今天是教师节。文盲军祝全世界老师节日快乐!那么问题是,如果你想写一张明信片,你想告诉老师“教师节快乐”到底是快乐的taser“s day”还是快乐的taser“day”?一起研究吧。
首先来看一段话:
In many countries, Teachers' Day is a special day for the appreciation of teachers, and may include celebrations to honor them for their special contributions in a particular field area, or the community in general. The date on which Teachers' Day is celebrated varies from country to country. Teachers' days in different countries are distinct from World Teachers' Day, which is celebrated on 5 October.
(来源:Wikipedia,地址为)
因此,“教师节”的比较经典的说法是Teachers' Day而不是Teacher's Day,原因如下:
students' book(学生用书)和teachers' book(教师用书)大家还记得吧?传统的语法是这样解释的:"学生"和“教师”在这里都各是一个由多人组成的团体,换句话说,是“学生们的书”和“教师们的书”,因此所有格应该是students'和teachers'而不是student's和teacher's。
但是,这种说法似乎也站不住脚。剑桥出版的Interchange系列教材上写的是student's book和teacher's edition,并不是students' book和teachers' edition。请看下图:
类似的还有母亲节和父亲节,它们分别是Mother's Day和Father's Day,有人说之所以这样写是因为一个人的母亲和父亲是唯一的,因此不能写成Mothers' Day和Fathers' Day,这个说法貌似也站不住脚。以下资料可以证明:
In the United States, Dodd used the "Fathers' Day" spelling on her original petition for the holiday, but the spelling "Father's Day" was already used in 1913 when a bill was introduced to the U.S. Congress as the first attempt to establish the holiday, and it was still spelled the same way when its creator was commended in 2008 by the U.S. Congress.
(来源:Wikipedia,地址为)
以上资料可以看出,其实Fathers' Day和Father's Day并无太大区别,只是历史原因罢了。
也就是说,“教师节”写成Teachers' Day和Teacher's Day其实都可以,但是为了保险起见,还是用Teachers' Day吧,避免一些(不是全部,没有一棍子打死,愤青请知悉)顽固的英语老湿或叫兽挑你的刺,让你不爽。
本蟹想说的是,学英语不能死盯着一本参考书不放,要多读几本,这样才能避免片面地去看待某种语法现象。
以下例句供大家参考:
【例】Mother's Day is a special day on which children give cards and presents to their mothers as a sign of their love for them.
(来源:Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary 5th Edition)
【例】Father's Day is the third Sunday in June, when children give cards and presents to their fathers to show that they love them.
(来源:Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's Dictionary 5th Edition)
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