语法自助餐 动名词和不定式作主语的比较 贵州盘江煤电集团公司高中 李进才 在中学英语课本中,动名词和不定式作主语的句子较为常见,但它们的含义有所不同。现在将动名词和不定型式作主语的含义、位置及习惯用法分述如下: 一、动名词和不定式作主语的含义 一般来说,动名词作主语表示一种抽象的和泛指的动作,而不定式作主语则表示一次性的、具体的动作。换句话说,动名词作主语通常不与特定的动作执行者联系在一起,而不定式作主语往往与特定的动作执行者联系在一起。例如: Lying is wrong.(泛指 lying 的做法或作风) To lie is wrong.(对于说谎者是谁,说话人心中是有所指的) To live in Beijing is the height of Tom’s ambition.(对某个特定的动作执行者而言) Swimming is good exercise.(指游泳这项运动) 二、动名词和不定式作主语的位置 1.动名词作主语通常有两种位置,一种是把动名词直接置于主语的位置。例如: Saying is easier than doing. Seeing is believing. Crossing the Atlantis(大西洋)by plane takes only a few hours. 第二种是用 it 作形式主语,把作真正主语的动名词置于句末。这通常用于某些形容词或名词之后。例如: It’s interesting planning a holiday. It’s rather tiring walking around in a city. It’s fun having guests for the weekend. We don’t think it’s a bore doing the same kind of work every day. 动名词作主语的上述两种位置有时可以互换,但第一种形式比第二种形式的泛指意义更强些。例如: Lining in Beijing must be wonderful It must be wonderful living in Beijing 2.不定式作主语通常也有两种位置,与动名词作主语时的位置相同,即第一种是把不定式作直接置于句首担任主语。例如: To learn English is not an easy thing. To be here is a great pleasure. To remember to cut off the electricity is important. To hesitate is a pity. 不定式作主语的这种形式一般用得不多。现代英语倾向于用 it作形式主语,把不定式置于句末。例如: It’s a pity to hesitate. It took(us )five hours to get here. It made me happy to find Mary there. It needed hard work to finish the job. 注意: ...