同一個字衍生的不同「版本」,經常也有相同修飾語!

 


我在較早前的一篇 newsletter 中提到,只要某動詞表達的是同一意思,那麼無論它的字形如何變化,它的賓語和修飾語等文法特徵也是不變的。

例如:




I made a cake yesterday.

I find making a cake very fun. 


雖然這兩句中的「make」有著不同的字形(一個是過去式的限定動詞字形,一個是 gerund 名詞字形),但它們同樣有連接直接賓語(「a cake」)的特徵,因為它們表達的意思(「做蛋糕」)是一致的。

今天我想分享的主題其實也有點類似,不過主角不是動詞,而是從同一個字根衍生而成的單字。

有些單字具有完全相同的字根(和前綴,如果有的話),但因為字尾不同,有不同的文法角色。

例如:

rely (動詞:依賴)

reliant (形容詞:有依賴性的)

reliance (名詞:依賴 / 依賴性)

動詞「rely」、形容詞「reliant」、名詞「reliance」,它們都有一樣的字根,但不同的文法字尾。「rely」是動詞;「reliant」當中包含了形容詞字尾「-ant」,是個形容詞;「reliance」則有名詞字尾「-ance」,是個名詞。

這三個單字,意思都是由「依賴」作基礎,但扮演著不同的文法角色。

這種由同一個字衍生出的單字,多數也擁有相同的修飾語和補充語。

繼續以「rely」為例:


They are relying on you!

My team relied on one external service provider for the entire project.




從以上例句,我們看到動詞「rely」會連接特定的修飾語「on X」來表達「依賴某東西 / 人」。

與「rely」衍生自同一字根的「reliant」和「reliance」,當要表達這意思時,同樣有連接「on X」的文法特徵。

例如:


They are reliant on you.

My team was reliant on one external service provider for the entire project. 


用「reliant」重寫句子後,形容詞「reliant」仍然需要連接特定修飾語「on X」,才能表達「對某東西 / 人有依賴性」的意思。

又例如:



Their reliance on you is very obvious.

I am not happy about my team’s reliance on this external service provider.



用「reliance」重寫句子後,名詞「reliance」仍然需要連接特定修飾語「on X」,才能表達「對某東西 / 人的依賴性」的意思。

再看另一個例子:



decide (動詞:決定)

I have decided to quit my job. 

decision (名詞:決定)

He was offended by my decision to quit my job. 



動詞「decision」需要連接一個 infinitive 詞組(標記字「to」+ 動詞基本字形 + 賓語/修飾語)來完成意思,以表達出所「決定」的行動,像「to quit my job」。

與「decide」衍生自同一字根的名詞「decision」,當要表達這意思時,同樣需要連接一個 infinitive 詞組。

日後,當你學習這些衍生自同一字根的單字時,要更注意它們的共同文法特徵和特定修飾語了!

*當然,如果是直接/非直接賓語這特徵,則只適用於動詞的字形。

因此,假設一個像「complete」這樣的動詞是需要連接賓語的,例如:



She completed the task.



其他衍生自同一字根的單字,像是名詞「completion」,因為不是動詞,不會連接直接賓語:



Her completion the task… ❌



這種名詞的版本通常會被一個介詞組「of X」修飾,只要將那個賓語名詞放在「of」之後便可:



Her completion of the task was commendable. 



本篇的重點是,由相同字根衍生而成的單字,也會具有相同的修飾語。

_______


小練習

“withdraw” (動詞:退出)

“withdrawal” (名詞:退出)

e.g. I withdrew from the company. 

使用一個有「withdrawal」的名詞組來完成以下句子。請使用與上述句子中的動詞「withdraw」相同的修飾語。

The other shareholders were not happy about ______________________________ .


_______________

(English version) 

A few newsletters ago, I wrote about how a verb has the same characteristics in terms of objects and modifiers in different forms – as long as it is expressing the same meaning. 

For example:



I made a cake yesterday.

I find making a cake very fun. 



Even though the verb “make” is in different forms in these two sentences (one in a past tense finite verb form “made,” and the other in gerund noun form), it has the same characteristic of having a direct object (“a cake”) because it is expressing the same meaning in both sentences.

This time, I want to make a similar point – but about words derived from the same word root.

These are words that have the same exact word root (and prefix, if there is one) but different grammatical suffixes, so they have different grammatical roles. 

For example:



rely (verb: 依賴)

reliant (adjective: 有依賴性的)

reliance (noun: 依賴 / 依賴性)



The verb “rely,” the adjective “reliant,” and the noun “reliance” are examples of words that have the exact same word root but different grammatical suffixes. “Rely” is a verb; “reliant,” with the adjective suffix “-ant,” is an adjective; and “reliance,” with the noun suffix “-ance,” is a noun. 

These are words that all mean 依賴 but have different grammatical roles. 

Very often, words that are derived from the same word root like this share identical modifiers and complements as well. 

Let’s look at the verb “rely” first: 



They are relying on you!

My team relied on one external service provider for the entire project.



From these example sentences, we can see that the verb “rely” is completed by a specific modifier “on X,” with the preposition “on,” to express the meaning of 依賴某東西 / 人.

“Reliant” and “reliance,” derived from the same root as “rely,” share the same grammatical characteristic of having “on X” as a specific modifier when expressing this meaning.

For example:



They are reliant on you.

My team was reliant on one external service provider for the entire project. 



In these rewritten sentences, the adjective “reliant” is also modified by the specific modifier “on X” to express the meaning of "對某東西 / 人有依賴性."

And, for example:



Their reliance on you is very obvious.

I am not happy about my team’s reliance on this external service provider.



In these rewritten sentences, the noun “reliance” is also modified by the specific modifier “on X” to express the meaning of “對某東西 / 人的依賴性.”

Another example:



decide (verb: 決定)

I have decided to quit my job. 

decision (noun: 決定)

He was offended by my decision to quit my job. 



The verb “decide” is completed by an infinitive phrase (marker “to,” plus the infinitive form of a verb, plus any objects/modifiers) to express the action to be taken (like “to quit my job”).

The noun “decision” is derived from the same root as the verb “decide.” It is also modified by an infinitive phrase when it expresses the action to be taken.

So, when you learn these different derivations of the same word root, take note of their shared grammatical characteristics as well in terms of specific modifiers!

*But of course, if we talk about direct/indirect objects, only verb forms can have them.

So, if a verb like “complete” has an object, like:



She completed the task.



Another word derived from the same root, like the noun “completion,” would not have an object directly after it since it is not a verb:



Her completion the task… ❌



In such cases, the noun version of the verb can usually be modified by a prepositional phrase “of X,” with the original object as the noun after “of”:



Her completion of the task was commendable. 



The point this time focuses on the shared modifiers of words derived from the same root.



Mini Exercise

“withdraw” (verb: 退出)

“withdrawal” (noun: 退出)

e.g. I withdrew from the company. 

Finish the following sentence with a noun phrase with “withdrawal,” using the same modifier for “withdraw” as in the sentence above. 

The other shareholders were not happy about ______________________________ .



_____________________



Answer:

e.g. The other shareholders were not happy about my withdrawal from the company.




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