問:三月五日貴欄有以下一句,句中的does是不是應改為has?──I have as many children as he does(我孩子之多,和他一樣)。
答:這一句用does比has好一點。按has(或have、had)可作主要動詞(main verb)或輔助動詞(auxiliary verb),而一般主要動詞,假如句子前後重複使用,重複時可用do取代,特別是有「也是如此」或「兩相比較」意思的句子,例如:(1)He works hard and so does his wife(= and his wife works hard too)(他努力工作,他妻子也努力工作)。(2)I love dogs as much as you do(= as you love dogs)(我和你一樣愛狗)。拙欄那一句,就是用does取代主要動詞has。
但假如has是輔助動詞,則不可用does取代。例如:"I have seen the film." "So has he(= He has seen the film too)."(「我看過這齣電影。」「他也看過。」)第二句So has he可不能改為So does he。
問:有英文報紙談到一些國家國會議員的女性比率:Bolivia has 53.1 percent and Cuba 48.9 percent(玻利維亞有百分之五十三點一,古巴有百分之四十八點九)。Cuba 48.9 percent這寫法奇怪,正確嗎?
答:英文句子之中,子句(clause)假如文法結構相同,動詞也相同,則重複的動詞可以略去,而省略處或加逗點,例如:He died at 89 and his wife(died) at 93 / and his wife, at 93(他八十九歲去世,他妻子則九十三歲去世)。讀者示下那一句,就是用了這種省略法,等於Bolivia has 53.1 percent and Cuba has 48.9 percent。句中Cuba之後的has,也可用逗點取代。