以a-開頭的形容詞用法新探 • afraid

江蘇豐縣 李翔

一、afraid的用法

A. 作表語

1. 不敢[害怕](做某事)的 (unwilling to do something because you are worried about what will happen if you do it.) 相當(dāng)于frightened。

(1) afraid of sb / sth 害怕某人[物] 例如：

Are you afraid of snakes? (=Are you frightened of snakes? / Do you fear snakes? / Are you scared of snakes? / Are you fearful of snakes?)你怕蛇嗎?

I was afraid of the other boys... 我害怕其他的男孩……

(2) afraid of doing sth 害怕做某事 例如：

He's afraid of going out alone at night. 他害怕夜晚獨自出去。

(3) afraid to do sth  害怕(或不敢)做某事  例如：

I'm still afraid to sleep in my own bedroom. 我怕仍然不敢再自己的臥室睡覺。

2. 擔(dān)憂或憂慮(某事物可能產(chǎn)生的后果); 恐怕 (worried or anxious about (the possible result of sth))

(1) afraid of doing sth  擔(dān)心做某事 例如：

I didn't mention it because I was afraid of upsetting him. (=I didn't mention it because I was afraid (that) I might upset him.) 我沒有提起那件事, 因為我怕他心煩意亂。

(2) afraid to do sth  擔(dān)心做某事 例如：

Don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t understand. 你要是不懂，盡管問好了。

(3) afraid that....  恐怕…… 例如：

He's afraid that he might lose customers. (= He's afraid of losing customers.) 他怕失去顧客。

3. 擔(dān)心(某事物[某人]會遇到危險) (frightened or worried about things that may put sth / sb in danger)

afraid for sth / sb 擔(dān)心某人[物] 例如：

They’ve been laying people off, and Charlie is afraid for his job. 他們一直在裁員，所以查理為自己的工作擔(dān)心。

4. I’m afraid... (禮貌地說出令人不快、失望或感到遺憾的事)我怕，恐怕，很遺憾，對不起 (used as a polite way of telling sb. sth. that is unpleasant or disappointing, or that you are sorry about)

(1) I’m afraid that... (通常省略that) 例如：

I'm afraid we can't come. 很抱歉, 我們不能來。

“Are we late?? “I'm afraid that we are.” “我們遲到了嗎？”“恐怕是遲到了。”

注：I’m afraid也可以作插入語，放在后面。例如：

I can't help you, I'm afraid. 我?guī)筒涣四愕拿?/FONT>, 對不起。