刨根問底找“原因”

王希萍

在英語中有很多介詞和介詞短語都可表示“原因”，現對其用法總結如下：

一、單純介詞。

1.at常表示某種表情的起因，通常和表示聽，看或喜，怒，吃驚等的過去分詞或形容詞連用。

I was frightened at the terrible sight.

看到這可怕的情景，我害怕了。

You dont look very surprised at the good news.

聽到好消息，你好像并不奇怪。

2.with多用于表示情緒的形容詞或身體動作或狀態的形容詞之后，表示某種心理或心理狀況的原因。

His face went red with anger. 他的臉因生氣變紅了。

The boy jumped with joy. 男孩高興得跳起來。

3.over常用于帶有感情色彩的動詞。如：cry, weep, laugh, mourn, sigh等之后，敘述所發生事情的原因。

All of us mourned over his death. 我們大家哀悼他的去世。

The couple quarreled over the price of a load of hay.

夫妻倆個因為一擔干草的價格爭吵。

4.from常接抽象名詞表示自然或間接原因。

He suffered from a bad cold. 他患重傷風。

She felt sick from tiredness. 她累得渾身不對勁。

5.of多用于表示自身的原因，如死因，病因等,也經常用于某些形容詞后，后接與感情相關的人或事。

His father died of cancer. 他父親死于癌癥。

He is proud of being a Chinese. 他為自己是一個中國人而自豪。

6.for多與表示感情的抽象名詞或動詞及reason, famous等詞連用。

If it were not for the leadership of the Communist Party, our happy life today would be simply impossible.

要不是共產黨的領導，根本不可能有我們今天的幸福生活。

The West Lake is well-known for its scenery.

西湖以它的風景聞名。

7.through多指消極原因。

This is a mistake made through carelessness.

這是一個由于粗心大意而犯的錯誤。

The accident happened through no fault of mine.

發生事故并不是我的過錯。

二、介詞短語。

1.because of表示引起結果的直接原因，意義同because, 多作狀語。

The football match was cancelled because of rain.

由于下雨，足球賽被取消了。

He retired last week because of illness.

他由于生病，上星期退休了。

2.thanks to表示引起某種幸運結果的原因，意為“多虧了、幸虧……”。

Thanks to your help, we finished the work ahead of time.

多虧了你的幫助，我們提前完成了工作。

Thanks to the timely rain, the farmers had a good harvest.

多虧了及時雨，農民們有了好收成。

3.owning to相當于because of,多表示某種不良后果的原因。

Owing to our joint efforts, the task was finished.

由于我們的共同努力，任務被完成了。

4．due to相當于because of，可作表語或狀語。

My illness was due to bad food. 我的病是吃壞的。

The flight was cancelled due to the fog. 班機因霧停航。

5.out of表示動機的起因，常譯為“由于”。

He did it out of concern for everyone.

他這樣做是出于對大家的關心。

練習：用適當的介詞或介詞短語填空。

1. The boy began to cry ____ the bad news.

2. He trembled ____ cold.

3. They had an argument ____ money.

4. Many people suffered ____ hunger.

5. I am ashamed ____ myself for being so stupid.

6. He got an award ____ bravery.

7. You can only achieve success ____ hard work.

8. He walked slowly ____ his bad leg.

9. Everyone knows about it, ____ you.

10. He asked the question ____ curiosity.

11. His failure was ____ carelessness.

答案：1.at 2.with 3.over 4.from 5.of6.for 7.through8.because of/owing to/due to 9.thanks to 10.out of 11.due to