VOA慢速英语2020 如何用英语表达遗憾？

（单词翻译）

Can you think of something recent that you wish you had done differently? I can.

你能想到最近有什么事你希望自己没那样做吗？我能。 

Last weekend, I decided¹ to paint my living room walls a new color.But the green I chose was a huge mistake!After painting two walls, I looked up and realized the color was terribly drab.

上周末，我决定给客厅墙壁刷上新颜色。但我选择的绿色是一个巨大的错误！刷完两面墙后，我抬头看，发现这个颜色非常单调。

I regret painting the walls that green.I wish I had not hurried to paint the room.I should have tested the color first.

我后悔把墙漆成那种绿色。我希望我当初没急着粉刷房间。我应该先试验一下颜色的。 

To regret means² to feel sorry for, sad about or disappointed³ in something you did or did not do.

后悔意味着对自己所做或未做的事情感到遗憾、悲伤或失望。 

There are a lot of ways to express regret in English.Today on our program, we will look at three phrases⁵ Americans use to talk about regrets big or small.They are: I regret, I wish and I should have.

英语中有许多关于后悔的表达方式。今天，在我们的节目中，我们将研究美国人用来谈论大大小小的遗憾的三个短语。它们分别是：“I regret”, “I wish”和“I should have”。

The first phrase⁴ is "I regret."When we use this phrase, we usually follow it with some form of noun⁶, such as a gerund, noun phrase or noun clause⁷.

第一个短语是“I regret”。我们使用该短语时，其后通常会跟着名词的某种形式，如动名词、名词短语或名词性从句。

It is quite common for English speakers to follow the phrase "I regret" with a gerund.You may remember that gerunds are nouns⁸ ending in -ing.

对于讲英语的人而言，“I regret”短语后接动名词是很常见的。你可能还记得，动名词是以-ing结尾的名词。

Listen to this speaker use a gerund after the phrase:

注意听这位说话者是如何用这个短语后接动名词的： 

"I regret coming here. I want to go home now."

“我后悔来到了这里。现在我想回家。” 

Did you find the gerund? It was "coming."

你找到动名词了吗？ 是“coming”。 

A short time ago, I too used a gerund when I said, "I regret painting the walls that green."

不久前，我也用到了动名词，我说“我后悔把墙漆成那种绿色”。 

Sometimes we follow the phrase "I regret" with a noun phrase. Listen for the noun phrase in the following sentence:

有时我们在短语“I regret”后加名词短语。注意听下句中的名词短语： 

"I regret that purchase. It was a huge waste of money."

“我后悔买了那个东西。真是浪费钱。” 

Did you hear the noun phrase? It was "that purchase."

你听到名词短语了吗？ 是“that purchase”。 

Other times, we follow the words "I regret" with a noun clause.You may remember that a clause is a part of a sentence with its own subject and verb⁹.Noun clauses¹⁰ act as nouns.

其他时候，我们在“I regret”后加名词性从句。你可能还记得，从句是句子的一部分，有自己的主语和动词。名词性从句充当名词。

Listen for the noun clause in our next example:

注意听下例中的名词性从句： 

“I regret what I said yesterday. It was not fair. I’m sorry.”

“我为我昨天说的话感到后悔。这不公平。对不起。” 

Did you find the noun clause? It was "what I said yesterday."

你找到名词性从句了吗？ 是“what I said yesterday”。 

Next up is the phrase "I wish."

接下来是短语“I wish”。 

This phrase has a few uses in English.When used to express regret, we are saying we feel sorry that something was not different in the past.For example, earlier I said, "I wish I had not hurried to paint the room."

在英语中，短语“I wish”有好几种用法。我们用“I wish”表达遗憾时，要说的是我们很后悔过去某事没什么不同。例如，我之前说的“我希望我当初没急着粉刷房间。”

As you hear this next speaker use the phrase, make a mental note of the verb tense he uses.

在听下一位说话者使用这一短语时，请记住他使用的动词时态。 

"I wish I had studied harder for the entrance exam."

“我当初要是努力准备入学考试就好了。” 

Did you note the verb tense? It was past perfect and the verb was "had studied."When we use "I wish" to express regret, the usual verb tense is the past perfect.

你注意到动词的时态了吗？是过去完成时，动词是“had studied”。我们用“I wish”表达遗憾时，通常动词的时态是过去完成时。

However, in spoken English, Americans sometimes use the simple past instead, like this:

但是，在英语口语中，美国人有时会用一般过去时而不是过去完成时，例如： 

"I wish I studied harder for the entrance exam."

“我当初要是努力准备入学考试就好了。” 

It is also worth noting that noun clauses generally follow the verb "wish,"just like in the entrance exam example and in my own statement¹¹ about the paint project.You can learn more about noun clauses on earlier Everyday Grammar programs.

还值得注意的是，名词性从句通常跟在动词“wish”后，就像入学考试的例句还有我自己对刷墙事情的陈述中的用法一样。有关名词性从句的更多内容，你可以通过早期的《每日语法》节目了解。

Our final phrase for today is "I should have."When someone uses this phrase, it means something did not happen but we wish it had happened.For example, I said, "I should have tested the color first."

我们今天的最后一个短语是“I should have”。有人用此短语时，表示的是某事之前未发生，但我们希望它发生了。例如，我说过的“我本应该先测试一下颜色的。”

You may remember that the verb "should" is a modal verb.The word "have" in the phrase is part of the present perfect verb tense.The one I used was "have tested."

你可能还记得动词“should”是情态动词。该短语中的“have”是动词的现在完成时的一部分。我用的是“have tested”。

Now, listen to this speaker using “I should have” and take note of the verb:

现在，听这位说话者是如何使用“I should have”的，并注意句中的动词使用： 

"I was late for work today. I should have woken up earlier."

“我今天上班迟到了。我本应该早点儿醒的。” 

He used the present perfect verb "have woken up."

他使用的是动词的现在完成时“have woken up”。 

We can also use the negative form -- "I should not have" -- to express the same general idea, like this:

我们还可以用其否定形式“I should not have”来表达相同的中心思想，例如： 

"I was late for work today. I should not have slept so late."

“我今天上班迟到了。我本不应该起那么晚的。” 

Now, you try it!Use one or two of the phrases from this program to talk about a regret or something you wish you had done differently.

现在，尝试一下！用本次节目中的一或两个短语来谈论一件后悔的事或你希望自己没那样做的事情。