VOA名师答疑2023 专有形容词的用法(下)

Hello!

大家好!

This week on Ask a Teacher, we will continue to answer a question from Gustavo in Brazil about describing his teacher using the linking verb "be" and other adjectives.

本周《名师答疑》，我们将继续回答来自巴西的古斯塔沃的问题，关于用系动词be和其他形容词来描述他的老师。

Hello, my name is Gustavo, from Brazil.

你好，我叫古斯塔沃，来自巴西。

I have been learning English with you for many years.

我跟着你们学英语已经很多年了。

Thank you for all of the stories!

谢谢你们讲的所有故事！

I have a question.

我有个问题要问。

I want to say, "my Spanish teacher" meaning "my teacher from Spain".

我想说，my Spanish teacher的意思是"我来自西班牙的老师"。

Then I realized that it could also mean "my teacher that teaches Spanish language classes."

然后我意识到它也可以表示"我教西班牙语课的老师"。

So, which is it? Does it mean both?

那么，到底是哪一个意思呢？还是两个意思都有？

Thank you very much for reading my message!

非常感谢您阅读我的信息！

Gustavo.

古斯塔沃。

Thanks once again, Gustavo, for the question.

古斯塔沃，再次感谢你的提问。

Last week we looked at two ways to describe your teacher.

上周，我们看了描述你的老师的两种方式。

The first way was with proper adjectives.

第一种是使用专有形容词。

We use the proper adjective of a language, like "Spanish," to describe teachers or students of a language.

我们用表示某种语言的专有形容词，如"西班牙语的"，来描述教或学这种语言的教师或学生。

The second way we can describe your teacher is to talk about where they are from, using the preposition "from."

描述你的老师的第二种方式是谈论他们来自哪里，用介词from。

This can be useful if you want to be exact about where they were born or are "from."

如果你想准确地知道他们的出生地，也就是"来自"哪里，这种方式就很有用。

So, if your teacher does not teach Spanish, then using "from" is a better choice.

因此，如果你的老师不教西班牙语，那么使用from是一个更好的选择。

You can say: My teacher is from Spain.

你可以说: 我的老师来自西班牙。

We also have two other ways we can describe your teacher in a bit more detail.

还有两种方式可以更详细地描述你的老师。

We can also use the linking verb "be."

我们也可以用系动词be。

For example: My teacher is Spanish.

例如: 我的老师是西班牙人。

Here we use the linking verb "be" and the proper adjective of "Spanish" after the verb.

这里我们用系动词be，并在其后使用专有形容词"西班牙的"。

This means that the teacher is of Spanish heritage¹ or culture.

表示这位老师有西班牙血统或文化背景。

But, be careful.

但是，要小心。

This does not always mean that the teacher is "from" Spain.

这并不总是意味着老师来自西班牙。

They could have been born somewhere else but have Spanish parents.

他们可能出生在其他地方，但父母是西班牙人。

Heritage and culture are not always the same as a person’s nationality or where they were born.

某人的血统和文化背景并不总是与这个人的国籍或出生地相同。

In the US, we commonly use this kind of expression when we talk about where our families or ancestors come from since many Americans consider their heritage to be from other parts of the world.

在美国，当我们谈论家族或祖先来自哪里时，我们通常使用这种表达方式，因为许多美国人认为他们有着世界其他地区的血统。

For example: My friend Pedro is Puerto Rican.

例如: 我的朋友佩德罗是波多黎各人。

Lena’s family is Polish, but she is American.

莉娜的家人是波兰人，但她是美国人。

We can use an additional adjective to describe what kind of teacher you have if they do not teach a language.

如果你的老师不教语言，那么我们可以用一个额外的形容词来描述他们是什么科目的老师。

We can then combine this with the linking verb "be" and say where they are from.

然后再接上系动词be，说明老师来自哪里。

For example: My economics² teacher is from India.

例如: 我的经济学老师来自印度。

Their French teacher is from Canada.

他们的法语老师来自加拿大。

Remember, it is sometimes small details that ensure your meaning is understood and mistakes are avoided.

请记住，有时正是一些小细节才能确保别人理解你的意思，并且避免表述错误。

Please let us know if these new explanations and examples this week have helped you, Gustavo!

古斯塔沃，请让我们知道本周这些新的解释和例子是否对你有帮助！

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

以上就是本期《名师答疑》。

I’m Faith Pirlo.

我是费思·皮尔洛。

1 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

2 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。