摘要
This year,the institute accepted the commissiom to actually carry out the research.(BeijingReview,column 3,page 22,Oct.14—20,1996) 上面句子在不定式符号“to”和动词原形之间插入了一个副词actually,把“to”和动词原形分开了。这种结构叫分裂不定式“Split Infinitive”。一些语言学家提及这个问题,但只是轻描淡写,而且各有异议,令人费解,无所适从。 虽然带“to”的不定式通常不拆开,但以报刊英语为例,分裂不定式的用法决非罕见,且为很多人赞同,用得很普通。如果不用分裂不定式,反而不自然,会引起意思上的模糊不清。例如: a.Consumers,on the other hand,should make every effort to constantly enhance their abilityto discern counterfeit foreign goods.(Beijing Review,column 3,page 21,Sept.22—29,1996) b.In order to further develop transportation over the continental bridge,Lianyungang Porthas built ties with nearly 600 ports in 120 countries and regions.(China Today,column 1,page31,Feb.1996)
