“to +one’s+情感名詞”是英語中一個十分有用的結構,主要表示某人由于某事的發生而喚起其內心的某種情感,通常譯為“令某人……的是”“使某人感到……的是”。這類結構在學習時應弄清以下幾個方面。
一、該結構主要適用哪些名詞
能用于該結構的名詞非常有限,常見的有 admiration(羨慕), amazement(驚奇), amusement(娛樂), annoyance(煩惱), astonishment (驚奇), delight(欣喜), despair(絕望), disappointment(失望), embarrassment(難堪), happiness, horror(恐怖), joy(高興), puzzlement(疑惑), regret(遺憾), relief(放心), satisfaction(滿意), shame(羞愧), sorrow(悲傷), surprise(驚訝)等。如:
To my amazement, he arrived on time. 令我驚異的是,他居然準時趕到了。
To my great amusement his false beard fell off. 使我感到極其好笑的是,他的假胡子掉了下來。
To his annoyance, he discovered they hadn’t waited. 他發現他們沒有等他而感到十分煩惱。
To his no small astonishment the woman began to laugh. 使他吃驚不小的是這個女人竟開始笑了起來。
To her embarrassment, she couldn’t remember his name. 令她感到困窘的是,她記不起他的名字了。
To my shame I never thanked him for his kindness. 我感到慚愧的是對他的好意我從未表示過感謝。
注:有時可將兩個名詞并列使用。如:
To her surprise and joy, she was awarded first prize. 使她又驚又喜的是,她獲得了一等獎。
To her great disappointment and annoyance, she failed in the English examination again. 使她極為失望和苦惱的是,她的英語考試又沒有及格。