用法辨析

沈紅梅

“人生自古誰無死，留取丹心照汗青”。學習過程中，常常有學生對英文中“die”的用法模糊不清。His grandfather has been dead for many years. 此處dead是什么詞性，表達什么意思？Die和death的用法有什么不同？Dying又是什么意思？今天我們就講講這幾個詞的區別與用法。

1.Dead是形容詞，表示沒有生機的狀態，意為“無生命的”“呆板的”。如：

He found a dead bird in the garden.他在花園里發現了一只死去的鳥。

2.Die是瞬間動詞，用于逝去的那一刻，過去式為died。如：

His father died last week. 他的爸爸上周去世了。

Every year some people die from the accident. 每年許多人死于事故。

3.Death是名詞，意為“死亡”。如：

She cried sadly after knowing his husbands death. 當得知丈夫去世后，她哭得非常傷心。

The death of her mother made us surprised. 她母親的死讓我們感到很驚訝。

4.Dying可以表示die的現在分詞，也可以是一個獨立的形容詞，表示“奄奄一息的；瀕臨死亡的”。如：

The dying old man was saved by a kind-hearted lady. 一個好心的婦女挽救了這個奄奄一息的老人。

注意：在考試中出現這樣的改寫句子：He died ten years ago. 他10年前去世了。可以改寫為：He has been dead for ten years. 他去世10年了。

如題一：His grandmother _________ for 6 years. And he still misses her very much.

A. died

B. has died

C. has been dead

D. has been died

解析：本題考查動詞時態及瞬間動詞與延續性動詞的辨析。句意：他的奶奶去世6年了。他仍然非常想念她。由句意可知，句子應用現在完成時表達，排除A；時間狀語為“for +一段時間”，因此謂語動詞應用延續性動詞，而die為瞬間動詞，排除B、D，選C。

題二：Premier Zhou Enlai _________ for many years， he still lives in the hearts of Chinese People.

A. died

B. was died

C. has been died

D. has been dead

解析：本題考查現在完成時的用法。句意：周恩來總理已經逝世多年，但他仍然活在中國人民的心中。短語for many years意為“許多年”，表示“一段時間”，常用在現在完成時的句子中。因此，謂語動詞必須是延續性動詞。而die是瞬間動詞，可排除，be dead表狀態，可和表示“一段時間”的狀語連用。選D。

經典練習

用“die”的適當形式填空。

1. Pop star Whitney Houston was found on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

2. His father five years ago.

3. His mothers was a great blow to him.

4. The old man from a car accident last year.

5. Plants and people without water.

6. His dog for two weeks.

答案：1. dead 2. died 3. death 4. died 5. die 6. has been dead