语。

　　She sings.

　　她唱歌。

　　I write.

　　我写作。

　　Having a subject and a verb is the minimum requirement for English sentences. If either of those is missing, the sentence isn’t complete. Sentence fragments shouldn’t be used alone.

　　在一个英文句子中，主语和谓语是最基本的存在。两者中的任何一个丢失，句子都不是完整的。句子片段不能够单独使用。

　　Make it a rule for yourself to always write in complete sentences. Check if there’s a subject and a verb in your sentence. If not, insert one! Connecting sentence fragments into more complex sentences will make your English speech and English writing correct and varied.

　　写完整的句子应该成为你为自己制定的规则。写好之后要检查句子里是否有主语和谓语。如果没有，要补充上。把句子片段连接起来组成更加完整的句子会使你的英文演讲和英文写作富有变化且正确。

　　10. Learn Some Question Tags to Simplify Your Life

　　使用反义疑问句使生活更加简单

　　You know those short questions that sometimes get added to the end of a sentence, don’t you? These are called question tags, and they’re neat, aren’t they? They can make your life easier, especially in an English conversation, because they allow you to easily turn statements into yes or no questions.

　　你认识那些放在句尾短的疑问句吧，是不是?他们被称作反义疑问句，这些句子很简洁，不是嘛?使用他们能够使生活更加简单，尤其是在使用英语交流的时候，因为他们能够把你的陈述很容易的转化成带有yes或者no的问题。

　　The rule for forming a question tag is simple: if the main verb of the sentence is positive, the question tag takes its negative form. If the main verb of the sentence is negative (has “not” in it), the question tag takes its positive form. A question tag will always conform to the main verb of the sentence.

　　反义疑问句的使用规则很简单：如果主句谓语动词是肯定的，那么反义疑问句的谓语动词就用否定的形式。如果主句谓语动词是否定的(句子中含有not),反义疑问句的谓语动词就采用肯定的形式。反义疑问句的谓语动词常与逐句地谓语动词一致。

　　She forgot her lunch, didn’t she? or She didn’t forget her lunch, did she?

　　她忘记吃午饭了不是嘛?或者她没有忘记吃午饭，是嘛?

　　However, here’s another thing to remember: if the main verb of the sentence is “I am,” the question tag that corresponds is “aren’t I.”

　　这里我们还需要记住另一个规则：如果主句的主语和谓语是“I am”,那么反义疑问句相应的形式就应该是“aren’t I ”。

　　I am going to have to change my plans, aren’t I?

　　我不得不改变我的计划，不是嘛?

　　If you don’t feel like using a contraction to form a negative question tag, be careful with the placement of “not.”

　　如果你不想使用缩写形式的反义疑问句，要额外注意not的位置。

　　She forgot her lunch, did she not?

　　她没有忘记吃午餐。不是嘛?

　　11. Feel Free to Use Dangling Prepositions

　　自如地使用悬垂介词

　　Whenever a preposition gets separated from its object in the sentence (or when it doesn’t have an object at all), it becomes a dangling preposition.

　　当介词在句子中与它的宾语分开使用时(或者它根本就没有宾语时)，它就变成了悬垂介词。

　　Whom are you talking to?

　　你在跟谁说话?

　　You can come downstairs; there’s nothing to be afraid of.

　　你可以下楼，没什么可害怕的。

　　You may encounter native English speakers who believe it’s incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition. However, dangling prepositions aren’t a grammatical error.

　　你可能会遇到一个以英语为母语的人，他认为以介词结束一个句子是错误的。然而，悬垂介词在语法上并不是错误的。

　　Actually, avoiding dangling prepositions may result in some awkward sentences!

　　事实上，不把悬垂介词至于句尾还会引起句子的歧义。

　　For example:

　　例如：

　　To whom are you talking?

　　你在跟谁说话?

　　You can come downstairs; there’s nothing of which to be afraid.

　　你可以下楼，没有什么好害怕的。

　　These sentences are correct, but not very desirable. As long as you understand dangling prepositions and their grammatical rules, feel free to use them!

　　这些句子虽然是正确的，但是说法却不是非常可取。只要你知道悬垂介词并且明白他们的语法规则，请自如地使用他们。

　　12. But Be Careful with Dangling Participles in Complex Sentences

　　在复杂句中小心使用悬垂分词。

　　Participles are often used to introduce a subordinate clause in a sentence.

　　在句子中，分词用来引出一个从属的句子。[/

　　Doing my homework, I noticed that a few of my notes were missing.

　　[cn]做家庭作业的时候，我发现我的几个纸条不见了。

　　That little girl, having dropped her ice cream, is crying uncontrollably.

　　那个女孩的冰淇淋掉了，她正在嚎啕大哭。

　　在这些例子里。分词通常与主语相关。他们描述主语执行的动作或者说明主语的状态。

　　上述的例子还可以开改写成这样，他们的意思是相同的：

　　While I was doing my homework, I noticed that a few of my notes were missing.

　　当我正在做家庭作业的时候，我发现我的纸条不见了。

　　That little girl has dropped her ice cream and is crying uncontrollably.

　　那个小女孩把她的冰淇淋弄掉了，她正在嚎啕大哭。

　　Dangling participles can cause problems for English learners; they can make it easier to forget or confuse the subject-participle relationship. A very common mistake many English learners make is to use a participle that doesn’t relate to the subject of the sentence.

　　悬垂分词的使用对于英语学习者而言是一个大问题;他们会常常使我们忘记或者混淆主语与分词之间的关系。对于英语学习者而言一个常见的错误就是，他们使用的分词与句子的主语没有关系。

　　Walking to the university, the rain started to fall, so he opened his umbrella.

　　走去学校，开始下雨，因此他带了雨伞。

　　这个句子是错误的!很明显，是他走去学校，而不是雨。正确的说法应该是这样的：

　　Walking to the university, he opened his umbrella, because the rain started to fall.

　　他带着伞走去学校，因为下雨了。

　　正如你所见，在句子中，悬垂分词能够引起令人困惑的语法错误，这就反映出了你的写作功底有所不足。与悬垂介词不同，我们应该尽量避免使用悬垂分词。

（编辑：何莹莹）