VOA慢速英语--描述你的一天：晚上

Describing Your Day: The Evening

Near the end of The Remains¹ of the Day, a famous book by Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the characters says the following words:

"The evening's* the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it."

In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore the connection between grammar and evening time. You will learn about how to describe your favorite part of the day and common evening activities.

Let's start with a few important terms and ideas.

Comparatives² and superlatives

Adjectives⁴ describe people or things. Think of words like old or big. You might describe someone as an old friend. You might describe a structure as a big building.

But when English speakers use adjectives to compare people or things, something happens. These adjectives take on a comparative³ form and are often followed by the word than.

So, old becomes older, big becomes bigger.

Here is an example:

Bob is older than Jim.

English has adjectives that are irregular in the comparative form. Good is one of these adjectives. In comparisons⁵, good becomes better, as in:

Bob is better than Jim.

Sometimes you might want to compare many things. One of those things is at the top. You could use a form known as the superlative. Superlatives often have an –est ending, as in oldest or biggest.

Once again, English has adjectives that are irregular in the superlative form. One of these adjectives, good, becomes best.

That is how we arrive at a statement such as:

The evening's the best part of the day.

This statement is comparing a group of things – times of the day. These times might include morning, afternoon, evening and night.

Evening activities

English speakers use certain verbs and verb forms to describe common evening activities.

Common examples include: watch, listen to, play, or talk to.

For example, people might watch television in the evening.

Or they might listen to music or listen to the radio.

They might play sports – football, basketball, tennis, or cricket⁶.

They might even talk to friends or talk to family.

English speakers also use expressions – phrasal verbs and different kinds of idioms - to describe evening activities.

For example, people might run errands⁷ after work, or run errands after school.

An errand⁸ is a short trip you take to get something or do something. But it generally does not involve running. You could run errands in a car, by bus or by bike.

And when you run errands, you might pick up things or people.

In this case, the phrasal verb pick up means to go out in order to bring back someone or something.

You could pick up food or pick up your brother from school, for example.

Closing thoughts

In today's report, we explored some ideas about comparisons and common evening activities.

Take what you have learned⁹ and ask yourself some questions.

What is your favorite part of the day? Do you agree that evening is the best time of the day? What common activities do you like to do in the evening?

Write in the comments section of our website, www.51voa.com

Words in This Story

character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

evening – n. the last part of the day, usually between 6pm and bedtime

certain – adj. used to refer to something or someone that is not named specifically

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 comparatives   

n.（形容词或副词的）比较级形式( comparative的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In this unit, are many adjectives. Please write their comparatives. 在这一单元中，有许多形容词，请依据前面所讲，写出他们的比较级。 来自互联网
• Comparatives, superlatives, hedges, numerals, quantifiers and pronouns are also used in advertisements. 比较级、最高级、模糊限制语、数词、量词和代词也出现在广告中。 来自互联网

3 comparative   

adj.比较的；相比较而言的；相对的

参考例句：

• After many hardships,he now lives in comparative ease.经过许多困难之后，他现在的生活相对舒适。
• Let's make a comparative study of the two languages.让我们将这两种语言作一下比较研究。

4 adjectives   

n.形容词( adjective的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We can form nouns from adjectives. 我们可以用形容词来构成名词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Attributive adjectives precede the noun. 定语形容词位于名词前。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 comparisons   

比较( comparison的名词复数 )； [修辞学]比喻； [语法学]（形容词或副词的）比较等级； 类似

参考例句：

• I. Comparisons to a Living Creature (i. e., the Sphinx riddle) 1．比作某种生物（如斯芬克司谜） 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• Make comparisons about the products. 对产品做对比。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

6 cricket   

n.蟋蟀，板球运动；adj.公平的

参考例句：

• The England cricket team scored quite a useful total.英格兰板球队得分总数令人满意。
• We could hear the shrill of the midsummer cricket.我们可以听到仲夏时节蟋蟀的尖叫声。
• Your behaviour isn't cricket.你的行为不光彩。

7 errands   

n.errand的复数；差使( errand的名词复数 )；差事

参考例句：

• He often runs errands for his grandmother. 他经常给他的祖母跑腿儿。
• I have a few errands to do in the town. 我在城里有些差事要办。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 errand   

n.差使（如送信，买东西等），（短程）差事

参考例句：

• I've come on a special errand.我是专程来办一件差事的。
• This is a formidable errand for me.这对我来说是个太艰巨的任务。

9 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。