VOA名师答疑2023 复合名词中连字符的用法

Hello!

大家好!

This week on Ask a Teacher, we will continue to answer a question from Yousra, from Egypt, about using hyphens when making compound¹ nouns³.

本周《名师答疑》，我们继续回答来自埃及的尤斯拉的问题：在构成复合名词时如何使用连字符。

Hello, my name is Yousra from Egypt.

你好，我是来自埃及的尤斯拉。

I would like to know when I should use a hyphen between two words like, “top-selling” or “well-being.”

我想知道什么时候应该在两个单词之间用连字符，比如top-selling（卖得最多的）或well-being（健康安乐）。

Thanks.

谢谢。

Dear Yousra, Thank you for your question!

亲爱的尤斯拉，谢谢你的提问！

In this week’s program, we will learn some general rules for creating compound nouns with hyphens.

在本周的节目中，我们将学习用连字符构造复合名词的一些基本规则。

In last week’s program, we talked about using hyphens to create a compound adjective⁴.

在上周的节目中，我们讨论了如何使用连字符来构造复合形容词。

For example, top-selling, meaning, “having the most sales.”

例如，top-selling意思是“卖得最多的”。

A hyphen is used to combine two or more words together.

连字符用于将两个或多个单词连接在一起。

A compound noun² is two or more nouns combined to create a single noun expression.

复合名词就是两个或两个以上的名词组合而成的单个名词。

While we write most compound nouns as one word (“raindrop”) or two separate words (“high school”), some compound nouns use a hyphen.

虽然我们把大多数复合名词写成一个单词(raindrop“雨滴”)或两个单独的单词(high school“高中”)，但有些复合名词要使用连字符。

For example, “well-being,” or the state of being happy, healthy, or successful.

例如，well-being，意思是快乐、健康或成功的状态。

We use hyphens with compound nouns so that the sentence is clear and understandable.

我们在复合名词中使用连字符，这样句子就清晰易懂了。

Just like compound adjectives⁵, you can create compound nouns from adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and other nouns.

就像复合形容词一样，可以用形容词、动词、副词和其他名词构成复合名词。

1. When combining a verb and an adverb to create a compound noun, use a hyphen.

1. 把动词和副词组合起来构成复合名词时，要用连字符。

The hyphen connects the adverb to the verb and not another word in the sentence.

连字符连接副词和动词，而不是句子中的另一个词。

For example, let’s look at the compound noun, “take-out.”

举个例子，我们来看看复合名词take-out（外卖）。

It means food you order from a restaurant to pick up and take with you.

意思是你从餐馆订购并且带走的食物。

Every Friday night I love getting take-out from my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant.

每到周五晚上，我都喜欢从我最喜欢的中东餐厅点外卖。

2. A hyphen is required for compound nouns made from two nouns.

由两个名词组成的复合名词需要连字符。

These types of nouns act as a unit, like in these examples, “English-speakers” or “hunter-gatherer.”

这些类型的名词被当作一个整体，比如English-speaker（说英语的人）或hunter-gatherer（采集狩猎的人）。

There are over 1.5 billion English-speakers in the world!

世界上说英语的人超过15亿！

There are many hunter-gatherer societies today that still depend on the natural environment for food.

如今，有许多采集狩猎的社会仍然依赖自然环境提供食物。

3. Always check your dictionary if you are unsure if a compound noun requires a hyphen.

如果你不确定复合名词是否需要连字符，一定要查字典。

There are many exceptions⁶ to these rules.

这些规则有许多例外。

And, sometimes, a word that once required a hyphen changes over time to become a one-word compound or a two-word compound.

有时，曾经需要连字符的单词会逐渐变成一个词的复合词或两个词的复合词。

Please let us know if these rules, explanations, and examples have helped you, Yousra.

请让我们知道这些规则、解释和例子是否对你有帮助，尤斯拉。

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

以上就是《名师答疑》。

I’m Faith Pirlo.

我是费思·皮尔洛。

1 compound   

n.化合物；大院；adj.化合的；vt.加重；使化合

参考例句：

• Air is a mixture,not a compound of gases.空气是气体的混合物，不是化合物。
• How many households in the compound?院内有几家住户？

2 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

3 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》

4 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。

5 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》

6 exceptions   

例外( exception的名词复数 )； 不包括在内的人（或物）； 规则的例外； 例外的事物

参考例句：

• Most children like sweets, but there are some exceptions. 大多数孩子喜欢吃糖果，但也有一些例外。
• Such exceptions do not invalidate the rule. 这些例外并不证明此规则无效。