動名詞、不定詞與虛主詞

文法小教室 : 動詞變身術 (動名詞、不定詞與虛主詞 it)

動詞除了可以表示動作,還可以「變身」成其他詞性喔!今天我們要來認識兩種最常見的動詞變身形態:「動名詞」(Gerund) 和「不定詞」(Infinitive)。學會它們,你的英文句子就能表達更豐富的意思!同時,我們也會介紹一個讓長句子變清爽的小幫手:「虛主詞 it」。

一、動名詞 (Gerund: V-ing) - 當名詞用

動名詞就是「動詞 + ing」(V-ing),但它在句子裡扮演的是「名詞」的角色。既然是名詞,它就可以放在名詞可以放的位置:

  • 當主詞 (Subject): 放在句首,表示「做...這件事」。動名詞當主詞時,動詞用單數。
    例:Swimming is good exercise. (游泳是很好的運動。)
    例:Learning English takes time. (學習英文需要時間。)
  • 當受詞 (Object): 放在及物動詞後面。
    例:I enjoy reading. (我享受閱讀。)
    例:He finished doing his homework. (他完成了他的作業。)
  • 當主詞補語 (Subject Complement): 放在 Be 動詞後面,補充說明主詞是什麼。
    例:My hobby is collecting stamps. (我的嗜好是集郵。)
    例:Seeing is believing. (眼見為憑。)
  • 當介系詞的受詞 (Object of a Preposition): 放在介系詞 (in, on, at, for, about, of...) 後面。
    例:She is good at drawing. (她擅長畫畫。)
    例:Thank you for coming. (謝謝你的到來。)

* 常接動名詞當受詞的動詞: enjoy, finish, practice, avoid, mind, keep (持續), suggest, quit, give up...

練習 1:用動名詞填空

  1. _______ (Swim) is fun.
  2. I finished _______ (clean) the house.
  3. He is interested in _______ (learn) Japanese.

解答:1. Swimming 2. cleaning 3. learning

二、不定詞 (Infinitive: to + V) - 多功能選手

不定詞的基本形式是「to + 動詞原形 (to V)」。它的功能更多元,可以當名詞、形容詞或副詞。

  • 當名詞 (Noun):
    • 當主詞:To learn a new language is challenging. (學習新語言有挑戰性。) (較少見,常改用虛主詞 it)
    • 當受詞:I want to travel. (我想要旅行。) / She decided to stay home. (她決定待在家。)
    • 當主詞補語:My dream is to become a writer. (我的夢想是成為作家。)
  • 當形容詞 (Adjective): 放在名詞後面,修飾名詞。
    例:I have some homework to do. (我有一些功課要做。)
    例:Is there anything to eat? (有任何東西可以吃嗎?)
  • 當副詞 (Adverb): 通常用來表示「目的」(為了...)。
    例:He studies hard to pass the exam. (他努力讀書是為了通過考試。)
    例:I went to the store to buy some milk. (我去商店是為了買些牛奶。)

* 常接不定詞當受詞的動詞: want, need, decide, hope, plan, learn, agree, promise, try, ask, tell...

練習 2:填入不定詞 (to V)

  1. She promised _______ (call) me later.
  2. My goal is _______ (finish) this project by Friday.
  3. He needs something _______ (drink).
  4. They came here _______ (help) us.

解答:1. to call 2. to finish 3. to drink 4. to help

三、動名詞 vs. 不定詞:當受詞的選擇

有些動詞後面固定接動名詞,有些固定接不定詞 (如上面列表)。但也有一些動詞比較特別:

  • 接 V-ing 或 to V 意思「差不多」的動詞: start, begin, continue, like, love, hate, prefer...
    例:It started raining / to rain. (開始下雨了。)
    例:I like swimming / to swim. (我喜歡游泳。)
  • 接 V-ing 或 to V 意思「不同」的動詞:
    • remember:
      remember + to V (記得「要去做」某事 - 還沒做)
      remember + V-ing (記得「做過」某事 - 已經做)
      例:Remember to lock the door. (記得要去鎖門。)
      例:I remember locking the door. (我記得我鎖過門了。)
    • forget:
      forget + to V (忘記「要去做」某事 - 沒做)
      forget + V-ing (忘記「做過」某事 - 但其實做過)
      例:Don't forget to bring your homework. (別忘了要帶作業。)
      例:I'll never forget seeing that beautiful view. (我永遠不會忘記看過那美麗的景色。)
    • stop:
      stop + to V (停下正在做的事,去做 V 這件事)
      stop + V-ing (停止 V-ing 這個動作)
      例:He stopped to smoke. (他停下來去抽菸。)
      例:He stopped smoking. (他戒菸了/停止抽菸這個動作。)
    • try:
      try + to V (努力「嘗試去做」某事)
      try + V-ing (「試試看」某個方法/動作)
      例:Please try to finish it on time. (請努力準時完成。)
      例:Try pressing this button. (試試看按這個按鈕。)

練習 3:選擇正確的動詞形式

  1. I forgot _______ (lock) the door this morning!
  2. He stopped _______ (talk) and listened to the teacher.
  3. Do you remember _______ (meet) him last year?

解答:1. to lock 2. talking 3. meeting

四、讓句子更順暢:虛主詞/虛受詞 it (Dummy Subject/Object 'it')

當「動名詞片語」或「不定詞片語」當主詞時,句子可能會顯得頭重腳輕。為了讓句子更平衡、更自然,我們可以用 It 來當「假的」主詞 (虛主詞),把真正的主詞 (動名詞/不定詞片語) 移到後面。

虛主詞 it 的句型:

  • It + be + 形容詞 + (for sb) + to V... (這是最常見的句型)
    原句:To learn English is important.
    改寫:It is important to learn English. (學英文很重要。)

    原句:To wake up early is difficult for me.
    改寫:It is difficult for me to wake up early. (對我來說早起很困難。)
  • It + be + 形容詞/名詞 + V-ing... (較少見,通常用來表達經驗或感受)
    原句:Swimming in the ocean is exciting.
    改寫:It is exciting swimming in the ocean. (在海裡游泳很刺激。)
    例:It was nice talking to you. (很高興跟你聊天。)

虛受詞 it 的句型 (補充):

有時候,當不定詞或 that 子句當受詞,且後面還有受詞補語時,也會用 it 當虛受詞。

  • S + V + it + Adj/N + to V...
    例:I find it difficult to solve this problem. (我發現要解決這個問題很困難。)
  • S + V + it + Adj/N + that + Clause...
    例:He made it clear that he disagreed. (他明確表示他不同意。)

練習 4:用虛主詞 It 改寫句子

  1. To finish the work today is impossible. →
  2. Learning new things is always fun. →

解答:1. It is impossible to finish the work today. 2. It is always fun learning new things.

動狀詞與虛主詞小總結:

  • 動名詞 (V-ing) 和不定詞 (to V) 可以讓動詞當名詞、形容詞或副詞用。
  • 要注意哪些動詞後面固定接 V-ing 或 to V,以及哪些動詞接兩者時意義不同。
  • 當 V-ing 或 to V 片語當主詞太長時,可以用虛主詞 It 來讓句子更順暢。
  • 掌握動狀詞和虛主詞,你的英文句子會更有彈性、更漂亮!

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