談談“介詞+關系代詞+不定式”結構

作者：朱顯愿（廣東）

來源：《第二課堂（高中版）》，2004年第12期（pp40-41)

有這樣一道考題：

It’s reported that the city needs more land _____.

A. on which to build houses            B. on which building houses

C. which to build houses                 D. which to build houses on

此題答案為A，許多同學不明白此句是什么結構。簡單地說，這是一個緊縮了的定語從句，這類結構可歸納為“介詞+關系代詞+不定式”形式。在正式文體中，當引導定語從句的關系代詞用作介詞的賓語時，有時可用“介詞+關系代詞+不定式”這樣的結構來簡化定語從句。如：

She must have time in which she can grow calm.

=She must have time in which to grow calm.

她必須有冷靜下來時的時間。

Allow me one minute in which I can change my clothes.

=Allow me one minute in which to change my clothes.

給我一點時間換衣服。

He was miserable unless he had neighbors with whom he could quarrel.

=He was miserable unless he had neighbors with whom to quarrel.

他要是沒有鄰居吵架就難受。

She had some money in the bank, with which she could help her mother.

=She had some money in the bank, with which to help her mother.

她銀行里有些錢用來幫助她的母親。

若語義清楚，且結構恰當，“介詞+關系代詞+不定式”有時可進一步將其中的關系代詞省略，而只保留介詞和不定式(介詞要移至不定式之后，且當先行詞為表時間的名詞時，該介詞通常省略)。如：

She must have time to grow calm (in). 她必須有冷靜下來時的時間。

Allow me one minute to change my clothes (in). 給我一點時間換衣服。

He was miserable unless he had neighbors to quarrel with. 他要是沒有鄰居吵架就難受。

It’s reported that the city needs more land to build houses on. 據報道，這座城市需要更多的土地來建房。

值得指出的是，“介詞+關系代詞+不定式”結構中的介詞不能沒有，并且該介詞也不能位于不定式后面。如：

在那兒孩子們有個玩耍的花園。

正：There the children had a garden in which to play. (很正式)

正：There the children had a garden in which they could play. (較正式)

正：There the children had a garden to play in. (較口語化)

誤：There the children had a garden which to play in.

（編輯  陳根花）