摘要:I love you much, yet is my love as pure as the white snow this so resembles (The villain a tragedy / written by T. Porter, Esq.; 1
much是副词,very起强调语气。下面这个例句经常用,
【例句1】I like you very much. (我非常喜欢你。)
对现代英语,它的very不宜删除。
300年前的英语可以有单独的much, 如
【例句2】I love you much, yet is my love as pure as the white snow this so resembles (The villain a tragedy / written by T. Porter, Esq.; 1663)
【例句3】I love you much, but love my honour more (Love triumphant; John Dryden; 1694)
随着时间迈向现代,浮夸型表达渐趋流行(汉语亦然),使人觉得没有very的much的语气不够到位。
反复习化成自然,于是语感上觉得单独much就“有点不对劲”,并因进一步得到写作指南或语言专家的推崇而成为“规范”,比如The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language的772页有建议:In end position [much] normally behaves as a non-affirmative item unless it is itself modified by a degree adverb(在句子最后,much正常表现为非肯定性的项,除非它本身被程度副词修饰)。
也就是说,句末单独的much在否定句和疑问句中是可以的,如
【例句4】Do you have much free time? (你有很多空闲时间吗?)[牛津高级学者辞典]
【例句5】Do you get back East much? (你经常回东部吗? )[柯林斯高级学者辞典]
【例句6】He isn't in the office much. (他不常在办公室。)[牛津高级学者辞典]
【例句7】I don't have much free time.(我没有多少空闲时间。) [牛津高级学者辞典]
【例句8】I didn't enjoy the film (very) much. (我不太喜欢这部电影。)[牛津高级学者辞典]
【例句9】My hairstyle hasn't changed much since I was five. (我的发型从五岁起就没怎么变。) [柯林斯高级学者辞典]
这是因肯定句和否定句的语气没有肯定句的那么浮华。
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language进一步建议,在肯定句的句子中间,单独的much可以修饰appreciate, enjoy, outrank, prefer, surpass, underestimate等词,如
【例句10】I much appreciate your concern. (我非常感谢你的关心。)
在某些情形下,much能修饰被动式的过去分词,不能修饰主动式的动词,如
【例句11】She had been much abused by her stepfather. (她被继父虐待得很厉害。)
【例句12×】Her stepfather had much abused her.
在现代英语中,非正式场合下,比如私人通信的最后有时带上Love you much,因为这种语境并不需要特别浮华和“规范”。
来源:毗陵布衣