VOA名师答疑2023 even的不同用法

Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Ester, a reader, about the uses of “even.”

大家好! 本周《名师答疑》，我们回答读者埃斯特提出的有关even的用法的问题。

Could you please tell me how to use “even?” Ester.

你能告诉我怎么用even吗？埃斯特。

Dear Ester, thank you for your question.

亲爱的埃斯特，谢谢你的提问。

There are several ways to use the word “even” in American English.

在美式英语中，even一词有这几种用法。

We will start with the use of “even” as an adjective¹ to describe nouns².

我们先讲even用作形容词描述名词的情况。

One use of “even” as an adjective can mean smooth or not rough³.

even作为形容词的一种用法是表示光滑或不粗糙。

The table has an even surface that is good for table tennis.

这张桌子表面平整，适合打乒乓球。

Here, the top of the table is smooth. It is not rough.

在这个例句中，桌子的表面是平滑的，并不粗糙。

We can use “even” as an adjective to describe something as normal or regular.

也可以把even用作形容词，来描述普通或正常的事物。

For example: The doctor listened to her patient’s even heartbeat.

医生听了病人平稳的心跳。

This statement⁴ means⁵ that the patient’s heart was beating at a regular speed.

这句话的意思是病人的心脏在以正常的速度跳动。

Our last example of “even” as an adjective can be seen in the example below, meaning equal or balanced.

下面这个例句说明了even作为形容词的最后一个意思，表示均等或平衡。

I cut the cake into eight even pieces.

我把蛋糕切成均匀的八块。

In this final adjective example, the cake is divided into eight equal parts.

在形容词的最后这个例句中，蛋糕被分成八个相等的部分。

“Even” can also be used as an adverb to mean that the information is surprising in either a good way or a bad way.

even也可以用作副词，表示某个信息好得令人惊讶或坏得令人惊讶。

Compare these examples:

比较一下这些例句：

I did not even know that she was arriving this weekend!

我甚至不知道她这个周末到达！

He even bought me flowers on our first date.

我们第一次约会时，他甚至给我买了花。

Both examples show surprise or disbelief to something that was earlier not thought possible.

这两个例句都表示对早先认为不可能发生的事情感到惊讶或难以置信。

And finally, we can use “even” with other adjectives⁶ and adverbs to make a statement stronger.

最后，可以将even与其他形容词和副词连用，从而加强语气。

This summer could be even hotter because of climate change.

由于气候变化，今年夏天甚至可能会更热。

In this sentence “even” is a comparative⁷ adverb making hotter have a more intense⁸ meaning.

在这个句子中，even是一个比较级副词，使hotter的语义更强烈。

Please let us know if these examples have helped you, Ester!

请告诉我们这些例句是否对你有帮助，埃斯特！

And that’s Ask a Teacher. I’m Faith Pirlo.

以上就是本期《名师答疑》。我是费思·皮尔洛。

1 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

2 nouns   

n.名词；名词( noun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns. 法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 rough   

adj.粗糙的；粗略的，大致的；粗野的，粗暴的

参考例句：

• It's just a very rough translation.这只是一篇非常粗糙的译稿。
• His reply was a bit rough.他的答复过于粗鲁了一点。

4 statement   

n.陈述；声明；综述

参考例句：

• The government will put out a new statement tomorrow.政府将于明天发布一项新声明。
• Put down your statement in black and white.把你的话用白纸黑字写下来。

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 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》

7 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。

8 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。