many 用法, 例句, 詳解

many 用法1

問：《中學英語1 + 1·高一英語同步講解與測試》(上) (中國青年出版社, 98, p.83) 說:
“many 和few, a few 在句中可作形容詞、主詞, 但不能作述語。如只能說I have many/few books, 而不能說My books are many/few.”
many 和few 真的不能作述語嗎?

答：CGEL 的編著者R.Quirk 等人在該書的索引中列出了many 的predicative use (many 的述語用法) 詞條, 並在§5. 23 和§ 6. 53 兩節中明確指出:

“Many and few can also be predicatively in formal style…: His faults were many/few.”
“Many, like few has a predicative use [‘numerous’] in formal and literary English: His sins were many, and friends were few.”
(“many 和few 在正式的語體中還能用作述語: 他的缺點很多/ 很少。”)
(“many 與few 一樣, 在正式的和文學的語體中可以用作述語:
他的罪惡很多, 而他的朋友卻很少。”)

many 用法2 (as many as)

問：The number of people who lost homes reached as many as 250,000.[《高中英語教科書》(必修) 第一冊(上), 人民教育出版社、朗文出版集團有限公司, 1998, p.26) ]與該書配套的《教師教學用書》(p.108) 對as many as 的解釋是:“‘as many as’的意思是‘和⋯⋯ 一樣多’, 類似的結構還有as long as (和⋯⋯ 一樣長), as high as (和⋯ ⋯一樣高), as wide as (和⋯⋯ 一樣寬)等。”
在as many as + 數詞結構中, as many as 是“和⋯⋯一樣多”的意思嗎?

答：當as many (long, high, wide) as 與數詞連用時, 它是一種表達說話人“言其多(長、高、寬) ”的口氣的, 因此, 不能解釋為“ 與⋯⋯ 一樣多(長、高、寬) ”, 而應解釋為“多(長、高、寬) 達⋯ ⋯”或“⋯⋯ 之多(長、高、寬)”。把句中的as many (long, high, wide) as 去掉之後, 句子仍是完整的, 但卻失掉了說話人“言其多(長、高、寬) ”的口氣。例如:

1. Three people offered buy it.
   有三個人出價買這件東西。(此句沒有表達出說話人認為三個人是多, 還是少, 只是客觀地描述)
2. As many as three people offered to buy it.
   出價買這件東西的有三人之多。(此句表達出了說話人“言其多”的口氣)
3. He can jump 1.8 metres.
   他可以跳1. 8 米高。(說話人沒有表達出跳到1. 8 米是跳得高, 還是跳得低)
4. He can jump as high as 1.8 metres.
   他跳高可以跳到1. 8 米之高。(表達了說話者“言其高”的口氣, 外行人也可以看出跳到1. 8 米算是很高的了)

(參見as much as/as many as + 數詞)

many 用法3 (many a/ a great many/a good many)

問：many a 與many, a great many 和a good many 在用法上有何區別?

答：從語意上講, 這三個有關many 用法的片語的含義是相同的, 都作“許多”、“很多”解, 只是many a 屬正式語體。但從文法上講, many a 與many, a gr ea t many 和a good many 是不同的。前者要求與單數名詞連用, 並與單數形式的動詞搭配, 而後三者則要求與複數名詞連用, 並與複數形式的動詞搭配。例如:

1. Many a reckless driver came to grief after having ignored the warning signs at the top of this steep hill.
   許多粗心的司機沒有注意到陡峭的山頂處樹立的警告標誌, 造成了不幸。
2. For many a day it rained.
   雨下了很多天。
3. Philip found that there were a good many people already there.
   菲力浦發現已有很多人在那裡了。
4. I read a great many English books.
   我讀過很多英文書。

many 用法4 (many a/ many)

問：many a 與many 有何區別?

答；有的英語著作解釋說: many 側重將“許多”綜合化; many a 側重將許多“個別化”(即“ 一個一個地”) 。這種說法看來是有道理的。例如:

1. Many a ship has been wrecked on those rocks.
   許多船撞毀在那些岩石上。
2. Many a man comes and goes.
   許多人來來去去。

但是, many 與many a 的主要區別是在語體上。前者既可以用於書面語體, 也可用於口語體, 而many a 只用於正式語體。
關於many a 所要求的動詞的數, 見下面many 用法5 。

many 用法5 (many a woman is/ are)

問：Many a woman feel untitled to more in life than just housework.
答案規定(feel) 是錯誤的。我不理解。

答：Many a woman 雖然在概念上是表示複數, 但many a 之後的名詞總是採用單數形式, 故其動詞也總是用單數形式, 也就是說, 這裡遵循的是文法一致的原則, 而違背概念一致的原則:

1. Many a member has protested against the proposal.
   許多成員反對這個提議。
2. Many a man has sacrificed his life for the cause of revolution.
   許多人為了革命犧牲了自己的生命。

小練習：請選出錯誤的地方，並予改正。（留言作答）
1. There have been many an argument about its proper usage.
2. Such is the general purport of this legendary superstition, which has inspired many a wild stories in that region.

(參見more than one… is/are)

many 用法6 (many more)

問：Appreciation of sculpture depends upon the ability to respond to form in three dimensions. That ais perhaps why sculpture has been described as the most difficult of all arts; certainly it is more difficult than the arts which involve appreciation of flat forms, shape in only two dimensions. Many more people are ‘form-blind’ than colour-blind. (New Concept English, Book 4, p.126)
[原譯] 對雕刻品的鑒賞力, 取決於對三維形體的反應能力。人們把雕刻說成是一切藝術品中最困難的, 可能就是這個道理。當然, 它比起只涉及平面形態, 或者二維形態的藝術品是要困難些。“ 形盲”人數要多於“色盲”人數。(中譯本)
請問上面的many more 中的many 是什麼意思?

答：在本句中, more 是many 的比較級, 作people 的形容詞, 而它前面的many 則是比較結構的修飾語。試比較比較結構的其他修飾語: far, much, still, a lot, a little, a bit, rather, slightly, three times。當more + 複數名詞時, 可以用many 或far 來修飾, 而不能用much 來修飾。例如:

1. Many more opportunities (or far more opportunities)
   多得多的機會
   much more money (or far more money)
   多得多的錢
2. Chicago has many more people than Washington.
   芝加哥的人口比華盛頓多得多。
3. There are many more people looking for jobs than finding them every summer.
   每年夏天找工作的人比找到工作的人多得多。

many 用法7 (many more/much more)

問：Randall found Duperol’s style of writing to have many more complexities than Ann Kartrin.
答案規定(應為that of Ann Ka rin 或Ann Katrin’s)而不是than Ann Katrin 。但我認為(many more) 也是錯的。因為我查了許多文法書, 均無此種用法, 是否應改為much more?

答；我記得曾有人發表文章, 說many more + 名詞的用法是錯誤的, 因為他表示很多英語著作中均未查到此種用法。實際上much more 與many more 是有明確分工的。much more 與不可數名詞連用(如much more time), many more 則與複數名詞連用(如many more complexities, many more people) 。見上面many 用法6。

小練習：請選出正確的答案。（留言作答）
The food she has prepared for the party is not enough, for there are ________ more people than she expected.
A. much
B. many
C. too
D. so

many 用法8 (n times as many as)

見n times more than