可說taste to be 嗎

請看下面這道題：

The boy said that the fish his mother cooked tasted _________.

A. good                        B. well                        C. to be good                        D. to be well

答案B、D比較容易排除，因為其中的 well 是副詞。但到底是應選A還是C呢，許多同學憑感覺認為 taste to be good 似乎很通順，于是選了C。其實，錯了，正確答案應是A。原因是用作連系動詞的 taste 后習慣上不接to be。如：

我昨天買的橘子味道不錯。

正：The oranges I bought yesterday tasted nice.

誤：The oranges I bought yesterday tasted to be nice.

類似地，feel, smell, sound 等連系動詞后習慣上也不接不定式 to be。如：

他說的話聽起來很有道理。

正：What he said sounded reasonable.

誤：What he said sounded to be reasonable.

這些花很香。

正：The flowers smell sweet.

誤：The flowers smell to be sweet.

比較：seem, appear, prove, turn out, continue 等連系動詞后可以接不定式 to be，也可省略 to be。如：

He seems (to be) tired. 他似乎很疲倦了。

She appears (to be) angry. 她似乎很生氣。

The news turned out (to be) false. 那消息結果是假的。

The weather continued (to be ) fine. 天氣仍然很好。