这一篇讲解几组常用的副词,适当使用可以使写作表达更加简洁地道。
1 范围副词
范围副词表示在某个具体方面,一种常见的用法就是范围副词+形容词,表示在某方面怎样/对...怎样。以大家很熟悉的environmentally friendly为例:environmentally friendly=friendly to the environment
environmentally作状语,和介词状语to the environment所起的作用完全相同,但是显然前者更简洁,也更常见。再比如:
environmentally damaging对环境有害的=damaging to the environment
environmentally aware有环保意识的=aware of environmental protection
常用的范围副词还有:
【表示领域】politically、economically、culturally、academically、commercially、socially、globally
【与人相关】physically、mentally、emotionally、psychologically、morally比如:
①socially acceptable behaviour被社会认可的行为=behaviour that is accepted by society
②a culturally diverse society多元文化的社会=a society that is home to diverse cultures范围副词除了修饰形容词,还可以修饰动作/整句话。
比如上一篇中讲到的excel academically=excel at school=perform well at school。再举几个例子:
1)Compulsive surfing can harm health both physically and mentally.沉迷上网可能会对身心造成危害。
2)Obesity is a globally recognised problem today.如今,肥胖是一个全球公认的问题。=Obesity is a problem that is recognised around the globe today.
3)The pandemic may deal a heavy blow to(严重打击) a country economically and culturally. =The pandemic may deal a heavy blow to a country's economy and culture.
2 程度副词partly/largely
partly/largely是程度副词,表示在一定程度上/在很大程度上。如:rely partly/largely on。在写作中适当地适应,可以避免内容过于绝对。比如下面这句话:Whether graduates can land decent jobs depends on their educational background.毕业生是否能找到好工作取决于其教育背景。
这句话的说法就很绝对,因为因素不可能只有educational background这一个。在depend后面加个largely,就可以使整句话更加合理:
Whether graduates can land decent jobs depends largely on their educational background.partly/largely常与表示原因的表达或结构搭配,表示部分原因/主要原因: Carbon emissions are largely to blame for global warming.碳排放是造成全球变暖的主要原因。
Many children are addicted to online games partly because they lack parental company.很多孩子沉迷于网络游戏,部分原因是缺乏父母的陪伴。
类似的程度副词还有:
commonly、generally、widely、mostly、mainly
3 potentially 可能地
potentially表示可能地,是potential(可能的;潜能)的副词形式。potentially常用于修饰形容词, 与possibly是同义词。如:one potentially alarming trend一个可能令人担忧的趋势。
如果是放在句子表语中,很多情况下就相当于may be。如:
This policy is potentially disadvantageous to students from deprived backgrounds.该政策可能不利于寒门学子。
=This policy may be disadvantageous to students from deprived backgrounds.【注意,may be不能写成了maybe(副词)】 如果不是放在谓语的位置,而是放在句子其它位置,比如放在状语前面修饰状语,此时就只能使用副词potentially/possibly,不能用may。如:
1 That puts even more financial pressure on firms, potentially leading to more job losses.这给各大企业造成了甚至更大的财政负担,从而可能会导致更多的工作流失。
2 Global warming has accelerated in recent years, possibly because of the explosion in car ownership.近年来全球变暖加快了,可能是因为买车人数的猛增。
再比如两个表语形容词并列,需要对其中一个形容词进行额外的修饰,表示可能,使用potentially/possibly就比may be更简洁地道: Mobile health apps are becoming more capable and potentially rather useful.移动健康应用变得功能越来越强大,而且可能相当有用。