如何巧学善用英语成语

　　在任何语言学习中最困难的一个方面就是，要能理解并运用大量成语。接下来，小编给大家准备了如何巧学善用英语成语,欢迎大家参考与借鉴。

　　如何巧学善用英语成语

　　英语有15000多个成语，而且本族语使用者常常在不自觉的情况下频繁使用它们。这就造成了与本族语使用者的沟通不畅。

　　What is an idiom? An idiom is a group of words which, when used together, has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example:

　　什么是成语呢?一个成语就是一组词，当结合在一起使用时，其意与单个词语所表达的意思均不相同。例如：

　　-How do you know that Sid and Nancy have separated

　　你怎么知道席德和南希分手了?

　　-I heard it on the grapevine.

　　我是从小道消息听到的。

　　Of course, the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine! He is conveying2 the idea visually of information spreading around a widespread network, similar to a grapevine.

　　当然，第二个谈话者并不是说，他把耳朵贴在葡萄藤上才听到这个关于约翰的消息的!他只是在形象地表达一种意味，即这个消息通过一个类似葡萄藤的巨大网络传播开来。

　　We use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. We often use an image or symbol to describe something as clearly as possible and thus make our point as effectively as possible. For example, "in a nutshell" suggests the idea of having all the information contained within very few words. Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English.

　　我们使用成语是要表达其它词语无法如此清晰或如此巧妙表达的东西。我们经常会运用比喻和象征以便尽可能清晰地描述事物，因而可以尽可能有效地阐述我们的观点。比如，“in a nutshell”表明的意思是，用很少几个词来涵盖所要表达的全部意思。成语往往是非正式的，最好用于口语，而不要用在非书面表达中。

　　One of the best ways to learn an idiom is by looking at the context3 in which it is used. This can be done by concentrating on the rest of the sentence and try to guess the meaning. Many idioms are not that difficult to understand when considered in their context. For example:

　　学习成语的最好方法之一是查看它所在的上下文。而这可以通过通读句子其它部分来实现，并试着猜测其意。当把许多成语放在上下文中考虑，理解起来就不那么难了。例如：

　　We are going to have a surprise party for Tom tomorrow. It's a secret so please don't let the cat out of the bag.

　　明天，我们要给汤姆举办一个惊喜聚会。这是一个秘密，因此请不要泄露秘密。

　　'Let the cat out of the bag' is an idiom. Imagine you don't know what this idiom means; by looking at the words preceding4 it should be easy to guess that the speaker does not want you to tell Tom about the surprise party. Therefore, 'let the cat out of the bag' must mean something like' reveal5 a secret' or 'tell a secret'.

　　“Let the cat out of the bag”是一个成语。设想你不知道这个成语的意思;如果看看之前的单词，就会很容易地猜出，讲话者是不想让你跟汤姆谈及惊喜聚会的事情。因此，“let the cat out of the bag”一定是“揭露秘密”或“泄露秘密”之类的意思。

　　Other examples:

　　其它例子：

　　He was on the carpet last week for being late to work three times.

　　上星期，他由于迟到三次而受到批评。

　　It was a very long report. It took me three hours to wade6 through.

　　那是一个很长的报告。我花了三个小时才总算读完它。

　　Let's call it a day. I'm very tired and I think we have covered the main points of the meeting already.

　　我们今天就到此为止。我很累，而且我认为，我们已经处理了这次会议的主要问题。

　　扩展：中国人最易犯错的16句英语

　　1. I very like it

　　I like it very much.

　　2. 这个价格对我挺合适的。

　　The price is very suitable1 for me.

　　The price is right.

　　Note：suitable(合适的、相配的)最常见的用法是以否定的形式出现在告示或通知上，如：下列节目儿童不宜。The following programme2 is not suitable for children在这组句子中用后面的说法会更合适。

　　3. 你是做什么工作的呢?

　　What’s your job?

　　Are you working at the moment?

　　Note：what’s your job这种说法难道也有毛病吗?是的。因为如果您的谈话对象刚刚失业，如此直接的问法会让对方有失面子，所以您要问：目前您是在上班吗?Are you working at the moment?接下来您才问：目前您在哪儿工作呢?Where are you working these days?或者您从事哪个行业呢?What line of work are you in?顺带说一下，回答这类问题时不妨说得具体一点，不要只是说经理或者秘书

　　4. 用英语怎么说?How to say?

　　How do you say this in English?

　　Note：How to say是在中国最为泛滥成灾的中国式英语之一，这决不是地道的英语说法。同样的句子有：请问这个词如何拼写?How do you spell that please?请问这个单词怎么读?How do you pronounce this word?

　　5. 明天我有事情要做。I have something to do tomorrow?

　　Sorry but I am tied up all day tomorrow.

　　用I have something to do来表示您很忙，这也完全是中国式的说法。因为每时每刻我们都有事情要做，躺在那里睡大觉也是事情。所以您可以说我很忙，脱不开身：I’m tied up.还有其他的说法：I’m I can’t make it at that time. I’d love to, but I can’t, I have to stay at home.

　　6. 我没有英文名。I haven’t English name.

　　I don’t have an English name.

　　Note：许多人讲英语犯这样的错误，从语法角度来分析，可能是语法功底欠缺，因为have在这里是实义动词，而并不是在现在完成时里面那个没有意义的助动词。所以，这句话由肯定句变成否定句要加助动词。明白道理是一回事，习惯是另一回事，请您再说几话：我没有钱;I don’t have any money.我没有兄弟姐妹;I don’t have any brothers or sisters.我没有车。I don’t have a car.

　　7. 我想我不行。I think I can’t.

　　I don’t think I can.

　　Note：这一组然是个习惯问题，在语法上称为否定前置，这就是汉语里面说“我想我不会”的时候，英语里面总是说“我不认为我会”。以后您在说类似的英语句子的时候，只要您留心，也会习惯英语的说法的，

　　8. 我的舞也跳得不好。

　　I don’t dance well too.

　　I am not a very good dancer either.

　　Note：当我们说不擅长做什么事情的时候，英语里面通常用not good at something，英语的思维甚至直接踊跃到：我不是一个好的舞者。