「have」甚麼時候會縮寫成「’ve」?
最近，我丈夫收到一封來自香港同事的電郵，上面寫到：
I’ve a meeting with them at 10 tomorrow.*
這個書面句子看起來很不自然。
因為「’ve」（「have」）這個書面縮寫，多數只是在「have」於句子中是輔助動詞時使用才會自然。
例：I’ve been waiting for this email. ✔
例：I’ve done this for years. ✔
以上書面句子用了縮寫的「’ve」是自然的，因為「have」在「have been waiting」和「have done」兩個限定動詞組中，角色都是輔助動詞。
「have」是英文中其中一個輔助動詞。它的其中一個文法角色是與其他動詞一起組成不同的動詞字形，就如「have been waiting」和「have done」。這兩個限定動詞組中，「wait」和「do」分別是主要動詞（main verb）。
我們一般只會在「have」扮演輔助動詞角色時，才會把它縮寫成「’ve」。
不過，動詞「have」本身也具有自己的字面意思 --「擁有」，因此它自身也可以是一個主要動詞，當它是主要動詞時，會傳遞這「擁有」的意思。
例：I have a meeting tomorrow.
例：They have a red car.
這兩句中的「have」都是主要動詞。它在這裡表達的是「有」的意思，而非協助其他動詞來組成動詞組。
如果「have」是句中主要動詞，我們一般在書寫時不會將它縮寫成「’ve」。如果縮寫了，對於很多母語人士而言，會聽起來十分不自然：
例：I’ve a meeting tomorrow.
例：They’ve a red car.
不同地區的英文母語人士對這種書面縮寫可能有不同看法，但你若知道輔助動詞「have」與主要動詞「have」的區別，其實完全可以避免這種不自然。
學會在「have」是輔助動詞而非主要動詞時，我們才將它縮寫，那麼句子一定會是自然的。
我們在書寫時只會將作為輔助動詞的「have」進行縮寫，因為在說話時，輔助動詞發音會較輕，沒有重音，而且被帶過。
當然，我們在說話時，即使是主要動詞的「have」，也經常會是輕聲的，但這不影響在書寫上，我們只會縮寫作為輔助動詞的「have」。這是英文文法中一個系統性的現象。
下一次，我會列舉更多這類有縮寫的英文動詞，並為大家解釋它們在各種情況下要注意的事項。
______________________
小練習：
我們應該將以下句子中的「have」縮寫成「’ve」嗎?
My mom and dad have recently bought a lake house by Lake Conroe.
My mom and dad have a lake house by Lake Conroe.
_______________
When can we abbreviate “have” to “‘ve”?
My husband recently got a work email from a Hong Kong colleague that says:
I’ve a meeting with them at 10 tomorrow.*
This written sentence is quite unnatural.
It’s because the written abbreviation “‘ve” -- which stands for “have” -- is usually natural only when this “have” is playing the role of an auxiliary verb within the structure of the sentence.
e.g. I’ve been waiting for this email. ✔
e.g. I’ve done this for years. ✔
In these sentences, the written abbreviation “‘ve” is natural because “have” is the auxiliary verb in the finite verb groups “have been waiting” and “have done.”
“Have” is one of the auxiliary verbs in English grammar. One of its grammatical roles is to build different verb forms with other verbs, just like in “have been waiting” and “have done.” In these two finite verb groups, “wait” and “do” are respectively the “main verbs.”
We usually only abbreviate “have” to “‘ve” when it is playing the role of an auxiliary verb.
The verb “have,” however, also has its own meaning of “possess/own 有" and, as such, can be a main verb itself too when it is expressing this meaning.
For example:
e.g. I have a meeting tomorrow.
e.g. They have a red car.
In these two sentences, “have” is playing the role of a main verb. It is expressing the meaning of “有” itself and is not “helping” another verb build a verb form.
When “have” is a main verb itself, abbreviating it to “‘ve” is much less common and can sound quite unnatural to many native speakers:
e.g. I’ve a meeting tomorrow.
e.g. They’ve a red car.
Native speakers of different varieties of English might perceive this type of abbreviation differently, but you could avoid sounding unnatural to at all simply by learning the difference between “have” as an auxiliary verb and “have” as a main verb.
Learn to abbreviate “have” in writing only when it is an auxiliary verb and not when it is a main verb. That way, you would always sound natural.
The reason why we tend to abbreviate “have” in writing only when it is an auxiliary verb is that, in speech, auxiliary verbs tend to be less stressed and are often elided. The written abbreviation “‘ve” is meant to imitate this in speech.
Of course, when we speak, even a main verb “have” could often sound very brief and unstressed. Regardless, in writing, we generally only abbreviate “have” when it is an auxiliary verb. This is a systematic tendency within English grammar as a whole.
I will write about other English verbs that have such written abbreviations next time and explain what you need to watch out for in each case.
______________________
Mini exercise:
Should we abbreviate the “have” in these sentences to “‘ve”?
My mom and dad have recently bought a lake house by Lake Conroe.
My mom and dad have a lake house by Lake Conroe.
_______________
Comments
Post a Comment