插入語有很多不同的類型,可以是一個詞,比如形容詞(strange,etc)、副詞(personally,honestly,fortunately,luckily,etc);可以是短語,比如形容詞短語(worst still,sure enough,etc)、介詞短語(of course,in short,as a matter of fact,by the way,etc)、分詞短語、動詞不定式(to be sure,to tell you the truth,etc);也可以是句子,比如if I may say so,if you don‘t mind,that is(to say)等都是非常常見的插入語。
如:Probablythere is not one here who has not in the course of the day had occasion to setin motion a complex train of reasoning, of the very same kind, though differingin degree, as that which a scientific man goes through in tracing the causes ofnatural phenomenon.
事實上,無論多長多復雜的句子,都是由主干和修飾成分這兩部分組成的。主干是整句話的主體框架,主要指主謂賓結構(He playsbasketball)或主系表結構(This is anapple)。修飾成分可以是單詞,可以是短語,也可以是從句,無論是何種形式,它在句中都只起到修飾和補充主干的作用。因此,對于這種類型的長句,提醒大家要做的首先是確定主干,然后理清從句結構,再按照所確定的各個成分想想句子的大意,再聯系上下文看是否與語境相吻合。如果前后文理不通,則可能是分析有誤,這時就需要對句子結構重新進行分析。
多個并列句構成的長句
這是一種相對簡單的情況,我們首先要做的就是找到并列連詞(and, so,but, or, etc),然后將長句分解成多個分句,理清各分句的內部結構和句意,然后再綜合考慮全句,即可明了整句話想表達的意思。如:In the1970s he was a surgeon at Yale,had awonderful wife and five beautiful children,but he was terribly unhappy.
復合從句
對于復合從句,要首先找出從屬連詞并確定主句,接著按照簡單句的分析方法,梳理各分句的結構和意義,然后確定各從句的性質,也就是明確每個從句在句中分別修飾哪些詞語或結構,最后綜合整體考慮全句大意。如:In theearly industrialized countries of Europe the process of industrialization—withall the far-reaching changes in social patterns that followed-was spread overnearly a century, whereas nowadays a developing nation may undergo the sameprocess in a decade or so.
在這個句子中,首先確定連詞whereas(而)表示對比,確定主句并找出主干結構,也就是the processof industrialization—was spread over nearly a century,破折號中間的短語是附加成分,修飾主語中心詞process,其中social patterns后面that followed是一個定語從句。