|
正當母親談電話談的興高采烈。兒子突然高聲呼喊說有焦味。父親連忙衝進廚房把爐火關掉，很是不滿。
"If Mrs Wong had not called, the beef would not have been burnt." said mother.「要不是黃太打電話來，牛肉不會燒焦。」母親說。
"If I had not turned off the stove, the kitchen would have been on fire." said father.「若非我把爐火關掉，廚房早就起火了。」父親說。
"If I had not smelt the smoke, no one would have noticed." the son said.「假如我沒有嗅到焦煙味，就沒有人會察覺到。」兒子說。
以上的句子都是假設語，用了連接詞if，針對過去已經發生的事，假設事情不是這樣發展時，可能出現的後果。句中假設的情況，實際上沒有發生，而假設的後果也沒有出現。
在那次事件中，實際情況是：
Mrs Wong called and the beef was burnt.黃太打電話來，牛肉燒焦了。
The son smelt the smoke and the family noticed the incident.兒子嗅到焦煙味，這家人察覺到事情 。
The father turned off the stove and the kitchen was not on fire.父親關掉爐火，廚房沒有起火。
留意造句的特點是if加過去完成式(past perfect tense)，而主句的動詞冠以would have‘happened’或could have‘happened’。這種語法很多時用於表達個人感受。
If it had not been for the coach, we would not have won.
如果沒有了教練，我們不會勝出。（感激）
這個語法有另一種構造方式，就是把if省去，改以had作句子起首。
Had Mrs Wong not called, the beef would not have been burnt.
Had I not turned off the stove, the kitchen would have been on fire.
Had I not smelt the smoke, we would not have noticed.
這是頗有趣的表達方法，可以婉轉地表示自己的感受，值得我們善加利用。 ■香港浸會大學語文中心講師 Lina Chu
|
